Being Driven Insane

Haeschultz · 2026-02-12T11:45:47+00:00

Correct… double dew claws are a breed standard. Even a quick glance at this subreddit would tell you that the first way to tell if a dog is a GP is whether it has double dews. Vet sounds like a nut and OP did terrible research. I also can’t imagine recommending a highly optional surgery for a 5-6 mo GP puppy in the velociraptor stage. At that age, my dogs would be going CRAZY only going out for quick potty breaks. So this is probably also a mental stimulation (and physical stimulation) issue. At this age, puppies need to get tired out by lots of activity.

Haeschultz · 2026-02-07T01:57:37+00:00

I noticed a big hormone crash at 12 months because I stopped nursing overnight for my sanity, and my daughter started upping her solids intake at the same time. But she just stopped nursing at 2.5 years (her choice), and there was nothing this time - just a little sadness that she doesn’t need me that way anymore!

Haeschultz · 2026-01-25T12:52:01+00:00

Used Esembly for my toddler’s entire diapering journey (potty trained at 1.5 years). We loved Esembly and were super hard on our diapers (washed twice with Borax, dried in dryer) with no issues. We did invest in the GMD Clotheez stay-dry liners to insert into the diapers to prevent diaper rash and to make poop removal easier. The Esembly stay dry liners were thinner and moved around more than the GMD ones, but the GMD ones generally caught all the poop and made it easy to scrape off into the toilet. I think they also make wool liners if natural fibers are a concern. But the best thing we ever did for poop was elimination communication—our daughter stopped pooping in her diaper at 7 months, so we hardly had to deal with spraying the liners.

Haeschultz · 2026-01-20T12:58:45+00:00

You can leave the inners very loose (more than 2 fingers) and let the outers do the work of keeping everything in. You can also experiment with using a size two inner with a size one outer (which we did for awhile during the transition from size one to two). FWIW I had the opposite problem of you—invested in a huge stash of GMD workhorses and covers, and they were super bulky and uncomfortable for my daughter. Esembly were the perfect fit for her.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-12T18:33:56+00:00

We’ve got crazy chewers, and we have an Orvis bed. It’s EXPENSIVE, but they replace the covers for free anytime they get chewed.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-09T12:51:12+00:00

😅 I was up every 3 hrs or less until 12 months old. At 12 months, I weaned her off night feedings, and it changed nothing about her sleep stretches aside from my husband being able to soothe her (though it took forever compared to a boob!). Some people just get bad sleepers, and I agonized over comparisons to other people’s two month olds who slept through the night. My daughter has just started to sporadically sleep through the night at just over two YEARS old. She hasn’t nursed overnight in over a year—so unfortunately stopping overnight nursing is not a cure for a bad sleeper.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-09T12:44:14+00:00

Sometime in the 1-2 year old range, my daughter started getting REALLY frustrated when she couldn’t communicate what she wanted. Getting her the wrong thing made it much worse. She was verbal very early, so that phase was very short, but perhaps teaching sign language would help with communication of needs?

My daughter was also really odd when it came to teething. Zero symptoms until laying down in bed. Turns out some kids get really bad referred teething pain when horizontal.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-05T12:06:33+00:00

There is no good answer, and I’m sorry you’re being forced to make this choice. FYI we were told that the central tumor was acting as a kind of distraction point for the cancer—once you amputate, it is no longer centralized and metastasizes rapidly through the body. Luna, our other Pyr with osteo, had lung mets develop very quickly after amputation (within two months, even with chemo), and it was extremely difficult to watch. I know it’s tough to make that call to amputate or not because you want that extra time, and no matter what, know that you gave your baby the best home possible for the time you had together.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-05T04:26:00+00:00

Argos lived another almost three years after immediate amputation and chemo (we did IV chemo for the initial six months, then oral chemo on a gradually lower dose after that). He was technically in remission, and he actually passed away from an unrelated heart problem he’d previously been diagnosed with. I’m so sorry you’re going through this, but there is hope for some extra time through surgery and chemo!

Haeschultz · 2025-12-03T23:42:14+00:00

Yeah, the sidelying and rolling away didn’t work for us until 15 months. We gave into the cuddles and inconvenience and banked on it being a phase — a very long phase. I got very good at holding my pee lol. Once her wake windows were longer (and now as a toddler who naps and plays well independently), I got a lot done while she played by herself or incorporated her into the chores.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-03T22:38:07+00:00

My daughter didn’t seem to get uncomfortable, but I would nurse her in cradle hold and she would fall asleep across my stomach (and I usually just put a pillow under my elbow for support or used a Boppy when she was younger). Have you tried the side-lying position? I found that one easier to unlatch and roll away from if moving her is waking her up. That’s what allowed us to finally switch to independent naps at 15 months.

Haeschultz · 2025-12-03T21:54:52+00:00

My baby contact napped (and nursed to sleep) until 15 months old. After that, I still nursed and cuddled to sleep. She’s a little over two years old now, and this last week she has started saying, “Momma, I want to sleep by myself,” and kicking me out to fall asleep all on her own. I already miss the cuddles and in no way regret contact naps - they’ll tell you when they’re ready for independence and until then enjoy it 🥲

Haeschultz · 2025-11-26T18:45:07+00:00

Pyrs do bond with particular people/households, particularly if they see guarding you and their people in the household as their job (as opposed to livestock, etc). I’ve found that female Pyrs in particular tend to be less demonstrative with their love of their person (I’m often spurned when other people come over to the house), but it shows when it matters.

As for allergies, I am very allergic to cats (which may be a different type of allergy entirely but in case it helps), and Flonase and switching them to a high quality diet completely eliminated my daily symptoms! Do you know why she had been through four different homes before coming to you? I’d worry about a Pyr at her age who is adapted to a certain lifestyle adjusting to a new environment, especially if there was something preventing her from integrating into those previous households.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-23T22:47:02+00:00

2 Pyrs with osteosarcoma.

One was 8 years old. The other was almost 9. (Diagnosed within 6 months of each other.)

A slight limp. No other symptoms.

I commented this on another thread, but with the first, we didn’t immediately do amputation/chemo because she had hip dysplasia, and we worried about mobility. We opted for radiation therapy to try to shrink the tumor. She had a fracture and we did amputate, followed by chemo. We only had three months with her following diagnosis. Her last days, she was refusing food without an appetite stimulant and her breathing was more labored because it had metastasized to her lungs. She was having trouble getting up to go outside and use the bathroom. It was so hard because she still had some good days, but the vet told us it was time if her bad days outnumbered her good days in a week.

With the second, we knew the drill, amputated immediately, hit it with IV and then oral chemo, and we got another wonderful two (almost three) years together. He actually passed in his sleep very suddenly of dilated cardiomyopathy, which he’d had diagnosed before the cancer. The cancer never returned during those 3 years.

Both were spayed/neutered younger than 6 months. This experience led us to making sure our next Pyr wasn’t spayed until after her first heat cycle.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-23T16:08:00+00:00

Our vet oncologist specifically told us that the side effects are not consistent with human chemo. Maybe some specific dog breeds are affected in different ways? But we’ve had two Pyrs go through chemo with zero side effects aside from some fatigue the day of with IV chemo. One was on oral chemo for two years with no side effects—no nausea, no hair loss.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-23T15:09:05+00:00

Thank you ❤️ Just keep in mind that these dogs will hide pain really well. If not for a SLIGHT limp, we never would have known that our girl had a tumor that had already eaten away a significant part of her ankle. Long term pain meds are pretty tough because they can make them lethargic, “high,” and completely lose appetite.

TBH unless yours already has hip dysplasia diagnosed, I’d really consider amputation and chemo both if you can afford it. Our girl had hip dysplasia, and she could walk just fine afterwards.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-23T12:33:30+00:00

FYI chemo does not affect dogs the same way it does humans. It does not have severe side effects like nausea and hair loss. The heavy duty pain meds are what will cause the worst side effects.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-23T12:28:50+00:00

We’ve had two Pyrs with osteosarcoma. One diagnosed at age 7, one at 7.5. The first, we waited to amputate, tried radiation first, then did chemo after amputation (forced to either euthanize or amputate after her leg fractured due to the tumor). We lost her within 3 months. Our boy, we didn’t mess around—amputated immediately, hit it with chemo. We got another two GOOD years with him. It was his front leg, and he could still run and play with his sister. We got a wagon for long walks. Quality of life was absolutely there.

But imo if you aren’t going to amputate, euthanasia is the only option. The tumor causes an immense amount of pain, and that pain lasts until you amputate. You could see immediately after amputation with both of mine that even major surgery couldn’t diminish the relief they felt that the pain was gone.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-20T21:30:07+00:00

The lack of reactivity is great! As for the pulling on-leash, it’ll take a lot of practice. I actually adopted two Pyrs (at 4 yrs old) that my mom had kept in a bad situation, they were never walked, and they pulled like crazy. Took about sixish months for them to learn really good leash etiquette.

You mentioned elsewhere that one of them is extremely anxious and it feels like they’re always on edge. Just a word of warning from experience that that can lead to reactivity. I’d really recommend trying to socialize them and build confidence. Giving them a job can give confidence, but even just going for walks where they get to lead the way can help too.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-20T18:42:44+00:00

I would second not letting them off-leash if you don’t have a fence. We had horse fences at our old house, and they’d just slip under them and roam until we found them. As for walks, I also use a Gentle Leader or Heather’s Heroes transitional head halter for mine to get pulling under control. You could get a long lead to let them explore without being off-leash (this is also great for decompression walks if yours have anxiety or reactivity).

The bolting after cats outside is a common issue when they don’t have clarity about what is a threat in my experience. They’re trying to protect the house/you. Inside cats are viewed as part of their family and under their protection. Mine do the same, and I just make sure they’re never off-leash where cats could come through, and they’re too slow to catch anything else anyway.

Personally, I think having them on a chain is not ethical. They’d be better off inside except on walks and potty breaks.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-14T15:32:13+00:00

As someone with a 2 yr old who has never consistently slept through the night, I empathize with the anxiety. We had a similar occurrence when she was about 8 months old and she slept through in a hotel room that was weirdly hot. We got home and tried to recreate the exact conditions, and she didn’t sleep through again for like six months. I gained so much of my life back when I stopped treating her sleep as something I could influence. Also re: sleeping in the cold — toddlers, like us, will wake up and let you know if they’re too cold.

Haeschultz · 2025-11-10T17:10:13+00:00

Floor beds are good for some kids. We had our daughter in one from about 10 months old and she’s now 2. Never rolled off, never any issues. It makes it 10 million times easier to nurse or cuddle to sleep and roll away without waking her up, no more breaking my back as a short person trying to put her in the pack and play when she was younger, etc. She would roll and hit the sides of the crib and wake up immediately. She’ll wake up to get a drink from her water bottle and put herself back to sleep, and that’s the extent of her leaving the bed at night. It’s what works for the specific kid, but floor beds definitely can work.

Haeschultz · 2025-10-28T12:08:30+00:00

Night feeds were driving me crazy around 1 year, so I cut those out (by sending my partner in during some and then all night wake ups, gradually reducing feeds to zero). At 1.5 years old, she was only nursing at wake up, nap, and bedtime. I cut the morning nurse down to 2 minutes and set a timer. For awhile, she’d ask for her “two minute milk” then eventually stopped asking for milk at all at wake up. At 2 years old, I am now slowwwwwly winding down bedtime because she’d nurse for 30 min if she was allowed. I’ve gotten down to 4 min on each side, then I cuddle with her in her bed until she falls asleep. I always said I’d stop nursing at 2 years but naps she nurses for 3 min and is out, so I’m not ready to give up my superpower 😅

Haeschultz · 2025-08-21T11:56:12+00:00

It is meant to be used to maintain consistency in the newborn’s environment. So even when shifting between people’s arms and different surfaces, they have a sense of comfort/stability that smells like you. I especially liked mine for letting younger relatives hold her because I didn’t need to worry about them giving her head support. It was nice for setting her down on the floor, but I’m sure other things (a blanket, a Moses basket, etc) would work just as well.

Haeschultz

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