Moving and there systems

[Lovetodream88]

How long can there systems and there bodies stay messed up from moving? I had finally got Callie to where she was eating decently until a few days before we moved and now she is hardly eating at all. I have been hand feeding her for almost a year because that just works for us twice a day once in the morning and once at night but I keep some food down all day. She is eating only a few pieces of food in the morning and a few at night. She will eat a little chicken but not much. I bought a can of the wellness core like what she is on dry food wise and smeared some on a paper plate and she licked it a little but not much so I took a piece of her dog food and dipped it in some wet food and gave it to her kinda like doggy chips and dip and she ate a little bit more but not much. She is drinking well and playing pretty well except last night she only wanted me to carry her around and because I felt so bad that she feels bad about moving I did for 3 hours and if I sat her down she just stared at me all sad so I would pick her back up. Her poo is not diarrhea but its not 100% solid either its shaped but pretty wet and soft looking. When will she go back to normal and when should I be more worried then I already am? We have been moved for a week.

[yorkietalkjilly]

I'm sorry Callie is having problems with the move! It's pretty typical for a Yorkie to internalize everything and take it personally. One thing is most likely happening, she is picking up any anxiety that you have and doesn't know how to handle it. I know it will be hard to do but I would stop feeling sorry for her - she is sensing it and not dealing well. With people, we appreciate someone feeling sorry for us when we are unhappy or worried but dogs can't process that whole abstract without sensing the worry of the person and they don't know why that person is sad toward them. They
get sad, too.

I would just be as matter of fact and upbeat as possible and even fake happiness, a lot of smiling at her, clapping your hands softly and speaking very upbeat, telling her what a big, good, strong girl she is. When Tibbe was new & scared by noises, I would use all the upbeat, strong-sounding words I knew to talk to him, the saying of those positive things just sort of charged me, made me feel good just to say them. I called him "my Soldier", "my Hero", "big man", "tough guy", "tougher than nails", etc. It really seemed to pump him & I think it was just him reacting to my natural feelings associated with those words. Can't help but prop one up a bit just to say those things. Tibbe reacted in kind.

Rather than sort of coddle Callie, if you could put on some music with a bit of a beat, get a bouncy air about the room & you, entice her to play some, put her through some training, teach her a new trick and keep her distracted and busy, she will likely start to relax. Busy dogs are usually happy dogs and the nervous tummy from the new, strange situation could start to feel empty as she works & plays with you, finds she needs more energy to keep up with you keeping busy.

If you make a little fun game of the new things as they come along rather than feeling bad for her, she will likely transition better. I'll bet she's just sensing every worry you have, her nerves are going straight to her tummy & upsetting it/unsettling it, and would love some work to do, a little ball to chase or a mind-game to play, to get her having some fun again. Just try it and see if she doesn't like a little change toward the positive. And can you try putting some of her food in a kong toy and tossing it around, seeing if she won't chase it, sniff & take a few bites? Or toss her food a few feet across the floor or hide pieces to see if she will seek it out & eat it? Making a game of it might get her wanting to try some food if she has to chase it, run get it, etc.

I hope tomorrow finds Callie feeling better, eating & Taylor happier!

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

I'm sorry Callie is having problems with the move! It's pretty typical for a Yorkie to internalize everything and take it personally. One thing is most likely happening, she is picking up any anxiety that you have and doesn't know how to handle it. I know it will be hard to do but I would stop feeling sorry for her - she is sensing it and not dealing well. With people, we appreciate someone feeling sorry for us when we are unhappy or worried but dogs can't process that whole abstract without sensing the worry of the person and they don't know why that person is sad toward them. They
get sad, too.

I would just be as matter of fact and upbeat as possible and even fake happiness, a lot of smiling at her, clapping your hands softly and speaking very upbeat, telling her what a big, good, strong girl she is. When Tibbe was new & scared by noises, I would use all the upbeat, strong-sounding words I knew to talk to him, the saying of those positive things just sort of charged me, made me feel good just to say them. I called him "my Soldier", "my Hero", "big man", "tough guy", "tougher than nails", etc. It really seemed to pump him & I think it was just him reacting to my natural feelings associated with those words. Can't help but prop one up a bit just to say those things. Tibbe reacted in kind.

Rather than sort of coddle Callie, if you could put on some music with a bit of a beat, get a bouncy air about the room & you, entice her to play some, put her through some training, teach her a new trick and keep her distracted and busy, she will likely start to relax. Busy dogs are usually happy dogs and the nervous tummy from the new, strange situation could start to feel empty as she works & plays with you, finds she needs more energy to keep up with you keeping busy.

If you make a little fun game of the new things as they come along rather than feeling bad for her, she will likely transition better. I'll bet she's just sensing every worry you have, her nerves are going straight to her tummy & upsetting it/unsettling it, and would love some work to do, a little ball to chase or a mind-game to play, to get her having some fun again. Just try it and see if she doesn't like a little change toward the positive. And can you try putting some of her food in a kong toy and tossing it around, seeing if she won't chase it, sniff & take a few bites? Or toss her food a few feet across the floor or hide pieces to see if she will seek it out & eat it? Making a game of it might get her wanting to try some food if she has to chase it, run get it, etc.

I hope tomorrow finds Callie feeling better, eating & Taylor happier!

Thanks. I will get one of her doggy puzzles out today that she loves and see if that will help.

[sganow]

When we moved from Nebraska to Texas, our dogs didn't have any trouble with food, but one of our Yorkies, Maggie, took the whole moving thing pretty hard. At first, her daddy, which she adores and she is daddy's girl in every way, was away for the first 3 months until our house in Nebraska sold and we all were able to move to Texas and be together again. Maggie went into a severe depression while daddy was gone. After we all moved to Texas Maggie was thrilled to be with her daddy again (and she is his shadow), but she will not warm up to people here. She was always the sweetest little thing and loved everyone. Now she freaks out when she sees someone outside the family. She barks and growls and wants to bite them. She has nipped a couple people here but not enough to hurt them. We have to keep her kenneled up our outside in the back yard if anyone comes over. She is even like this with the kids' friends here that have been over to our house many, many times. Yet, anyone that has come to visit that she know when we lived in Nebraska she is fine with. It's so strange. And we have been here for over 2 years now, but she still freaks out on people. I guess she just hates Texans! LOL!!!!

My point is that sometimes a big event in the dog's life can really affect them! It's not always easy for them and can be very traumatic to them. Good luck! I hope everything works out!

[Nancy1999]

How about taking her for a long walk? They always say a tired dog is a happy dog, and it might stimulate her appetite. I think you may be giving her too much coddling by hand feeding and carrying her around for 3 hours. While it's understandable why you would do this, it's not good for Callie, you make her feel like there is a reason to be scared when you coddle them. Any time you hand feed, I hope you make her sit or do some trick first, and I would hope you start allowing her more independence by placing her food in a bowl. If she’s not eating soon, I’d do a vet check.

[Lovetodream88]

I have hand fed her for about a year now because she is not a big eater and she had been having hypoglycemia episodes and we could not figure out why so to just avoid them I make sure see eats twice a day by hand feeding her and before big events or stressful things. I know hand feeding is not necessarily recommended but Callie will starve herself and sense I don't have a job and I have the time to do it. I know I should not have given in a carried her around for 3 hours I just felt so bad and that little face looked so sad. I did get her favorite doggy puzzle out tonight and that got her hungry and to eat a good amount. Thinking I need to get her another dog puzzle she loves them so much.

[nanahas3]

We moved a month ago and are going through the same thing with both Laddy and Kyra. Like you have tried everything including vet and stool samples. They are in good health and seem happy just their systems are out of wack. We have city water now and thinking maybe the clorine.

[Verbena]

I would also put a little pumpkin in their food. Good fiber. Try giving bottled water too

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Verbena

I would also put a little pumpkin in their food. Good fiber. Try giving bottled water too

My mom made doggy pumpkin cookies so that got Callie to eat a bit of pumpkin because she wouldn't eat it normally.

[sganow]

The guy at the pet food store we shop at has suggested Fruitables (canned) for good dietary fiber and to help the digestive system. It has pumpkin in it. You can pour it onto food, or one of his suggestions was to get one of the freezer trays they sell and make little dog biscuit shaped frozen treats with the Fruitables. It might be worth a try.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

I have hand fed her for about a year now because she is not a big eater and she had been having hypoglycemia episodes and we could not figure out why so to just avoid them I make sure see eats twice a day by hand feeding her and before big events or stressful things. I know hand feeding is not necessarily recommended but Callie will starve herself and sense I don't have a job and I have the time to do it. I know I should not have given in a carried her around for 3 hours I just felt so bad and that little face looked so sad. I did get her favorite doggy puzzle out tonight and that got her hungry and to eat a good amount. Thinking I need to get her another dog puzzle she loves them so much.

If you've been hand feeding her for a year because of lack of appetite, it sounds like there may be other problems as well. Is she too thin? What does the vet say about her weight? Do you walk her every day? Walking can really help a dogs sense of confidence.

[Britster]

I personally think you're just coddling her way too much. If you continue acting like something is wrong, it's never going to stop. I think hand feeding her for over a year is a bit over the top, lol. No offense! You clearly love Callie very much. I think she's probably fine with the move, and you're not, and she's picking up on your feelings.

Jackson for example is terribly afraid of gun shots/fireworks/thunderstorms. He's 10000x worse if I'm picking him up, baby talking, and coddling him. If I just act like nothing is going on, turn up the TV loud, carry on as normal, he gets over it a lot faster.

[GeorgiesMomma]

I remember pm'ing Nancy about moving over the summer. I was so nervous that my now 5 year old and Georgie would have a hard time adjusting. I knew that our new house was a great move for all involved but I was still anxious. I realized after we moved that both Georgie and Isaiah were as happy as can be and my worries were unfounded. I agree with Brit they pick up on your feelings. When I stopped worrying and made the move fun (decorating our new rooms and exploring the new bigger backyard together) everything has worked out great!

[Lovetodream88]

She isn't underweight. I want to start taking her for walks in our new neighborhood but by the time I have stopped helping unpack and put stuff together its dark and I am allergic to mosquitoes so until they are gone it would really suck to go for a walk for me. I had to get a steroid shot and be on antibiotics a few weeks ago from just being outside for a few hours it was crazy. I did unearth her doggy treadmill when we moved so maybe I should start walking her on that. The hand feeding mostly started when she had her surgery last year and would not eat and she got into a habit of me feeding her twice a day and would hit her food holder and then run and sit in the chair I feed her in. She really is so stubborn she would starve herself. I am sure my anxiety and panic attacks are not helping but they are getting better and she seems to be slowly falling into a routine but still absolutely hates it when I am out of sight. My mom has been bring Sammy over every couple of days and that seems to be helping some too because she will go explore the fenced in yard and house more with him.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

She isn't underweight. I want to start taking her for walks in our new neighborhood but by the time I have stopped helping unpack and put stuff together its dark and I am allergic to mosquitoes so until they are gone it would really suck to go for a walk for me. I had to get a steroid shot and be on antibiotics a few weeks ago from just being outside for a few hours it was crazy. I did unearth her doggy treadmill when we moved so maybe I should start walking her on that. The hand feeding mostly started when she had her surgery last year and would not eat and she got into a habit of me feeding her twice a day and would hit her food holder and then run and sit in the chair I feed her in. She really is so stubborn she would starve herself. I am sure my anxiety and panic attacks are not helping but they are getting better and she seems to be slowly falling into a routine but still absolutely hates it when I am out of sight. My mom has been bring Sammy over every couple of days and that seems to be helping some too because she will go explore the fenced in yard and house more with him.

If she isn't underweight, I would stop the hand feeding, unless I was training. I think you may have made her too dependent on you, and this doesn't do anything for her confidence. No matter what you think, she will not starve herself; you just have to be more stubborn than her. Bugs sprays with Deet are really effective in keeping mosquitos away. Or perhaps you can get someone else to walk her. I hate to think of you cooping yourself up all summer long, that in itself would be depressing. I really think she is picking up on your anxiety, are you talking to anyone about this? My little rescue Ralphie suffered from severe panic attacks when I got him, his owner also hand fed. Ralphie is a totally different dog a year later, and while Ralphie previous owner loved him completely, she couldn’t give him the independence and the confidence he needed. She too would baby him and try to protect him against the world, and this just made him more scared. I know babying her makes you feel better, but it’s really not good for her. You have to ask yourself, do you really want her dependent on independent? You are training her to be dependent and this doesn't make a healthy dog.