Monday, September 28, 2015

Ask OBP #10

It's been a long wait for Terry and Christie, but we are here now, answering their questions from 2 whole weeks ago!

We will start with the questions from Terry. She asked about the pugs, especially as puppies, if they ever got under foot and caused tripping hazards. Uh yeah!! Quite often, actually. There was even one time when Ben got stepped on and we had to take him to the vet because we thought we broke his foot! Surprisingly, our vet (in Maryland) was bordering on scolding us for being careless. I was kind of shocked to be honest. Of all things for her to get fussy about I would not have thought THIS would be the thing. In cases like this, accidents happen and we were always diligent about paying attention to where they were and dodged them regularly. But when you have more than one dog and they stick closely together that can double, triple or quadruple your changes of someone taking a tumble. Fortunately Benny was ok but they would not be pugs unless they were underfoot! So yes, Terry! For sure we have had a mishap or 100 involving the pugs invading our personal space. #wink It sounds like this was commonplace at your home, too.

Terry also asked about teeth brushing. The only thing worse, for us, than trimming their nails was brushing their teeth! I would not say that we were diligent with this feat but for the first 7-8 years we did attempt to be relatively consistent with this but our consistency would have been every 2 months. That is a poor record by any vet's standards. But at the time we thought that was the best we could do but it wasn't. We totally could have done better. We did have their teeth cleaned by the vet every 1-3 years until about age 9-10 where they were put under anesthesia and while there is always a risk with that and not to mention that it is pricey, we felt long term it would (and we believe did/has) benefited them. It is very common for poor dental health to cause other very serious medical conditions.

To further our soapbox position, if we had not had Sol's teeth cleaned this way, they would not have discovered her oral cancer and left untreated she would have likely died even sooner and/or at least would have been sicker/less treatable once it would have become more noticeable on an awake check up. Shortly after they discovered her cancer, they removed half of her lower jaw and she was literally almost no worse for the wear. This was discovered during her dental cleaning. So, this is another reason to consider going under. But it is true, anesthesia is always risky, especially for pugs. If you opt not to do dental cleanings, then we do strongly recommend diligent teeth brushing. Again, we are not veterinarians and we can only offer our history as example. With everything else, consult your vet. To avoid so much extra risk, try to schedule it with something else that may be a problem. For example, we would get a teeth cleaning done if they were a bit overdue if they also had a mass cell tumor that needed to be removed and biopsied. It was a 2-for-1 scenario. If someone had to go under anyway, get in there and do it all! Good luck, Terry. No matter your choice, you are doing your best for your baby.

How She Rolls from obp on Vimeo.

Christie posed an interesting question. She asked if any of our pugs have ever had the need to rub all over the laundry (especially sheets--as in the bedding at bedtime including pillows). It was interesting to hear that only Olive does this at her home. And Vito and Luigi had never had the urge. Well, Christie, as you suggested, I am of a mind, too that this is a chick thing. Moreso, though, it is a dominant trait dog thing (which we have seen personally more in girl pugs). And while none of our pugs have ever done it with the bed sheets, Luna had done with things that she wanted to mark or dominate. Her special roll in items included dead fish and bird poop (that also wreaked of dead fish). But she could be caught giving a little hump, butt bump or marking roll on certain people, dog beds or favorite toys. I think maybe your little Olive is telling everyone else that sleeps in your bed that SHE is the top dog with you. Just my own philosophy. I would be curious to know if other than laundry and bedding, does she do this on anything else? But usually it is a sign that she is owning whatever she rolls on. I would put a few bucks on the bet that says Olive is a little diva. Would I win that bet? Loved that question, Christie! You come up with some doozies and we appreciate it!

Thank you all for not leaving us questionless. Christie, we will address the song question next week in a full post either in ASK OBP or as a separate post. We have not forgotten, your question. And we did promise that once this gets boring and/or played out that we will take a different path. So, no pressure. #KeepingItFreshForNow