Help, My Pomeranian Puppy Has A Lump On Her Tummy: What Could It Be?

This is described as an umbilical hernia. This is a birth defect that is usually quite minor. The lump you are noticing is likely to be a small amount of normal fat that has slipped into the location of the umbilicus (belly button).

The hernia, an opening in the muscle wall of the abdomen, is the result of an incomplete union of the two halves of the body during fetal development. If the hernia stays very small, it will need no treatment. On the other hand, if it gets bigger as the puppy grows, it may allow a loop of intestine to slip through the opening and become twisted. This would cut off the blood supply to the intestine and would require emergency surgery.

Ask your veterinarian to check the hernia at the time of each vaccination booster, about every three weeks. If the hernial opening gets big enough, the doctor will recommend that it be closed surgically. The procedure will require general anesthesia, but it is quite safe and recovery is speedy.

Pet groomer goes mobile, makes house calls 

Thor is about the size of a soccer ball and if he is the deity of anything, it is certainly not thunder. Belly rubs, perhaps. Thor is a Pomeranian, and on this morning, he is in the caring hands of Sonya Sanchez and her company, Sonya’s Mobile Grooming. Thor has been washed in one of Sanchez’s three trucks, custom-made units about the size of an ambulance. Ready for his blow-dry, Thor happily Continued…

With tree-pruning season approaching, Albany City Forester Craig Carnagey wants to warn residents not to have their trees cut just because someone comes to their door and recommends it. Continued…

Jackson animal lovers got a treat Saturday when the first Paws & Claws Expo came to the Jackson County Fair Events Center. The event featured a variety of pet-supply vendors, K-9 police demonstrations, contests and games for the whole family — sorry, Spot, humans only. Continued…

Help! My Pomeranian’s Claws Are Too Long

Claws, or nails, are dead, horny structures on the ends of each of a dog’s toes. The special skin that makes them has a very rich blood supply, and the claws of some young dogs up to two years old have been recorded as growing as much as six inches per week. In older Pomeranians, the claws may grow at half that rate.

Claws are very useful parts of a dog’s anatomy. They can help him to hold objects, will provide grip when he is moving and can even be used as weapons. Of the many nail disorders that may affect Poms, overlong claws and broken claws are the most common.

A dog’s claws grow all the time, and under normal circumstances they are constantly worn down through wear and tear. Overlong claws are caused by insufficient wear and tear, and dogs who are inactive because of age, illness or the laziness of their owners are most likely to suffer from them. The outer two claws on each paw and the dew claws are those that are most likely to be affected. Damage to the claws is often the result of digging or scrambling, and is more likely to occur if the claws are overlong.

Overlong claws will affect the way a dog walks, and will make his feet more prone to other injuries such as sprains. If left untreated, the claws may eventually grow around in a circle and bury themselves into the toe pads, causing severe pain.

If you think that your dog’s claws may be too long, ask your vet, a veterinary nurse or a professional dog-groomer to look at the claws for you. If they are too long, he or she will clip them. If your Pomeranian’s lifestyle means that this problem may recur, ask for a demonstration of how to clip your dog’s claws properly and safely yourself. Many owners are very reluctant to clip their dogs‘ claws from the fear that they may make the claws bleed, or that they may hurt their dogs. However, there is no guarantee that a claw will not bleed even if your vet or a dog groomer clips them, as judging the correct length can be very difficult, especially if the claws are jet-black.

If you do cut a claw and it bleeds, you can stop the bleeding with a styptic pencil. Any pain associated with claw clipping is usually due to the use of blunt or inappropriate clippers, which
squeeze rather than cutting cleanly. Few dogs enjoy having their claws clipped, but those used to having their feet examined regularly as part of routine health-checks will normally tolerate the experience. However, some dogs resent the procedure so much that they have to be sedated.

With a broken claw, if the tip is hanging off but the claw is not bleeding and does not look raw, you may be able to clip it free. The toe may be painful, however, so you should muzzle your dog first and ask someone to restrain him properly for you. If the claw is badly damaged, and particularly if it looks raw or is bleeding, bandage the affected paw. This will stop the claw from moving, and will make your Pomeranian more comfortable until you can take him to your vet.

Anita’s a pretty good girl 

Before there was Bubba, there was Anita. Anita is a 6-pound Pomeranian, named after soul singer Anita Baker. We adopted her three years ago from Chicago Animal care and Control at 2741 S. Western Ave.
Source: www.dailysouthtown.com

Abusive Pomeranian Dog Training: It Is Not Necessary!

The myth that puppies need to experience pain, physical discomfort or fear in order to learn persists widely today despite convincing evidence to the contrary. This often leads to ego crushing physical punishment and the trauma of social isolation. The result may be a guilt ridden owner applying such punishments during the Pomeranian puppies most impressionable age, between 5 and 16 weeks.

Clients should be made aware there are so-called “professionals” operating in many communities who still practice archaic correctional techniques. The following case was reported in the July, 1998 issue of Animal Behavior Consultant Newsletter:

An obedience instructor in a training class was demonstrating a correction with a client’s nippy Pomeranian puppy. She stuck her fingers down the pup’s throat when it nipped, causing a gag reflex. She then took the puppy between her hands and shook it. The puppy collapsed. The instructor and owner took the pup to a veterinary hospital, where it died.

Regrettably, this kind of abusive treatment abounds in popular books. Physical punishment can rarely be administered quickly enough to be associated by pups with misbehavior, or with proper consistency. Consequently the owner, who should appear to the pup as a model of consistency, is perceived by the pet as unpredictable. The owner’s homecoming times produce ambivalent behavior as the pup vacillates between joy and hyper submissive “shamed” actions. Most clients are quick to appreciate that their puppy is responding to them, rather than to the fact that a pair of shoes has been chewed up in the bedroom. Interestingly, physical punishment often accompanies the onset of client complaints that their puppy will not come to them when called; understandable, when one considers that the pup has received punishment inconsistently from hands that also try to express tenderness through petting.

Pomeranian puppies who learn that human hands and actions may be dependably associated with pleasure rather than pain seldom exhibit hand-shyness, submissive urination or defensive aggression. Training systems that use social rewards produce more healthy and stable behavior than those employing punishment. This is especially true in pups with highly excitable or inhibitable nervous systems. Accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative in puppy training requires patience and self-control, but the benefits outweigh the heartbreak of vexing behavior problems.

The puppy owners will be better equipped to influence their pet’s behavior if they understand the behavioral effects of health, nervous typology and consistency in handling. Therefore, the veterinarian who spends a few extra minutes to explain these factors will help to prevent early fear imprints and resultant behavior problems that often prompt owners to get rid of their Pomeranians.

Vet validates pet store warning 

I wanted to thank you for such an important article (Nov. 5). Many people still think it’s okay to purchase a puppy from a pet store. Unfortunately, as a veterinarian, I’ve seen the negative consequences of these purchases, which are heartbreaking. Continued…

A Very Interesting Way How Pomeranian Learn To Seek Attention

Did you know that your Pomeranian is capable of actually faking an injury in order to get extra attention? Think of children in that aspect. Regardless if you have kids or not, we all have seen an example of when a child will cry extra loud or scream about something that is wrong in order to yep, you guessed it get attention. But how can your dog do the same?

It is to be noted that this is a learned response that a dog must have picked up. For example, I recall a miniature poodle that required knee repair on the right rear knee. The surgery went well, and the dog recovered from anesthesia and was sent home the following day. At the one-week recheck the dog was still holding up the right rear leg, but this is not uncommon after only one week. Upon manipulation the knee felt strong, and a recheck appointment was scheduled for two weeks later. At the three-week post examination the dog was still holding the leg in the air and getting around on three legs. Again upon palpation the knee felt strong. X rays were taken to ensure that the surgical correction had not broken down. The radiograph confirmed that the knee was stable, but still the dog limped around on only three legs.

The doctor then questioned the owners about allowing her too much activity or letting her run on slippery floors, but the owners were conscientious about such things and had been extremely careful. Further discussion revealed the problematic behavior of her owners. It seems they had been lifting and holding their poodle a lot to “help” her out. They were very accommodating, and when she limped into a room they basically waited on her as if she were a princess. The doctor counseled the owners to stop paying so much attention to this limping and begin to treat her normally. The owners complied but still she held her right leg up in the air.

Finally the doctor decided to bandage up her left rear leg to evaluate if she could actually bear weight on it. The Pomeranian was able to and showed no sign of pain or apprehension. The good leg remained bandaged for one week, and upon removing the bandage the dog was four-legged again. Basically, the owners trained this dog to limp and had no idea that she could do so in an attempt to gain attention. It was a fascinating lesson. The moral to the story is: Be careful what you reinforce - you may get it.

Vet validates pet store warning 

I wanted to thank you for such an important article (Nov. 5). Many people still think it’s okay to purchase a puppy from a pet store. Unfortunately, as a veterinarian, I’ve seen the negative consequences of these purchases, which are heartbreaking. Find Out More…

One of the most frequent questions cat owners ask is what to do when a pet suddenly loses interest in using the litter box. No matter how much someone loves their pet, it is hard having an animal in the house that eliminates inappropriately. Find Out More…

Want to hear a scary story, just in time for Halloween Last week, a pit bull and her two puppies got loose in Newberg and killed a wallaroo. The wallaroo, an exotic pet that looks like a miniature kangaroo, was in its backyard when the pit bulls broke through a fence and attacked it. Find Out More…