[Devie]

My very first dog, a tricolored corgi. Who is now 12 weeks old. He's a very very very good dog and tries his best to be one. My family and relatives have had puppies before and they were never this good.

I can't help but feel that I'm failing with him. In terms of training, he's doing great. In terms of health, not so much. He came to us healthy, but I feel like I'm ruining that.

First the diarrhea with his food, which is now fixed with new food. Now he coughs/gags at night but doesn't throw up anything. Just spit up that's slightly foamy. This happened Thursday night, I called the vet the very next day. He told me that if it's only happened once, it's probably nothing. If it happens again, then off we go.

It happened again last night. Now we have a vet appointment monday. I know he has something, it can't just be nothing. I noticed he wasnt acting like himself, but I couldn't really be too sure since he still has his appetite, still playful etc. But I did notice he's a lot more relaxed and calm and quiet.

I can't help but blame myself really. I take him out for "walks" at 9am and 430pm that last about 30 minutes. The "walks" consists of us sitting on our front porch, or at the end of our driveway and watching people jog, watching kids ride their bikes, watching cars go by, watching planes and helicopters fly by, having kids and people say hi to him occasionally. He's now become "The neighborhood Corgi" We also go on for a very short walk to the mailbox, which is 20 steps from the driveway. But then there's the backyard. Filled with gopher poop, and bird poop which he's ingested before. I blame myself for not being able to stop it in time. He's eaten things that were crunchy that I have no idea what it was. It's usually too late before I can reach down his mouth.

I feel like I'm failing. I heard him gagging the second time at night and I immediately know somethings up. I feel really bad and I feel like I'm the cause for all of this. All I want is for him to be healthy. I don't think I'm doing a very good job.

Im ranting on here because i'm sad. I feel horrible that I'm not a good puppy parent though Im trying my best.

Anyway, thank you for listening

 

[NannerPudding]

We all feel like that sometimes. But I'm sure your little dogloaf will be just fine.

Ezra has eaten multiple dead, rotting birds. Like at least 5 since I have had him and honestly probably more. We are talking whole, crunchy birds *shudder*. And a dried fish. And horse poop. I'm sure he has also eaten bird poop. He has also never had even the gall to have an upset stomach afterwards. I obviously don't want him to eat all of the everything, but he has gotten into trouble and come out the other end just fine. I keep a syringe and hydrogen peroxide on hand at all times in case of him eating something terrible. His motto is eat first, ask questions later. We are working on it. Kikopup has some good tutorials on teaching a reliable drop as well as default leave it which may be of help to you.

It sounds like your pup *may* have kennel cough. At least mine did when he coughed up white foamy stuff. The good news is that if he does, it is highly treatable. It is also wickedly contagious and extremely difficult to fully vaccinate against. The bordatella vaccine does not cover all the agents of kennel cough, just two that are common. It usually isn't serious and resolves on its own with minimal vet intervention.

It really does sound like you are trying your best. Heck, any yard that has birds and gophers sounds like puppy heaven. If eating bird poop is the worst thing your puppy does, I'd consider you lucky.

 

[timber]

If he vomiting up yellowish foamy stuff, it could be hunger pukes. Try to feed him a small meal before bedtime and see if that helps.

Does his belly feel hard or painful at all?

 

[Rain]

Definitely get him to the vet to be certain it's nothing else, but I agree with Timber, it sounds like hunger pukes.

Liquid, yellow tinged, foamy throw up is usually hunger pukes. My boy will get them at the crack of dawn if I do not feed him a small snack around 12 am. Nothing like waking up to a dog throwing up and the amazing fun of cleaning the floor before I've had my first cup of coffee.

 

[Devie]

@Rain and @timber I thought the very same thing, but that has happened before and I feed him treats around 7-8pm since I go work out during then (tricky treat ball). It usually happens at 1030-11pm and no later.

The thing is, his spit up isn't colored. It's just white foamy spit. He seems fine other than he's slightly more sleepy than usual. His spit up isn't much at all either. Just imagine a water bottle cap, that's how much he spits up. It's all clear, and slightly foamy. I smelled it too and it smells like puppy breath.

When he actually did throw up hunger vomit, it was bright yellow/green and smelled of bile and it happened at 3am. This was like, 4 weeks ago.

It's really likely that it is kennel cough. At least I think so or something throat related. Whenever I rub his throat, he licks his lips and seems to like it.

I feel horrible for being "irresponsible" Maybe I shouldnt have taken him out as often as I did. Twice a day. I think this is my fault, and I'm really sorry I wish I could let him know that. No "walks" today or until he's better.

 

[Devie]

We will see on Monday when we go to the vet. I hope it's nothing serious.

 

[timber]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Puppies are hard to keep away from everything, it's impossible. I'm sure you're doing a great job with him.

 

[NannerPudding]

Kennel cough is ludicrously easy to catch. Even in vaccinated dogs (the vaccine is not 100% effective). Besides, it is usually quite mild and self-limiting. Don't beat yourself up. The worst that might happen is he needs an antibiotic.

 

[Rain]

@Rain and @timber I thought the very same thing, but that has happened before and I feed him treats around 7-8pm since I go work out during then (tricky treat ball). It usually happens at 1030-11pm and no later.

The thing is, his spit up isn't colored. It's just white foamy spit. He seems fine other than he's slightly more sleepy than usual. His spit up isn't much at all either. Just imagine a water bottle cap, that's how much he spits up. It's all clear, and slightly foamy. I smelled it too and it smells like puppy breath.

When he actually did throw up hunger vomit, it was bright yellow/green and smelled of bile and it happened at 3am. This was like, 4 weeks ago.

It's really likely that it is kennel cough. At least I think so or something throat related. Whenever I rub his throat, he licks his lips and seems to like it.

I feel horrible for being "irresponsible" Maybe I shouldnt have taken him out as often as I did. Twice a day. I think this is my fault, and I'm really sorry I wish I could let him know that. No "walks" today or until he's better.

Definitely don't be so hard on yourself!

Just like small children, puppies pick up stuff despite our best efforts to keep them healthy.

I got Zody when he was just over a year old, and had over 17 years of dog ownership behind me. I knew about collapsed trachea but had no idea about how little pressure on his throat it would take for Zody to cough. When I first got him I made the mistake of walking him on the collar he came with while waiting to get to the store to get him a harness. he pulled very slightly and choked, I stopped the walk and brought him home, later that evening while playing he went into a coughing fit and scared the heck out of me. Luckily it stopped but I thought for certain I was going to have to go to the vet.

He also ended up with diarrhea, I have a thread on that one, from changing his food and I still suspect a treat that I had gotten him that didn't agree with him.

He also taught me about hunger pukes, I resisted his starving dog act. No I'm not going to give you more food, I just fed you 3 hours ago! A couple hours later he threw up on my floor. After that it was yes I'll give you a snack.

You'll get through the puppy stage, and if you get another dog you'll learn, like I did, that each dog is a learning experience and no two are the same. It takes time to learn what's best for each of them, and what works for one may not work for the next one.

 

[SnackRat]

You don't want to raise a puppy in a bubble, even if it does seem like it would be a lot more hygienic. Sitting on the porch playing watch the world is a GREAT thing to do! If you have a car, then sitting in your car playing watch the world is also awesome, and you can do it different places over time. You can even combine it with hand-feeding parts of his breakfast or dinner...each interesting new thing he sees is followed by a piece of kibble or two, and he learns that the world is just an amazing place for a cute little puppy.

Puppies throw up, get diarrhea, eat things you'd never imagine any semi-sentient being would put in their mouths, fall down the stairs, walk into walls, and do a million other things we can't completely predict or control. Good owners do their best, and get their puppies to the vet when necessary. It sounds to me like you are succeeding in a pretty big way and should learn to give yourself a break.

 

[cookieface]

Sounds to me like you're doing a fabulous job with him. As SnackRat said, puppies get into things. They move faster than the speed of light and are stealthy critters.

I was a paranoid mess with Katie (and still am with both of them, to an extent), but learned that pups are also resilient and tougher than they seem. Don't beat yourself up - the fact that you care means you're doing better than many people.

 

[Devie]

Thank you for your kind words. I guess I'm just really overly emotional since this is my first ever dog, and I've done all the research and studying I needed yet I'm here in this predicament. All I can think about is apologizing to him.

What I don't understand is that I've been very very careful with where I bring him. I strictly avoided places that have strange dogs, etc. Since my money is on that it's kennel cough, I don't know how else he would have gotten it other than eating strange stuff.

I've also been practicing leave it. Kikopup's method works wonders. However, he is still a very very small baby whose attention span can't keep up. So I don't strictly enforce it when he's in our backyard. He does well with leave it inside the house though, but being outside is still too big of a step for him since he's a baby, and that's okay. He can't help it. I don't push him.

If only I was fast enough to catch him all the time. It's hard to tell when he's sniffing to go potty, or sniffing to find something to eat. One time I caught him chewing on a cigarette butt - My goodness. Some would say that I'm not feeding him enough and thats why he's looking for stuff to eat. That's not necessarily the case - the corgi breed is known for being bottomless little munchers.

I feel like I have a newborn who has her doctor's number on speed dial and calls over the smallest things. Haha.

I'll try to be a little more better at this and be more positive about the whole thing. I'll have a long talk with the vet on Monday.

 

[piano88]

It sounds to me like you're doing a great job. It's obvious that you really care about your little guy and want to give him the best care. Don't beat yourself up, you're not doing anything wrong! When my dog was a puppy he'd try to eat all sorts of random things off the ground, and he occasionally puked up yellow bile (usually containing a twig or something that he'd eaten). That eventually stopped as he got older. I don't think it's unusual in puppies.

 

[supaflyskye]

I hardly think you are an irresponsible owner, just having some bad luck. I wouldn't stop taking him out, things can happen no matter how many protective measures you put in place. I was very lucky, I was taking my puppy to the dog park every day before she had completed her shots (vet did okay it after round 2, though I think I might not have known better and started taking her after round 1. Don't remember exactly), and she was 100% fine interacting w all the dogs, she's never been one to eat things though.
Things happen and you can't beat yourself up over it. Let us know how the vet appointment goes, hopefully nothing major. =)
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[Rileysaur]

Hoping for good news on mon!

Riley used to cough up spit as well. With Riley it was because he'd drink too fast. He would also just inhale his food/treats which caused him to spit up too. It used to happen pretty often but now I can't remember the last time it's happened. Maybe your pup is doing something similar?

 

[akodo1]

A little bit of sickness as a pup is a good thing. It helps stimulate the immune system to develop. Otherwise as an adult the dog may become very sick very easily.

 

[Devie]

Well, we went to the vet and all seemed well. Vet said that if it keeps happening for a month, then he will do some x-rays but he said puppy looks good and healthy. He also got his 3rd set of shots, rabies and some deworming medicine which I will give tomorrow. Now he's feeling all lethargic and sad and whines when you touch near the injection site.

My old fashioned mother said that it might be because I have a small fan pointed towards his crate at night, causing dryness. I disagreed and she went with "If there was a fan pointed to your face at night, wouldnt you get sick?!" I think she's right. I only did it because I thought he might get hot. Well, last night I set the fan farther out to where it's barely fanning him, but still enough to cool him, and he didn't gag. I'm not going to correlate the two simply because I hate it when my mother is right but that's what happened hahaha

Anyway, I'm glad all is well with my puppy, He looks a little bloated right now but he did have a LOT of treats at the vet and in the car, not to mention my husband accidentally fed him when I already did this morning.

I'm just happy he's healthy, and I hope every day that he stays that way. he's a little trouble maker but I do love him a lot and will do anything and everything to make sure he stays happy, healthy and well socialized.

I feel better already!
Unfortunately, it will be my turn to get shots tomorrow at my doctor! Booo! haha

 

[Dia]

Glad the vet gave him a clean bill of health. I also think you are doing a great job, and need to ease up on yourself. Stuff happens, don't sweat it.