Heather emailed to say that, �I am not sure what it is that triggers Kiwi's upset stomach, but I think, it is most likely what she gets into. Gunther's constantly bringing pine cones in and I catch her chewing up the pieces he's mulched in the rec room. She also eats grass too which gets her belly upset. Honestly, she's like a goat even when we go on walks on lead. I have to keep her walking on the pavement as she dives at the grass. I don't normally give my dogs canned food. I do have cans for Marty now as I mix it with his food since he had to gain over 15 pounds. So, Kiwi has had Merrick canned food which she loved and she's had tastes of Wellness both the chicken formula, and the blue fish formula. She's been fine with both. She was on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach, but it felt like it was coated in oil and very greasy, was different colors, had dyes, etc. so I don't know how they call it Sensitive Stomach... I took her off and she gets the Wellness Chicken dry kibble now. I gave her a treat that one of my co-workers made. They were all natural but she didn't do well with those. She got an upset tummy, but honestly, it could have been she ate something in the yard that night. She got up for a couple days in the middle of the night and had to go out one night, and vomited in the middle of the night another. the doctor's have not found anything physically wrong with her on exam and she has been just fine the last couple weeks, though I have been walking her more in the evenings to keep her from going out and being goat-like.
Barbara paid for Kiwi to have a dental when we first got her as her teeth were terrible and her nails were long and curled under. She's really good on the grooming table and to have her nails clipped.�
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Heather emailed, �Kiwi actually marks like a male dog hence the reason she tries to go potty more than once. She will go over spots where the other dogs have gone on occasion. That's just the alpha attitude she has. I did the urinalysis because when I first got her she was leaking urine at night. In fact, one night she emptied her bladder in her sleep on her dog bed at about 4:30 am. I think it was just nerves the first week. The vet prescribed Prion when the urinalsis came back negative, but within two days, the problem resolved and she hasn't had an accident or issue since. She tends to get mats pretty quickly if you don't comb her ears and tail often. She didn't like having her tail combed when I did it either, but she got better as she got to know me. She was a like a wooly bear when I got her.�
I took Keely to the local dog park for walk (about 1.5 miles). There were lots of dogs there, but Keely did not bark at any of them. There was a Basset there too (I think I've seen that Basset several times before around town; Auburn's not a big place). Keely did not pay any extra attention to the Basset. Then near the entrance of the walking trail, there were two women walking out with a pack of six or seven dogs, mostly large sized. When Keely saw them, she walked near me, almost right against my leg; I think she was a little uncertain. One of their Rottweilers came up and sniffed Keely's behind. She tucked her tail in and almost crouched down, pretty much just letting him sniff, but she did turn her head and look at him. I had treats ready in my hands, and I put one in front of her (other end of where the Rottweiler was sniffing). I was really careful about not putting the treat right between the Rottie and Keely's mouths (I didn't know if she would fight over it). Anyways, she turned her head back and ate the treat. No growling or barking at the Rottie. We walked on the trail, then near the end of the walk, a yellow Lab mix (Buddy, I've seen him a few times before also) and his owner passed us. Buddy came up to us, I stopped, Keely let him sniff her behind. I showed them the treats in my hand, Buddy's nose was closer to my hand, so I fed him first quickly. While he was chewing, I gave Keely the other treat. Again no growling and no barking.
When we got home, I found Anastasia sleeping on Keely's new bed! Then slowly the cat walked off the bed, and Keely got on it. I had lunch. Then I think Anastasia walk near Keely, and Keely got off the dog bed, but she kept growling at the cat. I finally distracted her and stopped her from growling by showing her a liver treat. I think she was growling at the cat for the bed.
Earlier tonight Anastasia again claimed the bed, while Keely slept on a blanket near the livingroom chair where I was sitting watching TV. Occasionally I would touch her to wake her up, and so far she has not growled at me for waking her up. As of right now I think some of Keely's issues came from her insecurity. I think it would be best if the home does not have other dogs for her to second guess herself, and that the adopters understand setting up boundaries and the importance of structure and leadership, etc.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Keely had no problem letting me brush her teeth last night, with regular doggie toothpaste (not meat flavored, I don't think it has any flavors). I also clipped her nails last night, she had no problem with that either. Also last night she allowed me to brush her tail and behind with no resistance for the first time.
This morning I was eating Malt-O-Meal and I let both Keely and Anastasia come up to sniff, Keely first then Anastasia. This time Keely did not growl at the cat over my food (yesterday morning's breakfast was egg and toast that Keely growled over, I don't know if the food itself has anything to do with it).
Last night I put Keely's new bed in her crate and let her sleep in there. She seems to like this combination very much, because she went into the crate by herself several times. Then this morning Anastasia stuck her head into the crate, while Keely was resting in there. Then just as I expected, Keely started growling at Anastasia. Anastasia very slowly moved away, in the mean time, I grabbed the bag of treats and dropped one into the crate through the side air vents. Keely stopped growling immediately of course and started eating. I then picked up Anastasia and put her front paws on Keely's bed in the crate, Keely growled again, and I just kept dropping treats with my other hand through the side. As long as Keely was eating the treats, she did not growl at the cat for sticking her head into the dog crate. Actually Keely kept looking at the side of the crate expecting treats. When I delivered the treats too slowly, she would growl. We did that for about two minutes.
Keely had firm stool this morning! I will keep her on the same diet for another day or two, and then start adding the Nutro Ultra into her food to see if her body would take it.
I took Keely to the Lee County Humane Society this morning, and the receptionist there helped me microchip Keely. Keely was scared and shivering when she was getting microchipped, but did not move otherwise. Then I took her to the pet supply store with me, looking for IQube toy and some supplements. The two ladies there have seen all of my fosters, and they think Keely is small. I told them that I just got the dog on Saturday, and one of them said, "I can tell, she has no confidence."
Then I took Keely to the dog park again. We saw several dogs again this time. Keely did not bark at any of them again. However, two large Labs ran up and sniffed Keely. Keely did not bark or growl at them, but before I could give her a treat, she nipped the chocolate Lab on the nose, without any warning (no barking or growling). The Lab could care less, and I distracted Keely by giving her a treat, and the Labs ran away when their owner called them.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
I don't think Keely's omega. But I don't think she's an alpha either. I think she's still a little scared of Anastasia, but I think at the end Keely will be more dominant over her.
Keely growled five times since yesterday. All five times were directed toward Anastasia. Twice was when the cat was sniffing her tail, three times I'm pretty sure was when Keely was being possessive over me. Twice I was petting the dog, and she suddenly started growling. At first I thought it was because I was touching her somewhere she didn't like, then I saw the cat walking slowly pass by, about two feet away. Keely wouldn't stop growling until the cat was out of the sight. Then one time it was when Anastasia came up to me wanting to be petted, Keely was in her crate about four feet away, when she saw Anastasia demanding attention from me, she started growling. When I put my cat down and away, the dog stopped growling. However, they are fine together otherwise, after her growling occasions, the cat and dog walked right pass by each other in the hallway with no problem.
I groomed Keely last night and she was wonderful during the grooming. Notice the shorter hair on her ears.
When I got home from school today, I found all the dry food in the treat dispenser were gone. So I guess Keely had learned to play with the new toy. When I played back the audio recorder, Keely did bark for a while, but I don't think her bark is loud bark, at least I hope. I did hide in the living room for five minutes before I left this morning, and she did not make any sound the first five minutes. So I guess she barked after that (I was away for about three hours). I'll stay in the livingroom for 20 minutes next time to make sure she doesn't bark. Tonight when she pooped, she had another loose stool, but no diarrhea.
I covered up the hole in the carpet with plastic mats. Also, last night around 11 PM Keely threw up. I don't know what caused it, because she hadn't eaten anything since three hours before.
Heather emailed back and said, �She always ate the same food here dry wellness and sometimes a little bit of wet (either fish or chicken Wellness) and only once did I gave her a treat that made her stomach upset and it was a beef jerky stick. She got wellness dry kibble as treats then. However, whenever she went outside and sometimes she would throw up when she came back in or gag when still outside as I caught her eating things. I would say it wasn't usually very long at all. I forgot to give you her tagamet. She was on a 1/2 a tagamet (Kroger Brand) a day when she came here and I took her off it.
I generally made her go away when she growled. I.e. the growl didn't get her anything good, it made her have to go away. She was fine when I petted the other dogs at my house unless she was there first. Then if they came up she would growl and I would tell her Off and she would do it. She's very manageable and the growling never escalated except when Gunther sat on her head or played too rough, then she would react. And for that I never blamed her. Gunther can be a terror when he wants to play because he gets so spastic and it scared her.
I would clean her ears about every two weeks. She definitely didn't need it every week.�
With Heather�s reply, I�m now thinking it might be the chicken flavored new treat that caused Keely to throw up, because it's semi-moist and has some preservatives I think, so it's like the jerky treat. I gave her some more of the Wellness Turkey canned this morning to get her to eat the fatty acid supplement this morning. But if she throws up again, I will add the Tagamet. If not, I think we can assume it was the chicken treats that made her throw up.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
I did not find Keely throwing up when I got home yesterday afternoon. So I think she is still okay with the Wellness Duck canned, but just not the chicken flavored beef treats from Drs. Foster and Smith. I also bought a Nature's Variety Beef canned on Saturday, and I'll give her that this weekend to see if she's sensitive to beef.
For the class last night, I used Charlee Bear treats. I know Petco said not to bring dogs to the first class, but I want to socialize her as much as possible, and also Karleen (instructor who taught Brenna's class a year ago) said she wanted to meet Keely when I emailed her before class started. If they don't like it then I could just leave her in the car. Anyways, nobody had any problem with Keely in class yesterday. There are eight dogs registered for the class. Karleen's Gemma was there too (Gemma is a five year old intact Chocolate Lab). Gemma is so gentle and laid back (last time she had puppies was seven months ago), that Brenna didn't even bark at her when they first met. Gemma came up to meet me and Keely, she just casually sniffed Keely's behind, and Keely didn't mind it at all. The first class was an hour and half, and I just kept Keely next to me, and she kept looking at the door for people coming in and out. I think there were two dogs passed by also, and she didn't bark at them. Keely and I sat by the entrance of the ring, and Gemma and Karleen passed by several times, and Keely didn't react to Gemma once. Occasionally when Keely got bored and wanted me to give her attention, I would show her a treat and she would sit and I would feed her. I also petted her occasionally to keep her quiet. But overall she was very good and entertained herself by looking at the door most of the time.
After we got back at home, last night Keely did growl at Anastasia twice, I think once was when the cat was getting too close to her bed when she was sleeping on it, then the other time was the cat was staring at her about three feet away. Anyways, I do think Keely wants to be the dominant one between the two of them, so I'm treating Keely as the dominant one until she gains more confidence. So Keely gets more attention now than the first couple days, and also I feed Keely first now. When Keely growled at the cat, I tried to distract her by saying "Cut it out" or clapping my hands, so far that hasn't worked, she would continue to growl at the cat. But she would be so focused on me when I bring the treats out, that when Anastasia got even closer, she would still be focused on the treats. Now I have two bags of treats in the livingroom for easy access, and when Keely starts to growl at the cat for getting too close to whatever, I would just shake the bag, and she would completely forget about the cat and focus on me instead. I'm going to try that for a few days and see if that would help with her tolerating the cat more. And I'll do the obedience class homework with Keely to make sure she's very good with Sit.
This morning when we were out for potty walk, Keely barked at a Pitbull who was about 20 feet away. I don't think the Pitbull and the owner even looked at us. So I don't know what triggered her barking.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
I went home around lunch time to let Keely out potty. I decided to let her have access to the bedroom instead of crating her today because I knew I had to work at the vet school for six hours straight today and possibly longer tomorrow for the project, and I didn't want her to be crated for so long. Well, when I came home, I didn't find her sniffing by the bedroom door. So I thought maybe she was asleep on her bed, because she's a fairly heavy sleeper, so maybe she didn't hear my opening the front door. When I opened the bedroom door, I found Keely sitting down quietly with her head down (looking guilty) in the crate, and there's a big puddle of urine right in the middle of MY bed! Who says dogs don't know they are doing something wrong? I think Keely knows perfectly well that she wasn't supposed to pee in my bed. Maybe it's part of getting back at me for telling her to get off my bed twice last night (last night I let her sleep outside of her crate, and she was pretty good and stayed on her own bed almost the entire night).
Luckily I removed my pillows and blankets this morning, so I just had to change the sheets. So back to being locked in the crate she goes this afternoon. This means I need to get a dog sitter for tomorrow afternoon. Oh well.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
I left early this morning and had the pet sitter come at around noon to let Keely out potty. When I came home at 2 PM, I found Keely sleeping inside her crate in the bedroom. I had left my blankets and pillows on my bed this morning, thinking that it would be better for her to feel comfortable and pee on it than for her to bark for several hours. Also since I know I will be away for several hours today, last night I took her for a walk around campus about three miles to tire her out. And also I turned the radio on for her this morning, and also cracked the bedroom window open. Anyways, when I came home at 2 PM, Keely was perfect and did not bark when I opened the front door and I ruffled through my blankets, no urine on them either!
But she did knock the radio over and broke the antenna, a small price to pay for her stay quiet and potty trained. Also I forgot to leave the water bowl for her in the bedroom this morning, I think that also helped. When I was getting ready to leave to go back to the vet school again, I left Keely in the bedroom, closed the bedroom door, put Anastasia back into the livingroom, and went back into the bedroom to leave her some treats. What did I find when I went back into the bedroom after five seconds of absence? Keely lying down comfortably on my bed! I think she finally got it that if I'm not around, that means she gets to sleep on my big bed, so my leaving her alone can actually be a good thing! I came home again around 4 PM during another break, and again I found Keely sleeping quietly in her crate (I also put her own bed in the room, but she decided to sleep in her crate with the fleece blankets).
About Keely with Anastasia, the cat has tentatively getting closer to the dog and even sniffed her behind a few times since my last email. Whenever the cat gets closer to the dog, about two feet I guess, I would throw the dog a treat (I am toting treats at home now), and she would focus on the treats (sometimes I wait a few more seconds to give it to her, but I show the jar to her first so she would focus) and wouldn't mind the cat sniffing her. So within the last 24 hours, Keely has not growled at Anastasia.
And I took her to the dog park this afternoon between my shifts at the vet school (the dog park is nearer the vet school, I did not bring treats to the dog park). We saw over 20 dogs at the park today, two came close enough to sniff Keely nose to nose, and she didn't growl or bark at any of them. The only time she growled within the last 24 hours was when she was eating dinner tonight, and I started hugging and kissing her. She tolerated it and kept on eating for about the first 90 seconds. But when I kept doing it (she's so darn cute!), she growled once. I immediately took the food bowl away, waited for about 30 seconds, dropped two treats into it. Keely ate the treats and finished her dinner, and me hugging her, without anymore growling.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Last night after I came home at 11PM from the vet school, the cat did try to get closer to the dog again. Twice the cat even stood in front of the dog (the dog was standing too) and raised her tail with her back end toward Keely's face. I'm not sure if the cat's tail actually touched Keely's face, but I know they were standing really close to each other. Keely looked at the cat then looked at me. I think she was expecting me to give her treats. I waited a few seconds, I was testing her limits. But after about five seconds, I could tell she was getting tired of waiting, I didn't want her to growl, so I gave her a treat.
Ran out of chicken liver treats, I started giving Keely the lamb liver treats last night. Also yesterday morning she had the Wellness venison canned. So far no problem with either. I will give her the beef canned and beef liver treat this weekend when I can be home longer, just in case she's sensitive to beef and throw up.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Well, when I came home after 7 hours away (it was busy yesterday, I forgot about the time), and again I did not see Keely's shadow by the bedroom door, and no barking or whining. However, when I opened the bedroom door, a section of carpet about 2 feet by 3 feet right by the door was all torn up, shredded to pieces, including the foam padding underneath. Who knew a 35 lb little thing can be more destructive than all her bigger cousins who came before her? I found Keely lying down in her crate. She started walking around sniffing as I was cleaning up the carpet, so I put her into the livingroom with Anastasia, who has been sleeping in her bed in the livingroom ever since I came through the front door.
We went to the second obedience class last night. There were six other dogs there: Gemma the Chocolate Lab, Riley the Min Pin, Jac (girl) the Corgi, Abby the Yellow Lab/Bloodhoundm mix, Lexie the Pom, and a male Black Lab mix Rebel. Keely and I got there five minutes late, and the class were just about to get up to practice walking on loose lead. After that, we went back to the ring, Keely and I were sitting between Abby and Lexie. Abby was a little hyper (her mom said she got the dog from New Orleans after Katrina) and sniffed Keely's tail a couple times. But I managed to keep Keely focused on me with treats and Keely did not bark even once during the one hour class (the ring is pretty small, maybe 8 feet by 4 feet, with seven dogs and 10 humans in it). Keely is a little too excited sniffing around the store to focus on me to do the walk on loose lead well. So we'll have to work on that more for the CGC test. But she was very good for the Sit-Stay. Keely and I also practiced some Down-Stay during class. This week's assignment is longer Sit-Stay and Heel. Keely loves the Charlee Bear treats (I only give it to her during class) that she does those two pretty well too. I think Rebel is the smartest dog in class. I think Keely is the oldest (one year older than Gemma; the other dogs I think are just about one year old or slightly less), but she's also one of the calmest, which surprised me, because I thought she would be nervous around so many dogs, but I think she's one of those dogs who's pretty much okay in public, but gets possessive when on her own territory.
About Keely and Anastasia, Keely would still occasionally growl at Anastasia if the cat gets near the dog bed when the dog's on it (but she actually lets Anastasia sleep on there when the cat's already on it, see photo). And also Keely continues to growl sometimes (not every time this happens) when I'm petting the dog and the cat comes over and wants some petting too. But Keely does not growl when I go pet the cat myself. And they are okay together otherwise, but I do think Keely is a little possessive of at least her bed and of me. I don't know if Keely's possessive of her food against my cat, because so far we haven't had a chance to test this (Keely is okay if I pick up her food and show it to Anastasia). I continue to leave Keely in the bedroom/hallway area when I'm not at home, and Anastasia in the livingroom.
Last night Keely had diarrhea about every two hours, so at 10 PM, I gave her a tablet of Metronidazole mixed with slippery elm. She was able to hold it overnight until I took her out again at 7 AM and did not poop this morning. This morning I gave her another dose of metronidazole.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Keely has been having diarrhea since Friday night. But she's still eating fine. I think it might be caused by the different canned foods that I'm giving her. But just to make sure she didn't eat any of the carpet material, I am taking her to the vet tomorrow morning.
Saturday morning I took Keely to get a DAP Comfort Zone and then took her for a campus walk. Saturday afternoon I left some food and plugged in the DAP while I went to the library. Before I left, I hid in the livingroom for 20 minutes. About 6 minutes after I supposedly left, Keely started whining and barking. I threw a tennis ball at the hallway door and yelled "Stop!". Keely retreated back to the bedroom, but came back 5 minutes later, again barking and whining. So I did it again. She stopped and I waited another 10 minutes or so, she didn't make any sound or came near the hallway door, so I went to school. I usually do this the first two days that I have to leave the new foster dog home alone, but this past week has just been crazy with school work.
Sunday afternoon we went to Columbus to do a home visit for ESRA. The large, boisterous, male Springer (5 year old neutered) came over excited to sniff Keely in their front yard. She stood there and tucked her tail in to let him sniff. After about 10 seconds, suddenly they started barking at each other. I was talking to the female applicant and trying to get treats out for Keely and didn't see who started the confrontation, but the male applicant said he saw Keely growling first, then their family dog (dog belongs to the male applicant's family) reacted and barked, and Keely barked back. For the rest of the 25 minute visit, we kept the dogs leashed and apart, the male dog was still very excited because he doesn't see other dogs often. But Keely was calm and even sat on command with me petting her and giving her treats.
Sunday late afternoon I hid in the livingroom again for 20 minutes before I really left (with DAP plugged in. I will use it for a few days until Keely feels more confident about her new foster home). No whining and no barking during the 20 minutes. So I left the audio recorder on, Keely barked/whined for about 5 minutes during the five hours I was gone.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
I took Keely to the vet this morning. The vet said she's cute, and when he examined her (the dog on the table), the vet said she acts like a show dog, because she stood very still while he examined her. Actually I had that feeling too the first day I got Keely, when she froze to a beautiful show ring pose when I brushed her. The vet said her teeth probably needs to be cleaned again in March, she's probably just one of those dogs (and cats) who needs to have their teeth cleaned frequently (Anastasia has her teeth cleaned every six months). He said to continue with the daily brushing so at least we can keep her gums healthy.
About the lump on her left abdomen and near the tail, he said the one on her abdomin definitely does not feel like a fatty lump (which is the reason I wanted Keely to be checked out; it doesn't feel like lipoma to me either; Penelope probably had 7 noticeable fatty lumps, and several smaller ones, throughout her lifetime, and the only time I delayed to have one of lumps checked out, it turned out to be lymphoma; so now I'm a little cautious when it comes to lumps). He said that lump feels like probably a foreign body got stuck in there, and the body formed a shell around it. He recommends to have it removed in the near future (maybe in March at the same time as teeth cleaning so we won't have to pay double for anesthesia). Regarding the one near the base of her tail, the vet said it might or might not be a lipoma. He said we can cut out too when we do the abdominal one.
Regarding Keely's diarrhea, he said since she's not vomiting and is eating fine, he doesn't think there's carpeting stuck in her GI tract. He thinks the diarrhea is probably caused by the change in food. He gave us one week worth of metronidazole, to slow down her GI tract, and also just in case the diarrhea's caused by harmful microbials. He said to try it for a week, then after she's off the drug, if the diarrhea returns, then I might want to think about returning to feeding her Wellness, because then it might be she's not assimilating to the new food. I told him that Keely eats grass from the ground on regular basis and also one night (Wednesday?) I think I saw her eating another dog's poop from the ground when I was walking her (when I opened her mouth, she had already swallowed whatever she picked up). He said that's just dog nature and not much more we can do about it.
The vet checked her heart and lungs and eyes and ears, and he said everything looks fine. He said actually Keely appears more healthy (physically) than most of the fosters I've had. He also asked about Jake and I told him the dog got adopted on Christmas Eve and is doing fine.
The vet also read through her behavior records. He said he wonders if her previous family had Springer Rage in the back of their minds and had concerns with two small kids at home. But he doesn't think Keely has Springer Rage. The vet asked me if Keely's getting spoiled, and I said now I let her sleep on the livingroom chair and my bed when I'm not using them, because whenever I told her to get off, the next day I would get something on the carpet; it's like her way of getting back at me. The vet replied, "Yeah that's how it goes with some of those older females."
The vet did do a fecal sample, and found no worms and no blood in the stool. I asked the vet about aspirating the lumps, and he said from his experience, those two types and size of lumps are hard to aspirate and the lab result would come back unconclusive, so he doesn't want us to waste our money on aspirating them. He said just to wait until we cut them out, and if we have concerns then, he can send them out for tests.
I've been giving Keely slippery elm powder since Sunday. Sunday she had blood and mucus in her diarrhea, but Monday and this morning looks just regular runny stool (I didn't tell the vet that I'm giving her slippery elm though). So I think I'll keep giving her slippery elm two more days, and if there's no improvement, I'll start giving her the metronidazole. Also, Monday morning around 7 AM, Keely just couldn't hold it anymore, so she had diarrhea in the kitchen before I could take her out for her first potty walk of the day. Now I'm back to taking her out potty every four hours or so because of her diarrhea.