Help with a hound

Beulah Gardens · #1 02/01/10, 12:14 PM

My son bought a bloodhound/mastiff pup. He's so sweet. His front legs are different though. when he relaxes in the sitting position the front wrists bow forward. I know NOTHING about hounds except that they are built a little different and am not sure if this is normal or if I should be concerned. Don't want to give the vet a $100 if it's normal. Does anyone know? I tried to get a good shot but he wasn't much into sitting today. LOL Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jay27 · #2 02/01/10, 12:22 PM

That is not normal, but I don't think I'd be too concerned. Worst case it is a deficiency of some kind. More likely, it is a defect that the dog will learn to live with. Hopefully it doesn't get worse as the dog's weight increases.

ETA: Have the vet look at it when you bring the dog in for vaccinations

jen74145 · #3 02/01/10, 12:40 PM

Eep, no. And with being part mastiff, I'd get him in pronto. I would probably consider having his hips checked too, to find out just what kind of haul you're in for with him.

I *hope* it's a deficiency and perhaps can be corrected somehow, but if not...oh, I would be so worried about lameness or injury when the dog gets bigger and runs.

JasoninMN · #4 02/01/10, 01:17 PM

As already mentioned that is not normal and the dog needs to see a vet. A few days is not going to make a difference but sooner the better. You have a puppy that is going to weigh well over a 100 pounds when its mature and a structural deformity on a giant can be much more crippling then a medium sized dog. It looks like the puppy has a carpel flexural deformity otherwise known as knuckling over. It is treatable and the sooner the better, its usually cause by an improper diet. Unfortunately blood hounds and mastiffs are very expensive dogs to own and you need to feed them a premium food and with their size comes even larger vet bills.

Here is a link you might want to look at.Knuckling over

Willowynd · #5 02/01/10, 01:33 PM

Vit C to bowel tolerance - increase slowly to 1000 mg and get the puppy on an adult dog food or better yet raw diet.

Beulah Gardens · #6 02/01/10, 02:46 PM

Jason, that is exactly what he is doing. I went to GreatDaneLady.com and she said not to let them on the slick floor and that is where we see issues the most, Most of the time he looks to be level 2. He is 3/4 bloodhound and 1/4 mastiff. I have been feeding him like I do our Newfie/GP crosses they weigh 150lbs. and they have never had a problem. His diet includes raw... we have only had him 2wks, he is ten wks old.

I made a vet appt. for Thursday when I go to town, I'm printing out the info for the vet. He ought to love that....LOL

Thanks everybody. I knew someone here would have it.

Beulah Gardens · #7 02/01/10, 03:36 PM

Well, I changed the appt for tomorrow instead. My son is just having a fit. The strange thing is Cody(son) runs a trap line that's about a mile long and Otter (the dog) runs the entire line with him, every day...his legs obviously don't hurt him..... yet. I'm glad we noticed before it got as bad as some of the pictures we've been looking at. Thanks again.

jordan · #8 02/01/10, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beulah Gardens

Well, I changed the appt for tomorrow instead. My son is just having a fit. The strange thing is Cody(son) runs a trap line that's about a mile long and Otter (the dog) runs the entire line with him, every day...his legs obviously don't hurt him..... yet. I'm glad we noticed before it got as bad as some of the pictures we've been looking at. Thanks again.

That's alot of ground for a 10 week old mastiff mix puppy to be traveling...I would cut that back big time.
Lois

FoxyWench · #9 02/01/10, 07:24 PM

your most likely reason...
the puppy was raised on cheap food.

get him on a good food (meat no corn, if you can go all raw) with a good multi vitimin high in vit c and plenty of sunshine (i know hard thie time of year)
because of his mix hes going to be a very big dog, restrict heavy excersize as its bad on growing joints, running should be when he wants and on grass (no concrete) ect.

its very likley though (that ankle bunkling) is from a low quality puppy feed...

side note, hes very cute!

Funnyfarm · #10 02/01/10, 08:14 PM

My coondog looked exactly like that when she was a puppy, now at 6 years old she has several points towards bench champion and more importantly she can run for hours at a time.

Beulah Gardens · #11 02/02/10, 12:41 PM

Thanks funnyfarm. you made Cody feel better.

We went to the vet this am. He went over the pups diet with me, said the only thing that was really not high enough was the calcium.. which makes sense because I raised the Newfies the same way but because they lived w/ the goats I gave them goats milk too so they would "smell" like a goat...that would be extra calcium.

Anyway, he said it could take 4 wks to see improvement and other than that the pup is in good shape. He also said it was hard to over exercise a hound as long as you keep the nutrients up. I was glad to hear that because I think it would kill the boys and the dog to leave him behind.

So we go back in 4 wks for his second vac and rabies shot, and another check up then.

Thank you all for the help. We had been trying to google pictures but couldn't get anywhere. I'm glad we gave up and decided to ask.

Willowynd · #12 02/02/10, 01:48 PM

http://www.greatmadanes.com/nutrition.html

Read this

Funnyfarm · #13 02/02/10, 06:28 PM

I know that nutrition is very important for any animal but I often wonder how grandpa's dog ever lived 16 healthy years on nothing but table scraps. In my opinion feed the best quality you can afford and keep that hound in the woods.

Funnyfarm · #14 02/02/10, 06:42 PM

here's a pic of my coondog with my daughter Help with a hound - Working and Companion Animals

jen74145 · #15 02/02/10, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funnyfarm

I know that nutrition is very important for any animal but I often wonder how grandpa's dog ever lived 16 healthy years on nothing but table scraps. In my opinion feed the best quality you can afford and keep that hound in the woods.

Real food is always better than processed dead God-knows-what. And too, the way dogs are sometimes bred these days... *shudder* They need all the help they can get. I really think we're killing ourselves and our pets with the filler diets we all eat now... but that's a topic for another thread.

jordan · #16 02/02/10, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beulah Gardens

Thanks funnyfarm. you made Cody feel better.

We went to the vet this am. He went over the pups diet with me, said the only thing that was really not high enough was the calcium.. which makes sense because I raised the Newfies the same way but because they lived w/ the goats I gave them goats milk too so they would "smell" like a goat...that would be extra calcium.

Anyway, he said it could take 4 wks to see improvement and other than that the pup is in good shape. He also said it was hard to over exercise a hound as long as you keep the nutrients up. I was glad to hear that because I think it would kill the boys and the dog to leave him behind.

So we go back in 4 wks for his second vac and rabies shot, and another check up then.

Thank you all for the help. We had been trying to google pictures but couldn't get anywhere. I'm glad we gave up and decided to ask.

What you, your son, your vet and Funnyfarm don't seem to be "getting" is that this is not just a hound. The mastiff portion of this pup is going to play into this as well and a mastiff or mastiff cross CANNOT take that kind of exercise! You push any mastiff cross to run 2 miles a day at 10 weeks old no less, you are going to cripple it. He's running with your boys because he's afraid of being "left" behind in a "pack" sense. You are already seeing some of what can come down the pike when it comes to legs and joints. He is going to be much larger than your average hound and will grow differently as well. He also needs to be raised differently to accomodate the growth rates and stages.
As the dog matures you can increase it's exercise, but not all at once.
Lois

Beulah Gardens · #17 02/02/10, 08:35 PM

Ya know Jordan...I got it. but what I don't get is two miles a day? and running. I don't know if you've ever "ran" a trap line but there is NO running involved. It is a lot of slow walking and trap resetting. The line is actually a loop that runs back on it's self 1 mile, takes them about three hours because there is always some new hole to explore and the pup LOVES it. The original question was is this cause for concern? turns out it is. Now, I'll leave him to the care of my vet. Who seems to think even the mastiff side of my pup is going to survive my care.

Beulah Gardens · #18 02/02/10, 08:37 PM

BTW~ Funnyfarm that hound is beautiful!

Mooselover · #19 02/06/10, 01:06 AM

BG, happy to hear your pup will be ok. (not to mention, absolutely beautiful) please keep us updated with his progress. and pictures of couse!!! i love hounds and mastiffs. (oh heck...i just love dogs) i've never thought about a hound/mastiff cross. that's gonna be one awesome dog.