Do inside dogs need Hartguard? We recently got a dog that is strictly indoors except for bathroom and walks every night. His water and food is in the house. I am under the impression dogs get heartworms from drinking water with mosquito larvae, is this right? (I guess I could do a search). Anyways, he came from a rescue shelter and they had him on Hartguard and Frontline, which I will continue, just don't know if the Hartguard is necessary.

I'm up for any advice/suggestions/experiences that could help. TIA!!

Heartworm Disease

Dogs get heartworm from being bitten by mosquitos so they do need to always be on Hartgard or something similiar. My dog was on it all year round even during the winter. As long as your dog was on it I would continue. If a dog is off it for a period of time then they need to be tested for heartworm again before the medication is started.

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the dog only has to be bit by an infected mosquito I think

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Thanks! I thought it was because of bites, husband said it was from their drinking water. How nice to be right!!

Dont rub it in too much..... nah.... go ahead!!

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From my understanding of my vet is yes all dogs in to take Hartguard, or something equal. HTH

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Revolution protects against fleas, heartworm, and parasites on the skin. You may want to ask your vet about trying that. It is the same idea as the Frontline.....you put the vial of stuff on them at their neck.

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you made me smile!!

Yes inside dogs need to be kept on heartguard year round. Heartworms are trasmitted from infected mosquitos. I was under the impression that in colder months they do not need to be on it however my vet informed me that if you have a basement or crawl space they still need to take the pill once a month as the mosquitos can live in these areas for quite sometime.

I must say (and please don't take this the wrong way) owning a dog you assume the responsibility to keep the dog healthy and protect it just as you would a child. It does not matter if the dog is indoors as the dog is still exposed to mosquitos when outdoors to potty and play. Please please please keep the dog on heartworm preventative as the treatment itself is quite expensive not to mention very painful for the dog. My uncle just had one of his dog's put to sleep because of heartworm and I also volunteer for a rescue group and it is unbelievable the amount of dog's we get in that are heartworm positive. I would say 75% of the dogs we take in are HW+.

What kind of dog did you get? Good luck with the new addition!

Nicole

Good luck to you and good luck with the dog. What kind?

Oh well, call me a horrible pet owner..... go ahead, I know some of you will jump all over me but this is what I do with our dogs... The thought of giving them a poison for something they probably didn't have just didn't make sense.

I have them tested every year and would happily have them treated if they get that dreaded misquito bite that transmits heartworm. So far, after 25 years of owning various dogs, we haven't had one positive yet.

Besides all the $ we have saved, we haven't had to give our dogs poison to prevent something they never contracted and that is curable. (although, the treatment is hard on the dog if it does get the disease.)

I believe this is a huge money maker for the heartworm medication companies and the vets who sell the medication with a bit of a % for them. We have moved quite a bit and I have to state my position to every vet. They never argue back .....

Question- Do you use Frontline or a simular product to keep flees away? nancy

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As I stated in my post, I thought they contracted heartworms through their drinking water.....of course I will continue whatever is necessary to protect it's health. I didn't pay 150.00 in adoption fees to throw him to the wolves! I was given all his shot records, dates he's to be Frontlined, Hartguarded, etc. He's microchipped as well, and they've put in our information now. I'm not wanting to not give it to him, just wanting to do what's necessary and if it wasn't, well.......BUT, I can see nightowlrn's point too. My mother in law is the same way.

Anyways, he's a HUGE standard poodle. All black and so precious. I'm 5'10" and his head is level with my waist. We absolutley love him.

No. If they were exposed to fleas, we would treat them. When they have to go to a kennel, we allow the kennel to dose with them with the Frontline stuff and then do a few more months just to be safe.

Have fun with him! Good luck with your decision.

So far so good! The only downside of him is he does NOT realize his size. He's got a great temperment and personality. He is alot of fun. Thanks!!

Those standard poodles are absolutely gorgeous!

Did you watch the Eukaneuba (spelling?) Dog show a while back? They had one on there that just took my breath away. BUT why in the world do they shave the dog in the way they do? ugh..LOL There must be some reason behind it, or something in the history of the dog, that made shaving them all the way around beneficial to the breed. Who knows.

Nightowl, can you explain the poison aspect of the Heartguard? Is it more or less bad for the dogs? I've never heard this before.

Uhmmm, when we got him, he had that cut!! Yuck. Of course he wasn't all ratted and coifed like you see on the dogshows, but had the pom poms on his hips, bushy tail, and boots or whatever on his ankles. We've already had him groomed with a kennel cut. Closely shaven except for very fluffy ears, top of head and tail. He looks MUCH better.

How do you insert a pic in a post and I'll let you see him. I can't figure out how to do it.


And, another dilema, he's 7 and neutered, but he's been humping (sicks me out to even type it!) and I hate it!! He's done it about 5 times since Sunday and I don't know why he's doing it. I thought neutering took that out of a male dog. Any suggestions/explanations anyone? I did a search and all sites say have your dog neutered, that will take that out of him, but he IS neutered. One site did say that he's trying to show dominance. Any truth in that you think?

Oh that is funny about the cut he had. LOL Glad to know you got rid of that, poor thing! LOL

Yes, I do also believe it is a sign of them asserting their dominance. I'm sure you are not letting him, but make sure he KNOWS that this is not allowed, whether you have to push back on him and shove him down or whatever it takes to get the message across. Make sure that everyone that either comes to visit or is in your family does the same.
Our male dog does the same thing, he is neutered as well. I used to just get grossed out and apologize to guests if he did it to them, until I read up about it and tried what was suggested.
It has significantly slowed down, almost to a halt.

The way I understand it ... Poopdles are water dogs. They were used to hunt game and get them out of the water. The tight curly hair helps keep them warm and float. The poodle cut was used for maximum bouancy.

Heres some styles for him <part 2 and part 3> TMNT was kinda cute lol


When Pet Owners Go Too Far — Part 2

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Oh my gracious!!!! Those poor dogs!!!! I like the tmnt also, but come on--those poor babies, the one with the horse carved on it's side......did you see his face??!

I have a Toy Black Poodle who is just absolutly beautiful and has an unbelievable disposition. She is so lovable and forgets her size when she tries and protect the house. She must think she is BIG all 9lbs of her.
Anyway I sympathize with your question because I have read on-line also that all the vaccinations and medicines aren't needed and are a HUGE money makere for the vets. They said the Vet makes no money on the visit it's the vaccies. So scary because you love this dog like it's your baby. My dog did have a few ticks this year so I am giving Frontline.

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I treat my 2 labs with frontline and heartguard because I had a cat who had heartworm and in a cat it is fatal. It killed him.

I treat them with the frontline because I have had an infestation of flees years ago when I had two inside cats and it was terrible.

I dont want to deal with flees or ticks.

One of my labs humps the other lab but has never tried to hump a human. They both are fixed. It drives my kids crazy. All I can do is yell at him to stop.

I wish there was a way I didnt have to treat them because it is so expensive. nancy

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Is this a side effect of the medication?

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We treat our 3 with frontline plus and interceptor for heart worms. Our home was infest with fleas after we got our 1st dog. Hubby doesn't like all the chemicals, but after our home became infested with fleas and found out our youngest was extremely allergic to fleas, he decided treating the dogs wasn't that bad of an idea. I made sure our first dog always took the interceptor. A friend of our family had a dog with heart worm when I was growing up. They had to put him down because of it. When we got our second dog we had to wait to start heart worm treatment because of medication he was on at first. He was severely beatenby someone. When he was finally better, he test positive for heart worm. Had to leave the poor baby with the vet again. It was expensive to treat but he got better. The wort part of the treatment was trying to make him stay quiet and not play (he was 8 months old at the time). Our dogs won't go without interceptor after that.
Judy

No, I don't know of any side effects. (I'm jumping in to answer because I think I caused the confusion). I had just mentioned in a reply to this post that I was also wondering about the humping (still sicks me out to even type it!!lol) our new dog was doing, since he's neutered and all. I had asked if anyone knew a way to stop this behavior and what would cause it, but it has nothing to do with Hartguard or Frontline.

Check with your vet in regards to your area. Where I live there have been two cases of heartworm in over 2j0 yrs so no need but when we go to California my vet insists upon it as they have a way higher incidence of it.

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The humping is asserting dominance. Even female dogs will do it. Is he showing this behavior to one person in particular or just anyone? How long have you had him? It might be because he is 'new' and trying to establish his place in your pack. Do you have other dogs? If you share a little more info I can give you some suggestions. Basically you need to let him know that you are dominant, not him!

About the heartworms....

Heartworms in animals is not always 'treatable'.....and it typically runs in the thousands of dollars to treat it depending on what stage the dog is at when heartworms are found. Baby heartworms do not grow up in the dog where they were born. If they did, the dog would quickly die and so would the heartworms.
A mosquito comes bites the infected dog, sucking up baby heartworms. During the next month, inside the mosquito, the heartworm babies grow into heartworm teenagers, a stage partway between baby and adult. The mosquito bites another dog, infecting it with teenage heartworms, which are now ready to develop into adults. After six or seven more months, the life cycle is complete. The new adult male and female heartworms are busily producing thousands of babies.

So part of not treating a dog for heartworms means that if your dog has them and you don't know it yet you could be part of the cycle of spreading heartworms to other dogs. This seems to be something that vets don't mention very often and people don't realize! I work with rescue orgs and if you have ever seen a dog go through treatment for heartworms it's not a pleasant experience, it can be very very painful! Many dogs die during treatment and it's excrutiating.

I do think it was him trying to assert his dominance. He's our only dog. We've had him just over a week now. He hasn't done this for about 5 days now, just really about the first 3-4 days we had him. He has been great, seems to be fitting in with our family just fine. It's weird for me to getting used to having a constant shadow all the time!! Everytime I get up, or change out laundry, answer the phone, etc., he's up and right behind me! Needless to say, I am smitten with him.

It sounds like he is adjusting well now. One thing to remember is that nothing should be "free".......he needs to sit and wait while you get his food ready, wait for you to go into the house first, etc etc. It sounds like since he is not humping anymore he has figured out his place in your pack and he knows he's not the leader, I would just continue making sure he doesn't try to assert dominance. It really sounds as if he has figured it out and he sounds really sweet! I LOVE standard poodles, my great grandmother's neighbor had a gray standard named Hank and she would let me walk him whenever I came over. I think the dog must have been bigger than me and I loved him so much!! My parents wouldn't let me have any pets and walking and playing with Hank was the highlight when I went to my gma's. So standards have a special place in my heart and now I foster for an all breed rescue organization.
Give that boy a pet from me and bless you for adopting!!!
Amy