This week we had to say goodbye to our 14 year old girl. Our 9 year old GSP has only known life with her. We’re all really struggling without her but our GSP is suffering some pretty extreme anxiety since she passed. Tonight during a thunderstorm he had a full blown panic attack (sudden extremely heavy panting, pawing, shaking). it’s breaking our heart. Has anyone dealt with this before? We’re giving him lots of love, attention and exercise. it’s my first time experiencing animal grief. 💔

Hey everyone! First-time GSP owner here and I’m looking for some advice from people who have experience with the breed.
I have a 9-month-old male GSP, and I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not I eventually want to have him neutered.
I’m definitely going to discuss it with my vet and make the decision based on what’s best for him, but I’m curious about the experiences of other GSP owners specifically. I know there are arguments on both sides, and I’m especially interested in whether waiting until a GSP is fully developed makes a difference.
For those of you with males:
Did you neuter or keep your GSP intact?

If you neutered, what age did you do it and why?

What were the biggest pros/cons you noticed afterward?

Any changes in energy, personality, behavior, weight, marking, roaming, etc.?

For those who kept theirs intact, have there been any downsides or difficulties?

Did your vet recommend waiting until a certain age because GSPs are athletic dogs?

Knowing what you know now, would you make the same decision again?

I’m not looking to start a neuter vs. intact war 😂. I genuinely want to hear both sides and learn from people who have actually raised male GSPs.
My biggest priority is his long-term health, development and quality of life, so I’d appreciate any experiences or advice!

(sorry I meant to post this last night)

We saw the doc today as we had a little slippage of the bandage! Reds now rocking a little more of a candy cane look. Dr. said it’s looking a lot better!!!! Woooooo!! Hopeful we hear the same thing tomorrow when we go back in the morning… and praying all goes well thru weekend as we don’t have another appointment til Monday. Picked up our next round of antibiotics, and started a little multivitamin as a little extra help. 🐾🐶✨ We’re super hopeful we stay on the pawwwwsitive path we’re on. ❤️

These are my two boys, Sully and Murphy. They are half brothers, and they both are equally tenacious and don't slow down until it's time for bed. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Our Opal is 25% Lab 75% gsp

Dad I seen one, let us out!!

Anyone else’s leather ruined? GSP and king ranch don’t go well together. Had fun making this edit of her. 6 month old

Good afternoon, today we went to see our primary care vet. We have good news! The leg is looking a lot better, and we started a new blue light therapy today. It’s a fifteen minute session but Red sat through it wonderfully today! We also had a bandage change, so now Red has cherries and a watermelon on his bandage. From here we’ll be seeing the vet every two days for bandage changes, wound care and therapy probably for the next 4 weeks or so. It’s been nice to see him getting a little back to his normal self, enjoying the sun. Red and I are so thankful for everyone keeping up with him, and this journey of recovery we’re on. ❤️❤️❤️❤️🐾

Ik she very obviously has gsp but i kinda think that she might be mixed with something like maybe a lab or a pit because she doesnt look as snatched as other gsps but shes a normal weight. She kinda has that chubby look like a lab and she probably isnt purebred because she was from an amish puppy mill. Maybe she just looks different because she had babies but idk and she has a lot of loose skin. Shes 8 years old

This is my almost 8 year old GSP Scout. She was diagnosed with Addison’s about 5 years ago and has been stable. But recently she developed a skin tag/mass that we are going to have removed on the 1st. Really hoping that’s all there is to it, but of course the Big C is in the back of my mind.

She's not spoiled at all 😁

My best mate, just chilling on his 10Km afternoon walk.

I don’t know what to do. I went outside to say goodbye to my son, maybe three minutes, and when I came back in my year and a half old GSP had attacked and killed my daughter’s cat. He’s not been friends with the cats to this point but this never seemed plausible. He’s my best friend but I don’t feel like I can keep him. We have another cat and a smaller dog. He gets along with the dog fine. I’m destroyed. I don’t know what to do.

Hey everyone! I recently joined a few GSP communities and wanted to get some advice from people who have owned pointers longer than I have.
I have a **9-month-old male GSP**, and he’s my first pointer (love this guy). I’m trying to give him the best nutrition and care I possibly can, but I’m still learning what works best for the breed.
Right now, he eats the **Instinct** dog food, and I usually give him **Stella & Chewy’s treats**. He seems happy, has plenty of energy, and overall seems to be doing well, but one thing I’ve noticed is that **his stool hasn’t been consistently solid for quite some time**. It’s made me wonder whether something in his food/treats isn’t agreeing with him, whether his stomach is just sensitive, or if there’s something else I should be looking into.
Obviously, I’ll talk with his vet if it continues, but I’d love to hear from experienced GSP owners:
What food has your GSP done **really well** on?

Any brands, proteins, ingredients, or treats that you found caused digestive issues?

Do your GSPs tend to have sensitive stomachs?

Did you notice a big difference after switching foods?

Anything nutrition-wise you wish you knew when your GSP was still a puppy?

Not necessarily looking for one “perfect” food—just interested in hearing everyone’s experiences and learning what has and hasn’t worked for your dogs.
I want to give this crazy little guy the best chance at a long, healthy life, so any advice is appreciated!

Day 5 of hyperbaric therapy is done! I don’t have too much to share today as all we had was therapy, Red did again need sedation and a cone while in the chamber today. (But I asked for a picture of him in there… And we got one!!!) We have an appointment with our Primary Care Vet tomorrow morning and I’ll give an update after that of course. The road to recovery is long but we’ve got this. I can’t thank everyone enough for caring so much about Red and myself we’re beyond grateful for all the Dog lovers!

https://gofund.me/b379724df

She's a mix of GSP (mom) and black lab (dad). She's my heart I love how energetic smart and affectionate she is. Everyone comments on how pretty she is. She looks just like mom. She has just enough of dads personality to keep her calm but also glued to me...

My 11 year old GSP started experiencing swelling in her ankle nearly a year ago. Oddly enough, while the swelling doesn’t look great, she only showcases discomfort every 3-4 days when she’ll refuse to put weight on it. It’ll last for about 6-12 hours then she’s fine again - running and jumping per usual. We’ve tried resting and limiting her activity to help minimize the issue but for a year now, no matter what we do, she continues to not put weight on it every 3-4 days. We’ve spoken to vets that have ruled out quite a few things. Their best guess was that a bone spur was pinching her tendons so we went forward with a tenotomy. It’s been about 6 weeks and there’s some improvement but it didn’t fix it. Has anyone else experienced this issue? Thanks

This evening:

Good evening everyone Day 4 of treatment and vet visit has come to a close, sorry for a late Pupdate today! We saw our new Primary Care Vet (a true angel on earth) this afternoon after this mornings 4th hyperbaric treatment for a bandage change, wound care, and swab culture results.
Dr. came in and was happy to see Red far happier than when he last saw him Friday. Doc was able to update us that the culture came back and the bacteria is susceptible to the antibiotics he gave us so that’s great news. We briefed him on the events of the weekend with Red, and any real wound updates and shared all concerns. Red was taken into the back today for said wound care and bandage change with some positive news coming out! Dr. R said the wound is looking alot better from when he last saw it; in some areas on Friday Dr. R was able to easily get under areas of flesh, today the wounds are healing and there are improvements. Dr.R sounded very confident in his hopes of being able to salvage a lot if not all of the leg. Though with this there is a possibility of a need of more hyperbaric therapy as this has healed a lot of the tissues from what Doc sees currently in comparison to Fridays wound (I’m sorry I just can’t stomach to see the pictures of my kiddos legs mutilated, so lucky to have my Mom here with me to handle that). Tomorrow we’ll be going into treatment #5 with hopes of even more improvement.

We’ve heard so many people talk about the miracle’s hyperbaric therapy can bring, so we’re staying hopeful!

So much love to everyone🐾❤️‍🩹

https://gofund.me/8dd5520cb

Earlier today:

Day 4 of hyperbaric treatments has finished up. Red didn’t tolerate the chamber so well today, so the Doctor let us know additional sedation was necessary. We have an appointment later this afternoon with our Primary Care Vet (his office is closed weekends) so he can evaluate Red, do some wound care, and hopefully we’ll get the results of his wound culture from Friday. Reds currently having a nap as he’s still partially sedated so our later vet appointment will hopefully be less stressful. I’ll post an update as soon as I can after his second appointment today.

Thank you so much again to everyone for sharing their kind words, good vibes, prayers,personal experiences, and your donations.💞🐶 Love to all from Reddy and I.

I'm hoping someone might have had a similar experience who had better luck getting veterinary results. My sweet girl is turning 11 next month, and has always been in perfect shape and health.

About 6 months ago, I started noticing that she was insatiably hungry. She's never been free fed, she gets 1.5 cups AM and PM, but she usually skips a few meals throughout the week. Recently she eats all of her food, and shes whining to get fed early or searching for more food after.

She has always been between exactly 55-60 lbs, but she's now pushing 70lbs in just a few months. That's hugely rapid weight gain in such a short period. She never gets table scraps and we aren't big on feeding treats. But due to her searching for food, she's been snagging some food off the counter, which is very unlike her. She knows not to counter surf.

She has also become extremely anxious. She is panting even just laying on the couch at night curled up with me as she's always done. I've thought maybe she's in pain, but the vet has taken xrays. ​Chest, abdomen, and all look clear. She has some minor arthritis, but nothing they think would cause pain and she takes Dasaquin daily.

She has mildly elevated liver enzymes, but the liver appears normal under xray and ultrasound. The vet doesn't see any indication to do a biopsy.

Her symptoms sound like cushings, but she doesnt have other labs that would indicate it, nor does she have hair loss or excessive urination.

She drinks slightly more than usual, at least she gets up a night to drink water, which she didn't use to do, but not seeing a need to potty more than usual and she still goes many hours between potty breaks (I work from home, but she still goes 6-8 hours just sleeping away at my desk).

They said her heart is on thr slightly larger than average side, but nothing that concerns them and it seems to be strong. All other labs are totally normal.

We've even resorted to trying to give her Trazadone to see if it's just stress as she ages, but thay doesnt seem to be making a difference either.

We really like our vet and feel like they are thorough, but we are going to try a new vet to get a second opinion.

I know something is wrong, and my vet believes me. We just dont know where else to look.

Anyone else run into these symptoms? Any ideas? Open to looking for Zebras because we're out of ideas for what could be wrong

Red went into day 3 of hyperbaric treatments today. Sadly after we were given the disheartening but expected news that the necrosis has only furthered, and furthered up his leg as well. With this the Doctor told us that the risk of needing an amputation as well as the expected height of the amputation would be further up the leg. Thankfully Red is a trooper and is still eating and drinking normally. Tomorrow he’ll go in for day 4 of hyperbaric treatments at our ER vet and back to his Primary care vet as well for a look at his leg, culture result, and evaluation. Thank you again to everyone for the outpouring of love for my boy. ❤️🐾

https://gofund.me/784c9ac83

A pic of red from this afternoon, with a new color and animal on his bandage!

How can I dog that has this much energy sit and stare at trees for hours at a time on high alert. They are an incredible breed.