Christmas

Can this go on forever?

Bella had a wonderful Christmas. Tons of people, her dog sister, chews, toys, wrapping paper and commotion. Oh!—and did I mention the option to lick fingers greasy with turkey juice? Her tail never stopped wagging until she got home and collapsed on her bed. She slept solidly until 6:30AM. Unheard of!

New Buddy Has Med Problems Too!

My friend was disappointed to learn her new little buddy, Boone, has chronic superficial keratitis. I guess this is a life-long issue, but treatable. She noticed both of his eyes were a little milky and was concerned it might be cataracts. Her vet had a pharmacist mix up a 2% cyclosporin solution which is a transplant rejection medication  proven to be useful for this condition.  She said it takes 48 hours to prepare. Hope the little guy takes his daily meds well.

On our home front, Bella's raw red nose is glistening with Neosporin.

Demodectic Mange

In the picture, you can see her pink nose where the vet
scraped it for a skin sample. Above her eye, in the top
of the picture is a small white patch. This is the
remains of the infection.

Shortly after Bella's experience at the doggie day care I noticed a spot on her head in front of her right ear with three tiny scabs. Because she often bashes through bushes in search of her tennis ball, I attributed the scratches to a tangle with blackberries. However, a week later, I noticed the three tiny spots had coalesced into one big spot and she was losing fur in the area. I am uncertain if she sustained the wound playing at day care or sticking her head in brambles. A few days later, the spot—and fur loss—was even greater. There was also a barely discernible little white patch on top of her muzzle.

I took her to the vet who gave me an antibiotic ointment to clear up the spot by her ear. After ten days, the spot looked better, but was by no means healed. Ten more days of the cream, Entederm, finally seemed to get a handle on it. However, the spot on her nose became more noticeable and there was increasing fur loss there also. The little white patch, though not very big was more prominent and now looked like gray, scaly skin.

Back to the vet. Today's diagnosis is demodectic mange. Non-contagious and usually something you only see on puppies. In fact, my vet said most dogs have these mites on them at all times, but their immune systems keep them in check. Could Bella's system have been compromised because of the infection by her ear? Possibly. My vet felt it was not connected to the day care, merely coincidental.

She suggested putting a little dab of non-cortisonal neosporin on her muzzle twice a day until it clears. I'm hoping while she is with her sister, my in-laws will keep up the care. I hate to leave town with any medical issues, however slight, on the plate.

Electrocution from Light Pole

This article appeared in the paper a couple of weeks ago and naturally has urban dog owners on edge. Walking in the city, a woman's dog was electrocuted by "contact voltage" when it passed by a light pole. Shortly after it, more stories appeared in the paper siting other poles that seemed to have the same grounding issue. Although this is a rare occurrence, it does make one leery about how close to get to a pole. I've never trusted walking by flickering street lights anyway; the noise they emit sounds dangerous.

Our neighborhood, an unincorporated part of the county, has few lights and even fewer sidewalks, so walkers tend to stay in the middle of the road if there is no traffic. Be wary if your pup shys away from a pole!

Here's a follow-up on this story. Glad the city is having all the light poles checked! Haven't your ears been listening for that electrical buzz? Mine have!

New Buddy!

Meet Boone, the new member of our community
dog pack!

My friend, who had the bad adoption experience this past summer, is in the "mood" again. She sent me several links of pups she was thinking about. And now, she just called and is bringing Boone home! Yay! Isn't he beautiful? (He reminds me of Tucker!) He's 5 years old and she said absolutely sweet. Let's hope it works out well for them both!

Cardboard Makes the World Go 'Round

When Bella is bored, there are are two things we can count on her doing. If socks are out, she'll steal one and dash around the house. Several very hearty shakes and air tosses makes sure the sock is thoroughly dead. (She has yet to destroy a sock. She seems to be able to kill it without eating it.)

If there are no socks, and the basement door is open, the recycling container is fair game. There always seems to be a supply of cardboard to be had. Where would a puppy be without a good piece of cardboard to ripe up?

Since I am in the midst of Christmas baking (dog biscuits for her and cookies for us), she found both an egg carton and a butter box. Oh joy!

PS: The dog biscuit recipe is from King Arthur flour. It smells great and I'm sure will taste fabulous.

A Wonderful Place

One of the blogs I regularly read is from a place called Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary. The couple who run this non-profit take in (and often re-home) disabled cats, dogs and horses. The couple, Steve Smith and Alayne Marker, are really remarkable in the beautiful care and home they provide these animals who otherwise would be euthanized. This recent entry really touched me. Here is a pup who would not be here if not for them. The post is clear about the difficulties this dog faces, yet being a dog—my take—is that they always have a joyful heart. They can suffer through so much yet a warm bed, a full tummy, kind words and tender pats are all they ask for. This post brings tears to my eyes. What a sweet old hound.

Fabulous Marketing & Customer Appreciation

This shows all the treats included in the bag. Wow!

Quite a while ago while shopping for books at my favorite book store, Island Books, I discovered a new outlet of pet food store I'd shopped at nearly 25 years ago in a different location. The store, All the Best, is really the best—at least this store certainly is. I drive quite a ways to shop there, but then have the benefit of frequenting my bookstore across the street too!

The minute you walk in the door, you're greeted with a "Hello!" by an employee whether they are busy with another customer or not. The employees' dogs are at the store and they greet each dog who comes in. Free samples of treats are the norm, and there's a play area where you can let your dog try certain toys. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful about the products they carry. Best yet, not only is the store locally owned, but their prices are comparable with other "healthy pet food" stores.

In minutes, Bella eviscerated a soft toy that
was included in the gift bag.

Last week I got a postcard in the mail and was about to toss it when I noticed the 'All the Best' logo. It was a customer appreciation card and stated if you came into the store, you'd receive a "thanks for being our customer" gift bag. Who can resist that? Needing more dog food (Bella now rotates through Great Life), I went in. We're one bag of food, some treats, a toy and a gift bag richer.

Busy Week, Odds and Ends

Not much happening dog-wise, but because of the beeline to Christmas, my life has been overly busy. Luckily my husband is able to occupy Bella during the day while I work. He's taken her biking on urban trails a couple of times this past week. One of the locations was around a local lake—big learning lesson for him. Bella is completely overwhelmed in new situations. It takes a while for her to remember her manners and recompose herself into a well-trained dog. Plus, anything to do with water (right up there with balls) sends her over the top. When they got home, my husband complained how much she was pulling on her leash.

Whereas my walks with Lucy were limited because of proximity to other dogs, my walks with Bella are limited to little or no water view. She just can't control her excitement and weeps and weeps. What I've found is a little bit of time by a lake is good training for us both. For me, it requires leash work and consistency. For Bella, it's a good reminder that she's still attached! If it isn't too cold, I'll let her swim or we'll play fetch with a stick, but this isn't always possible.

I'm going to make some dog biscuits today. Instead of buying all five of the family dogs Christmas treats, I thought I'd try my hand at baking them something. Much better, I think, with knowing the ingredients in the homemade cookies than the junk in some of the things you buy. I searched the web for recipes and will try the first one today.

Baja and Dogs

We have talked, and sometimes, more than talked, about bringing Bella to Baja with us. We successfully journeyed there with Lucy, so you'd think I wouldn't be hesitant. Yet more knowledge has made me infinitely more wary. My initial resistance was flying her home with me. I have never flown a dog and read horror stories I don't want to experience. I know people fly dogs all the time, but they aren't me and their dog isn't mine.

The second conundrum is managing her there. Many of the Mexican dogs run loose and rarely are spade or neutered. Many are feral. Shots are not the norm, so disease and infections are common.  The local dogs pack up creating dog "gangs." Although Bella has great doggie communication skills, can she speak "Baja Dog?" I don't know and I'd hate to find out that she couldn't. If she was attacked, although Bella has shots, I don't know what other diseases the local dogs may have that she could contract. Dealing with a Mexican vet, if I could find one, would be difficult with my limited Spanish.

Because the locals don't like the feral dogs scrounging around their property, they lay out poison. Bella eats anything and everything. Even if she's on a leash, she can grab and swallow something faster than I can say, "Out!" and expect her to drop it.

A friend, who spends his winters in Baja, called this morning to let us know he'd arrived safely and then proceeded to tell us there was a dead dog in front of their house when they arrived. The dog was a victim of poisoning. The owner couldn't get there until later in the day which meant the dog lay in the sun (there are no trees in this area) until he arrived. When he finally appeared, he attached a rope from his truck to the dog and dragged the dog off. That was it. I had to get off the phone.

If I brought Bella with us, I would be a nervous wreck. I could never let her off leash. I'd constantly be fretting about her safety. I doubt she'll ever make it south of the border.