u/Ill-Photo-1028

I want to start this by saying we can not afford to have our dog (4yr old F GSD) get gastropexy, I know that it is recommended especially for large breed/large chested dogs but we simply can’t afford it right now.

I see every single day posts talking about dogs lots to bloat, to the point where I am lightly pushing on and checking my dogs stomach 8-10 times a day, watching her drool amounts and constantly checking on her after hard exercise. I am so paranoid about this happening to us I am on hyper vigilance mode 24/7. To the point it’s making my anxiety issues worse than they already were.

What I’m doing currently to try and limit any possibility :

-She isn’t allowed outside 1hr before or 1hr after eating. She eats kibble mixed with wet food and water twice a day.

-We let the kibble sit in the water for 10 minutes before allowing her to eat so it is already expanded and won’t do that in her stomach.

-she isn’t allowed water for a minimum of 45 minutes after hard play/exercise. If she comes in panting heavy after a potty break I won’t let her drink water until she is calm and breathing has returned to normal.

-she isn’t allowed her “good girl” treats after going potty anymore because I am simply too scared of them causing an issue

Am I doing to much? Should I be doing more? Is my life really going to constantly be full of anxiety about this until we can afford gastropexy for her? How common is bloat really? All these things keep me up at night!

Any type of recommendations or reassurance is welcomed! We just want her to live the longest heaviest life she can, and we want to be able to live ours not in constant fear.

TW!!! Mention of self harm later in post! I couldn’t add more than one flair!

I hate my dad, I hate my dad, I hate my dad. That’s the only sentence that’s been playing in my head ALL morning.
I am 100% no contact with him, infact when I pick up my younger sibling if he attempts to speak to me I roll my window up. But somehow SOME WAY THIS MF still gets under my skin every god damn day. Today my anger is centered around how LITTLE he cares for my younger sister. Let me list some examples for you guys

1. Refuses to take her to her therapy (she needs it because of his lack of emotional capacity mixed with his ability to emotionally abuse you whenever he sees fit) I TAKE HER!! I (21f) shouldn’t have to take on the responsibility of taking my little sister to therapy but I do and I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else on those mornings. If he does take her he will sit in the car bitching and moaning and making her feel like shit the ENTIRE car ride there and back.
2. THIS MORNING my sister had a follow up appointment at a specialized spine and neuro clinic because she’s currently healing from a T12 spine injury that occurred during a car accident. But my sperm donor (it makes me physically ill to call him my father at this point) would rather take his MOTORCYCLE to its appointment than his OWN DAMN CHILD.
3. He screams and yells at her anytime she goes near him in the house about the most random bullshit EVER! Like leaving a hot pan on the stove instead of ruining it by washing right away and warping the pan.
4. He is outwardly racist I mean to the point where her last bf he said “I’ll tolerate him but I’ll never like him because I know how those people are” he was black, MY LONG TERM BOYFRIEND THAT I LIVE WITH IS MIXED! He’s just got this crazy ass fucked up view that all black/mixed men are women beaters and drug dealers.🤬
5. My sister was gone for a week from the house and the sperm donor didn’t change the cat box. So her cat peed in her room. As she was cleaning it he came

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1. ome and told her “if that ever happens again I will hurt or get rid of that cat just like last time”. He put our old step-sisters cat outside and let him run away a few years ago.😟 so we know he’s serious.
2. He almost REFUSES to buy her groceries to the point where I buy things she’d like when me and my bf go grocery shopping so that if she comes over she has food she can access and enjoy. (He did the same shit to me even to the point where I wasn’t allowed to warm up left overs after my night shift nannying at 16, he gave me bowls of ramen and a fucking water boiler. I was so excited for it because it meant I could eat and this shit still haunts me to this day. Why was a 16yr old CHILD that excited to be allowed food.)

The emotional abuse in that fucking house is INSANE and it kills me every-time I have to send her home😟 I wish my mom would take him back to court and attempt to revoke his parental rights but I know she won’t. This isn’t even going into all the things he did to me and my older sister. But he’s been given so many chances to improve. I even wrote him a DEATH NOTE about how shitty he was the last time I attempted to take my own life. This man will NEVER learn and it fucking hurts. It’s eating me alive.

I can feel myself getting closer and closer to having my final interaction / confrontation with him and it’s going to end badly.

Anywho. I know it’s a long rant but I’m so fucking over his shit. I moved out at 17 despite my state not having emancipation and I want nothing more than to have my little sister in my home instead of his❤️‍🩹😔

(Our mother moved out with her parents for her own well being and is 1 1/2 hrs away she visits and sees my little sister regularly she’s just a little to far away for my sister to want to move with her, as she’d loose all her friends and the school she has come to love)

edits for spelling mistakes

UPDATE: I have found out ITS NEVER LEGAL HERE! It’s just nothing being done about it to the point the general public (including myself clearly) believe it’s legal!🤦🏼‍♀️😭🙄

Where I lived, we have 10 FUCKING DAYS of fireworks for the fourth. The FOURTH of July you guys. Not the FIRST NOT JUNE FUCKING 26th THE FOURTH OF FUCKING JULY. ITS JUNE STILL!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING????

I know life for veterans, people with any type of heavy or hard reaction to the loud and constant noise of fireworks and animals is HELL for TEN FUCKING DAYS IN TOWN. I took my dog to potty not thinking anything of it because ITS STILL FUCKING JUNEEEE! The CHURCH right across the street from us, decided that (literally SAW THEM LOOK AT US) that was the PERFECT moment to light a loud and big ass firework. I couldn’t get inside fast enough. My girl my poor puppy girl, got so scared she RAN, pissed herself running and cowered in the corner of our outside door waiting to go inside. I can’t be the only one that thinks 10 fucking days of fireworks is RIDICULOUS for a CITY. FOR IN THE CITY. I specify that because I LIVE IN NORTH DA FUCKING KOTA. There’s so much OPEN COUNTRY LAND, to go light off fireworks in. Why in sam fucking hell do we need 10 days in town???

My dog now gets to be doped on CBD and calming treats for 10 days so that she has the ability to GO OUTSIDE to POTTY without being terrified. It’s fucking ridiculous.

Now I’m not saying I want nobody to set off fireworks, it’s part of celebrating the FOURTH of JULY, you don’t need more than 3 days. July 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Everything else is just fucking unnecessary. Making it so people and animals have to live constantly on edge and terrified for over a week so you can see big boom in sky wowwww so prettyyyy🙄🙄.

TLDR; fuck more than 3 days of fireworks. Having to pump my dog full of calming treats so she can live for over a week (10 days) is fucking stupid. Fireworks aren’t even that fucking cool.

(Went to check right after posting this, ITS ILLEGAL IN TOWN YEAR ROUND, I called the nonemergency line)

We got so much support and help on our past post we wanted to give everyone an update!

We have been accident free in our home for a little over a month!!👏👏🥳🥳

She now gets a walk in the AM (8am) a potty break around noon a walk in the evening (5-6pm) and a potty break before bed (9-10pm)

When we come home, regardless of if she has gotten into something she runs to the door and is BEYOND excited to see us! (She’s even tried to steal the trash from a bag she managed to rip open out of my hands as I pick it up like a stinker🤣)

Our girl has learned to LOVE cuddles and being close to us, so much so that we are having to start setting boundaries and making sure she has downtime in her kennel to ensure no separation anxiety is being formed!

She rarely if ever sits the way she did in the first photo of our last post - we have started her on hip and join treat supplements that seem to be working and improving her daily life greatly!

She is almost completely leash trained IN HOME, but she hasn’t quite mastered paying attention to us outside yet, focus is a big issue that we are improving on daily!

She has even spent a week away from home in the country at my mothers / grandparents place with me - it was a success and she was able to fully function even when I wasn’t present in the home with her! In this trip we learned she LOVES the outdoors!!

I know this is more than what we included in our last post, but we are proud of every small victory and achievement we’re making along the way! Thank you all again for your wonderful words of encouragement and support!

Sending love from our little family to yours!❤️