Tara
When Audrey arrived with her niece and the Bloodhounds, boy those dogs are huge.  They are little skittish too, but luckily Mike�s strong enough to carry them into his SUV.  Peter is also great when riding in car.  I have a compact size car and can't fit a large size crate inside, so I transport Springers without a crate.  Peter did fine in my car's backseat, I didn't even have to tie his leash.  Photo contributed by Audrey. Virginia and Baby and the Bloodhound puppy.
Dr. Colley just called about Peter's medical condition.  He said the lump is cancer.  He said the cancerous lump is decent size, about half size of his fist.  He recommends removal ASAP.  I asked him if he thinks it would be safe for surgery, he said yes.  I didn't say anything to him about neuter surgery.  He said the dandruff is not fungal infection, but just dry skin.  He recommends high dose fatty acid for at least three months for that.  He said he just want to make sure and will do another HW test this afternoon, free of charge.  Also he asked me where we got this dog, etc, and he said since we are doing this out of the goodness of our hearts, he will give 50% discount on everything they do for Peter.  He said usually $450 for HW treatment, but he will do 50% discount on that also and also on the surgery.  He said Peter is very sweet and has charmed everybody at the office.  He said he had Peter in his office while he was working, and Peter just kept nudging him for petting.  And then he asked me twice, to call back let him know about surgery for the cancer.  I told him I have to ask Heather first.
Heather called and asked me if they had done any tests to determine that the growth is cancerous, and I said no, Dr. Colley just said it�s cancer just by looking at it.  I asked Heather if she wants to talk to them herself, and she said that�s just what she was thinking.  Heather called the vet clinic and told them �to go ahead with the mass removal and neuter and wait to do heartworm treatment until he recovers from those surgeries.  Sometimes, suspicious masses can be cancerous or turn out benign so we will send for histology.� 

I emailed Audrey and asked her if she thinks Lily�s housetrained.  Audrey emailed and said, �Lily is doing great! What a sweet little dog.  I haven't introduced her to my two yet. They were kept apart last night and I've had them at the groomer's all day today.  Just wanted her to get acclimated in a stress free environment!  She's not housebroken. She's had a few inside accidents, but has gone outside as well. I'm sure the other two will teach her the routine.�
Tara did well in obedience class last night.  Just before class started, I asked Rebekah how much is the class (8 classes and last night was their third class), and she said no charge since Tara is a foster.  Last week in class, they learned "Sit".  This week, they are learning "Down" and "Stay".  There were five other dogs in class, a male adult yellow Lab, a female puppy (about six-months) yellow Lab, a female adult Golden-mix about 35 pounds called Angel, a female mix about 25 pounds called Annabel, and a male mix puppy about 15 pounds called Robo.  Tara was very good and just lied down on the floor like all the other dogs for the first 20 minutes while Rebekah talked.  She also introduced me and Tara to the class.  All the other dogs in class were wearing choke chain, and none of them used treats.  Tara was using regular flat collar, and Rebekah didn't say anything about it.  She and the other students did discuss a little bit about using treats and said she doesn't recommend it, but we're welcome to use it if we want.  I didn't care, I still used treats in class. 
After about 20 minutes, we got up to practice Sit, Down, Stay.  When everybody started talking at the same time, Tara got a little anxious and kept pulling toward the gate.  I just practiced with her with treats and praise, even though there were leash jerking around us.  We were between Robo and the Lab puppy.  Both of them came near Tara and sniffed and nothing happened.  Tara was very good with them and no growling or barking.  Tara did Sit, Down, Stay very well, considering it's a new environment and a lot of distractions.  Actually the most trouble I had was having her pay attention to me, there were so many sounds and movements around us, it was hard for her to focus on me.  I used treats about 70% of the time, not always treats after each command.  And Tara refused to eat the dry biscuit treats, I had to give her bits of dried chicken jerky treats.  I just need to practice with her more this week.
The last 10 minutes of class is play time.  I told Rebekah that I think it's better than Tara and I just watch them play right outside of the gate this week.  The male adult Lab was pretty rough with the other dogs, and none of them really played.  All of the other dogs did come by the gate and sniffed Tara through the chain link fence, and she did fine with all of them. 
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Peter is going to be more handsome when I groom him more.  I only had time to do his front paws yesterday.
I am going to test Peter with my cat today.  I'm not sure about squirrels, almost all Springers I know are pretty intense as far as squirrels are concerned.  Even the ones who have passed CGC test would ignore the treats and focus on the squirrels instead, and I have not found a way to make them voluntarily focus on me.  I think it's just one of those things I have to accept since they are sporting dogs.  Peter's pull is not like Jake, who could pull me over if he wants (I weigh under 110 lbs), even though he's only 55 pounds.  I was able to keep Peter pretty much on the sidewalk on regular flat collar (I have to use a special harness when I walk Jake).  I love Peter's intensity on the treat also, I think he will be great with reward-based training.
Regarding the test result, I called them around noon today, and they said it usually takes 7-10 days, so they are expecting the results to come in Saturday or Monday. 
I got to the Opelika vet clinic at 3 PM today.  When the receptionist brought Peter out, I told her that we would like to know the biopsy result as soon as possible because there's an potential foster home, and she said she will have the doctor call me when they receive it, but I think she's the one whom I spoke on the phone this morning, because she said she told me before it'll probably be Saturday or Monday.  She asked me if I need an exam room, I said no I am taking Peter to my apartment for an hour today.
Peter was fine in the car, stayed in the back, stuck his nose out of the window a couple times.  When we got to my apartment, after I got out of the car, before I closed the driver door, Peter got into the front seats and followed me out, but I was able to grab his leash.  I walked him outside a little bit, he marked and pooped, no diarrhea.  My apartment is on the second floor, he had no problem climbing the stairs.
Peter�s incision where the lump was removed.
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