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Hi everyone. My husband and I have been thinking of adopting a puppy. We attempted to adopt a pup a few weeks ago (12 week old lab/pit mix) and unfortunately, after we brought her home, we felt she would play too rough for our kitties so had to bring her back. We were so heartbroken! In the meantime, my father called me telling me he knows someone who has an 8 month old lab that they rescued and were thinking of keeping her for themselves but found out the husband is highly allergic. My husband and I went to go meet the pup the other day and she is so sweet, gentle and calm. My question is this, nobody has records of any vaccinations being given so I have no idea what she has received/not received. I called over to my vets office and they told me that they can administer the distemper, parvo and rabies again. I'm curious to get your thoughts on this. Again, I'm unsure if she's ever really had any vaccinations b/c there are no records indicating this. She also still needs to get spayed which I would do ASAP b/c I don't want her to go into heat.
Also, does anyone know if labs do well with adult cats? I have 3 adult cats and one of them is just nutsy and runs all over the house (he rules the roost!). I'm concerned that a lab would try to retrieve him (or hunt him). My female kitty is already stressed out about the crazy kitty so I worry about her as well...but we really want to adopt a puppy and this one seems as though she has a great tempermant.
I look forward to hearing everyones replies. Thank you.
Can your vet do titers instead of the vaccines? I would be hesitant to vaccinate a puppy twice for the same thing, especially rabies. If she already had a rabies vaccine, you can overload her system with a second, especially if they're given so close to each other. If they rescued the dog, wouldn't the rescue give them all the vaccination paperwork? Can they call the rescue to see if they still have them?
Is there any way you can bring the dog into your home for a night to see how it does? It's hard to say how this particular dog will do with your cats. Some are good, some like to chase. If they allow you to take her for a night, that will probably be your best bet. Good luck!
if she was a stray runnin' loose on the street, i would guess that she has not been vaccinated for anything.... but mak's idea of a titer is a good one too....
and yes, labs can get along VERY NICELY with kitties:
this is a picture of buddy-the-giant-lab (98 lbs of SOLID lab muscle) and my charley-chubby-cat a month or 2 after buddy and his person came to stay in my house......
Can your vet do titers instead of the vaccines? I would be hesitant to vaccinate a puppy twice for the same thing, especially rabies. If she already had a rabies vaccine, you can overload her system with a second, especially if they're given so close to each other. If they rescued the dog, wouldn't the rescue give them all the vaccination paperwork? Can they call the rescue to see if they still have them?
Is there any way you can bring the dog into your home for a night to see how it does? It's hard to say how this particular dog will do with your cats. Some are good, some like to chase. If they allow you to take her for a night, that will probably be your best bet. Good luck!
I asked my vet if they could do a titer and they said not at this age and that the best bet would be for her to get the vaccinations again. I feel bad too. The woman who I would be getting the dog from actually personally rescued the dog herself from a not so nice situation in another state. She has family who lives in that area and who told her about the dog being crated for 20 hours out of the day with another dog in the crate, etc. so she decided to take the dog back to NY with her. In other words, she is not a person who usually does rescues...and who knows about the people who owned the dog before she rescued. They told her the dog had all the shots but had no record of it. The woman who I would be getting the dog from said she does believe the dog has her vaccinations but my concern is that there is no evidence, etc. I'd hate for the dog to contract something b/c it didn't have shots and also, God forbid it bites or playbites a stranger...then I have no proof of rabies shot, etc. I don't like the idea of administering everything a 2nd time either...
I explained to the woman that I would have to cat test first. She said I could take the dog overnight and if she does chase my kitties, she will take her back without a problem. I don't think 1 night would suffice with the cats b/c my cats are going to be in shock themselves (especially the crazy cat; I don't think he will be crazy until he gets used to the situation) so he probably won't act normal until a few days... I suppose though if the dog does show any aggression with the kitties being calm, that would definitely help us identify if the pup would get along with the kitties or not.
if she was a stray runnin' loose on the street, i would guess that she has not been vaccinated for anything.... but mak's idea of a titer is a good one too....
and yes, labs can get along VERY NICELY with kitties:
this is a picture of buddy-the-giant-lab (98 lbs of SOLID lab muscle) and my charley-chubby-cat a month or 2 after buddy and his person came to stay in my house......
Aww, how sweet! I do know dogs and cats can get along as when I was a teen, we had an adult cat and then added a cocker spaniel puppy. We also added another kitty after that. The dog would break up the cat fights like a referee. It was really funny.
My concern is that my kitties are treated like royalty and have been raised much different than my cats were when I was a kid. Our cats are treated like our children so they get lots and lots of attention. I know my female calico is very stressed out b/c of Fred (the youngest adult male). He torments her. There is no controlling Fred. We've tried everything! I know when we brought home Ginger, the lab/pit mix, my calico hid in the basement behind the entertainment center and I couldnt' find her. The thing is, the dog never even went down to the basement so I don't understand why she would have hid behind the entertainment center and lodged herself between that and the wall. She's the one I worry about most. She's already a little stressed in life b/c of Fred. When we had the other puppy for a day, our calico would not eat and everytime she tried, she would chew the food and just spit it out. Kind of like she was hungry but maybe nauseaus at the same time. I just worry about her adjusting also.
Love the pic that you attached! Awesome! The lab we are looking at is about 40 pounds and supposedly 8 months...so I'm assuming maybe she will become 50 pounds by the time she's a year.
They told her the dog had all the shots but had no record of it.
Ah, ok. That makes sense! I'm willing to bet that the dog doesn't have its shots. Even if I lost my vaccination records, they are on file at the vet's office. Your best bet is to do the vaccines, especially since things like parvo are terrible diseases and not easy to treat!
Ah, ok. That makes sense! I'm willing to bet that the dog doesn't have its shots. Even if I lost my vaccination records, they are on file at the vet's office. Your best bet is to do the vaccines, especially since things like parvo are terrible diseases and not easy to treat!
I agree. That's why if we decide to keep her, I will have no choice but to go that route. My concern is that if she already had the vaccinations if this will hurt her (although my vet said it wouldn't). Then again, she isn't even spayed yet at 8 months and she only rescued her 3 weeks ago so normally most responsible puppy owners would have done the spaying by now...I think. Sorry if I offended anyone, I don't mean too. I know I've always been told to spay before 6 months.
I'm not sure about females, but I had my male neutered at 8 months, pretty much the second he started humping and lifting his leg to pee. That took care of those issues within a few weeks! I'm assuming females should be done before first heat, but I admit I don't even know when that occurs!
There is stuff you can give your dog that softens the blow of the vaccines, especially the rabies. I cannot for the life of me remember it, but I will email my friend, who's a rescue coordinator and gives this to all their dogs. She's into limited vaccines, but cannot do that in a rescue, so this is the next best thing. I know you can buy it at places where vitamins are sold.
Bear in mind that a dog with no training at all may be of the opinion that it's perfectly a-ok to chase cats - a "bit of sport" if you will - but the dog doesn't truly harbor any ill will.
It's not so much the immediate reaction I look for but rather the ability/willingness to grasp that chasing cats is not allowed, end of story. There might be a few instances of "does this really mean I can't chase cats any time at all" so it's imperative to be consistent 100 and 10% of the time.
Also, ANY dog that's been through tough times isn't really going to show its true self for some time. She may, for example, be so taken aback/unsure of her yet-again new surroundings that she wouldn't dream of moving, let alone chasing cats... but some months down the road it seems like it might be a bit of fun. It doesn't mean she's suddenly become the devil's spawn.
It's extremely hard (impossible really) to predict just how a rescue is going to turn out. A willingness to learn, to adapt, to listen, to try to figure out what it is you're wanting (but don't think she's going to understand for a bit) is really what you need to be looking for.
Best of luck to you and her.
ETA: ref the vaccinations... You're kind of between a rock and a hard place and bear in mind whatever your state's legal requirement is vis-a-vis rabies vax. I'd say you'll have to do them again, but what I'd recommend you do is to do them individually - or at the very least do the rabies separate from all other vax. This will allow her immune system to cope with one at a time rather than trying to cope with all at once.
Bear in mind that a dog with no training at all may be of the opinion that it's perfectly a-ok to chase cats - a "bit of sport" if you will - but the dog doesn't truly harbor any ill will.
It's not so much the immediate reaction I look for but rather the ability/willingness to grasp that chasing cats is not allowed, end of story. There might be a few instances of "does this really mean I can't chase cats any time at all" so it's imperative to be consistent 100 and 10% of the time.
Also, ANY dog that's been through tough times isn't really going to show its true self for some time. She may, for example, be so taken aback/unsure of her yet-again new surroundings that she wouldn't dream of moving, let alone chasing cats... but some months down the road it seems like it might be a bit of fun. It doesn't mean she's suddenly become the devil's spawn.
It's extremely hard (impossible really) to predict just how a rescue is going to turn out. A willingness to learn, to adapt, to listen, to try to figure out what it is you're wanting (but don't think she's going to understand for a bit) is really what you need to be looking for.
Best of luck to you and her.
ETA: ref the vaccinations... You're kind of between a rock and a hard place and bear in mind whatever your state's legal requirement is vis-a-vis rabies vax. I'd say you'll have to do them again, but what I'd recommend you do is to do them individually - or at the very least do the rabies separate from all other vax. This will allow her immune system to cope with one at a time rather than trying to cope with all at once.
Thanks for the info. I've actually met other rescue dogs at some events and you can clearly see such a difference between those dogs and this one. I felt terrible for the other dogs b/c it seemed like they had no personality (walked around with their tail between their leg, had no personality). I'm thinking that may be part of what you are referring too? The dog we are looking at now seems to be showing her true self (from what I think it is and from what I've seen). She's living with another dog and they play fight which is just adorable and this one wags her tail and shows affection whereas the other rescues I've met really have no personality. It's really, really sad b/c we decided not to get one of those b/c we felt like they were stuck in their own shell with not knowing how to be a dog.
If we decide to adopt her, I will def speak to my vet about giving the rabies at a separate time. Also, I would want to get her spayed the first week. I didn't think to ask them if they could administer the vaccinations and also spay in the same week. Guess that will be another call over to my vet! I think they think I'm nuts there b/c I call all the time in regard to my cats or asking questions about puppies. LOL..
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My concern is that if she already had the vaccinations if this will hurt her (although my vet said it wouldn't). Then again, she isn't even spayed yet at 8 months and she only rescued her 3 weeks ago so normally most responsible puppy owners would have done the spaying by now...I think. Sorry if I offended anyone, I don't mean too. I know I've always been told to spay before 6 months.
