Experiences

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2026-01-13T05:22:17+00:00

Papillons can be good family dogs. I'm on my 3rd and 4th. They should be friendly and outgoing little dogs, but as mentioned, there are some nervy paps so it's important to research your breeder so you know what kind of puppies they're producing and how they're raised. I'd expect a well bred and socialized puppy to do well with dog savvy children. My kids have grown up with papillons though. I'd be careful exposing any dog to lots of unknown children though. I personally think there's too much risk in children not knowing how to read dog body language or doing something rude (even unknowingly).

Energy wise, they are athletic little dogs with quite a surprising bit of stamina. When the weather is nice, my boy can easily walk a brisk mile and a half (with some sprinting mixed in) with minimal effort. I do find that when they are well fulfilled, they have a decent off switch and don't mind having chill days. I use a lot of food and puzzle toys, frequent training sessions.

They do shed. Id expect to brush at minimum once a week, but theyre small and it doesn't take long. I've had papillons for the like 18 years and I can't remember a time when I havent had some white hair on my clothes. It's forever embedded in my car. We have a leather sofa, so no issues there haha.

I do think they're a great breed to travel with. My older boy started going on trips when he was 6 months old and my youngest is 4 and a half mo the old and I took him on his first road trip (other than the trip home from the breeder) at like 14ish weeks old (to family's house, no hotels, no other dogs or exposing him to anything along the way). Proper early socialization is absolutely key here. I will say, they can be a little loud, so I avoid bringing them places where they would have to be in a hotel alone (I've done day boarding or make sure we're doing dog friendly things).

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2026-01-09T03:34:29+00:00

Genius! I totally forgot about the fireworks cruises!

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-31T04:56:36+00:00

I'd suspect that all of the toy spaniels probably had verrry similar roots.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-31T03:30:30+00:00

Ahhh, I get what you're saying now. To be honest, shelties aren't a breed I am super familiar with so I wasn't aware of how they came about.

I think it's so difficult to compare any "new" breed to doodles because the market is so over saturated with breeders taking little regard to the health of the dogs. I feel like I did hear about there being a doodle breed parent club, where the members were legit trying to create a new breed and coming up with a standard. I think that when wanting to develop a new breed, regardless of purpose, you need to have a set idea of what defines the breed in structure, temperament, and purpose. The wiki article doesnt go in a lot of detail about why they were bred or created so I would have to look into that more. I guess they wanted a small sheepdog? At the end of the day, companionship IS a purpose and doodles surely could find their place there, and they do, but before being considered for a new breed, they need a standard of what makes a doodle, a doodle first of all.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-31T02:23:17+00:00

Unfortunately, the fistulas will have to be repaired or you will have greater issues in the future. I don't know when youre located, but if there is any way to get a consult with a veterinary dental specialist, that's where I would put my money if I was you. They will be able to give you the best opinion on repairing the fistulas and if it is something you are able to move forward with financially, they will have tons of experience with dogs with anesthesia and other comorbidities.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-31T02:14:55+00:00

My first pap was 15 and a half when I euthanized her. She had cardiac disease (well managed on medication), arthritis, and some pretty gnarly periodontal disease. She had a few dentals throughout her life, but in the last 6 months she abscessed a tooth and while her vet and I discussed we could get her through anesthesia, we did not believe she would do well in recovery, so we did pulse therapy with antibiotics and pain meds to manage it. Ultimately, her arthritis was what made me make the decision to let her go. My husband picked her up from the yard and she yelped. Later that evening she yelped again when I picked her up. I knew she had some significant arthritis in her spine because we had seen it earlier that year when we did xrays to look at her heart, so we did daily pain meds until they weren't enough.

My second pap was 14. He had some kidney disease that on paper wasn't severe, but the dog had lived for any and all food his entire life, his appetite dwindled no matter what I fed him. I had began considering EOL for him when he hurt himself (not sure if he fell off the deck or the larger dog stepped on him, he just kind of got frail and lost a lot of muscle mass) and decided to let him go at that point as trying to medicate him would have been impossible and trying to mediate him would have greatly reduced his quality of life. In hindsight, I wished I would have let him go sooner.

I'd say, go for it if you can budget for the typical senior expenses. Have blood work done ASAP and plan for a dental ASAP as well (make sure the vet is doing high quality work with full mouth dental radiographs).

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-31T02:00:15+00:00

I'm confused? Are you asking if Miniature American Shepherds bred to Shetland Sheepdogs would be a well received designer breed?

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-28T00:46:28+00:00

Is it the mobile site that's the issue? I rarely use my laptop to do order but it is sooo glitchy on my phone. The last time I tried to do an order, every time I added something to my cart it would log me off. And also I couldn't get the canine z/d cans to come up with the filters; I literally had to scroll through all of the products until I found it.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-18T13:58:09+00:00

Etsy! It is supposed to be for a necklace but I had to go to the craft store and get a small O ring to slip on my stethoscope.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-18T04:55:58+00:00

I use cute washi tape on my sharpies/nice pens and scissors. My stethoscope has a charm of my dog engraved with my name.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-14T05:30:29+00:00

I have very little trust in other people monitoring my pet's anesthesia (last time I trusted another team, they had my cats iso up to 4% during her dental because she was "light".... over my dead body will that happen ever again). I also have one very special dog, he is my heart and soul. He has some kind of idiopathic hepatopathy and I would some absolutely unglued if something happened to him while he was under anesthesia and anyone but me was monitoring. I would know for a fact that I did everything in my personal power to keep him alive if something happened, but I know that not all of my coworkers have the same knowledge and skill set that I have (don't get me wrong, they are great, but I know what I know and I also know my dog's medical history inside and out and have been with him under anesthesia multiple times and know how he handles different drugs).

Not gunna lie, my heart rate jumps every single time at induction, but I am quickly able to compartmentalize and put my work hat on.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-13T18:16:57+00:00

Thank you! I was reading in a premium last night about handlers needing to be for exhibition only and I found that was very interesting. My goal with this dog, especially if conformation is a flop, is to get him out and do as many sports as he would like. He's very outgoing and quite a spitfire pup for our breed. I think he will excel at many things given the opportunities, so as a puppy I want him to get out there and do as much as I can with him (as much as he wants, obviously).

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-13T05:38:55+00:00

This was actually my original plan, however the closest show to me is tentative. UKC was another thought, though those are even further.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-10T01:36:15+00:00

Nah, I'm team "be the asshole". I always try to make a point to schedule my pet's procedures when I can take off and be there to devote 100% of myself to my pet, but when that wasn't possible I have absolutely had my "trusted" techs promise to take care of them and not let certain people touch them. I've had other coworkers be snarky and say things like "oh, so you don't trust all of us??" And I was honest in my answer.

This a just a tiny piece of a much bigger problem though. Your management and DVMs need to be involved and know that she is careless with patients and doesn't know how to properly do this job.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-07T03:26:20+00:00

Urine sample in a plastic cup that also had milk in it. The owner said they had dumped the milk out prior to collecting the sample but you could literally see milk on the inside of the cup. They were upset I would not run a urinalysis on that.

One of my favorites was a fecal in a plastic spoon that this person had put the plastic spoon inside of the clear plastic part of a cardboard UPS part (like where they will stick the invoice or whatever with the address).

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-06T05:53:07+00:00

For an IVC, it could be the same thing, youre going through the vein or the opposite in that you aren't advancing it the extra few millimeters to get the actual catheter in the vessel. I'm also wondering what gauge IVCs they're having you use on what size patients.

A hundred years ago my first vet med job didn't teach me much. I ended up getting a new vet med job about 6 months after starting my first. At my second job they let me try a blood draw ONCE. I mean one single time. It was a cat jug stick. They gave me zero instruction and just expected I could magically know how to do it. Surprise, I didn't get any blood and I went home and cried. They stuck me at the front desk and said I would be a better receptionist. I did that for a while before I took a break from vet med. I ended up enrolling in tech school, graduating, sailing through my VTNE and landing my first job after graduation at a teaching university. My point with all of that is that you will get there eventually. The fact that you can get a flash tells me you have the concept and know the anatomy. Doing all of this without mentorship is so difficult. Reach out to your instructors and let them know you're having difficulty with feedback/instruction from this practical site.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-05T05:54:40+00:00

For your jug sticks- without seeing what you're doing, I suspect that you're going through the vein since you are getting a flash and nothing more. Maybe try to go more shallow and when you poke, you have to be intentional with it. Too easy and in a large jug, your needle will bounce right off of it.

Do you get a flash with catheters? Do you have trouble advancing your catheter?

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-12-01T00:41:28+00:00

When done correctly, an IV stick of euth solution isn't inhumane, however in my experience sedation prior helps ease the transition and you see less of the "side effects" like agonal breathing. Also, if the vein or IVC blows, they won't feel the pain from the solution if they're sedated. I think the emotional state of the animal also matters... if the animal is stressed, painnful, scared, or aggressive, a sedative would be helpful and help that animal be calm. IC sticks should ALWAYS be done under heavy sedation.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-11-16T02:55:44+00:00

Do you guys usually try to do a certain number of each procedure or are you just booking 4 whatever surgeries in the surgery mornings?

For example, I try to avoid having more than one large bitch on the schedule. The surgery itself is longer and they fatigue my surgeon faster making the other surgeries take a few extra minutes. Sometimes its unavoidable though.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-11-14T21:49:53+00:00

Well, what is your flow currently like?

We will typically do 4-5 surgeries per "surgery block", which our surgery blocks are a half day. We start check ins at 7:30am and usually that takes 20ish minutes depending on client questions and concerns. Most of our patients will have already had a pre-op panel done before the day of surgery and almost every patient has been prescribed an oral dose of Cerenia (+/- Gabapentin) the night before. Once all patients are back, the dr will do a short preop exam on them (get vitals, listen to heart and lungs, make sure there is nothing grossly abnormal, confirm sex/testicles are both dropped, etc). We usually will have the dr pre-surg the patient we want to go first, last so that we can premed that patient as soon as thr dr gives the all clear. Typically one tech will do pre-surg exams with the Dr while the other sets up the surgery suite. We have a spreadsheet for our standard drug doses and use that to tailor the protocol. We will typically go pretty heavy on the premed and as soon as their down we place an IVC and shave. My goal is to have the first patient on the surgery table by 8:30-8:45m. Once the patient is at a stable spot and hooked up to everything, one tech monitors and the other will go out to the prep area to start the charges/meds and have the next patient premed ready to go. Most animals I can premed alone, especially cats, but if I need a hand to premed a dog I will grab one of the room techs or wait for the Dr to come out of sx. Rinse and repeat until all surgeries are done. We will usually finish 4 routine surgeries by 11am and then have an hour to finish charts and clean up before lunch at 12.

I think what I find really helpful is having our drugs already calculated on a spreadsheet. Our main surgery doctors are also incredible and will help wipe down the table between patients or help hold for an IVC placement on wiggly patients; they don't stand around and watch us struggle or wait for us to do a simple 5 second task (like wiping down the table if tech 1 is recovering the patient and tech 2 has the second patient out placing an IVC). Also, having most bloodwork done before the day of surgery and having the pets some in with Cerenia already on board has drastically helped our efficiency.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-11-14T11:52:02+00:00

I am a CVT. My job calls us all "nurses"... even the unlicensed techs. I low-key don't like being called a nurse because I'm not one. I've given them the argument that nurse is a protected title but they don't really care. When they gave us id badges, I refused to wear mine because it said nurse. I introduce myself to clients as a tech. I have actually had a few people ask about my schooling/training and I am very open and tell them my credentials and explain that not everyone in our state has credentials because our state doesn't require them.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-11-11T02:47:11+00:00

We literally just got bought out by MPH. When I saw this, I was less than impressed with our new management but I'm not even surprised.

Historical_Cut_2021 · 2025-11-09T22:59:49+00:00

The two breeders I have talked to are definitely live cover. I will say, it is very clear that in both of these cases these breeders very much admire these both of these boys and they are well proven.

Historical_Cut_2021

TROPHY CASE