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Seizures in dogs. Anyone have experience with sm

Posted By: mlstoo on 2006-12-30
In Reply to:

this?  My poor little Cocker-he's 1-1/2 has been having seizures for about the last 6 months. The first time was last summer, around June. He stiffened up, weak on one side, fell down, neck spasmed literally all the way to the side for probably less than a minute and then he was fine. We didn't see anymore for about 3 months and boom, another just like the first. Then he had a couple of staring spells. I called the vet and he said to just observe and see if it happened again. Well, all was well for another 2 months and then he had the shivering episodes, 2 in 3 weeks that I observed. He would fall down and shiver real bad, not know anyone, unable to walk and this lasted for about 1-2 minutes. Then he was fine. I called the vet again and he said to "observe" for now. Today, he had another just like the first only it lasted for close to 3-5 minutes and it took him about another 15 minutes before he totally came out of it and was able to walk. In all of these seizures, his pupils were just huge-as big as the iris itself. I'm going to call the vet back on Tuesday again. What I want to know is, I wonder if it would be wise if I firmly asked the vet to please put this poor dog on antiseizure medication even if he wants to just "observe" again? Do they grow out of this or does it get worse?  He told me that he prefers to wait before using medication as they sometimes outgrow it, but I don't think it is going to happen. He doesn't bite and is not incontinent during these episodes. He doesn't bite his tongue either. They aren't the classic grand mal seizures.  I had a dog when I was young who had the classic grand mal and these aren't like that. My concern, and this is what I told him, is how many seizures is the poor little guy having that we haven't seen? I mean, I'm with him all day, but he sleeps by himself at night (on the couch-he's so neglected) and then there is his playtime in the fenced in yard. Any suggestions?  I'll check back later or you can email me.  Thanks!


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Seizures in dogs. sm
It really varies.  My chihuahua sustained a brain injury at the age of 4 (baseball); and she started having seizures.  They were terrible.  They only lasted about 5 minutes but felt like hours.  I finally got a vet to put her on phenobarbital and she never had another seizure the rest of her life.  The vet said some dogs respond, others do not.  As mentioned, she had brain injury and vet was skeptical, but it worked for us.  Good luck.
Shelties or Australian Sheep Dogs are great family dogs. rm
a
My dog had seizures too,
He had them from around 10 weeks old and for the rest of his life, but not very often because my vet put him on phenobarbitol tabs. I had to give them to him twice a day, but it was worth it. He died two years or so later, but I think he ate something that killed him, it wasn't a seizure. My vet only observed him for 24 hours before putting him on the meds, he did bloodwork to make sure that was what was happening. Good luck, give your doggy a hug for me!!
Anybody with a dog with seizures?
Do they run tests to determine if it's indeed seizures or what? Katie, our springer, has been having what appears to be mild seizures. They only last a couple of seconds and she's not out of it when it happens. She's due for her shots so I'm gonna ask about it but thought someone here might have some experience.
Seizures have many causes

A dog I adopted from a local shelter, who had been a stray and was skeletally thin (14 pounds), had seizures which the vet said was probably due to malnutrition. In the beginning, the only thing he could keep down was baby food (ground meat). After a couple of weeks, I started mixing the baby food with regular dog food and soon he was able to handle a regular dog food diet. When he finally got to his normal weight, he was almost 40 pounds!


His seizures took the form of shaking, like some dogs do when they are frightened. Phenobarbital helped to keep them to a minimum, but he still had them. All we could do was hold him and talk soothingly to him until the seizure was over.


He was the sweetest dog....I miss him so much.


My in-laws have a dog who has seizures...
This dog seems to being having grand mal seizures because it urinates on itself and they last a least a minute. The dog has had this several times but they haven't taken him to the vet because of the cost involved. My mother-in-law gives him an aspirin and puts "cold packs" on him when he is seizing. I'm not sure why but she is a little strange. I would take the dog to a vet. They can probably do test to see if she is indeed having seizures. Good luck!
No experience with the program but definitely experience with the symptoms! nm
x
My poor old doggy had seizures

and died from one.  He went to the vet that day and she put him on medication.  I called her and told her he was having more seizures and she said to double his medication.  That night, he had a seizure and did  not come out of it and died staring at me.  I felt so helpless that I could not do anything to help him.  I loved him so much.


 


Now I have another doed that is only 2-1/2 and he is having seizures about 1 every 3 months.  He gets very scared and I have to comfort him.  He wines and gets under my feet, can't stand up, drools, shivers and goes stiff. 


Update on my poochie with seizures sm
He had another last night right before I went to bed. Of course I couldn't sleep all night worrying about him. I called the vet promptly at 8 a.m. this morning and we are starting him on phenobarb 1/2 grain twice a day for starters. I sure hope this brings it under control. I felt so bad for the poor little guy.  Otherwise today, he is great.  Thanks for all the support. 
Seizures, aspirin and dog demise

Okay, here's my offering of a summary.  In answer to the initial question, yes dogs can have seizures.  I had a dog that had them for several years. Extremely scary, but they basically didn't harm him. He shook and was stiff for about a minute, then was fine afterwards.  The vet didn't see a need to do testing, and I agreed, as he was already 9 or 10 years old at the time, and he lived another 5 years after that.  (The dog, not the vet, ha!) Of course other owners and other vets might decide to do testing and such.  As for the aspirin debate, I will now agree with the person who says aspirin can kill a dog.  A dog given small doses of aspirin every day of its life will indeed die - most likely in anywhere between 13 and 17 years!  Let's lighten up, everybody! 


Poor thing, with seizures and all.
Some cats don't care about mice.  I have two.  LIke I said in the other posting, one loves to catch mice.  The other one?  Well, I've seen a mouse literally run right past his nose and he just didn't care. 
These dogs appear to be puppy mill producing dogs.
The two females, which I thought were older, appear to be just worn out/depleted. Their teeth are those of a 3-5 year old dog. So, I do believe they have had litters each cycle and are suffering from malnourishment.

Funny thing, yesterday, they were covered with mud (it rained and they were digging) and this morning, I look out and see they have all been grooming as they are clean.

Called Love of Animals who has committed to spaying/neutering the animals, giving them their shots, flea repellant and showing them at Pets Mart on Sundays. In a few months, there will be a regional dog show at the local college where on average 150 dogs are adopted out and she asked that I keep them until then.
Which I will...And a girl saw the ad for the Lost Pets and is looking for a replacement for her Shi Tzu she lost a year ago and will come by tomorrow morning.
My husky Cara had seizures, she was never on medication though - sm
She only had them about every 18 months or so, granted I don't know if she had others when I was at work during the day, at night she slept in our bed with us. I believe the seizures contributed to the shortening her life though. She died days after her 8th birthday (cancer) in 2003. She never bit her tongue either, and the seizure was a few minutes and then after 15 or so minutes she started to get back to normal, but she would usually sleep for a long time after having a seizure. Since your dog's seizures seem to be getting worse I would opt for the medication. If you vet gives you a hard time then you might want to think about going to a different vet. Good luck.
My friend's cocker spaniel had seizures too. SM
The vet claimed it was due to emotional issues, seperation from her, if she traveled, etc. He lived to be 15, though. Is it unique to spaniels?

My daughter's cat also had seizures. It is very traumatic to watch it. She would call me up crying because the cat was seizing. The vet said rare in cats, but he put the cat on phenobarb, which daughter got from regular drug store. Very funny seeing prescription from Walgreens with Sgt. Pepper on it.

I reallly assume it is more traumatic to watch, than actually a danger to pet, because daughter's cat is 17.

Seizures are fairly common in Springers.
But what is the age of onset? Usually if age of onset is after 5 years, it is something other than epilepsy. But in a very young dog, it probably is epilepsy. A friend of mine has a Australian shepherd (named Major) that was having multiple grand mal seizures a day. Medicine helped, but what made a big difference for her was changing the dog's food to Canidae. Of course it's not in place of medication, but the dog went from multiple seizures a day before medication to 1 seizure a week with medication (may have had to add a second med, not sure), but then changing to Canidae improved him to 1 seizure in 6 months! She also has a Pembroke corgi (named Minor) who alerts them to each seizure before it hits their Australian shepherd.

She named her dogs Major and Minor - what a nut. :oD


Dog owners - recognizing partial seizures
After losing Misha to a brain tumor, I decided to post this to help others with dogs (sorry cat lovers - I did not research cats). Seizures beginning when a dog is young are almost always due to epilepsy, and it is very treatable. Unfortunately, seizures that begin when a dog is 5 or older is almost always either a brain tumor or some sort of serious infection in the brain. Either way, recognizing it early will help you have the confidence to insist on early treatment for the comfort and health of your pet.

Everybody knows the signs of a tonic-clonic seizure, but subtler seizures can confuse even vets. Know the signs of even focal/partial seizures:

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/CanineEpil.htm

I have my dogs on it, and yes all my past dogs but 2 have died -sm
from cancer. But I had 2 schipperkes on Frontline for years and one died at 13 from cancer, the other at 16 just from old age/kidney failure. My last husky was 8 when she died from cancer, but I have had one die at 2 (unknown causes), and another at 9.5 from liver cancer (she actually made a nice recovery but succumbed about 6 months later), but huskies don't tend to live past 10 unfortunately. I have had purebreeds and mutts, and with or w/o Frontline/Advantage they have all died from cancer. I suppose it is possible that it causes it, but if you live long enough, cancer will most likely be your cause of death, anything and everything causes cancer anymore. I hate fleas and ticks and we have lots of them, so the dogs get the Frontline except in the cold winter months. They are 6 and 3 and both doing quite well.
And dogs don't bite right? Love my dogs but I
nm
my dogs are basically indoor dogs sm
but have a doggie door to go in and out as they please. Sometimes our Jack Russell gets excited and barks inside the house. My DH grabs is belt and snaps it and the loud noise shuts her up right away. I am not trying to frighten our dog, but many times just saying knock it off doesn't work.
he's not a loser because he has seizures, he's a loser because
we have to pay an exterminator to keep away the mice. He doesn't like to be petted. He pees and poops on things when he has seizures. I'm not saying he is a loser because he has seizures but because he pees and poops on things and the other things I mentioned. If he was your cat, I'm sure you would just kick him to the curb.
Do any of you experience this???
Do any of you transcriptionists experience severe pedal edema with foot pain?  My left foot is quite swollen, has been for quite some time, but I recently developed rather severe pain in my left foot, tender to touch, and painful to walk.  Ideas what the pain might be from, and do any of you experience this?  I'm sure the edema is from sitting, but the pain??
Anybody have experience with

smokless tobacco, snuff and what the effects are?  My son is 18, will be 19 in 3 months.  I found out over this past summer he was using this and I was not very happy about it.  Does it get you high or something?  He has a glassy-eyed look after he uses this product.  I have gone on line to read about it, but it only states it puts nicotine into your system.


He said he would stop while he was away at college. He has been home since last Friday and this morning I just found out he is still using it and lying to me.  He has been a runner all throughout high school and very athletic.  I am very saddened by this development in his life.


Yes, he is an adult but not of age to buy this or even alcohol.  That also was an issue over the summer and do not want to think about that today as I will really have a melt down.   Any thoughts or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


A very sad Mom today.


No experience
But thank God they found it early. Keep up your spirits and vitamins, keep your body as healthy as you can, eat the right foods and stay physically and mentally strong, cancer is no longer a death sentence remember that...
My experience..........sm
We lived in south Florida when our son was born, and at 6 weeks we traveled 16 hours to see our family. Our daughter was 3-1/2. We just took our time....I stopped to breastfeed him, took walks at rest areas, and still made good time. Mine tended to drop off to sleep as soon as the car began moving, so that made it easier. Our daughter would get car sick and had to sit in the front seat to avoid this, so my husband or I always got the backseat anyway. As long as you don't push yourself, it could actually do you good to get away and enjoy yourselves.
I had the same experience (SM)
I have no cellulite anymore either. I went from 235.5 to 112 pounds. I do have a little loose skin on my belly and thighs, but it looks like I had 3 big kids (which I did-my 10 pounder was my biggest). I'm 27, so my skin is a little forgiving still, but the cellulite is gone.

I also had my fair amount of cellulite. It can go away.
Very very little experience
I think the boss must be paying the MT very low and expecting me to pick up the slack and basically retype a lot of it. I'm not happy.
This latest person... she worked a little in a doc's office. No real specialty. She is making terrible errors. It's dangerous. What's worse... the boss can't fix the errors. I really have to do it all. The boss is not all that experienced. Only in the sense of being a business person.
It has been my experience...
that dealing with foreign people (NOT ALL...but some) is extremely difficult.  Our favorite Chinese restaurant for example, call in to place an order and after every selection, she says "that all???" Uh no...more ordering..."that all???"  My husband said something to her once about it, like asking her to stop doing that, and she said "we very, very busy, hurry up with your order...no time to think about it....what you want?"  UHHH......
I can tell you that from my experience sm
it is possible. My experience may be different from most others, but I have seen it happen and end happily. My father divorced my mother when I was 11. I wasn't happy about the divorce (what child would be) but even as a young adult I saw it was for the best. A year later he married my step-mother and they will celebrate 29 years in Sept. They are still incredibly happy. There were many hard times (my older brother and I went to live with them 6 weeks after they married and she had a 5yr old son from her first marriage)and times when I think they almost wanted to just give up, but they didn't and I for one am happy they are still together.
Here's some of my own experience . . .
Your comment about his reading your mind after 10 years caught my attention. I've been married for 23 years, and have known my husband for 27.
Also, I'm the youngest of 7 and the only girl in my family. I have three sons, and I'm an assistant scoutmaster with a boy scout troop. I've lived all my life in a circle of males. Don't ever expect them to read your mind. I know there are plenty of men who are sensitive and can anticipate the feelings of others. In a very wide generalization, well... most men aren't that good at it. They actually appreciate it when you clearly state what you want.
My other words of wisdom about relationships with men... the silent treatment is useless. Don't bother. It's just a respite from arguing for most of them. Speak up. Try to stay calm when you do. (This is MY problem! I'm very passionate when I argue!)
I'm sorry you had such a bad time. Maybe it's time to sit down and have a good talk together about things. Better yet, maybe some counseling would help. In the heat of an argument, alls sorts of things are said. Maybe we mean them when we say them, but later, in calmer moments with hindsight, we wish they were unsaid. Establish goals with your husband, and then move forward together. Get help doing this, if you need it.
My experience
I was allowed to do whatever I wanted when I went to college (I'm only 25 so we're not talking THAT long ago ) as long as I got good grades (my mom was helping pay for college). However, I also had a full time job and went to school full time, had my own car financed by myself, and had my own apartment that I paid for. BIG difference. If my mother had been financing my car with the title in her name, I would understand her wanting to have control over what I did with it. Would I have liked it at 18, no, but I feel that it is the right way to do things. If he wrecks in that car - guess who foots the bill, as I'm sure you know. However, I would ask, does he now or did he ever want to work to pay for a car, etc. and you told him no? If so, I could see how he would get angry. I was allowed to work even in high school as long as my grades were good. And I was allowed to go out with friends as long as I went to work and the grades were good. It taught me how to be responsible come college time.
My experience - sm

First let me say how sorry I am for your loss.  A lot of people who have never been through this kind of a loss early in the pregnancy do not realize how hard it really is to work through.  I had my miscarriage at 7 weeks and got my period 6 weeks after that.  I pray that this time goes easy for you physically and that the next pregnancy is healthy and full term..


Sue-Ellen


 


In my experience - sm
My family doc is one of the old fashioned types, in that when you see him you see HIM, not a PA or a substitute. He also knows what I do for a living and respects my judgment and takes whatever I say into consideration.

On the other hand, we've been trying to get a diagnosis for my daughter's stomach problems and I have yet to find a doctor who puts any credence into my input. Most just sidestep or just pooh-pooh anything I say.

So, you see, there are both. Your aunt, unfortunately, probably has either not had a doc who listens or (most likely, given her age) is still in the "doctors are gods, don't question them" mindset. Don't let it affect your relationship with her, by any means!

Good luck with your ribs. Nothing worse than an undiagnosed syndrome that you can't treat!
Sorry that was your experience, BUT -
I LOVE that store.  I shop there all the time.  They have an excellent selection of merchandise, great prices, and I can always find what I need and more each time I shop.  I always pay cash, so I cannot address your issues with their credit card.  I have also never returned anything to one of their stores, so I have no idea how their in-store customer service is. 
I have had the same experience. Every so often I
will wake up paralyzed like that and swear I can feel someone sitting on the edge of the bed. Really creepy.
Any experience with
A long story short; my checking acct was garnished by a bottomfeeder law office/collector for a 10-year-old debt a few months ago.  I had to pay them some money to have it released and am making monthly payments. My question is, since I cannot afford the monthly payments they insist I make, as long as I am making some payment, can they garnish my acct again?  If anyone knows, I'd appreciate your info!
My experience......
For at least the past 10 years, about a week before my period, I get a very stuffy nose, nearly cannot breath at night unless through the mouth, which then gives me a very dry sore throat. A doc I worked for in Florida said this is not unheard of considering we retain fluid before our periods, some more than others, and with the very stuffy nose I would get a migraine-like headache and ache in my shoulder joints and neck. This would go away almost immediately the day I woiuld start my period. He believes it has something to do with swollen mucous membranes because of inflammation in the body (fluid retention, hormone changes, etc.) which makes sense to me. My ears will even feel stuffy at times. He suggested I try Aleve or plain old aspirin for anti-inflammatory benefit and for me, it did help. It kept the swelling down, which helped everything else. Couldn't believe the difference this made for me.

I know the misery you feel to some degree. Hope this will help you as well.
Anyone have experience with this? sm
I am suffering with perimenopause symptoms here, mostly with insomnia at certain times of the month now, which is really dragging me down.  I found a web site called "Women to Women" which sounds like a very good program.  Can anyone tell me if they have tried their program and what their experience was?  Thanks so much! 
my experience
As I stated above, I was in the Army for quite a few years.  I had soldiers under me who would have issues now and then.  I knew the routes to go and the ropes so to speak of how to get them what they needed.  I am sorry but you are not totally correct.  Working on an Army base as a civilian is most assuredly not the same thing as being in the Army. 
My experience.......
Vista requires a lot of memory (RAM)to run, so I wouldn't have anything less than 4 GB of ram, in order to make sure it doesn't freeze up all the time, which is a big complaint.

My daughter has a new Dell with Vista, 4 gb ram, and says it works great, really fast.

Otherwise, you can order online and get a computer with XP on it, with an upgrade to Vista later. Newegg.com, Tigerdirect.com, Dell..... all these have XP on their computers/laptops.
my experience...
I have a new Dell with Vista and my old computer with XP sitting side by side. I really do not see much difference, except of course my new computer is way faster.

All the accounts I work on support Vista also and I've not had a problem.
Sorry you had this experience with a pit...sm
But I don't believe it is a breed thing. I believe you were unfortunate to have happened to get a pitbull who did this. If your dog hadn't been raised with the cat I would say well that is just a dog being a dog but to be raised together and get along that is weird. But there are other dogs who are capable of attacking. I had a stray mix breed medium size dog. It didn't have any pit in it. I saw it kill a cat in my mother's yard. Brutally killed it. But it wasn't a mean dog to us. It also would try to attack our bealge pups. So I know other dogs are capable of killing animals. The pitbull can do more damage though than most dogs. But I have seen pictures of lab attacks on owners, Dalmation attacks on a child, many others. Any dog can do this. Personally I have a neighbor who had a little chihuahua and it was there little doll. They adored this little dog. Well someone who lives a mile to a mile and a half down the road has a Dalmation. It climbed the fence in its yard and went a mile or more down the road where the little chihuahua was outside peeing and mauled it to death with its owners watching. I mean they said the dalmation just attacked when it seen the little dog no provacation. So I know what other dogs can do too. But most won't. I hope you never have this problem again with any of your dogs. You had a most unfortunate incident with your pitbull and I believe this has rightfully left a bad taste in your mouth for the breed. But try to think of it like this. There are good people and bad people. There are good dogs and bad dogs. We have serial killers and rapists but we also have good people out there. Dogs are not different. Don't look down on the whole breed because of one bad experience. There are so many kind pits out there who have never hurt a living thing. Really.
Not everyone's experience will be the same as yours. sm
Not every teenager who smokes pot ends up like your son. I am sorry you had to go through so much, but as far the OP's son I think you are totally overreacting. When you consider how many teenagers try pot or smoke pot, your son is definitely the exception to the rule.

She's not being a doormat, she did speak to him, and he deserves the benefit of the doubt since there is no evidence of him being high. Teenagers are not perfect, and if they are trying to "clean up their act" they need trust and encouragement.
I have no experience but my DH has. He is 50 and
and just got out of them about 2 years ago. He looks fabulous! The only trouble he had was at first, his mouth was sore for several days, liquid/smooth diet, but after that everything went great. His were on for about 2.5 years and we could see the change after only 3 or 4 months. He is fastidious about his teeth (really always has been) always wears his retainer at night (a very small one inside the mouth at night only). Make sure you wear the retainer after they are off (assuming they give you one). You will be so happy with your results and the time will fly by. My DH was the ortho's oldest patient he had ever had!
use your own experience
to discuss the issues in specific but not personal terms -- unless it just seems that you should take it further for their benefit. Unfortunately i think some kids take it as license to do as they want. i would never lie, but reveal your own experience on a need-to-know basis, in my opinion.
My experience....sm
is that you're the patient and the doctor should respect your requests/observations. Try cutting back to a month between visits and if you're not feeling any worse then you'll know that it's a good increment for you. You could then start trying to wean back to 6-8 weeks and figure out what is the "magic" distance between adjustments for yourself.

In my experience -- sm
with the south east coast, ANY place along the se coast border is subject to much humidity in the summer, and winter too actually, and wide open for hurricanes! I would much prefer the long hard winters than to EVER go through another hurricane. That includes FL. If I wanted sun and warmth, I think I would opt for Arizona, but that's just me, having been on the east coast in winter, summer, and hurricane season. aaaggghhh!
That's not everyone's experience...
As I said above, we have had no problems.  We have a large family and we've had no problems with any of the boys.  People also need to understand that when children are not circumcised, you do not need to manipulate the foreskin.  Yes, doctors instruct parents to do that, but you really should not.  It's best just to leave it alone.  That is part of the reason why children have problems, from people manipulating the skin unnecessarily.
My experience
When I was in my 20s I was in a relationship that was all about sex and it was great.  I was really attracted and lusted after this man.  He could just talk and I would melt.  This was someone who I had nothing else in common with and couldn't imagine settling down with.  Now in my late 30s, I am with someone who has the same life goals, we are really soul mates and I love him so much; however, the sex really isn't that great.  I kind of go through the motions of it.  I can't stand that I feel that way and would never tell him that, but it is just the way it is.  We have been together for 9 years and I wouldn't be with anyone else.  I have never had a relationship where there was LUST and LOVE, it's either one or the other.  I know some people do have that and I consider them very lucky! 
My experience
I don't really worry about so much anymore.  I listen to him, I'm there for him, I care about him and I let him know that I am always on his side.  He is my guy and I am his girl and we are partners!  Because he feels secure with a strong woman who he knows loves him, he doesn't notice that I don't really care for the sex.  I don't make it an issue for me or him.  I need a strong man who listens to me too and will always be there through the good times and the bad times.  I don't need the other part and I am very happy with my life.  Knowing that he loves me more than anyone else is everything for me.   I don't think you are weird at all.  My sister in fact is in her 20s and really has never liked sex either.  Maybe some woman just don't care so much about it.  It is about YOU and HIM and that's it!
My experience.....
I do know that nightshade vegetables do cause more inflammation in most people with arthritis and immunosuppressive disorders. Every time my husband eats pizza, stromboli, or basically anything with a tomato-based sauce in it, or onion,peppers, etc., he will be in a lot more pain the next day. Even eggplant, which he loves, really does a number on him.

Do some research and nightshade vegetables and immunosuppressive disorders and you will probably see a lot of reports on these things. But, this is a big issue in our home and I have read many many times that these things tend to flare conditions like you have and others.

Hope this helps.....
My experience...sm
I didn't use puppy pads because I felt like it was encouraging my puppies to go potty in the house. When they were little I would carry them to the door when I took them out of the crate in the morning and repeat over and over in a positive and reassuring tone, "potty outside". I would keep a close eye on them and if it looked like they were sniffing around looking for a place to potty, I would calmly and gently pick them up and carry them to the door and use the same words - potty outside - and take them out. When they were finished I would praise them and bring them back in for a "good boy treat". My second puppy kept having accidents in his crate during the night, and he was a little slower to get the door idea. They are 4 and 2 now and they have been really great as far as going to the door if they want to go out. If I don't happen to see them go and don't hear them scratch on the door, they will come to me and let me know they need to go. It's funny how you can just tell what they need with their expressions and mannerisms. I love my dogs!