Oh My, Ralphie has to have surgery...on his Wee wee!

[lillymae]

NO! You are not making too much of it . A dog can cause himself injury, so you do need to stop it some how. It is a behavioral issue so maybe you need to start calling some dog trainers and see if any of them have experience with it. I would try Cesar Millan, I'll bet he knows what to do . Have you tried the bitter apple yet?

[ralphier]

No, I haven't got the bitter apple yet. I better go get some today. He did MUCH better yesterday and we had no wee wee sightings. And so far so good today. We will see. My boyfriend really wants to do the surgery. He is scared that we won't be there and it will stay out too long one day or something like that and then he will really be in trouble. So right now I am just going to watch him like a hawk and start looking in to finding the best possible surgeon to do this if surgery is what we choose. I am kind of leaning towards surgery at this point but I am too terrified to fully commit.

[lillymae]

Well if it's not actually too long and they do surgery it may not resolve the issue. The surgery will not resolve the behavioral issue and may add to it.
Think about it, it's going to be sore and then he will want to lick it for sure. You need to figure out something to take his mind off of it. Is he your only dog? maybe he needs a friend. Just something to consider. Or maybe he feels the other dog is taking away from his attention.

[ralphier]

Yeah, that is definitely something else to consider. I have been keeping him busy but nothing seems to work as well as when we were out of town. I think it had to do with changing his environment and having my entire family in the same house.

I have another Yorkie (Agnes) and they play together on and off all day long. When he is not playing with her, he is either taking a nap on my lap while I work or we are playing together (for the most part).

[lillymae]

Have you tried a kong?

[ralphier]

So Ralphie has been doing EXCELLENT . He acts like he wants to lick every now and then but I just say "NO" and he stops and does something else. We have even gone several days without him even trying. So Bravo little Ralphie, ha ha.

Seriously though, it has been a MAJOR relief. I am not saying his problem is poof gone, but I am at least encouraged and see that he is capable of stopping this. Hopefully for good.

Thank you all so much for the advice...especially lillymae (you are soo good to me and your advice and encouragement is so very much appreciated ).

[Patti]

That's great to hear!!

[lillymae]

Good Job Ralphie and Ralphies MaMa. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions on this wingy thingy again.

[livingdustmops]

Originally Posted by kalina82

LOL sometimes that is the problem. There was a german shepard who's sheath wasn't long enough and the owners waited 2 years to do something about (poor dog). The surgeon had to take the whole thing off just because the situation went on way too long. Other situations, usually with bull dog puppies, involve just taking off the tip becuase its been licked for so long that its raw and just cannot go back into the sheath anymore. its so inflammed, irritated and raw that its on its way to dying. so the tip comes off and the rest remains. Even after surgery you need to do behavior modiications because they are so used to licking that they will feel the need to continue to do it. Plus now it hurts and the sutures are itchy. So pain meds are a huge help. Staying in the hospital for a few days helps too because the staff is usually there 24/7 and can keep a sharp eye on the dog. Also if they are too adament about licking it and cones/pain meds don't help, a mild sedative needs to be used. they can ruin the surgery if they lick it too much.

So either way you need to work on behavior modification to get him to stop licking. Hopefully if you can get him to stop now his penis will get a break and be able to go back in its sheath. However, know that even if you can get him to stop there may already be some damage done and surgery might still be needed.

As far as finding a surgeon, you usually need to ask your regular vet for a referral to a specialist. make sure the specialist is board certified. They have more training and have seen/done most types of surgeries. I've just done a search on the ACVS site (american college of veterinary surgeons) for FL and came up with this list. ACVS - Diplomate Directory i don't know which is closest to you but all of these surgeons are board certified (diplomates) and are qualified to do the surgery. I'm sure your regular vet knows one of them and can refer you to one so you can talk to them about it.

This is excellent advise. We had a Yorkie come through rescue for this very reason and he had to have surgery twice because of the delay in having it done. He is fine now but it was very scary for awhile.

To be on the safeside I would make an appointment for a 2nd opinion from one of these recommended surgeon's as this is not something you should be self diagnosing on a website. Everyone has good intentions and might be right but I wouldn't want to gamble on something like this.

[ralphier]

Originally Posted by livingdustmops

This is excellent advise. We had a Yorkie come through rescue for this very reason and he had to have surgery twice because of the delay in having it done. He is fine now but it was very scary for awhile.

To be on the safeside I would make an appointment for a 2nd opinion from one of these recommended surgeon's as this is not something you should be self diagnosing on a website. Everyone has good intentions and might be right but I wouldn't want to gamble on something like this.

Thank you. You are definitely right. My first concern was getting him to stop the behavior if I could, to make sure he did not do damage and to make sure that I was doing everything I could possible do to avoid surgery. But after reading your post, I realize that I need to stop listening to just my vet and and seek another opinion, whether he has stopped the behavior or not.

I took him to the vet a few weeks ago and the Dr. said that there was not any damage done yet but he was still really pushing the surgery. He never goes into great specifics about it though which is slightly unnerving. There are only so many questions I can ask about something that I really don't know much about.

Would it be odd or rude to ask for a referral to a specialist if my Dr. seems so confident that he is the one that should be doing the procedure? I would never not do what was best for Ralphie just because I don't want to offend my vet, but I would still feel a little weird asking? Is this something that is pretty standard to ask?

I found a few vets in the Miami area from the ACVS website but they all require a referral. So really I guess I have no choice but to ask my vet.

[livingdustmops]

I would just be very honest with your vet and tell him you would like a second opinion as you are very concerned with the whole surgery and it is very expensive. Tell him your little guy means the world to you and you want to do right by him.

If he was a human doctor he would fully understand and I hope he would fully understand now.

[ralphier]

Originally Posted by livingdustmops

I would just be very honest with your vet and tell him you would like a second opinion as you are very concerned with the whole surgery and it is very expensive. Tell him your little guy means the world to you and you want to do right by him.

If he was a human doctor he would fully understand and I hope he would fully understand now.

Okay thank you. He knows that Ralphie is my world so I am sure he will understand, I just feel a little awkward. I will just have to "buck up" though .