This morning it was really cold, so I put Penelope�s fleece pajamas on her. Tara is so cute in it! She looks just a puppy.
Monday, November 6, 2006
Millie sent me an update on Ringo from his new mom.
�What I need to know is how you all handled NO. He was in the yard this pm eating the residue at the base of the bird feeder (dear Lord only know what all) and I took his collar to take him away and he was not happy. Did not act aggressive; just was NOT going to leave. I finally picked him up (because I was not going to loose the battle) and carried him up to the porch and he did not give me any problems. Obviously, I cannot pick him up every time there is an issue
Day 3 and all is good. Just wanted to let you know that we are getting on REAL OK
We met our first cat on a walk yesterday. It was not a warm and fuzzy Kodak moment! Good thing I am used to strong willed Springers. My groomer has 2 office cats - we are going to have to negotiate something.�
I emailed Millie, Heather, and Angie, if they think it would worth the $100 to get an orthopedic bed for Tara? Or is it no difference compare to a nicely stuffed doggie bed? She's not limping, just want to get her a new bed, and want to know if it's worth it to spend the extra $60. Angie recommended the memory foam bed that she has. Heather said she thought about getting an orthopedic bed for her old dog, Rusty too, but now he likes the $20 Costco bed she bought. Millie emailed and said, �I bought the real thing from Drs. Foster and Smith back when I had Miss Emma (a senior Springer). She never would use it. Tara did not use it when she was here either, she slept on the round fluffy beds, or the floor. Ringo was about the only one who has ever slept on it.� So I guess there�s no need to buy an expensive orthopedic bed for Tara.
Tara started a new lick spot on her front paw. I think it's because I am spending more time at the vet school this past week or so. She'll just have tough it out for another week.
I have to confess, I did allow Tara to sleep on the bed with me for about a week two weeks ago when it was cold. But I started getting pushed off the bed, so I made Tara get off my bed, and she's now back to sleeping on the carpet. I am going to get her a fluffy dog bed and hopefully that'll make her want to sleep on the floor more.
In obedience class tonight, all the dogs showed up, except Willow and her elderly owner. It's really too bad, because she and her owner probably are the ones who need the class most, after Hoagie the American Eskimo. So what we got in class now are:
Mickey - Boston Terrier
Ava - JRT
Bailey - female intact Chocolate Lab
Baby - female Golden/Huskey mix (?)
Hoagie - female American Eskimo
Tara - ESS
Another female mix breed (probably has Boxer and/or Pitbull bloodline), she's the one whose dad went to Iraq (sorry can't remember her name).
And then of course Karlene's demo dog, Gemma.
All of Hoagie's family showed up again for class, but this time the dad had to take the little girl for walks around the store whenever she started to fidget. The mom and the son were very attentive to the instructor. Before class, I got home about 30 minutes before and gave Tara one of the herbal calming tablets. I'm not even sure if it works, but if it makes "me" less anxious about Tara being with other dogs in such small space, I think it helps. The class space isn't very big, but I managed to section off Tara to the corner (I could kind of do body block with my leg whenever a dog came too close), and we sat between Ava and Baby. Baby is a bit hyper, but Tara was okay with her when she came over for sniff. When Baby sniffed Mickey, he barked at her. This happened about three times, and Karlene used the water bottle on him and told the owner to jerk on his leash (she's not exactly positive reinforcement, but she's the best we've got at this little place out of middle of nowhere). I just kept feeding Tara the freeze dried liver treats, about every ten seconds or so, whenever Karlene were lecturing, when we were not working on the commands, to keep Tara from whining. This class she only whined once, major improvement from last time. I think she's getting more used to being in this place. We showed Karlene what we learned last week: walk loose on leash, sit with five seconds of stay. Karlene came over and saw Tara, and Tara did both with no problem (although at the beginning of the practice, Tara did sniff the rawhides on the shelf for about five minutes, I just let her do it, then started doing the loose leash walk with her), and she said Tara is such a sweet dog. When she came over later and we showed her the sit-stay, she again said Tara is so sweet.
This week's new commands are: sit with one step away stay, leave it, and look at me. Tara did pretty well this week in class, we definitely have to practice leave it and look at me. But between showing each command to Karlene, twice we were walking back to our seats later than most of the classmates, and Tara was able to walk past all the hyper young dogs (with them sniffing her as we walked by) in the ring with no problem.
Also, Karlene didn't mention about the rabies and other vaccination certificates, I think she forgot, so I guess I won't need to get Tara revaccinated or get her titer test. By the way, I just tested 16.0 IU on rabies titer; 0.5 IU is considered positive response. I think "I" am over-vaccinated.
Thursday, November 9, 2006
I was brushing Tara this afternoon, and I found her right "heel" to be swollen. She had a new lick granuloma on the same spot, and I think somehow it got infected. I didn't discover this spot earlier because I had been busy working at the vet school, and the last time I checked her was last Saturday (usually I brush the animals once a day). I was thinking about worst case scenario (bone cancer) and called the vet clinic right away and made a reservation for later this afternoon. When we got to the exam room, the tech said Dr. Marine is on vacation, and that Dr. Hunt will see us (we've never seen a Dr. Hunt at this clinic before, but there's a Dr. Hunt at Catheryn's vet clinic in Opelika, I wonder if it's the same person). I showed the tech a couple of Tara's old lick spots and pointed out the one that's swollen. Then the tech took Tara to the back to get her weight. Both he and Dr. Hunt brought Tara back. Dr. Hunt is an older vet, maybe in his sixties. He said they just did a skin scrapping for mites (euphemism for mange, since Tara has several bare spots on her legs). Since I've never met him before (unless I met him at Catheryn's vet, I can't remember if it's the same person, but I know he's an older gentleman too, ), I told him Tara's my foster dog (sometimes Dr. Marine charges us the fee for brief exam instead of full exam, so to save me some money since I am fostering). Dr. Hunt asked what do I usually do when Tara licks, and I told him that I put bitter spray and that usually takes care of the problem, but it had never gotten swollen like that before. He said it's probably an abscess under there, so he said he would prescribe some oral antibiotics and gentimicin spray. He said that sometimes the itching gets really bad and he would recommend oral steroids (prednisone I guess). I told him, Tara licks because of anxiety, not allergy. I asked him to check Tara's cataracts, and I told him that Tara ran into furniture at the sitter's. He checked and said they are at mild stage, and asked me how old Tara is. He said that due to Tara's age, probably she won't get to the advance stage by the time she dies. So she won't ever be totally blind, but now probably what she sees is a little cloudy. He also said Tara might not see as well in dim light (I replied yes Tara gets a little cautious when I walk her at night), and he said the dog would sometimes startle when coming from indoors to sunny outside. He said due to Tara's age, he would not recommend surgery to correct the cataracts. He then asked me why I got an older dog, why didn't I get a puppy? What kind of question/comment is this?! (If he�s the same person from Cathryne�s clinic, I am not surprised by his comment, because that vet is �very breeder friendly�.) I am a little offended, but I just said that she's a foster dog and that's what I got when I asked to foster, but I've fostered younger dogs before. He asked the tech if they found any mites, and the tech said no. Dr. Hunt then said again, if the licking is hard to control, they would give me oral steroids. I didn't say anything this time. He then proceeded to write down some stuff on the chart, and told me to clean the infected area with hydrogen peroxide before putting on the gentimicin spray. And then before he left, AGAIN he said, sometimes the dog itches a lot and they would give oral medication. I was getting a little impatient with this comment, but calmly said again, Tara licks from anxiety, not from allergy. Dr. Marine would never doubt me like this. When is Dr. Marine coming back?! I'm not sure if I would complain to him about this incident when he comes back, but if Dr. Hunt is here regularly, I will have to start to specify to the receptionist who I want to see my animal when I make the reservation, which I haven't done in several years.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
At the apartment complex, today a loose Standard Poodle and a loose Boxer came up to sniff Tara. Normally I would be really anxious, worried about Tara barking at them and maybe the other dog bark/attack back, especially with large dogs like these. But I think the obedience class helped, both with me and with Tara. I wasn't nervous when those two dogs came up, since I think Tara can sense anxiety well, I think my staying calm helped some. Also Tara had some more socialization with large young dogs in class, so she didn't pay any attention to those two dogs coming up to sniff her. Their owners called them away right after.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Tara and I went to the local dog park this afternoon. It's a nice afternoon, so there were a fair number of dogs and people there. We passed by several leashed dogs and they and Tara got to sniff each other with no problem (I keep Tara on leash when there are other dogs around). It was such a nice afternoon, that I decided to do the side field trail again. And when I was sure that there would be no loose dogs coming up to us, I let Tara off leash also. This time, I think she knows the place, so she didn't glue her eyes on me like last time, but rather she sniffed around. But I still kept my eyes on her, in case she walked too far and I couldn't chase her back (her hearing and eyesight are not good, so if she gets lost in the tall grass or in the woods, I'm not sure if she would see or hear me to get back). Overall she would look up for me about every 20 seconds or so, and once she even galloped toward me when she realized I was 50 feet away. Near the end of the side field trail, there were three young large dogs loose and play with each other. The three dogs were a Doberman, a Boxer, and a Border Collie. They were running so fast, chasing each other, and at one point they all three came up to sniff Tara. My anxiety increased a tiny bit, but I was able to stay calm, and four of them had no problem with the brief sniffing. Then the dogs ran off to play again. As they ran off, Tara pulled toward them. I miss seeing dogs playing together, maybe she does too. Tara didn't seem tired after the 3.5 mile walk. After we got home, she didn't seem exhausted, but just drank some water and took a nap. And then the next day, was up perky again.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Tara's "heel" is getting better. It's still a little swollen, but it's better than Friday. I'm hoping that it will return to normal by the end of the week, when the antibiotics runs out, just like Dr. Hunt said. Now Tara gets happy when I take out her pillbox. I think she knows that whenever I open it, she gets to lick peanut butter off a spoon. And I always feed her meals right before, so she wouldn�t take them on empty stomach.
Tonight in obedience class, about thirty minutes before class, I gave Tara another herbal calming tablet. In class, Tara and I sat between Hoagie's family and Baby. Hoagie's mom wasn't there, just the dad and the two kids. The dad spent most of his time with the daughter to keep her entertained, while the son did most of the in-class training. Hoagie is still skittish and scared, but I think it's better compare to last week, Karlene the instructor said so too. Baby the Chow/Huskie mix was a little hyper, but she and Tara sat on opposite sides of the ring entrance, so the two dogs were not right next to each other. I still kept feeding Tara treats during class to keep her occupied, and Baby saw the treats and stared and pulled toward us. One time Baby even got to sniff the treat (freeze dried lamb liver) as I was feeding Tara. To prevent Tara from acting out of resource guarding, I gently pushed Baby's muzzle away (Tara didn't bark, I don't think she cared). After that, Baby's mom was pretty good about keeping Baby away from Tara. During class, several times Tara even lied on her side and back, so I think she's feeling more comfortable about being in the class with so many other dogs and in the store.
We showed Karlene some of the command we learned last week. During the past week, Tara and I practiced a little bit on Sit-Stay, and we spent three days on Look-at-me. We didn't practice Leave-it at all. In class, just like at home, Tara is still not consistent with Look-at-me, but she surprised me by knowing leave-it, even though we didn't practice it at all. So I was proud of her for that. The new commands we learned this week are Wait and Stand. When practicing the commands, I use chopped up string cheese.
In class, Hoagie's little girl sat right next to Tara for about ten minutes, and Tara was fine with it, but I think the little girl was a little scared about sitting next to a big dog (compare to their American Eskimo), so she traded seats with her dad. Three times in class, when other dogs passed by Baby, she barked at them (once at Roxy the Pitbull mix, once at Bailey the Black Lab, and once at Mikey). When Mikey (the Boston Terrier) and Baby snapped at each other, Karlene went up and scruffed Baby's shoulders and stared into her eyes and told her no. Tara started whining; I think she senses tension and anxiety very well. Karlene joked and said Tara just wants everybody to be friends.
When we were practicing our commands, a loose Pitbull came to attack Mikey. Karlene yelled at the owner, and the owner was a little miffed. A store clerk came and told the owner that the dog needs to be on leash, but he said the dog does not have a leash. Later, Karlene said the clerk told her that the owner got a leash off the shelf to walk around in the store. But at the check-out counter, he asked the clerk if he could borrow the leash to take the dog back to his car (so he still was not interested in getting a leash for the dog), of course the clerk said no. But it ended up that the owner left something valuable (I couldn�t hear what he left, but Karlene said it�s worth $60) with the clerk, got his dog in the car, and returned the leash.
Karlene said that she finally got in contact with Willow (the Katrina dog with elderly owner), and the owner said she has never done reward based training before and does not want to use treats to train her dog, that's why they left the class. It's really too bad, everybody in class felt sorry for Willow, and like Karlene said, the owner is probably back putting the dog on prong collar 24-hours a day.
Karlene asked us to bring vaccination records to next class. I'll bring them and ask her if titers will suffice. Also we don't have class next week, Karlene said because a lot of people are out of town for Thanksgiving week (the students get a whole week off), so she'll just cancel class next week.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
I ordered new glucosamine tablets for Tara. This time, I got the one with 100 mg chondroitin in each tablet. I think Tara needs something stronger now. Also I am going to try her on this generic heartworm medication (cheaper when compare to Heartgard) I bought and see how she does on it.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Twice last night, Tara started panicking and ran from room to room (not I have a big place, only 500 sq. ft.), because she heard my voice but couldn't see me, even though I was standing right in front of the door and the lights were on. She was relieved when I started walking toward her and she ran into my legs. I wonder if there are certain times of the day she just can't see much at all. I told Millie about it, and she said, �Yes, that is exactly what she would do with me. If I left the room she would whine and run looking for me. Sometimes I did not even have to leave the room, she just thought I did and would run all over the house looking for me and run into me when I went to get her. I am sure she could not see as well coming inside from the bright outside or at night. But I love her anyway, and it�s nice to be needed!� Tara didn�t do this before my trip, so I guess she finally got attached to me too. And the vet said her cataracts is still the same, so I guess it�s okay. There's another curious thing after the trip. For the past month, Tara has only skipped one meal total (before it was like once a day), but now I have to mix her glucosamine tablets with her food, because she no longer eats them like treats. I guess Freckles taught her something about food too.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Xalina, the CGC evaluator from Atlanta, emailed to say that they are starting another CGC class in January, and she said to call her in February about taking the test with Tara. Actually I was thinking about trying the test again in late December, because they have a class right now. But I guess Xalina is right, it�ll probably take me that long to get Tara prepared. For the test, I need to socialize her more, and also to get her more used to riding long distance in a car.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Yesterday and today I took Tara to Kiesel Park. Yesterday was Iron Bowl, so there were just two cars in the parking lot. We didn�t see other dogs there. Today there are more dogs, and the weather is really nice. Near the end of our walk, I let Tara off leash, and she was walking right behind me since I was walking pretty fast. Then I saw two owners jogging, their two Border Collies were running loose ahead of them. I thought, if the three dogs maintain their speed and the Border Collies run their own course, then the three dogs wouldn�t meet at all. So I didn�t leash Tara. However, the second Border Collie came up to Tara. I didn�t see what happened, but I know the BC�s owner called her name several times, and then I heard whimpering noise from Tara. When I turned around, Tara was knocked over on the ground, with the BC next to her. The BC�s owner told her bad dog and put leash on her. I don�t think Tara reacted to the BC, probably the BC knocked her over.
Tara has been having a little bit of loose stool for a couple days, but this morning is the last day of antibiotics dosing, so I didn�t do much about. However, tonight she has diarrhea.
Heather met Tara and said she�s really cute and that her fur is so soft. When Heather opened the basement door to get the crate she was going to trade with me, her own female Springer, Chloe, ran out. Chloe was happy and ran and jumped around. Tara was trying to avoid her but Chloe kept jumping and sniffing around her. Heather called Chloe several times but did not listen. Finally Tara barked at Chloe and Chloe ran away and back to the basement. It took us probably over 30 minutes to take the wire crate apart. Then I asked about Heather�s new dog, Dusty. Dusty is 13 years old and actually he was Heather�s foster dog from three years ago in New Jersey, but the new puppy at the adoptive home kept harassing the old dog and they did not get along, so Heather took him back in January. I wanted to meet Dusty, and Heather said Tara would probably do okay with Dusty, so she let him out. Dusty is a mellow and sweet senior dog. He sniffed Tara briefly and then ignored her, while Tara continued to sniff him. Anyways, they were fine with each other and left each other alone. Heather said that Dusty has various allergies and has hot spots. She also told me that she got a job promotion and is moving back to New Jersey. Her family lives around there so she�s happy about moving back, and also Dusty�s allergies will probably get better when they move back because there won�t be so much pine pollens. I am actually not surprised about Heather moving back, because I totally understand wanting to live near family, but I just hope the new coordinator is as good and understanding as she is.
We let the dogs outside, to let Tara potty before I left. Dusty walked really fast downt the stairs, and he appeared to be more active than Tara is. Heather said she will go to Home Depot to get materials to fix up her house before she puts it on market, while I go to Costco. She asked me if we could just leave Tara in the livingroom by herself. I told her that it would be best if we crate her (remembering that her second owner said she shredded his carpet, and Heather has nice new wood/laminate floor). So we put together the plastic crate I brought, and I gave Tara a calming herbal tablet but she would not eat it. So I went back to the car and got out the Homeopet Anxiety drops, and put them on a doggie biscuit. I threw several biscuits into the crate and lured Tara in. Dusty also got two biscuits because he�s very food motivated and kept staring at me as I was giving Tara the treats.
At Costco, I bought a big fluffy dog bed for $20 for Tara; it�s the same bed that Heather had told me about. When I got back two hours later, Heather said after I left, when she was standing in front of the crate and that Tara could see her, Tara did not make a sound but just looked at her. But when Heather walked away, Tara started whining. She said Tara has the cutest voice, like she�s talking and saying, �Let me out! Let me out!� So Heather let Tara out of the crate, and she said Tara and Dusty were fine in the livingroom together the whole two hours, even when she was working outside in the yard. Heather did say that Tara walked around and looked for me, and that Tara had a potty accident inside the house, and also she had diarrhea, with some blood.
Since the weather was good, Heather suggested that we take Tara and Dusty to lunch with us, to a deli that allows dogs to sit outside. So Heather took Dusty in her car, and Tara and I followed them in my car. There was nobody sitting on the outside tables. The waiter was really nice and moved a table to under the sun for us, so it wouldn�t be so cold. Dusty is such a sweet dog, and I petted him while Heather went inside to order our food. Dusty did pull toward Heather as she walked away, but he came to me when I called him. Tara did not appear jealous of my petting Dusty. I continued to pet Dusty throughout the lunch, and Heather petted Tara. The waiter brought a bowl of water for the dogs. When Heather went inside to get her soda, the owner brought out some slices of cheese for the dogs, since we declined the doggie biscuits they offered earlier. We didn�t give Tara any because of her diarrhea, but Dusty loved it and ate several pieces. Then he kept staring at the rest of the cheese on the table. Heather said that one time when she had a Thanksgiving party in New Jersey, Dusty pulled the tablecloth to get to a plate, with burning candle, inside. Luckily the plate flipped past him and he did not get hot wax on him. I told Heather, he�s probably very easy to train, since he�s so food motivated. Heather said Dusty is really smart. I can tell. Heather said that since Tara is okay with Dusty, she�ll probably be okay if she gets adopted to a home with an older, mellow male dog, and I said yes.
Then Tara and I stopped by Red Bandanna to get some stuff. She was pretty good at the store, did not whine. One woman walked in with a Pitbull mix, but she kept distance with us, so that was good. Tara whined after we got out of the store, so I gave her one of the cookies we just bought. Then we went to see Janet. Since it�s Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving, the traffic on the freeway was really bad, but Tara was really good with the 2 and half hour drive. Janet met Tara outside and said she�s smaller and even prettier in person. Tara looked tired, so we decided not to let Tara meet Janet�s dog. But we went inside so I could pet Bonnie and Boo in the livingroom. I brought Janet some Heartgard and Frontline for Ben, and I left the bag on a table in the livingroom. Boo kept sniffing it, but we thought maybe he was sniffing the treats that Janet had on there. Then Janet and I went to the second bedroom to see Ben and Hunter. I could tell Ben is attached to Janet, and that he�s not wearing a belly band. Janet said he still marks (only dribbles) occasionally, but overall he no longer needs the belly bands. When we came back to the livingroom, we saw Boo running around, and Bonnie lying on the floor, with chewed open packages of Heartgard and Biospot next to her. Janet called poison control or the vet school I think, and they told her it�s probably nothing to worry about (even if one dog ate all three pieces of Heartgard), but they told her to call her own vet to make sure. When I got back to the car, Tara was still sleeping. After we left, Janet called her vet and he told her it�s okay. What a relieve.
In the picture is Tara sleeping on her new bed.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
When I came home for lunch today, I found a small pile of soft stool and one urine spot on the carpet. Also some dribbles of mucus-y blood. So I cleaned up the carpet, and took Tara for a walk on campus. She's still acting lethargic, but I thought since it's such a nice day, it would do her some good to get out of the apartment. She had no problem walking the two and half miles, and I took her with me to finish working. She stayed in the computer room with me for two hours, sleeping on the floor (I brought the car seat cover to cover the floor, but Tara slept on the tile instead), while I checked periodically on the machines.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
This morning Tara had soft stool with a tiny bit of blood. At least it's not watery bloody diarrhea anymore. I have been giving her slippery elm powder four times a day for the past two days now. I think that helped. Also, we met Kia the Alaskan Husky this morning. I guess her mom has the day off, that's why they are out later for their morning walk (usually Suzie's car is gone by 7:30 AM). Suzie said that they found out Kia had Pseudomonas infection in her urinary tract, very serious, and Kia was on antibiotics for 21 days. I told her that Kia looks happier now, and Suzie said yes, and that since it's now colder, this is Kia's type of weather, and Kia would chase chipmunks at Kiesel Park into the woods, not coming back when called, which is unusual for Kia, but that means that Kia's not feeling sick anymore and has lots of energy to run around. I decided not to take Tara with me to school this morning, because the floor is a bit dirty in the computer room. We'll see how she does at home today again, and if I need to bring her with me to work this weekend, then I'll clean up the floor. She's still acting tired all day. Tara and Kia sniffed each other, no problem as always. While I was petting Kia, Tara went to Suzie for petting, and sniffed her pocket. Suzie said that she has liver treat crumbs in the pocket.
I went to check on Tara during lunch. No poop or pee on the carpet! And she's acting a little more awake now. This afternoon when I got home, she was sleeping and no mess on the carpet! When we went to campus for walk, she pooped at 5 PM, her usual afternoon poop time. Loose stool, no blood.
Tara is not using the new bed that much. When I came home today, she was sleeping in her bowl bed. And throughout the nights, she still sleeps on the floor sometimes. The new bed does have a strong pine smell though.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Last night Tara did not have to go poop outside. I think she�s back to her regular schedule, but still loose stool. I am still giving her slippery elm powder four times a day.
We didn�t sleep much last night. Tara would pace in front of the door every two hours or so, and I had to take her out to poop. She had bloody diarrhea. So I didn�t give her breakfast this morning.