Can I give my dog ibuprofen? HELLS NO.

Yesterday I came home from work to find four happy dogs... and a bottle of ibuprofen in the middle of my living room, with the pills clearly chewed on and scattered about. I knew that ibuprofen is dangerous for dogs, so I called the vet. Because I didn't know who had chewed on the ibuprofen, nor how much may have been swallowed, they advised that I rush all four to the emergency clinic. That's where I learned how dangerous ibuprofen is. 

Ibuprofen does all kinds of bad things to dogs, including ulcers, kidney failure, and neurological problems. Worse, it doesn't take much to cause these problems. GI problems, like ulcers, can happen at a dose as small as 25mg per kilogram. For my three little dogs, who each weigh around 15 pounds or 7kg, give or take, that means that as little as 175mg - or less than one tablet of ibuprofen - can cause serious problems. Kidney failure is likely at about 175mg per kilogram, or for my dogs, about six tablets.

By the time we got there, Pyg was throwing up, was lethargic, and was swaying on his feet. Not good. They took him back first and made him throw up. After consultation, we agreed that all four may have eaten some ibuprofen, and so the best course of action was to take the other three back.

That's when I learned that recovery from ibuprofen ingestion is a lengthy procedure. First, everyone has to throw up. Then, they need to eat activated charcoal, which helps neutralize anything that's been absorbed. (Pyg got bonus lipids to help even more since he was so sick and problem ate the most.) Next, they need to have GI protectants (to prevent ulcers or tears in the stomach). Finally, they need at least 48 hours of IV fluids to flush out the system. Regular blood work and UAs are taken to assess if any kidney damage has happened. Hopefully the throwing up and charcoal and fluids prevents that.

We're about 24 hours in right now. Everybody is doing well, even Pyg. He's clearly tired, but he's not dull and lethargic. When I visited, he just wanted to lean on me. I'm waiting for their second set of labs to come back, which will tell us if there's any kidney problems brewing. We don't anticipate this happening with any of them since we got treatment so fast, but I'll update when they're home - hopefully tomorrow, but maybe Monday.

In the meantime- everyone should know that if your dog eats ibuprofen, it is an immediate emergency.

Nine years of love!

Today is Maisy's 9th Gotcha Day - the anniversary of the day she came to live with me for good in 2007. I barely took any pictures of her as a pup, and most of the ones I have a over-exposed and/or blurry. Here's a somewhat decent one of her... but of course, it doesn't even begin to express how adorable she was.

Maisy's 9th Birthday!

My only regret is that I didn't take more pictures.

Sigh.

Typical conversation this week:

"So, my dog has a broken rib."

"What?? Which one?"

"Which one do you think?"

"Oh. Right. Of course."

Seriously, if something is going to happen to one of my dogs, it WOULD be Maisy. We don't really know how this happen; best guess is she got in a fight at the dog park. She stole a lab's tennis ball, lifted a lip at a lab, and the lab nailed her. The puncture wound healed quickly, but she became reluctant to jump on the bed, and was more sore in the back than usual.

Long story short, we did x-rays, a diagnostic ultrasound, and now we get to wear this very fancy swat-team-esque back brace for a month and hope the bone chip that's floating around heals up.

Sigh. This dog.

Does comforting a scared dog actually reinforce their fear? (Answer: who cares?)

There was a thunderstorm here last night, an event that doesn't really merit comment here in the Midwest, especially since it was a pretty mild storm. Not windy, no loud thunder booms, just your run-of-the-mill storm. But of course, when you have a thunder-phobic dog, there is no such thing as a small, run-of-the-mill storm.

When Maisy first developed her thunder phobia three or four years ago, I put a lot of time and missed sleep into the problem. I spent many nights awake and feeding her everything from deli meat to potato chips in an effort to counter-condition thunder. I also used situational anxiety meds to reduce the amount of panic she felt so the training could work better.

Overall, it was worth it, because Maisy rarely has the full blown panic attacks that she used to have when a storm would roll in. Most times she's mildly uncomfortable, choosing to stick closely to me or my husband for comfort, and we ride it out with meds, food, or missed sleep.

Last night's storm started about an hour before bedtime. Although Maisy was not panicking, she was a bit restless. She kept walking back and forth between the bedroom and the living room, where my husband was watching TV and I was reading the DSM5 as a bit of light reading homework. We invited her to sit with us several times, but it was clear that she did not want to be near the big picture window with its view of all the lightning.

I finally gave in and went to bed early. Maisy followed me into the bedroom, hopped up on the bed, pressed herself as close as she could to my side, and... fell asleep. No panting, no pacing, no panic, just sleep. All she needed to get through a scary situation was a bit of comfort.

Think about that for a moment.

I know there is a lot of talk about how comforting a dog who is scared is "reinforcing fear" - as if that's a bad thing! I personally don't believe that you can reinforce an emotion, and even if you could, I cannot imagine a living being that would volunteer to be truly scared in order to get a cookie or a hug. Of course, there are those too-smart-for-their-own-good dogs who figure out that if the act scared, they get good things. It may appear that fear (or more accurately, fearful-looking behavior) is being rewarded in those cases, and honestly, so what?

Now, I believe that Maisy was actually scared last night, and I do not think that going to bed a bit early to provide her some comfort was that big of a sacrifice on my part. But let's pretend for a moment that her behavior was a calculated attempt to get my attention. WHY IS THAT A BAD THING? Seriously, all my dog wanted was some affection! She wanted me to show her a bit of love! She wanted to be comforted! Isn't that actually a GOOD thing? Don't we humans get dogs because of the unconditional love they show us? Don't we enjoy being able to lavish all kinds of love on them in return? When it comes down to us, don't most of us say that we love our dogs more than we love most people?

How about, instead of getting all wrapped up in questions about whether or not our dogs are manipulating us, we look at their behavior as communication instead - and respond to that in a loving, caring, affectionate manner.

Behavior Problem or Medical Problem?

The sweater in question.

Lola hates having her nails trimmed. Or her feet touched. Or, heck, even her legs, and it all came to a head a few months back when I was trying to make a fleece sweater for her without a pattern. This necessitated a lot of putting it on and taking it off as I worked out the alterations, and by the end of the day, Lo had nailed me right in the arm. She was D-O-N-E with this being touched stuff.

I've worked with dogs before who didn't like to be touched, so I got to work doing handling training. I started doing exercises to help Lola associate being touched with awesome things. I moved slowly, always watching her body language to ensure I didn't rush her. And things... well, they didn't really get better.

Oh, sure, sometimes she was okay with it, but other days she was immediately grumpy again. I also noticed that she got pretty grumbly when the boy-dogs would rough house too close to her. Not touching her, just near her. It was like she was telling them to keep their distance.

The first rule of behavior club is...
You know where this is going, right? Yup, it was time for a vet check. This is a pretty basic step when dealing with behavior problems, especially ones that crop up suddenly. Pretty much every trainer, behaviorist, and blogger I know recommends going to the vet to check for health problems before undertaking a training program.

Easy said, but harder to remember, especially when the problem sort of creeps up on you. Lola wasn't suddenly aggressive (she's not aggressive at all, actually), she was just acting a bit weird. And anyway, my dogs are no stranger to the vet. We go in for regular well checks, and I'm not afraid to have small things checked out in between. I also watch my dogs pretty closely so I know what's normal and what's not. I catch things early.

Like a needle in a haystack
Off to the vet we went. I mentioned my concerns, and our vet agreed that it sounded behavioral. The problem, of course, is that it's really hard to pinpoint a possible problem. Lola wasn't showing any stiffness. There was no limping, no panting, no licking or biting a certain area. In other words, this was a shot in the dark.

I know I'm not alone in that. I've heard plenty of people say that their vets didn't find anything on exam. I don't think that's the vet's fault at all. After all, our dogs can't tell us if and where they hurt, and I don't know about you, but I do not have the cash reserves to do x-rays and ultrasounds just to rule out a hunch. Still, because Lola's a basset hound, and thus acondroplastic (a type of dwarfism associated with malformed bones and cartilage), I thought there must be some pain in there.

Getting the most out of your exam
Now, I'm not a vet, but I've paid for a lot of vet care over the years, and in my experience, there are three main causes of pain:

1. Illness or injury
This one is probably the easiest to find clinically. Inspecting your dog for cuts or scrapes and taking vital signs can tell you a lot about what might be going on. Acute illness or injury tends to show up quickly and is therefore not usually mistaken for a behavioral problem. Still, sometimes there are sicknesses that fly under the radar. To get at these, regular lab work can help. The exact tests that are done will depend on your dog and the lifestyle risks unique to your situation, but in my experience, blood work (including a tick panel) and a urinalysis can tell you a lot.

2. Musculo-skeletal issues
Joint or muscle problems are much harder to pick up on, even with more obvious signs. Five or six years back, I noticed that Maisy had a very slight, occasional limp coupled with excessive panting, even when it wasn't hot. I took her to the vet, but they couldn't recreate the problem, so they told me not to worry. I ended up taking Maisy to a chiropractor, and later a doggy massage therapist, which did a lot to alleviate the pain.

3. Teeth problems
Dude, toothaches hurt. Unfortunately, I think mouth pain in dogs is more common than we think. Maisy is eight now, so when she started to slow down just a tad, I didn't think much of it. It's not like she got lethargic or anything; she was still playing and eating, just a bit quieter. At her well vet exam, the vet saw a chipped tooth and recommended a dental, but didn't think it was urgent. Well. When she got in there, it turns out Maisy had not one but two abscessed teeth that shattered when the vet went to pull them. Less than two weeks later, Maisy was full of puppy energy again, playing with the boy-dogs, and even doing a bit of tug!

Don't be afraid to try pain meds
I'm lucky to have a great relationship with a great vet. She did an incredibly thorough exam, and in so doing, found that Lola has very mild luxating patellas. So mild, in fact, that we aren't convinced that it was causing the possible pain; I suspect that due to Lo's front assembly, long back, and history of being overweight, she may have arthritis.

Either way, I requested a trial of pain meds. I wasn't expecting much from it, and I kind of think the vet was humoring me when she prescribed them, but the results were amazing. After a week of regular pain meds, both the grumbling about the boy-dogs and her grouchiness about being touched reduced by at least 75%! Of course, now we're left trying to figure what's causing the pain and how to address that. (That's a whole other post, of course!)

What about you guys?
Have you had a medical problem masquerading as a behavior problem? What did it end up being? And how did you find out? 

Happy Gotcha Day, Maisy!

Maisy at 5 months old.

Eight years ago today, I brought Maisy home. To date, it remains one of the best decisions I ever made.

The Most Beautiful Thing I've Ever Seen

The two great loves of my life.

Maisy has never been a dog who likes to be touched, although she will tolerate it. She especially hates having her head touched; any time I've reached over to give her a pat, only for her to duck away - or at least flinch. I've gotten used to this, and try to limit my primate-hands-on instincts.

But these rules don't seem to apply to my fiance. She loves him. Indeed, her affection for him was a major driver in our getting together in the first place, but even so, I didn't really understand how much she loves him until Monday night.

Maisy is curled up on a pillow sleeping as Cesar is getting ready to leave for work. He leans over to say goodbye and kisses her on the top of her head; she lifts her head up, looks him in the eye, and then gives one deliberate lick to his face.

I swear to god, she kissed him back, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Is the Cost of Rehabbing a Reactive Dog Worth It?

Money pit.

In my last post, I told you that I have spent about $5225 in treating Maisy's reactivity over the course of her lifetime. This is not an insignificant amount of money, but - spoiler alert - it has absolutely been worth it. Not only do I love my dog like crazy, but in my mind, a behavior problem is really no different than a medical one - and few of us would hesitate to drop thousands on our dogs at the vet.

Here's the deal: whether it's behavioral or medical (a distinction which is really less clear than it might seem, considering that behavior problems can be driven by brain chemicals and such), the outcome is not guaranteed. We don't know if our dogs will survive being hit by a car, but we take them to the vet anyway. And, in both cases, there are often adjustments to be made once the crisis is over. For example, knee surgery will require crate rest and physical therapy exercises.

And, in my unfortunate experience, there isn't much difference in the final price tag. In the past year, Maisy has had three different health issues. Let's look at what these have cost.

Crisis #1: Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease of the Spinal Cord (aka, Meningitis)
In September 2013, Maisy became suddenly ill with what we would later find out was an immune-system that decided her spinal cord needed to die. Our first stop was our regular vet, for $520. When she continued to get sick, she ended up hospitalized at the University of Minnesota.  The three day stay cost about $2650. Out patient meds and a follow up with the neurologist was about $150. Grand total? $3320. And since it was immune-mediated, the likelihood of recurrence is high.

Crisis #2: Bladder Stones Causing Blocked Urinary Tract
Shortly after Maisy's meningitis, she stopped peeing. Her urinary tract was blocked and she had some massive bladder stones that needed to be removed. That hospitalization and treatment cost $3150. She then needed follow up care that included UA/UCs ($700) and bladder ultrasounds ($775). Total cost? $4625. And that doesn't include the ongoing cost of her new prescription food, nor does it take into account that this was not Maisy's first time at the bladder-problem-rodeo; she's had recurrent UTIs her entire life.

Crisis #3: Corneal Dystrophy
And then Maisy started having eye problems. This one was actually pretty cheap. We saw her primary vet first, for $150. Then we had three visits with the ophtalmologist ($550), and medication ($60). The bill? $760. A steal really, although again, this does not include the cost of ongoing medication she'll need for the rest of her life- about $120/year.

So, don't let the cost of rehabbing a reactive dissuade you. Dogs are just expensive money pits, that's all. But they are the furriest, most loving money pit you will ever have. And can I just recommend pet insurance? My other three dogs have it, and it's definitely worth the money.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to thank everyone who helped me with Maisy's ridiculous amount of vet bills last year. I received around $6000 from concerned readers, and believe me, that made a huge difference for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

How Much Does it Cost to Rehab a Reactive Dog?

Last week, one of my friends texted me: her dog was becoming increasingly anxious, and could I help her train the dog? As I started to walk her through the process of rehabbing a reactive dog, I realized that I have put a LOT of work into Maisy. I knew that, of course, but when you’re in the midst of things, it’s easy to lose track of just how much work you’re doing.

So, what DOES it take to rehab a reactive dog? Well, each dog will be different, of course, but here’s what I did (or at least, what I remember doing) with Maisy:

I first realized Maisy was reactive in early 2009. I immediately enrolled her in a version of a Control Unleashed class at our training club. This class was 9 weeks long. Estimated cost: $100.

Starting in September 2009, and going through May 2011, we attended a weekly CU style class. I’m estimating that we attended about 90 weeks of class. I don’t remember the cost, but let’s say it was $125 for 6 weeks (less than what it costs at other places in the area). That’s about $1875.

Next, we saw a veterinary behaviorist. We saw her for the first time in October 2010 (approximately $550). We had follow ups in December 2010 ($160), June 2011 ($175), December 2011 ($80), and July 2012($80). Total: about $1050. (Edited to correct estimated amounts. I overestimated. And this is why I'm a social worker, not an accountant!)

Medication is cheap: less than $5/mo. So far, we’ve spent around $250 on meds. This will be a life-long expense for Maisy.

Medication requires regular blood work (every six months we get a bunch of bloods done to check liver values, etc.). Let’s estimate $200 per time, so about $1600 so far. Again, another life-long expense.

So far, this does not include time I spent training on my own (between 15 and 30 minutes a day). I also attended a Control Unleashed seminar (around $150 plus travel/hotel costs, and 16 hours in the seminar). If you add that in, it’s probably another 200 hours and $250. I also purchased a number of books to educate myself; let’s say $100 and another 40 hours in reading.

All told, the cost of rehabbing Maisy was 350 hours of my time and about $5225.

She has absolutely been worth it, but the investment was not insignificant. Many people do not have that kind of time or money available to them. Granted, this was spread out over the course of 3 or 4 years… which in itself is a huge undertaking. 

Priceless.

Did I need to go to such great lengths? Well, it depends on your goals and your dog’s behavior. I had performance goals, and anyway, Maisy never posed any real danger to anyone; there were no kids in the house and she was very low-risk for a bite. I probably could have gotten away with a lot less work and money – and indeed, many of the dogs and people I’ve worked with professionally can get away with less time and money.

Each situation will be different, and therefore, the costs and the decisions will be different. When deciding to work with a reactive dog, the first question always needs to be, “Can I keep everyone safe during this process?” If the answer is no, then it doesn’t really matter how much you can afford in terms of time and money. You need to deal with the safety issue first. 

But if safety isn’t an issue, then you need to take a long, hard look at the costs involved. If you're enrolled in a class, don't waste the money! Do your homework! Trust your instructors - and ask questions if you're concerned about their advice! Trust me, we love to personalize our instructions if you give us a chance. 

Understand that reactivity is not a quick-fix kind of thing. You really do need to hang in there through the disappointment. But also, know what your goals are. You're not going to "cure" your dog, so scale back your expectations to be a bit more realistic. Don't know what that is? Ask your instructor! Accept that the dog you have is not going to be the "good dog" that you've had in the past, or that your friends have. 

Follow up post: Click here to read about whether the cost is worth it. 

Happy 8th Birthday, Maisy!

Today is Maisy's 8th birthday. I can't believe she is firmly middle aged now. It seems like just yesterday she was a puppy.

The day I met her. The day my life changed forever.

This last year has been hard; she was so terribly sick last fall. Everyone but me knew that she almost died. I still can't really make that work in my mind. I just can't let myself think about her dying. I am glad that I have been spared that heartbreak.

Maisy was on steroids from last fall until the end of June. She was weaned off them slowly, and she's done wonderfully without them. I haven't seen any sign of relapse, for which I am grateful. Because her illness was immune-mediated, she's always at risk of it happening again, but so far, so good.

Maisy saw the ophthalmologist last week and was discharged. Although she still has some corneal dystrophy, it has improved greatly. Maisy will continue to receive the eye drops twice a day for the rest of her life, but unless her eyes get worse, she won't need to see the eye doctor again.

So all in all, Maisy is doing wonderfully, and as we enter this new year, I'm grateful for everything.

So happy to have my hiking buddy back.

First Level 3 Leg (WCRL)

I really haven't done any training with Maisy in a year. First she got so sick, then I got Pyg, then I moved in with two more dogs, and... well, yeah. Despite that, I decided to enter her in Level 3 at the WCRL trial hosted by my breed club this weekend.

We've never done Level 3 before, and I was just tickled pink by her performance:


She scored 200 (we didn't get any bonus points because hey, you can't retry a bonus exercise- I had no idea!- and in looking at the video, the reason we failed was a lack of clarity on my part... which training would have helped) and got 1st place!

I wanted to try for her title, but then she threw up all over, so we went home again. Very happy with my little muppet dog. 

Missing Maisy

I really miss having only one dog. Not because I don't love the other three, and not even because of the difficulty integrating two households (read: fights). But because I just don't have enough time with my Maisy. The other three need more in terms of training. The other three need more exercise (Maisy's stamina is much lower since she's been sick). And the other three are just... I dunno, needier.

Any time I sit down, this happens:

And Maisy? Well, she doesn't value cuddling nearly enough to share her space with another dog. Or even to resource guard my lap. (Unless I have food. Then she turns into Cujo.)

What Maisy does value is her tennis ball, and whoever will throw her tennis ball. In this case, my fiance. When we're all together, I have at least one and probably three dogs draped across me, while Maisy is dropping a ball at Cesar's feet.

It's more than that, though. I very rarely get one-on-one time with Maisy. She and I share everything with at least another dog now. Our bed, our meals, our walks.

She even has to share her beauty shots!

This is no one's fault but my own, of course, but it's becoming clear to me that Maisy deserves some momma time... and that I deserve Maisy time. I'm hoping that this will be easier once we've moved and are settled. Right now my fiance and I basically live together in two apartments, and it's just awkward sometimes. But really, I know that I need to prioritize alone time with Maisy- and all my dogs, honestly.

POSTSCRIPT
So, I wrote and scheduled this post on Thursday last week. I guess Maisy can read, because Friday night, she was wedged next to Lola on my lap. Saturday morning, she was the snuggliest dog ever. So freaking weird. I don't have this post scheduled for a few more days... very curious to see what Maisy does next.

Multi-Dog Blues

I apologize in advance: this post is going to be whiny and woe-is-me and venty. I don't usually do downer posts, but you know what? This is my blog, and this is what my life has been like. And if you all have good advice or can just commiserate... well, that'd be even better.

So I have four dogs now. I love my four dogs; they are each such just really cool individuals, and I honestly wouldn't give up any of them. But dear god, it's hard to have four dogs. Especially because I have two resource guarders and another who won't hesitate to fight. And bite. And even though I know you don't break up a dog fight by reaching between them to break them up... well, I'm a slow learner, I guess. On the plus side, I have matching bite-scars on both forearms.

This is a total blow to my pride. I'm a certified trainer, after all! Surely I should be able to handle this better! Plus, one of my good friends has eight dogs living in her house (six of her own, one foster, and one that belongs to her roommate), and she doesn't seem to have even half as many problems as I do! (She tells me that she's been doing this longer and has carefully chosen each dog to fit in with the rest, but mostly I just think she's smarter than me.) 

I keep telling myself it will get better. Only Maisy has really had any training, but we're working on the others. As the rest learn more, it should be easier. Cesar and I are getting better at predicting what will and will not cause fights, and therefore are getting better at management. And soon we will all live in the same house, which will be bigger and have a crate for each dog. This should make management easier, and will provide more consistent routines. I hope.

I don't mean to give you the wrong impression. In all honesty, we probably only have one fight a month, it's just that the fights tend to be much bigger than I'm okay with. And really, for the most part, all four dogs get along fairly well. They will all play together, though we limit that because of noise/shared housing concerns, so most of the time, it's Pyg and Napi playing. In the quieter, nap-type times, though, they've paired off in an unexpected way. Where Maisy is, Napi is, and Pyg and Lola tend to like each other's company.

But some days are just so hard. Please tell me I'm not alone? And maybe tell me what's worked for you?

We're Alive!

Whoops, I sort of fell off the face of the world there, now didn't I? If you follow the blog Facebook page, you know that I've been sick. Not the kind of sick where I've missed work, but the kind of sick that every bit of energy I had has gone to work and sleep. Since I've been gone for three weeks, how about a quick update on where things stand?

Napi
I think the big "storyline" that's been dropped is Napi. And that's actually pretty accurate, because my illness meant that Napi didn't get to finish his reactive dog class. I'm really bummed about that because if I'm honest, I'm much more motivated to train when I have a class to keep me accountable.

I'm not sure that Napi's meds are doing much. He's been on them for 5 weeks now, so I guess I'm being a bit impatient, but I know I saw more progress with Maisy when she was 5 weeks out than I have with Napi. Of course, it's kind of an apple/orange kind of comparison; Maisy and I had been actively working on her reactivity for two years by the time she'd started meds. I'm also really missing the the very detailed behavior logs (including a good baseline) that I had with Maisy. Without it, it's really hard to see progress.

Unexpected friends.

One good thing about being sick: I've discovered how incredibly sweet Napi is. He is a world-class cuddler, and I've grown incredibly fond of him. I may not want to do this whole reactive-dog-thing again, but he's definitely worth it.

Maisy
Perhaps the most interesting thing lately has been Maisy's relationship with Napi. She has decided that she quite likes him, thank-you-very-much, and plays with him way more than I would have expected. As a matter of fact, at this very moment she's trying to get into Napi and Pyg's wrestling session. They have also started to be a bit cuddly together, something I have very rarely seen in Maisy. I'll be very curious to see how this pans out.

Maisy's health- which seems to be her main storyline right now- is actually pretty good! She saw the ophthalmologist at the beginning of the month, and her corneal dystrophy has actually improved! I wanted to ask the doctor if it was an April Fool's joke... We did increase the strength of her eye drops, but I'm so glad to have seen even a slight improvement. And, after Maisy's most recent massage/acupressure/reiki session with Michelle Bame of Caring Canine Massage, she's been even more playful.

Lola
Last night, I took Lola to her first beginning obedience class. She is very different than Maisy or Pyg to train; slower, more thoughtful, and more deliberate. She's an eager student, and I'd very much like to get her CGC and maybe even a novice obedience title with her. I think it would be a good experience.

Lola is friendly-reactive. I've had a few of these dogs in classes, but never handled one directly before. Lola gets so damn excited to see friends that she can lose her mind. We had to spend the first 15 minutes of class behind a barrier in order to keep Lola from barking, and even after that, she would get pretty distracted by the other dogs. I think I'm going to enjoy working with her a lot. I know I like living with her.

I'm not sure which one is cuter.

Pyg
Pyg started the beginning obedience class last night, too- my fiance handled him during class. Let me just say that I was impressed with both of them. Pyg is a quick little dog; working with him can be a bit like having a butterfly on crack on a leash. He's everywhere, he's excited, he's intense. I love these qualities, but it was challenging for someone brand new to clicker training. Cesar rocked it, though- his timing is amazing, and they did really well together.

The longer I have Pyg, the more I love him. He's just got a great little personality. This morning I took him to an agility trial because I wanted something very specific from a vendor that was going to be there. He handled the environment like a pro. After a few minutes to settle in, he would see something exciting, and then turn to me for a cookie. By the end, he was sitting and watching me intently. We did a few sits and downs, and then left. I am very excited to do competitive stuff with him. He'll be fun!

Me
 I've been editing the second Fenzi-Jones book, and I'm pretty excited about it. This one is on motivation, and I think it's better than the first one. I cannot tell you how often I'll get all excited when I work on a passage, either because I totally agree (and had to learn the hard way) or because I've never been able to find the words to talk about it they way they have.

Other than that, not much to report. Just resting and recharging so I can get back to life! I'm not teaching right now and find that I really miss it. Pyg and I are getting ready for a 40 mile backpacking trip (less than a month!), so we've been hiking a lot to get us both physically ready. I'm sure that will be a riot...

I believe my response to the vet would be an inappropriate post title

I took Maisy in for a just-being-super-cautious bladder ultrasound on Monday. It’s been six months since her huge bladder stones (and subsequent removal). Since that time, all of her UAs have come back great, and she continues to be on the prescription diet to help prevent a recurrence, so I figured it would be a pretty quick and easy appointment.
 
It’s like I don’t even know my own dog.
 
Of course she has bladder stones. Five or six, actually. All small enough to pass, but still. Wasn’t the diet supposed to prevent this? Yes, it should have, but… well, we’ve cheated. Oh, sure, her main meals have been the prescription diet, but she has still gotten the occasional bully stick and we definitely feed her off our plates… The vet didn’t think that would be enough to cause stone formation, but that’s what I’m going with because the alternative is more frustrating.
 
See, there are two main types of stones: struvite and calcium oxalate. Struvites can be dissolved by diet and are therefore the better kind to have. This is what Maisy had last fall. Calcium oxalate, on the other hand, have to be removed surgically. We don’t know which kind Maisy has now, so I’m going with the diet-needs-to-be-stricter theory.
 
The plan right now is to switch from the stone-prevention diet to the stone-dissolution diet and then do a recheck ultrasound in 6-8 weeks. If the stones go away, we’re all good. If they don’t… well, we’ll figure it out then. The good news is that the stone-dissolution diet can also be used for maintenance. The bad news is that every. single. dissolution diet on the market has eggs in them. Maisy is allergic to eggs. But hey, she’s already on steroids, so hopefully that will prevent any allergy issues.
 
Fingers crossed! On all fronts!

It's Always Something

Maisy is, to put it bluntly, a bitch. An only child most of her life, she's never really had to share. This has never been a problem in the past. Although she would try to resource guard things from the cats (who would just look at her like um, there is no way I want your stupid Kong, geesh and walk away), she's never really experienced someone fighting back.

Pyg, on the other hand, is socially confident. He doesn't start stuff and he won't brazenly steal things from Maisy. He will opportunistically steal her stuff if she gets distracted, and I've even seen him do the whole oh, I think someone's at the door bark-bark-bark... HA! SUCKER! fake out thing. But when Maisy is a bitch, it's ON.

I know I'm not alone in this; all multi-dog households are going to have the occasional disagreement. So why don't we talk about it more? Well, I've always been honest on this blog, so yes. My dogs fight sometimes.

Most of the time it's completely appropriate and involves a hard stare, a lip lift, or a brief growl, with the other dog licking his lips, looking away, or shaking off. All in all, no big deal.

But sometimes. Oh, sometimes.

I had one of those sometimes recently. I was eating a snack, and both dogs were quietly begging at my feet. In other words, just another day at la casa de los perros. Except I wasn't sharing, and this upset Maisy. I have no idea what was going on in her furry little head, but my anthropomorphic belief is that she was upset about the lack of sharing and this made her anxious/stressed/frantic/bitchy. And so she divebombed at Pyg, growling and snarling.

I did that stupid thing you're not supposed to do: I reached in to break up the fight. I gotten bitten. It was no one's fault but my own, and I think Pyg was as surprised to make contact with my arm as I was to get bitten. About the only good thing is that now I know what Pyg's bite inhibition is like (worse than I thought).

It was also the wake up call I needed to start working on the issue. I'm fortunate to have an awesome friend who currently lives with seven dogs and has a surprisingly small number of fights in her house. I emailed her, and she wrote some blog posts just for me! (Okay, fine, she was already working on them, but she finished them for me.)

Her advice ended up pretty long, so it's been split into three posts. The first one is on management, and you can read it here. For the most part, I've done a prety good job at this. The dogs already eat in their crates, but I've tightened that up to include times when I'm eating something and not sharing or when Maisy is otherwise looking stressed.

The second post is on actual training things you can do to help your dogs get along better. You can read it here. I'm only just starting on this. Pyg has pretty good impulse control, but Maisy's has really slipped over the years, so I've got a lot of work to do.

Part three will, I'm told, include case studies... I'd say that I will update this post when she updates, but, um. Probably not. Oh well. You're all smart. you can find it, I'm sure.

Anyway, I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on how things go...

Sometimes Bad Timing is the Best Timing of All

Logically, adopting Pyg was one of the dumbest ideas I've ever had. Struggling under the weight of Maisy's medical bills, her slow recovery, and the fear of what the future would mean for her, I knew that adding more to my plate- and hers- was probably ill-advised. But my heart and soul told me that no matter how bad the timing, I needed to have Pyg in my life, and since my intuition is rarely wrong, I took the ultimate leap of faith.

I won't lie: things have been harder with Pyg around. Money is uncomfortably tight. My carpets are smellier. And I've had quite a few things destroyed. At last count, I've lost three containers of fish food, a DVD case, my wallet, a skein of yarn, a spool of thread... the list goes on and on, and with few exceptions, I have no freaking clue how he's gotten a hold of these things.

But things have also been so much better with him, too. People who know me will know that I have a bad worrying habit, and that for many years, Maisy has been the focus of much of it. Pyg has proven to be a wonderful (if naughty) distraction. I still worry about Maisy of course, but it's much harder to do with him around to pick up after.

What's more, during a time that I could be moping around about Maisy's shortened future, I have Pyg to make me laugh. Pyg is such a funny dog, and the infusion of joy he's brought in to my household has been good for both me and Maisy.

Perhaps the most important thing he has brought to my life, though, is the knowledge that love is too big to be contained in just one being. I never thought I could love another dog as much as I love Maisy. I was wrong. Pyg has taught me that opening yourself up to the possibility that you might have more than one heart dog or soul mate doesn't diminish the amount of love you have for the first one. It only allows your heart to be fuller.  

Happy Gotcha Day 7, Maisy!

It's blurry, but it's Baby Maisy on her four month birthday. 

It's hard to believe that this furry thing has been in my life for seven years. It feels like forever, and yet I know it will be over far too soon. Forgive the morbid thought, but it's been a hard six months. Still, despite the pain and fear and not-insubstantial vet bills, I regret nothing.

Well. I regret not taking more photos of her as a puppy. 

Poodle Eyes

I recently discovered that Maisy's supposed poodle half is as close to confirmed as one can get without a DNA test. I know this because she has Poodle Eyes. Or so her ophthalmologist told me.

In the never-ending saga that is Maisy's health, she has racked up another specialist and two more diagnoses: entropion and corneal dystrophy. Both are inherited diseases, and both are, apparently, common in poodles.

About six weeks ago, I noticed that Maisy was having more discharge than normal from her right eye. She always has some sleep crusties in the mornings, but this had progressed to something weird. The discharge was clear, not the yellow or green one would expect from an infection, so I just kept an eye on it.

When it didn't clear up within a week, I took her into the vet, where they did all kinds of Fun Tests. Maisy was a rock star, and Dr. Jessy commented on how unusual it is to be able to do those tests and not need restraint. She didn't see anything in Maisy's eyes, but she prescribed some antiobiotic ointment and sent us on our way.

The discharge got better by the end of our ten days of drops, so I figured it must have been some weird infection and went on with life. But then the drainage came back... along with an odd white spot on her right eye. It was very small, and my boyfriend had a hard time seeing it, but it was there. It was the weekend, so I completely freaked out and called a vet friend, who told me to watch it for a few days to see if it got better on its own. I did and it didn't, so back to the vet we went.

Not the white spot from the light reflection. Below that- the larger, cloudy spot. 

We did the same testing, and this time, Dr. Jessy saw the white spot. She also noticed some squiggly marks I hadn't seen on the left eye. She had another vet in the practice take a peak at it and while neither knew what they were seeing, they knew it wasn't normal.

True story: the Twin Cities has four animal ophthalmologists. and all four are quite busy. Thankfully, I was able to get an appointment for just over a week away. It wasn't with the U, where I wanted to go because they have all of Maisy's history, but I was very happy with Dr. Trumble from Blue Pearl.

Dr. Trumble was kind, quick, and thorough. Maisy has entropion, which is when the eyelids roll in toward the eye. Maisy has a very mild case, wherein her tear ducts are slightly blocked, which is causing the excess drainage. Dr. Trumble said we could correct it surgically, but that it's a cosmetic thing at this point. I laughed and said no. Ain't nobody got money for cosmetic concerns.

Maisy also has corneal dystrophy. This inherited condition causes mineral deposits to build up on the cornea. Maisy's case is mild, and the hope is that with treatment (EDTA eye drops), we will be able to stop it from worsening. It is unlikely that the white spot will go away, but since it doesn't seem to be affecting her vision, that's okay.

We'll go back in three months to see if the drops are working. Fingers crossed!