Persistant Right Aortic Arch - Labrador puppy - advice and tips please

[mcamp999]

Great news Cheffie!! Our Retriever is 9 months old now, and is also thouroughly spoilt.

[penelope]

Looking forward to seeing a photo of him...pleased that he's doing well....

[Cheffie]

Was chatting with one of my old chefs today and haven't updated in a while.

The little monster is doing well - he passed the year mark quite breezily and weighs in at a healthy 35kg's now. Apparently he's to put on a further 10 or so kilos in the coming months and then his days of being a 'lap dog' on the couch will be short numbered

Apart from the odd bit of runny stomach (from eating junk methinks :mmm: ) he's turned into quite a joy to behold. With his prognosis from the beginning not very good and to see him mature is wonderful!

Though he has weird sleep patterns as he's wide awake when I get home from work in the early hours... ahh the joys of being a :chef:


Oh and the puppy-dog-eyes that he pulls every now and again still does the trick... though getting wise to it LOL.

I guess the next challenge in a couple of months is to see whether he can handle the dry foods as we're still feeding him the tinned stuff (vet recommended it till he reaches 18 months). The last time I tried it was regurgitated like he did when a real little puppy... so not looking forward to it at all.

BTW... he loves the hair dryer, the high pressure hose-pipe and the vaccuum cleaner! Though whether this has anything to do with his condition remains to be seen.. or whether its just cos he's simply nuts is anyone's guess!
(no 'like owner like dog' comments please from the peanut gallery )

I'll keep an open mind on the issue LOL..

[Pronkertjie]

Glad to hear that Cheffie!

:blom:

[Cheffie]

Just an update on the little monster...

he enjoys sitting at the table with us



Great little guy :cloud9:

[Cheffie]

We're still feeding him tinned food and the odd leftover from the mealtimes and he seems to keep them down quite well.

On the dry food side he's temperamental and tends to gulp it all or simply ignore it.. being a Scorpio-born dog I can only suggest it's because he's moody..

He does have the habit of acting like a goat though. Seriously! Either that or he has rabbit blood in him or something.. :wall:
Occasionally he'll go from standing on the kitchen floor to standing on the dining table to come see what I'm reading/ drinking or eating.. :haha:

Though I suppose I shouldn't encourage it.. but he's still got that puppy look and innocence about him - and to be quite honest I'm a softie when it comes to him.

His remarkable ability to hear the fridge door opening in the middle of the night ( read as a :chef: looking for a snack after service ) whilst apparently fast asleep on the couch is incredible. Zero to awake, sitting and panting at my feet in a time faster than I can actually pour a glass of wine is incredible..

As you can see by the piccie above he's doing well and an absolute pleasure to have around the home.

His natural instincts have also kicked in and it's an absolute pleasure to see him do the 'gun dog pose' etc.

[Pronkertjie]

Methinks he has x-ray eyes.....

Glad he made it through and by the sound of it his 'baas' loves him very much!

[Britbok]

I have only just seen this thread (not the first time and surely not the last that I am late on a thread ). I am so glad that he has pulled through and is doing much better. The piccie of him is lovely. Don't fall into the trap of the puppy dog eyes, although I bet he knows exactly who is the soft touch

[Icecub]

He is gorgeous.

[Cheffie]

He is gorgeous.

:thumbs:

more so cos he's made it this far in life.

I'll be quite honest.. its always in the back of the mind that he's on borrowed time and the time he has here is a bonus and to be cherished..

I do wonder if any of his brothers and sisters had any similar 'defects' and how they have coped/ survived. The kennel union was a little short of no help to put it mildly..

Britbok and Blom.. thanks for the comments. He's aware of who is boss. At all times

Though he does enjoy a little biltong to sweeten his temperament/ have an excuse to avoid his food/ just behave belligerently until the next snack session.. :haha:

I'll post some better quality piccies when I get some around to it - in the meantime I'll watch him grow with continued amazement and grattitude along his journey in our lives.