A Brief Respite

We wrapped up obedience class this week. The last session went well, except for the woman who thought it would be a great idea to bring her kid, who was having some serious attention span issues.

In Zoe’s obedience class a few months ago, there was a little boy who was fantastic. He participated in class and worked on commands with their puppy and was on his best behavior the whole time. He was awesome. He could come to any dog class and I’d be thrilled to have him there. 

However, the kid who was in Otis’s class didn’t participate at all. The first few times his mother brought him, he cowered behind her, afraid of the dogs. At this session, he kept asking to pet our dogs while we were trying to listen to the instructor, and he was wandering around the room while we were doing exercises. Also, I tended to get a little tense during class anyway, not sure how Otis would behave around other dogs that day, so I was highly irritable in the first place. This did not help.  

The instructor handled it really well– at first she tried to involve him because she was trying to have our dogs sit with distractions, so that was perfect. After we moved on to other exercises, she politely asked him to not do some of the things he was doing. His mother finally realized that her kid was being a giant pain and put him in a corner with something to read. And all was well after that. 

I was still happy that we took the class. I found the techniques really helpful, and I feel that I can handle some of Otis’s aggression issues much better now. It’s going to take time and consistency, but I am definitely better equipped. 

Now for dealing with their new habit: becoming completely unglued when someone knocks on our door or rings the doorbell. Zoe will bark, and then Otis will bark but he’ll also start snarling in her direction. It’s something we need to practice with one of us coming to the door and the other one nipping the barking in the bud right away.

On the one hand, I like having guard dogs that could scare away potential intruders. (And I have to say I wasn’t upset when they precluded me from hearing more about Watchtower from a couple of young Jehovah’s Witnesses last week. Shame, that.) On the other hand, I don’t want them to get out of control. So that will give me something to do this winter. 

Otis is feeling really good these days. We have him on one tablet of 100 mg of Rimadyl (half in the morning, half in the evening), and two tablets of Glyco-Flex III (one in the morning and one in the evening), which contains glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane, and a whole bunch of other stuff with long words that I’m too lazy to type right now. We’ve also been giving him liquid fish oil in the morning, although the dog trainer warned us to watch that he doesn’t gain weight. She recommended the fish oil pills instead. We’re already giving him so many pills that we’re a little reluctant to add another. (The Glyco-Flex is huge– we have to cut it up into several pieces and it won’t even fit into our pill cutter.) We’ll continue to monitor it closely.

He’s been getting back to his old self, although I’m afraid he’s pushing it a little. He’s started leaping off the deck, and he’s ventured down into the basement a few times. If he decides to sleep in the basement, it can be a struggle to get up the stairs because he’s stiff. Otherwise, it’s fun to see him zipping around the yard with his sister again.

Otis will have his first overnight stay at the Puppy Hotel soon. I almost want to call and warn them in advance that they might have some extreme whimpering on their hands. Once one of them gets going, the other one starts in. They’re quite a chatty pair.

Happy Birthday, Zoe!

The birthday gal, anticipating cake or something else yummy

 

Zoe turns two years old today! We’re giving her lots of extra hugs and affection, and of course Bil-Jac, her favorite treats.

More Puppies!

Tim and I were watching the local news, and they kept showing a teaser for a guy singing “Goodnight Sweetheart” to his puppies. It must be a slow news day when you’re looking to YouTube for your content, but I’d rather have that than bad news (hello, economy!). At the end of the hour as part of a promo for something called myFOXpets.com, they finally showed the full video. And best of all, the puppies are Boxer puppies! 

Oh, the cuteness. It hurts.

And Now, to Cheer Everyone Up… Puppies!

Here’s a link to a live video feed of Shiba Inu puppies playing. Do I even have to say how cute this is?

What a Difference a Day Makes

Tim heard back from Dr. T and he called me at work today. The radiologist confirmed what she had already seen– severe dysplasia of the right hip, and spondylosis of some of his lower vertebrae. 

They recommended keeping him on the Rimadyl, along with some other supplements (either food or medication) for the next several weeks, and then we could evaluate him again to see if we wanted to go the surgery route. We would need to take him to the U of M for the evaluation and possibly to have the hip replacement performed. 

We’re both feeling much calmer and more positive. We don’t have to make any decisions right away. Plus, this gives us time to save some money in case we decide on surgery. That would be better in the spring, anyway, because we’d probably need to escort him outside to make sure he didn’t injure himself. Recovery time is from six to eight weeks. 

Tim asked about his current activity levels, and Dr. T said that we should let him dictate that, which was a relief. If he feels good, he’ll be able to play and run and jump. And if he overexerts himself, he’ll let us know. We need to watch for specific activities in case we need to limit them (for example, if he’s always gimpy after walking a certain distance), but for the most part, we can let him be himself, which is great. The thing that concerned us the most was his quality of life. We want him to be able to run and play and enjoy himself. 

Otis is feeling much better today, which helps. He’s back to his usual self, picking fights with his sister, stealing her toys, and running around the yard. 

We went to obedience class tonight, driving through the freezing rain. Only two other dogs (the Norwegian Elkhound puppy and the Springer Spaniel) showed up, so everyone got a lot of individual attention.

(My friend and her dog Molly had a good excuse– Molly was rushed to the emergency clinic last night for an allergic reaction, most likely to a bee or wasp that had been hiding in some bushes, and both dog and owner were still recovering today.) 

Otis still doesn’t do “down” on command (and I think his hips are partly to blame), but he can sit, stay, and come when called. He did amazingly well on “leave it” tonight, better than he’d ever done before. 

At the end of class, we got group playtime, and Otis and the puppy roughhoused a little. He seemed excited to be slightly larger than his playmate (the opposite of what happens at home). Although on the way out, he forgot that the puppy was his buddy and he growled as they passed each other on the sidewalk. I wonder if he has some sort of leash aggression, even though we’re on leashes in class. 

Our instructor recommended trying fish oil supplements to help with his joints, so we’re going to give that a shot. We’ll get the blood test results from the vet soon, so we’ll know what other medications or supplements we’ll be giving him for the next couple months.

Deja Vu All Over Again

No, not that. Thank god it’s not the cancer. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if that happened to either of the dogs, other than have some sort of nervous breakdown.

Otis has been bothered by his paws this week. At first, we couldn’t figure out what was wrong because it seemed that the paw would change by the day. We thought we’d give it some time just in case it was a mild sprain, but we weren’t that lucky. 

On Saturday afternoon, approximately 30 minutes after the vet’s office had closed for the weekend, Otis let out this horrible sound as he got up. (If I had to describe it, he sounded like a Yeti. It would have been a really cute warbly noise if it hadn’t been associated with trauma and pain.) He wasn’t putting any weight on his back right leg and he was extremely uncomfortable. He didn’t want to stand; he didn’t want to sit; he didn’t want to lie down. He finally got the circulation going again and was able to put a little weight on it, but he had several episodes like this throughout the rest of the weekend. A couple times I just hugged him and petted him and tried to comfort him as much as possible. We could have taken him to the emergency clinic, but we decided to wait it out and take him to the vet first thing Monday morning.

I was lucky enough to get an appointment first thing after they opened. (They asked if I could be there in 5 minutes, and I said yes, forgetting about the layer of frost covering my car, so it was more like 10.) Dr. T gently and carefully examined him and asked if they could keep him for x-rays, and I signed the consent form.

Two hours later, Dr. T called and said that he has dysplasia in his right hip. The ball joint was thickened and enlarged, and it was twice as big as the one in his left hip. She also noticed spondylosis in the last three or four vertebrae in his spine. She said that it wasn’t necessarily painful, but had the potential to hit some nerves.

They would wait for the radiologist’s full report, and they would run some blood tests, and then she would call us tomorrow to discuss our options (surgery, special diet, medication). In the meantime, they put him on Rimadyl (1/2 tablet every 12 hours) for two weeks. We were told to minimize his activity, and limit the amount of time he went up and down steps (no basement time for a while). We could still take him for walks, but we needed to make sure he didn’t strain himself by doing things like jumping off our deck. 

They ended up just giving him a sedative and not the full anaesthesia (which saved us about $70), but he was still really groggy when I brought him home. When he’s really tired, his tongue sticks out a little, and he stuck his tongue out the entire ride back to the house. 

Zoe, of course, was thrilled to be reunited with her brother, and was ready to play. Otis was ready to nap. His front paws kept sliding out from under him in a sit position, and he finally laid down and went to sleep. 

So, we’re waiting for the vet’s office to call tomorrow, and we’ll know more then.

Behind the Wall of Sleep

Dear dogs,

We need to have a little chat about the bed situation. It has come to my attention that you enjoy sleeping and snuggling with us on the bed. That’s great. Your warmth will come in particularly handy in the next few months. You are also furry and cute and comforting.

I even like your little comedy routine that you picked up from our previous dog. It’s very sweet that Otis curls up on my side near my pillow, and he gets up and moves when it’s time for me to settle in (unlike previous dog, bless her heart, who could be coaxed only with the promise of a biscuit). 

However, we need to discuss your placement during the night. Otis, feel free to skip this section. You’re very good about curling up near the end of the bed and warming my feet, and generally making yourself as unobtrusive as possible. But Zoe, you like to stretch out and take up half the bed, leaving the other half for two people and another dog. 

You start innocently enough. You find a nice space in the middle of the bed, possibly resting your head near or on  one of us. After we’re in a peaceful slumber, though, you begin to encroach on one of our sides, until we wake up to groggily realize we’re in a fetal position. Or, we find that our legs are losing circulation due to 75 pounds of dog. By that time, I’m usually not awake enough to move you, so you keep your territory until morning, when you wake us with a flop of your head. And I limp, bleary-eyed, to your bowl to give you food.

So if you could give this some thought as you’re going about your day tomorrow, that would be fabulous.

Love,

Your sleepy and slightly achy owner

Dog Class

Week 1: Summary here.

Week 2: I had a bad feeling about this one. Otis was more rambunctious than usual on our walk, and when he got to class, he decided he didn’t want to get along with the other dogs. It scared the crap out of me, but on the other hand, I was partially relieved that he had done it so I could address the issue with some professional help. The instructor was great, telling me to stand in front of him and say “Ah!” loudly. I had to point at him and bend toward him, in a dominant stance. Then, after he had calmed down, she told me to say “Yes!” loudly and give him treats. She also suggested giving him treats for approaching other dogs calmly. So, essentially I’m treating him for sniffing other dogs’ butts. 

Week 3: Cancelled because our instructor got into a car accident on the way to class. She is fine, but unfortunately her car is not.

Week 4: Otis behaved extremely well in class. We’re still working on “down.” He doesn’t go from a “sit” into a “down” easily. It’s easier for him to lay down after he does a play bow. It’s just the way he does it. I’ve been rewarding him whenever he lies down, but coaxing him into it (especially during class) is another thing. He sits really well, though. After class, he got snarly with a black Lab mix as we were walking to the car. The owner was really understanding and cool about it as I explained that was why we were bringing him to obedience. I have to remember that it took years for him to learn and reinforce this behavior, so it’s going to take a while to undo it.