Hi Robbie

If I read your post correctly, you have had your dobie for 18 months? Has
there been any improvement at all in his temperament (confidence) or condition.
It sounds to me like your breeder was a puppy mill and that is a pretty hard
start for any puppy.

Perhaps his reaction to people coming "to the door" is a result of what
happened to him as a puppy in that "shed" when people came in.....from what I
have read, it is a horrible existence for a dog.....and he had very little
exposure to life outside that shed. But with love and reassurance, I would
have expected a change in the behaviour after 18 months. It is like children
who are never socialised and handled (eg the Romanian orphans who were left in
the institutions). The dog would not have been explosed to all the things that
a normal well socialised puppy has experienced and it is scarey for them.

The initial vomiting could have been caused by the change in diet and his
stomach adjusting to different (read better) food. The wetting when people
come to the door is also a nervous reaction....which as the dog gains confidence
in himself and surroundings should go away - unless there was an underlying
health reason.

Skin - I would definitely be getting a second opinion from another vet. There
are a lot of different reasons for skin outbreaks. Google "mange" and you will
be able to learn a lot and identify if your dog has the symptoms for either
demodectic or sarcoptic manage. I have a very beautiful 7 yo male dobie - He
never had any skins problems and had a really brilliant coat. The demodectic
mange started when he was 5 (he got stressed when I went away on holidays for 8
weeks even though he was still living in the same house with my grown up kids).
It is a horrible condition to try and get rid of of when they are older. (I
have been able to get it under control three times but now it is back with a
vengenance but that is a whole different story. It is a lot easier to treat
when the dogs are younger.

The vet should check his thyroid and do a skin scraping to see if there are
any mites. Demodectic mange is caused by a immune deficiency initially (stress
can start it) and the dog's body cannot cope with the mites in the coat. All
dogs have mites in their coats and normally they are kept in balance if their
immune systems are strong. It certainly started as you are describing. But
there are other skin problems that could also have the same symptoms.

Please find another reputable vet asap to get a second opinion. Not being
interested in his surroundings....could be because he is just not feeling well
or has low thyroid (this can be fixed) ... does he have a hearing or sight issue
to do you think. Get a dog chiropractor to look at his spine? I rescued a very
underweight rottweiller girl who had back issues caused by bad diet when she was
a puppy....we were able to do a lot to help it.

Good luck with him....it sounds like he had a pretty rough start to life and
hopefully you can make life a whole lot better for him. I'd be very interested
in hearing more about your boy.

regards
Julie

PS: Has anyone had any success in getting the demodectic mange under control
in older dogs... I go to one of the best vets in Australia and I have tried all
the normal things . He is happy and fit within himself - not scratching all the
time but looks terrible..... special washes (this actually made it worse!),
drug combinations (initially cleared it up really well - three times over a 2
year period - but it kept coming back) But the vet said that those drugs
will not work at this stage. Daily thyroid tablets. The last resort left is
is to use small doses of Ivermectin daily for 3 months...apparently this has
been very successful...does anyone have any other advice please or any ideas
where I can buy the Ivermectin (Ivomac for Cattle given orally) on line. The
vet said it will be $900 from them which is a ridiculous price. (it is used for
drenching cattle so should be available on line at a reasonable price).

I would be grateful for all advice please

cheers
Julie

robbie kerr <robbiekerr@...> wrote:
Hello ebveryone

Can anyone help me please?

I bought a dobermann puppy 1 half years ago.

He is a dog.

when I got him from the breeder he was in a shed with many other pups, and
upon returning home he has severe darohea all over my house for a few days
until I took him to the vet and they treated him.

Unfortunately now he is still not healthy and has lumps all over his skin
and beneath his chin on the mizzle area there are large spots which burst
and bleed when I play with him.

Sometimes when someone comes to the door he does not bark but whines and
then wets all over my hall.

Why does he behave like this and is it normal? I read that lomps on the
skin can sometomes be called dog acne? Is this likely to bleed?

He also never barks or growls and is often not very aware of his
surroundings. He sometomes vomits in the morning too and his coat has very
severe dandruff. It's upsetting to see my dog like this but the vet does
not seem too worried about him. Can you please give me some advice about my
dog and what i can do to help him.

I have tried many products to help him with his coat and skin but atraight
after bathing him the dandruff returns. He looks unwell too as his spine is
curved not straight like other dobermann dogs i have seen. His tail is
sloaped down. He has a reasonable temperment but is for some reason
sometimes not interestred in his surroundings and whines a lot.

Please Help

Thank you for reading my message.

Rob

>From: LuSwinton@...
>Reply-To: dobermaneuropeclub@...
>To: dobermaneuropeclub@...
>Subject: [Doberman Europe Club] FDA warns Iams Co. about chemical in food
>for overweight pets
>Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:05:50 EDT
>
>For your information/cross posting:
>
>
>
>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/agriculture/story.html?id=dfddca69-f9bc-4ffe-\
a539-8e8ade895a24&k=97619
>
>Jean
>(Always for George - Always for the Rimadyl Dogs)
>
>
>
>**************************************
> See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

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