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| Harvey 7 Coco 5 Months. |
My seven year old Dachshund Harvey came to us at the age of four and a half years old.
His previous owners openly admitted that they indulged him with treats and when I asked how often he was exercised, the reply was "He doesn't need much, he's only got small legs" So basically, Harvey had been overfed and under exercised. Furthermore, they went to work all day and poor Harvey was left locked in the kitchen alone for 8 hours. He had developed a form of OCD were he licks the floor for hours, even to this day. He also does this when he is excited by being petted or hugged.
It's a similar mental issue that happens to animals in a zoo that are left confined and not stimulated. You can spot them as they sway left and right or bob their heads up and down. It's a sad thing to witness.
As we had never had a Dachshund before we sadly broke all of the "golden rules" you should follow in relation to owning a Doxie and to avoid IVDD (Disc Disease)
In Sept 2012 Harvey ended up with rear leg paralysis to the point that he could not lift his bottom off the floor to go potty. We had to crate him for 6 weeks, something he had never been trained to be comfortable with and give him steroids which he is still taking and has bloated him up and he has lost a lot of his fur. Clearly, steroids are not healthy but they are the lesser of two evils.
From my experience, I have gained a lot of insight as to how and why Harvey ended up being unable to walk and I would like to share this with other people in hopes that perhaps people can avoid happening to their Daxie what sadly happened to Harvey.
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| Harvey just before he developed IVDD |
Avoid Obesity:
Never leave food constantly available in a bowl.
This is called “free feeding”
Instead, check on the dry food bag for the amount your hound should be eating per day.
This will be based on her current body weight, size, breed etc.
Get a plastic measuring cup (They usually come free with the branded dry dog food) and split her daily dose into two meals, morning and early evening. Add some warm water just to moisten it up a little. This also creates a gravy they seem to enjoy.
Free feeding makes for obese dogs and obese dogs die young. Fact.
Because a dogs instinct is to scavenge in the wild, anything that’s on the floor they will eat regardless of whether they’re actually hungry or not. Don't confuse greed with hunger.
Doxies have a tendency to gain weight which has a direct link to spinal pressure and later, spine damage which leads to paralysis in front or rear legs.
Also, a dogs sense of purpose is removed as soon as we put food in a bowl and walk away.
They eat their daily meal portion and then they sleep out of boredom.
In the wild, a big part of a dogs day is spent hunting or scavenging for food off the floor.
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| Harvey during his crate and supervised recovery |
Make feeding fun
and entertaining for your hound by putting her measured dry kibble into food toys such as interactive food balls you can buy that let bits of kibble fall out as they nudge the ball with their noses.
They LOVE it and it keeps them entertained and exercised for a good while.
In my opinion, no human food should be given to a dog.
As humans we are tricked into thinking we’re eating healthy food when actually, there are hidden sugars named things like Corn Syrup or Malta-dextrose added to enhance flavour.
These "hidden sugars" are the same as any sugar in the sense it rots teeth and adds calories. So human processed food should never be given to a dog for these reasons.
Unless it is a food that a dog would eat in the wild, such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, and chicken (Plain, not soaked in rich sauces etc) they should not be eating it.
Harvey is still unable to run properly, his rear legs are weak and he is in a constant state of vulnerability of further disc damage.
Disc issues are almost always caused by being the hound being overweight and by the dog owners allowing their doxies to run up and down the stairs and jump up and down off sofas, both of which I allowed Harvey to do until he started walking with his paw bent over on the account he had lost the ability to feel his back legs and paws.
A very stressful 8 weeks for him and me and something he is still suffering with today, six months on.
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| Harvey during his supervised rest & recover period. |
