Hi all, I am a new member and hoping to get to know you all better over the following weeks and months! I have recently bought a French Bulldog puppy (Lily-Mae) who had loose (not what I would call diarrhoea) stools with blood in it! At first the vet thought it was due to her new environment and I was gradually changing her food over! She didn't improve so was put on antibiotics, after a day or two there was still no improvement and she became lethargic and dehydrated so another trip to the vet more antibiotics and a stool sample was sent. After just 1 dose of Flagyl she improved her stools became firmer and she stopped pooing overnight, yayyy I thought we cracked it . The stool sample showed she had giardia but as she had responded to treatment the vet thought she was cured and didn't want to see her again however yesterday her bowels became more frequent and softer and the past few nights she has pooed overnight this morning there was a small amount of blood. I rang the vet who is going to give her another course of Flagyl! Anyone else have experience of Giardia?? Can I take her out? Can she meet other dogs? Could this affect any dog insurance?
Also she is peeing in her bed and continues to sleep there! I know dogs rarely soil their bed but I am wondering if she is peeing in her sleep as during the day she will go out to pee and poo, last night her bed was wet when we woke her up to go to pee before bed and she was asleep and we didn't see her "squat" in her bed? I mentioned this to the vet who was unconcerned and said she's still a baby! I am not new to dog ownership and have very successfully trained dogs in the past but this little one is trying my patience and is such a worry! Maybe I'm just getting old lol!
TIA Kim

The only experience (and I hope it stays 'the only') I've had with Giardia was with a 4 month old puppy we bought in.  He had loose stools, with occasional bloody flecks in it too.  So I collected a sample and had it tested and to my horror it came back positive for Giardia and roundworm ova too.   His breeder, who I knew well, said she'd wormed him (at least for everything other than Giardia which she denied any knowledge of having in her kennel!!).    He was treated with a high dose of Panacur which didn't work for the Giardia so he was put onto Metronidazole (which is Flagyl) and we then got negative fecals.   However, after that, he continued to be firm, normal in the morning but far from that by the end of the day.   I understand (but didn't know until this because we'd never had this) that most of the protozoa is killed off but those that are not burrow into the gut and remain there inactive unless the dog is stressed.   Nice.    With all this continual bad stool production I took him back, and back until finally one of the vets from the sister practice was on duty and gave him an antiinflammatory shot and onto Hills I/D     He suggested I make up a fish and potato diet (coley - mashed potato) which worked like magic.   I eventually switched to Arden Grange Sensitive (fish, haddock and potato) which is more convenient and has all the extras I could give him in a home-made diet.   He's been fine, other than the occasional tummy upset, which my Whippet had at the same time, for years now.   I do try to switch him to another perhaps less expensive food, but every time he tends to be softer than I like.   So if it keeps him regular, so be it - it's worth the extra cost to keep him away from the vet.

Re Giardia - he must have come here with it, despite his breeder denying this, because I'd had an oldie here before him who was fine, and my Whippet, who I had tested after this appeared, was always negative.  It's found in standing water (it was February when he came to us and everything was frozen even if there was no standing water outside here in any case).   I used Jeyes Fluid to clean up outside (to heck with the grass) and made sure we both washed our hands very regularly - it can transfer to humans.    To be kind to other local dogs, I'd not take her out off your property until you start getting negative fecal tests.   Insurance - don't know, you'd have to check

Puppies will mess in their beds if they are not taken out often enough.   Adults don't normally mess where they sleep but if a puppy, who physically may not yet be able to hold, feels the need and hasn't yet understood you will be letting her out often enough, they will just empty.   Your vet is right - she's just a baby.   I'd check she doesn't have a UTI going on - there's no point 'training' if she can't help what she's doing.

MamaBas's reply is excellent regarding the giardia. :-) My only addition is to ask whether the pup has always been able to get well away from her bed during the night - that she's not been confined to a small crate, where she had no option to wet her bed if nobody let her out as soon as she needed to go.

Thanks for your reply, my vet is unconcerned a bit too unconcerned for my liking tbh! I may have to change vets, she's not ill in herself and hasn't got proper diarrhoea but it's soft and she is going more than she was. The vet is reluctant to recheck her stool samples as originally she had responded to the Flagyl treatment! The vet did give her a dose of wormer yesterday and she has started the Flagyl but they are so small and so hard to get her to swallow them! I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that this will sort the problem once and for all as I need her to be better so I can start socialising her and taking her to puppy class! As for the insurance as she is already insured with the free 4 week KC insurance from the breeder that will cover this if I continue and although it's not the cheapest insurance and probably not the one I would choose it may be worth keeping her insured with them for at least the first year just incase any other tests need to be carried out!

She is in a crate that is half and half with bed and puppy pad, I think that maybe just like a baby she is peeing a bit in her sleep as her dog bed was wet the other evening and we didnt see her "squat" in it so I am keeping a very close eye on this! Last night we had a dry bed but wet and poopy pad! She's into anything and everything in the garden and could be picking up anything! Am waiting to have a fence fitted to confine her to the patio and limit her time spent on the grass and in the mud! She's such a money pit lol, I need to win the lottery!

We had one wet in their bed a few years ago at about the same age, he was caged but it was in a large play pen so there was plenty of room for the mite to not do it in his bed. We also took him outside every hour or 2 for a wee but alas he still did it, I came to the conclusion it was a combination of habit and a comfort thing. He did eventually stop I wouldn't worry too much the puppy is young and some just go through that stage.

This is interesting stuff I must say!  Sorry if I've missed it but how is the giardia picked up to begin with?

The vet is reluctant to recheck her stool samples as originally she had responded to the Flagyl treatment

Move to another vet!!   I must have had at least 4 fecal tests done on my Basset - even after they started coming in 'negative' I had them repeated as it is possible to get a negative if the test is done at a time when the *** isn't shedding.   It was only once we started getting several negative results that I hoped we were over the worst.

I don't do 'reluctant'.   You are paying after all and surely taking a stool sample in isn't invasive treatment for the dog!   I recently moved to another vet practice in town because I was getting 'vague' (could be lack of bed-side manner, but I can't work with a vet unless I have communication) and actual poor treatment - going in 6 times for a simple small pea-sized lump removal, and that included the wound needing to be stapled, twice..... not what I'd have expected from a professional to say the least.   I only agreed to the surgery because the fine needle aspiration apparently wasn't enough for the Lab to give a positive or negative result (!!).   This was just before Christmas and I decided not to risk leaving it for any longer than I had to, just in case.   Hum.

.... how is the giardia picked up to begin with?

Try this link - there are others.  http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/giardia-in-dogs/766

I was told it's found in standing water ........