for an ad-free Fetcheveryone experience!

Woof! Bark! And also Whiiiiiiiiiine.

4 lurkers | 108 watchers

Grast_girl Jan 2022 8:20pm, 25 Jan 2022 2,584 posts	0 Grast_girl OH is doing most of the work so far (getting a dog was his idea), but I always put a lot of pressure on myself. Hopefully, tonight we won't have quite as many accidents as yesterday evening. She is very cute, especially when she stalks and pounces on stuff.
Grast_girl Jan 2022 8:47pm, 26 Jan 2022 2,586 posts	0 Grast_girl I think she might have an eye infection. It seems more watery than the other one and maybe a bit swollen in the bottom lid. Any ideas?
RooA Jan 2022 9:14am, 27 Jan 2022 1,748 posts	0 RooA How's the eye this morning, G_g? Generally I don't mess around with eyes but just a bit of clear tears wouldn't worry me too much, and would just monitor. But if it is red or swollen or the discharge is milky or there any sign of anything odd on the eyeball itself I'd phone the vet. I have been previously advised to use cooled boiled water and a cotton pad to gently flush a weeping eye but again, probably after at least a conversation with a vet or vet nurse. In my experience vets that know you are quite happy to just have a chat rather than needing a full blown appointment but as you're a new owner and a new client they might be more invested in getting you in for an appointment. Big eyed breeds like beagles and spaniels are prone to the odd weepy eye, you'll learn what is normal for your pup eventually but as I say... with eyes I'm pretty cautious. With horses, eyes are ALWAYS an emergency! So that spills over into how I think about the dogs too. Although even with horses, clear tears get left and monitored... but swelling, redness, lots of milky discharge or any cloudiness in the eye and I wouldn't even wait on the next day! But that's horses.
Grast_girl Jan 2022 10:12am, 27 Jan 2022 2,588 posts	0 Grast_girl Thanks RooA. I haven't got hold of her long enough to check. Yesterday the tears appeared to be clear. No cloudiness of the eye itself. The way she tears around, it could just be a "black eye". I'll keep an eye on it and if anything changes we will get the vet to check it. I tried to get some pictures of it yesterday, but couldn't get her to stay still enough.
RooA Jan 2022 10:22am, 27 Jan 2022 1,749 posts	0 RooA It takes a while to gently teach then how to tolerate being handled, eyes, ears, mouth, paws and is best not rushed. But if you need to look and you have a second person then one of you can hold her firmly in a hug and the other can gently hold her face and look at the eyes. Being happily restrained is an important thing for them to learn too. You could try sitting in a chair and get puppy sitting between your feet, facing away while you firmly but gently restrain her round the chest. If she wiggles just hold until you get a moment of still, tell her she's a good girl then let her go. Repeat, building up the time of stillness, giving nice chest rubs. You can then, once you have a calm puppy, gently restrain her head (stroke her head with the back of your hand first and build up if she finds grabby hands a bit frightening) and have a look at the eye. Do it at this age before they get all their ideas about being independent! 😂 FWIW I'm 99% sure there'll be nothing actually wrong with the eye! But being able to check will put you mind at ease. Puppies can be worrying and overwhelming, especially if it is your first dog or first pet. It take time to learn to judge what needs attention and what will resolve on its own.
BaronessBL Jan 2022 11:44am, 27 Jan 2022 9,236 posts	0 BaronessBL Sound advice there from RooA. It's good to start getting puppies used to being handled all around their body from an early age so that when the vet might want to look at their ears/teeth/eyes it isn't a surprise to them. We did the Kennel Club Good Citizens Awards (not that you would ever be able to tell now) and for Bronze you have to show the examiner that you can do an all over inspection of the dog - eyes, ears, tail, feet, teeth. Then for the Silver Test it's the same but the examiner does the dog. I used to practice at the end of every walk by saying to Wanda 'Inspection Time' and then saying each thing as I looked at it e.g. 'eyes' 'ears' and so on with rewards for letting me do it without fuss. It's also a good way of checking they haven't picked up any burrs or small injuries on a walk too. Wanda was never particularly enthusiastic about it but she will tolerate either us or a vet having a look at her.
Roberto Jan 2022 11:50am, 27 Jan 2022 2,055 posts	0 Roberto Get her used to you wiping her eyes, and getting sleep out of them etc early on. The fun we have had trying to put drops in Arlos eyes previously 😂. We will use the cooled, boiled water with cotton pad to wipe Arlo's eyes If they seem weepy and if anything more than just a little weepy, straight on to the vets.
Cheeky’s Dad Jan 2022 11:51am, 27 Jan 2022 2,004 posts	0 Cheeky’s Dad Perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed Grast_girl It’s really not that much different to having a new baby, except without the sympathy and understanding from society at large. I am with you in spirit. Looking forward myself to a decent night’s sleep and not coming down to poo on the kitchen floor in the morning. It’s just a phase and very much worth it in the long run
Grast_girl Jan 2022 12:09pm, 27 Jan 2022 2,589 posts	0 Grast_girl Or the time off Cheeky’s Dad She's pretty good at being handled. We can check ears no problem and have done some/most of her nails at least once. Mouth is trickier. Good point about getting her used to us wiping her eyes, we've been using cotton balls for other areas that got a bit mucky. First whispers shower/bath (from us) will probably be Sunday.
Cheeky’s Dad Jan 2022 1:18pm, 27 Jan 2022 2,005 posts	0 Cheeky’s Dad Best tip I’ve ever had is to handle them all over incl fingers in ears, mouth, eyes etc 😳 all the time when they are little and you don’t need to. Then when they are older and you do need to, they’ll be used to it. Generally it works and the scars quickly fade 😂