I have a question for all you rescue pawrents out there. Have any of you had to deal with a dog that is toy/chew bone or food possessive? Louie has given us some major lip trying to retrieve toys or chew bones from him. We don't know if this is just an issue with rescues or an aggressive problem on his part, we are thinking it might be just an issue because he is a rescue. He also had a major issue with the vet. We are thinking this might just be a rescue/insecurity thing as he has shown no other signs of aggression to people or other dogs.
We are mapping out a plan to break this, and have been reading about the trade up method, trade them for something better than their toy then give to toy back to them, etc. Any other ideas or methods that worked you?
Any ideas about the vet? We took him again with Saturday when we went to pick up Lily's remains. We wanted to show him the vet can be fun. This one is tough for us because ALL of dogs have LOVED going to the vet.
It has only been 6 days since Louie moved in, and while he seems to have adjusted I'm sure he is still apprehensive about things and that some things will take time. He is such a good boy we just want to make sure we do things right.
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The Chronicles of Louis the VII Rottweiler
Louie is settling in nicely. We could not have asked for a better dog, he is quiet, polite, listens very well and is eager to please. He had his Vet check (which he wasn't too crazy about) and weighed in at a whopping 93lbs! We thought maybe 85, boy were we wrong. Aside from an ear infection he is in great health. The vet put him at 1 1/2years which is what we thought.
We are doing our best to make him feel at home and show him the sights and sounds of his new community here in Destin. The Husband took him to get his oil changed (his car's, not Louie's).
Louie meets Brad, our great mechanic. Brad finds just the right spot to scratch, Louis approves!
Louie isn't as much a fan of the Beetle as he is of cooling off.
His new friends, Max, the big guy and Cooper along with our neighbor Dave, welcome Louie to the neighborhood with open paws. Max was Lily's boyfriend, she was quite smitten with his handsome features. I'm sure she is smiling down on the trio.
Even though he listens very well and has already learned new commands readily, Louie is signed up for an intermediate training class beginning on July 7th. Since he will be an only dog, we want him to have as much interaction with pets and people as possible.
Only 5 days into his new life, there is so much more ahead, stay tuned for more Chronicles of Louis the VII Rottweiler.
We are doing our best to make him feel at home and show him the sights and sounds of his new community here in Destin. The Husband took him to get his oil changed (his car's, not Louie's).
Even though he listens very well and has already learned new commands readily, Louie is signed up for an intermediate training class beginning on July 7th. Since he will be an only dog, we want him to have as much interaction with pets and people as possible.
Only 5 days into his new life, there is so much more ahead, stay tuned for more Chronicles of Louis the VII Rottweiler.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Life Goes On............
It has been a hard 2 weeks in our household. We have not been without a dog in over 29 years. And Lily required a lot of time and care these past 10 months, her passing left a big, big void. Not only in hearts but in just our every day routine. The Husband and I couldn't seem to find a groove, we always seemed restless, everyday without purpose.
Finally we started to talk about another dog, but it was hard and it was hard not having one. We were so torn.
I think the turning point came last Saturday after we cut the grass. It was the first time since Lily's been gone that we cut it and a ritual in our house is that when we get done, we go in the house and call "Fresh cut grass! Who wants to roll in fresh cut grass?" and out both Lily and Edgrrr would go. Well, it really hit me for some reason, such a mundane chore as cutting the grass seemed purposeless because I had no dogs to run, roll and relish in simple pleasure of fresh cut grass.
I cried, and cried, and cried some more. The Husband cried, and cried, cried with me. Finally he said let's at least go look at some dogs on net. We looked at rescues and puppies. Most of the rescues we were interested in were in central or south Florida, most of the puppies were there too, and more than we could afford at the moment.
Then a young man caught our eye. We emailed the rescue, he was available and the more she told us about him the more we were interested and he was only 2 hours away. We made arrangements to see him on Monday.
But Sunday night I got terrible cold feet. Could I love him? Would he love me? Would he truly be my dog, someone else raised him? We had no experience with rescues, what if were getting someone else's problem? Maybe it was too soon? But the house was so empty..........what should we do?
We went........and we are so glad we did, meet Louis the VII (Rottie)....
He is from Last Hope Rescue in Tallahassee. Him and his Dad were rescued from the Pasco County shelter in April. His Dad had already been adopted out and this guy was still waiting for the right home.
They said his surrender papers said he was 3 years old but we are thinking more like 1 1/2 - 2 yrs. He is the sweetest dog, smart and lovey. We have only had him a little over 48hrs but he is settling in nice.
I still miss Lily so much, tears welling up when I think of her. I can still feel myself massaging her little stump while she laid in my lap every evening. And I think of Ed often, missing his clownish behavior.
But life has a little more meaning now. It has purpose. It has Louie.......................
Finally we started to talk about another dog, but it was hard and it was hard not having one. We were so torn.
I think the turning point came last Saturday after we cut the grass. It was the first time since Lily's been gone that we cut it and a ritual in our house is that when we get done, we go in the house and call "Fresh cut grass! Who wants to roll in fresh cut grass?" and out both Lily and Edgrrr would go. Well, it really hit me for some reason, such a mundane chore as cutting the grass seemed purposeless because I had no dogs to run, roll and relish in simple pleasure of fresh cut grass.
I cried, and cried, and cried some more. The Husband cried, and cried, cried with me. Finally he said let's at least go look at some dogs on net. We looked at rescues and puppies. Most of the rescues we were interested in were in central or south Florida, most of the puppies were there too, and more than we could afford at the moment.
Then a young man caught our eye. We emailed the rescue, he was available and the more she told us about him the more we were interested and he was only 2 hours away. We made arrangements to see him on Monday.
But Sunday night I got terrible cold feet. Could I love him? Would he love me? Would he truly be my dog, someone else raised him? We had no experience with rescues, what if were getting someone else's problem? Maybe it was too soon? But the house was so empty..........what should we do?
We went........and we are so glad we did, meet Louis the VII (Rottie)....
I still miss Lily so much, tears welling up when I think of her. I can still feel myself massaging her little stump while she laid in my lap every evening. And I think of Ed often, missing his clownish behavior.
But life has a little more meaning now. It has purpose. It has Louie.......................
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Over the Rainbow Bridge.........
Our Sweet Lily
01/26/2002 - 06/07/2012
With a little help and her head cradled in Momma's lap Lily crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. Free of pain and sporting four fully functional legs she met up with her buddy, Edgrrr, who introduced her to her new friends Wysti, Echo, Emily and Tyson. Run free my sweet baby............
Last Thursday at the holistic vet was so promising we didn't expect the turn she took on Monday night, heavy panting, diarrhea, lack of appetite and restlessness. The Husband took her to her regular vet Tuesday. She had picked up a gastrointestinal bug, apparently it was going around. Though she fought off the infection in her stump and the infection in her bladder this one proved to be too much for her. Or perhaps she was just tired of it all, perhaps it was just her time.
I can't tell you how much we miss her, but I'm sure all of you know, probably having been in our shoes once or twice if you own a pet. It hurts, you second guess all the decisions you have made along the road that lead to this. But it changes nothing she is gone, as we knew someday she would be and it hurts. Deeply.
This is the first time in almost 30 years that we have not had a dog. And it hurts. Deeply.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
It's Electrifying.......
The orthopedic vet couldn't find anything on Lily's x-rays. So we found a holistic vet in the next town. She found calcified discs in her mid-spine. It is pretty severe, both back legs are not functioning and they cross when we lift her which I guess is a real indication of nerve damage. If Lily wasn't so healthy or vibrant as she is she would not recommend treatment, as it is she is giving her a 50/50 chance of possibly regaining ANY type of function.
Here she is getting her first electo-acupuncture treatment that day. She was great through it all. We have physical therapy exercises and massage therapy to do several times a day. She also is on a Chinese herb mixture twice a day. She has also recommended a diet of turkey and or ocean whitefish along with Omega-3's for her diet.
She has told us not to get our hopes up too much, due to her arthritis and age, and it may be a few sessions before we see any improvement, if any. Not what we want to hear but this is our only option, we are willing to give it a few sessions to see if it helps.
It has been about 3 days since her session. We are trying not to be too optimistic or see improvement where there isn't any.......but we have noticed a small improvement. She is trying to use her back legs to get up when we lift her, trying to feebly push up a little, which she wasn't doing. When we practice setting her feet and putting weight on them she is improving, a little bit more each day. Mind you she still can not stand on her own or move her back legs in a walking motion but we take any little glimmer of improvement.
We are not expecting a miracle, that she will wake up one day and be able to walk again. But we are hopeful that she regain some use of her hind legs to assist us in walking her. Little steps.....we are keeping our fingers crossed!
I want to thank everyone who stopped by to offer their best wishes and ideas. We are very grateful.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Lily Saga Continues
This poor dog, if it is not one thing it is another.
Late last month she developed a bladder infection and appeared to be stumbling a bit as she galloped along on 3 legs. Vet thought she was stumbling from the pain of the bladder infection and antibiotics were prescribed. Unfortunately they prescribed the one she can not have, Baytril, which is the most common treatment for this. Fortunately, we caught it, and they switched her to Clavamox for a week. She seemed fine after treatment but still a bit unsure on her feet, especially in the right leg.
Mid-May she continued to stumble along, so back to the vet she went. Another test of the bladder showed the infection still raged on. It took another 4-5 days to get the culture back and a course of antibiotics set. May 18th they upped the Clavamox dosage and lengthened it to 2 weeks.
By the evening of May 23rd she could not use her back legs. The Husband was out of town on business so I got a neighbor to help me get her in the Jeep. Several x-rays later the Vet can find nothing but a moderate case of arthritis in her spine and limbs. After an injection of Adequan and an extra shot for today, off we went, waiting for the course of antibiotics to finish (this coming Friday) and waiting to hear from the Orthopedic specialist. She will also have 3 weeks of twice weekly injections of the Adequan.
She has almost no use of her back right leg and her left back is a fraction better, but no load bearing on either. No walking without significant help from Mom and Dad ( and she is still a 90lb load, Mom's back may give out before Lily!). I have started some massage and physical therapy, and we are trying to get her to move around more.
She is happy, eating and doing her "business" as best she can outside.
We just don't know what is wrong.
And on top of it all the A/C went out last night! Today it is suppose to be 90 today, with a real feel of 103. Luckily we were able to get someone out early this morning and after 2 hours it is finally up and running. We need a new system, but can't afford it at the moment, so hopefully this one will limp along through the summer.
The coolest spot this morning was the backyard. I tried to keep Lily in the shade and used wet towels to keep her cool.
I can't say that she really appreciated my efforts!
If anyone has had a similar experience as we are going through I would love to know your thoughts of what might be going on. This being a holiday weekend here in the States we don't expect to hear from the specialist until Tuesday at the earliest.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and take time to remember those that gave everything in the line of duty.
Late last month she developed a bladder infection and appeared to be stumbling a bit as she galloped along on 3 legs. Vet thought she was stumbling from the pain of the bladder infection and antibiotics were prescribed. Unfortunately they prescribed the one she can not have, Baytril, which is the most common treatment for this. Fortunately, we caught it, and they switched her to Clavamox for a week. She seemed fine after treatment but still a bit unsure on her feet, especially in the right leg.
Mid-May she continued to stumble along, so back to the vet she went. Another test of the bladder showed the infection still raged on. It took another 4-5 days to get the culture back and a course of antibiotics set. May 18th they upped the Clavamox dosage and lengthened it to 2 weeks.
By the evening of May 23rd she could not use her back legs. The Husband was out of town on business so I got a neighbor to help me get her in the Jeep. Several x-rays later the Vet can find nothing but a moderate case of arthritis in her spine and limbs. After an injection of Adequan and an extra shot for today, off we went, waiting for the course of antibiotics to finish (this coming Friday) and waiting to hear from the Orthopedic specialist. She will also have 3 weeks of twice weekly injections of the Adequan.
She has almost no use of her back right leg and her left back is a fraction better, but no load bearing on either. No walking without significant help from Mom and Dad ( and she is still a 90lb load, Mom's back may give out before Lily!). I have started some massage and physical therapy, and we are trying to get her to move around more.
She is happy, eating and doing her "business" as best she can outside.
We just don't know what is wrong.
And on top of it all the A/C went out last night! Today it is suppose to be 90 today, with a real feel of 103. Luckily we were able to get someone out early this morning and after 2 hours it is finally up and running. We need a new system, but can't afford it at the moment, so hopefully this one will limp along through the summer.
The coolest spot this morning was the backyard. I tried to keep Lily in the shade and used wet towels to keep her cool.
I can't say that she really appreciated my efforts!
If anyone has had a similar experience as we are going through I would love to know your thoughts of what might be going on. This being a holiday weekend here in the States we don't expect to hear from the specialist until Tuesday at the earliest.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and take time to remember those that gave everything in the line of duty.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon.......
Lily was in to see the Doc earlier this month and she is doing great. The infection and wound on her stump healed nicely and we keep it protected with the padded t-shirts I make for her. Her blood work is good and best of all her chest x-ray was clean.....no sign of cancer....not even a smidgeon!
I haven't been doing much blog posting or reading for that matter lately because about a month ago my part time job turned into a full time job. That with my online business and keeping up with Lily has been about all I can do. I've done a little sewing......a 50's circle skirt, complete with Rottweilers on it, and a matching petticoat for a charity dinner are about all I've managed. Hopefully I will have more posts, more frequently as I get into a better routine with work.
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