Mixed Breeds

[emschuler6]

Hello to everyone out there! I just found out today that pet talk even existed. Our family happens to be the proud owners of multiple pets the three largest being mixed breed dogs. The oldest is Bogie who is 11 and a Great Dane/German Shepherd mix. Ollie is 3 and a Husky/St. Bernard mix. Then we have Harris who is a Malinois/Black Shepherd mix he is also 3. They keep us on our toes as they live in our house with two cats and four children. I have been reading about the negatives of mixed breeds and the positives as well. I also feel that we have been very lucky with our babies. They all have great personalities and love our kids and their friends (busy house). We have not had any major health issues so far and are just now becoming concerned about Bogie. He started limping yesterday on the front right side. He cannot go to the vet as he has anxiety about this. I do not know why but we did get him from a shelter when he was 2 and this is the only behavior we could not change. His nails are good, paws fine and it seems to be coming from the shoulder. Does anyone have any information about this? All of our pets are altered ASAP so breeding is not something we agree with yet I do not want to discourage anyone from picking up a mixed breed. We feel that all of our dogs chose us and so far it has been great. They are wonderful, friendly family members and we do not know what we would do without them.

[Karen]

Aww, welcome to Pet Talk! With that crew you sound like you'll fit right in here!

Does Bogie limp all the time on that paw, or just when getting up from a nap? At his age, it could be many things, from a muscle pull, to arthritis setting in, to other scarier possibilities.

[emschuler6]

Bogie limps all the time. It is worse when he gets up from a laying position. He is still running in the backyard and playing with the other two however, he seems to be paying for it when he comes in. I did call our vet that cares for the other two boys and he was talking x-rays and blood tests. There is no way Bogie can handle that. He would have a heart attack. He seems fine otherwise.

[Karen]

Bogie limps all the time. It is worse when he gets up from a laying position. He is still running in the backyard and playing with the other two however, he seems to be paying for it when he comes in. I did call our vet that cares for the other two boys and he was talking x-rays and blood tests. There is no way Bogie can handle that. He would have a heart attack. He seems fine otherwise.

Unfortunately, you would need an x-ray to determine if it is simply arthritis, or something more serious like bone cancer. I only mention that because that's what my doggie niece had, and she was around 11 when diagnosed, and around 12 when we had to say good-bye to her. Is there any way they could give you a mild tranquilizer for him beforehand to make the visit less stressful on him?

[Lady's Human]

I secind the tranq for the pup to get to the vet's. Lady had another year beyond being diagnosed with bone cancer, made more comfortable by the meds they gave her (meloxicam)

[Taz_Zoee]

With Bogie's age and he is a large breed, it's no surprise he is limping and having trouble with his legs.
Maybe see about the tranquilizers like Karen suggested, or see if there is a vet that will do a home visit. I know you can't do x-rays in your home, but it could be a start.

My 8 year old Australian Shepherd is limping in both of her back legs, but still runs full speed outside with her "brother" too.

I hope you can figure something out for Bogie.

[emschuler6]

Thank you all so much for the support and advice. We will call our vet and see about a tranq for him. I know we tried it before and for whatever reason he perked right up when we arrived for his appointment. Perhaps there is a different kind of medication that can be used with a longer suspension time that will make him more comfortable. Hopefully, it is just old age and even at that maybe there is a medication that can make his joints feel better.

[suchabadaddiction]

live more and full of health if compare with "pure" breeds, did you know?

Interesting thing about it. The older dog of the world died with 29 years-old! (equivalent to 203 years-old in a human conditions)

My first dog was Teddy, a mixed dog. Too mixed, lol. Color of your skin was dark-yellow, with full health and so handsome. He died from snakebite. If not because of it... Who knows, he could be live for more than 15 years! Well, my last dog was a Dalmatian and lived for 14 years.

:~~ Teddy (1997-2000)
Pyppo (1998-2012)

I have two links about that, but, in Portuguese, but, you can translate it from Google:

http://anamariabraga.globo.com/home/...hp?id_not=4883

http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Ciencia...BRITANICO.html