Fendi American Bulldog Mix Scarborough, ON

Born 6/30/2023, Fendi was owner surrendered when her owner couldn't manage further fact finding on her medical needs.

Fendi has issues with her urine that we did a lot of testing and fact finding on and have the answers we needed. Fendi also had a mass on her chest which we also removed and was just a benign lump with no further concern.

She outwardly has absolutely no signs of anything being medically problematic with her potty habits and is every bit a normal and adjusting puppy. She was surrendered because she had "cloudy" urine that we choose to pursue answers for.

Fendi has been diagnosed with Hyperuricosuria (HUU) . Hyperuricosuria means that she is suseptible to bladder and kidney stones, so she needs to ensure her water intake is higher than the average dog and this is easily done by adding water to her kibble or canned food or giving ice cubes or whatever way you can find to promote more water intake.

Fendi does not require medication at this time and her Hyperuricosuria will be managed with a low purine diet.

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We spoke to a Veterinary nutritionist who stated the following:


The nutritional recommendation for urate crystal and stone prevention in dogs is to feed a diet that is low in purines (i.e. hydrolyzed protein, vegetable-based, or low protein diets). Low purine diets help to reduce overall ammoniogenesis and uric acid production throughout the body, which in turn reduces the formation of urate crystals in the urine.

At this time, there isn’t a puppy formula that has a labeled indication for urate crystal prevention, as puppy diets are typically higher in protein to support muscle and organ development, which naturally makes them higher in purines. However, there are a couple of formulas that are going to be lower in purines compared to other puppy formulas. Considering Fendi is still a fairly young puppy and won’t be fully matured until she is 1.5 to 2 years old, we do need to ensure that she is still eating a growth appropriate diet at this time.

The diet we would recommend for Fendi would be the Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein Puppy kibble. This diet uses the same hydrolyzed soy protein source as our other HP formulas, but is optimized for growth containing appropriate levels of protein, calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients critical to growth. HP Puppy is suitable for growth of all breeds, including large and giant breeds, and is going to be the best compromise between ensuring Fendi gets all the nutrients that she needs for growth and preventing urate crystalluria as much as possible.

As there is no puppy diet labelled for urate prevention at this time, ensuring that Fendi is drinking lots of water to promote urine dilution and diuresis is going to be very important to prevent future urate crystal formation. Urine dilution plays an important role in urolith prevention as it helps decrease the concentration of precursors in the urine and also helps promote more frequent voiding which reduces urine retention time for crystals to form and grow. The goal in dogs is to maintain a urine specific gravity (USG) ? 1.020 at all times to achieve the best long-term prevention. This means getting 1.020 or below on a first-morning, fasted sample or a USG closer to 1.015 if a mid-day sample is obtained. Some ways this can be achieved include:

• Adding additional water to the daily portion of food. To give an idea as to how much additional water might be needed, the owner may need to add up to 5mL of water per 1g of dry food if feeding kibble only, or 1mL of water per 1g of wet food if feeding canned only.
• Increasing the proportion of canned food in the diet or feeding all canned food (if possible)
• Feeding multiple smaller meals throughout the day (ideally 3-4 or more per day), with the last meal being at bedtime if possible. Feeding multiple small meals helps encourage voluntary water intake throughout the day, as dogs will often drink following a meal. Feeding multiple small meals will also take advantage of the urinary post-prandial alkaline tide to help keep the urine pH more neutral throughout the day.

I hope this helps with Fendi’s case as a start!
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She's a growing girl and her weight will continue to climb and I have absolutely no idea what her final weight will be as an adult dog

Fendi will need a breed experienced family that is committed to professional training or comes with solid training experience to ensure she grows into a exceptional adult dog.

Fendi is nervous around zooming cars, street cars, bikes, skateboards and all the things found out in the world as she's had very little exposure, so a patient adopter willing to introduce her to the world at a slow pace and lots of patience and rewards. She's very food motivated, making training easier.

Fendi can also be unsure with new people approaching her quickly, so he needs a minute for proper introductions to people in her space.

I'm unsure of her breed mixes. Her previous vet records state American Bulldog which could be accurate but likely has other breed mixes as well.

It's important to understand, puppies are A LOT of work!! There is an incredible amount of dedication and patience needed for a puppy - especially a larger breed puppy to remember he still is just a baby in a larger dog body.

Fendi is now heading into her ADOLESCENCE STAGE: (6 – 18 months)

This is the most difficult stage of puppyhood. Pups are becoming more demanding. Training is at it's pivotal point and shaping who the dog will become as an adult dog. This stage for larger breed dogs like Fendi can typically last until she's 2-3 years old.

Continued professional training is a must!

TO NOTE: Fendi is growing quickly, so her profile photos and videos will continue to be out of date. Her latest profile photos are from December 25, 2023


FROM HER FOSTER:


Fendi is a happy, playful little pup. She is calm and chill. She is curious to be a part of whatever you are doing but also independent enough to go explore in the yard on her own.

She loves to cuddle. She does snore.


She is still learning some manners and that jumping up at you or scratching on your legs when greeting you is not ok.

She has learned to ring the jingle bells at the back door to go out and sits and barks at the door to come back in.

She has to be coaxed quite a bit to “go pee” when it is wet and muddy outside.

She sleeps well at night in a dog bed beside our bed. She loves to cuddle though and likes early morning snuggles in our bed.

We are now feeding her 1 cup (dry kibble with some water) 4 times a day. She has a stainless steel bucket with fresh water always accessible.

She likes to go for walks and is excited to go exploring so does pull on leash.

Occasionally she has been stubborn and will stop walking if she wants to go in a different direction than you but is easily convinced to continue walking. She is a fast learner and with training and more frequent walks will learn what is expected from her.

She likes to meet people and dogs on walks and needs to be held back so that she does not jump on them. When meeting people indoors she is very friendly with big full body wiggles.

She alert barks at the door bell or strange noises outside, and strange sounds or animal sounds on the television.

She likes to play with all toys including ropes, stuffies and balls. She likes to chew hard things and I would consider her an extreme chewer so needs those indestructible types of toys.

She is very social and likes to play with all dogs. She is learning boundaries from the older dogs.

She is doing well with crate training and freely goes into the crate on her own during the day.

She is learning to live with a cat and listens when told to leave it alone. She really is just curious and wants to play with it.

She knows the commands sit, off, outside, and “let’s go pee pee”.



ADOPTION FEE INCLUDES:

blood work / spay/neuter / multiple deworming / flea/tick prevention / dental needs will be assessed at spay/neuter and completed post adoption for grade 3 or higher at the cost of Mattie's Place / food / dishes / leash/martingale collar / toys / poop bags / custom dog tag / treats


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To note: the above description is relevant to this dog in it's current & previous setting. Home changes & adopter personalities can bring out different behaviours not previously seen.

We also do not claim, endorse, suggest or hint at, that any of our dogs are hypoallergenic, low shed or no-shed.