How do you see your dogs?

[USHOG]

I would sell my soul to fix any of my dogs. Not being personal but after I have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours on a dog I am not going to let it die for lack of money.

I guess it all depends on how much money and time you have in a dog and how valuable it is to you. I do not treat them like people cause they are not people. My dogs are my life and my money they work hard  for me and in return I will do whatever they need to keep them in top shape.

[matt_aggie04]

I had to be in that same place two years ago this month.  I had a dog sustain a chest wound injury that required me to drive to A&M at around 1am and spend around $400.  That is where the fun started because some young girl told me she had put 10 gause in the wound, I took Brandy to my vet a few days later and they only found 9.  To compound this they had not used the gause with reflective strips so if it was in her chest cavity there was no way to tell.  They knocked her out and went into her chest cavity looking for the 10th gause and never found it.  As a result of her chest cavity being opened and not closed properly by my vet about 20 hours later her lung started to collapse and by the time I got her back to the vet at A&M she could hardly breathe.  I was pissed to say the least and I just walked in there and told them to fix her.  Three days later I picked her up and received a bill for an additional $1000.  They smiled when I asked for a former student discount haha.  I never paid the first bill for $400 and when they called looking for payment I explained my position and the lady was kind enough to wave it.  There were several moments during that ordeal that I considered cutting my losses on the dog but I just couldn't let myself do it.  I know that makes me a sissy but it is hard to do when you know they were working their a$$ for you when it happened.  I had just spent $500 on the same dog two months prior to an emergency vet clinic for a serious rear leg injury where they told me I should amputate her leg    As you can tell from my tone and lack of respect the vets that I have dealt with on these cases no longer get my business.
MG

[ETHHunters]

I'm going to do everything I can to save my dogs. Definatly anything under a $1000 you would be crazy not to get them fixed. You have way more in them than that and that has nothing to do with what they are worth. Ive spent over $500 on a couple different dogs and wouldnt bat an eye to do it again. I also use a vet who is understanding and knows I cant afford to pay for things that are not nescessary.

[lacurdog]

I 've spent a 1,000 on one of my pups and 4,000 on another one.Its just money you can't take it with you.

[setexasplott]

hey u got 2 pay 2 play and a dog  is not a robot . it is a living creature. give it the best treatmant u can in my opinion. if you cant afford a vet bill from time 2 time then you should find a good home for some of the other dogs and try to keep some money for when u do have to go to the vet which can be anytime you go hunting with your dogs . bottom line if you cant afford them find somebody who can afford to treat them right . hell i got a three legged yard dog that will meet you in driveway when u pull up at my house

[TrueBlueLacys]

None of you will be surprised to hear I'd spend whatever it took to keep Sadie happy and healthy. Money is just money. And money can't buy the migraines and ulcers my dog gives me

But to me happy is just as important as healthy. If surgery or medical treatment would make her good as new, I'd bite the bullet and shoulder the debt. If she would still be in pain or have an incredibly decreased quality of life, I would have a limit. My mom spent thousands and thousands, like college degree thousands, on keeping our Corgi alive for three years. She had some sort of cancer in her skull which meant chemo, surgery to have part of her skull removed, tons of daily medications and countless vet trips. Yes, she was alive, but there was at least a year when she was just suffering or completely out of it with pain meds, alternating between being deaf and going blind. It wasn't fair to Amelia. And no matter how attached I am to my own dog, when the point came that money wouldn't buy her a good quality of life, that would be the end.

But I'm guessing that point would be whole heck of a lot higher than $400.

[DIAMOND A KENNELS]

I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO SAVE MY DOGS BECAUSE THEY HAVE SAVED ME A TIME OR TO MY DOGS COME FIRST AND MONEY IS NO OPTION WHEN IT COMES TO THERE HEALH AND WELL BEING I WILL SPEND EVERY THING I HAVE FOR MY DOGS I HAVE OWNED DOGS THAT GAVE THERE LIFE FOR ME JUST TRYING TO PLEASE ME. ITS THE LEAST I COULD DO IS GIVE BACK TO THEM AND. I HAVE A ''DOG ACOUNT'' I SAVE MONEY UP FOR MY DOGS JUST IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS AND I DONT USE THAT MONEY FOR ANYTHING BUT MY DOGS WHEN IF I SELL A PUP OR SOME THING THAT MONEY GOES STRAIT FOR THE DOG BANK OR WHEN I SELL THE HOGS THEY CATCH IT GOES THE SAME PLACE OR IF THEY WIN MONEY AT A TRIAL OR BAYING IT ALL GETS SAVED FOR THEM SO IT MAKES EASY TO ALWAYS HAVE MONEY FOR THEM NO MATTER WHAT . 

[cward]

Well I have got very lucky my wife has studied dogs from inside and out she has read and studied every vet book that she could find! I have only carried 2 dogs to the vet in the last 10 years both died!! We work on all are on dogs and had a 100% turn out!! My wife stays pretty busy working on other dogs for other people!! They call at all hours of the night and she gets up and works on them!! My problem with most vets is they learn from books only never from first hand!!There are old remites that do work that I ask vets and they say they don't!!! So I do not plan on spending any money on dogs other than everyday health!! Most dogs will die of shock when you leave them at the vet after looseing lots of blood!! If you can stay with the dog it usally won't go into shock and you CAN talk them out of shock!! There are good vets but if they were not raised around hunting and ranching then it is hard to find a good one!!My wife is in vet school and says that there are other people in the class with her that don't no anything about animals other than they love them and they want to take care of them!!! JUst cause they leave with a degree does not make them no what they are doing!

[Scott]

cward, while I agree with most all of your post, medically/scientifically speaking the following is an impossibility.

Most dogs will die of shock when you leave them at the vet after looseing lots of blood!! If you can stay with the dog it usally won't go into shock and you CAN talk them out of shock!!

Shock happens when not enough oxygen gets to the tissues (specifically the vital organs such as the heart, brain, etc.). This causes cellular death...enough cells die, the organism dies. In the case of blood loss, if you don't have enough oxygen carrying cells in the bloodstream (due to internal or external bleeding) it doesn't matter how much you talk...death will occur.

There are stages of shock, the last being irreversible. If you can contol the bleeding in the earlier stages, survival is probable...if not, death is inevitable.

[Eric]

Doesn't your blood pressure go up in situations of pain or fear. So if you are bleeding and freaking out you will lose more blood than being calm?

I don't know, not a doctor or any thing.

[cward]

Ok really don't won't to argue this point but there are people on here that has seen my wife pull them out of shock!!  A Shot of Adreniline  will also help them come out of shock !  Seen a vet hang a dog upside down about 13 years ago wile the dogs was in shock shacking the dog and pulled him out of shock!! I have seen and no that other people when a animal goes into shock just shake there heads and walk off!! But this is one of those things that I am talking about that comes out of a book or a scientists says it won't work!! But atleast try it before you knock it!! My wife works on about 50 hog dogs a year for people!! At no charge she has only sent one away that she said that she would not work on the diafram was busted an the dog was not cut just hit hard!!She recomended to take the dog to the vet they did not and she wished she would have worked on the dog!! If the dog goes into shock The dog eyes will glaze over and have seziure like activity some eyes roll back! Raise the dogs head and body take your hands and rub down the body of the dog talking to the dog once the dog has come to keeep it sitting up and stay with the dog!!!  I no alot of you have heard this...Usally when you leave a dog with a vet overnight the vet says the dog went into shock and died over night! THATS WHEN NOBODY WAS THERE! Now I have pictures of hurt dogs and yes some are real bad and critical my wife tells the owner of the dogs to take the dog home put it where a family member will be in the same room as the dog!She has a 100% live rate on all the dogs she has worked on!But please try it for your self before you give up on  a dog!She don't no more than vet she just has hands on experence!!

[Coonasscurr]

SCOTT
           not trying to argue eather but i had a dog named winchester he had  cancer i was headed to the vet to get semen pulled. he wasent going to make it through the day so i headed that way well cwards wife works on all my dogs that are cut one time winchester had his lung hanging all the way out an she fixed it an she does a dam fine job to. so i went to the vet an cward an his wife was pickin horse med up when i showed up we was outside talkin an winchester started flopping around like a fish an he was my best dog an alot of people on here no him. how you think i felt when i seen that cwards wife was at my truck an started talkin an rubbin him an she said its better for the owner to do it so i did min are so later he was better so i have seen it you can  talk a dog out of shock   
                         also had a older man tell me when a dog goes in shock cut the tip of an ear an that will releave pressure

[UNDERDOG]

I see mine with my eyes    

Just messin.....I have saved a good many who were in real bad shape and lost a few...My family and kids come first here,dogs second if I need a vet and don't have the $$$ then I will borrow or what ever is nessesary if the dog can be made usefull again.

I have spent as much as 1500,800,2500 on different dogs over the years.(even once on my wifes old Italian grey hound)     I care alot about my dogs as they are my biggest form of enjoyment and pleasure (asside from my family) and my only hobby,they are kinda like therapy for me.

So, Chance....if I need some help say at 2 am or so can I call you for your wifes help ??  

[cward]

 Underdog Yes Sir you sure can!! You got my number!!      Scott please don't think I am being a smart A$$ I just would hate to see someone not try it if they were in the spot where they needed it!! Don't no how it works but have had 2 vets here around or area that says no you can't do it I seen one do it and had 2 others say yes you can one is a personal friend said that you can do it his exact words were once they start shock and you get them out of it then you have to stay on top of them and he would not do it cause he did not have the time!! But again don't think I am being ugly!!

[Scott]

Chance, I don't think you're being smart at all. Matter of fact, I'm all for talking to 'em. I've done it on a number of occassions myself. Please don't think I'm being argumentative either. I'm just speaking on the physiology of shock...shock from a cellular level.

The short version is all cells require a supply of oxygen to function. Certain blood cells carry oxygen. If you lose too many of those blood cells, the tissues cannot get enough oxygen and become irritable. If they continue to be oxygen deprived, they die. There are 8-9 different types of shock but to break it down, it's either a pump problem (heart), container problem (vessels), or a blood problem. The stages of shock that I mentioned previously are compensated, decompensated and irreversible. The first two can be fixed, the last cannot. Adrenalin constricts the vessels (making the container smaller and in the case of bleeding it slows it down), however it's a temporary fix (meaning it only lasts for a few minutes). If the underlying cause of the shock isn't fixed it'll return and eventually death will occur.

In over 20 years in medicine (the vast majority of that in emergency medicine) I've seen plenty of things that were remarkable to say the least. But, once the ablility to deliver the required amount of oxygen to the cells is lost, death occurs.

Again, I'm all for talking to 'em. But oxygen is fuel for the cells and just like when a car runs out of fuel and dies, so will the cells.