What's Happened in the Last Six Months

It's been way too long since I last posted. We got busy in the fall with home remodeling and other projects.

In November, I wrote a 50,000 page novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so there was no time for blogging.

Not much happens in the winter, although this winter we had a real winter. The temps reached a low 12 degrees F. We had some snow and ice which makes the slight hill beside our house a magnet for kids on sleds. We had to get out and enjoy the fun one Sunday morning with our friends. We tried to make sled dogs out of Steffi and Anika but they weren't going for it.

In March I had a hip replacement which curtailed our activities a bit, but by late April I was back to gardening and walking the dogs.

The main point of this post, however, is to relay our experience with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE). Steffi had a mild case of diarrhea that in a couple days turned scary and deadly. She started vomiting and soon the diarrhea turned bloody. 

According to www.vcahospitals.com most cases of HGE occur suddenly without warning in otherwise healthy dogs. The main and most disturbing sign is large amounts of bloody diarrhea, very often bright red. Some dogs may have a painful abdomen, decreased appetite, lethargy (fatigue), or fever. 

We took Steffi to our nearest emergency vet and she spent 3 nights there being infused with fluids, antibiotics, blood thickening agents, but the diarrhea would not stop. She also developed a case a pneumonia that the vet thinks may have been caused by ingesting some vomit. On Monday morning we took her to an internal medicine specialist for another two nights of hospitalization. She recommended a fecal transplant to introduce beneficial bacteria back into her colon. That eventually did stop the diarrhea.

We never did determine what caused the episode. We are just grateful she pulled through. I have never been so scared for the health of my dog. I blame myself for waiting too long and trying to treat the diarrhea and vomiting myself. Now I watch her like a hawk for any little sign of distress. 

We don't have pet insurance. In 40 years of owning dogs, I haven't needed it, but now I'm considering it. This experience cost us over $4000. So if there's a lesson to be learned here, familiarized yourself with the signs of HGE and do not wait if there's blood in your dog's stool. Go to the vet. It might save you lots of money and it will certainly save your pet.

Here's my girl feeling better.

Trip to the Beach

Because we got that bark buster spray (compressed air), we were finally able to drive to the beach with Anika. She got a little restless about half way there, but we managed to calm her down.

It was definitely worth it! She has such a good time chasing sea gulls.

The first time she chased one, it flew out into the ocean and she just charged into the surf after it. But I think it scared her to be in so much water because she turned around the tried to leap out of the waves. Actually, it scared me that she might get pulled in from a sneaker wave. So I kept a pretty close eye on her and Steffi. We had a great time!

Doggy Booties!

I am a sucker for free stuff. A week ago, I got a newsletter from GoPetFriendly.Com--an excellent resource, by the way for finding pet-friendly places to stay, visit, and eat when travelling. In the newsletter was an offer to try some dog boots from a company called PawZ. So, I was one of the first 40 subscribers to reply and yesterday I got my sample dog boots.

They looks like balloons and come in a package of 12. They are very flexible, but don't look like they'd last forever, but are not meant to--hence the package of 12. I can see these being useful for Anika since she has split a toenail past the nub a couple of times now. The first time, infection set in and she needed a trip to the emergency vet. I can see how wearing one of these on an injured paw could help her not lick it so much at least. Also these little boots could really help during the hot summer when the girls have come home with blistered paws.

Anyway, they also fit loose around the paw so there's plenty of room for their toes but tight around the leg so they won't come off on their own.

It remains to be seen whether I end up using them. Anika tried one of them on and she didn't think too much of the experience.

We are going to Sunriver in a couple of weeks and bringing Steffi with us so might try these again on her.

Long Absence

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted something. I am easily distracted and this time, traveling to London distracted me.

We had a great time seeing the sites, but the girls stayed in a kennel. I wrote about my dilemma of what to do with the girls when we travel here. We opted for the kennel since I know nothing bad will happen to them there. They were tired and thin when we returned, but that didn't surprise me.

I solved one of my other major problems with Anika: the barking in the car. Well, let me say we solved it for going to the dog park. We have not tested it for a longer trip. We have plans to take her to the beach, but so far haven't done that.

Anyway, what we got was the Pet Corrector from The Company of Animals. It's basically a can of compressed air that startles them. But it really works!

Homage to William Wegman

Who doesn't love William Wegman? Almost everyone is familiar with his whimsical and ubiquitous photos of his beloved Weimaraners--on calendars, Christmas cards, tee shirts, posters, video shorts seen on Sesame Street and You Tube.

Basically, I threw together this blog entry so that I could enter the Spring Giveaway contest on Pinterest. 

But I do love William Wegman's work. 

Probably one of my favorite videos is from Sesame Street. Watch it on You Tube here. 

Enjoy!

New Fence

We have needed a new privacy fence for about 10 years. It's rotten, moldy, has green stuff growing all over it. Steffi has dug under it and escaped more times than I can count. I have placed all kinds of things in the most rotten areas to prevent inquisitive noses from investigating.

See for yourself:

So for our piece of mind and our dogs' safety, we finally scraped together the enormous amount of money to replace the fence. We have a double lot, which amounts to about 1/3 of an acre. Lots of feet of fencing!

It hasn't been an easy process. Although we have a great handyman, he is not the fastest. He said it would take about 2 weeks. HA! It's now been 3 weeks and it looks like we are about half way through. It's been hardest on the dogs. We rigged up a chicken wire fence to block off part of the yard so they could still go outside from the deck, bedroom, and garage door.

But that area doesn't give them much room to run and burn off energy. Anika basically spends her time running up and down the deck stairs and looking over the baby gate to bark at check out everyone who walks by.

As I said before, we are beginning on week 3 of this project. So far what's been constructed is beautiful, so I can't wait until it's done and the dogs and I can have our entire yard returned to us to enjoy. I've been itching to go to the garden store to add some plants to the landscape!

And the added bonus is that the cedar smells SO good that it really is a pleasure to be outside enjoying our first taste of Spring!

A Case of the Zoomies

If you have a dog, especially if you have an active dog, you have surely seen a case of the zoomies--that crazy fast run with the tail tucked under.

Our dearly departed Greyhound, Bella, could outdo any dog on the zoomies. The upside is that it's hysterical and beautiful to watch a dog (especially a Greyhound) get up a head of steam and careened around the yard. The downside is the landscape plants are trampled and the dog sometimes returns with an injury.

In fact, one afternoon I was selling a kayak and just as the guy arrived to pick up the kayak, Bella had ripped her leg open racing around the yard. It was that really delicate area on the lower leg where there's not much to stitch together. I was frantic and stressed. I completed the transaction, raced to the vet and handed over the kayak sale proceedings and then some to the vet.

Anyway, I digress.

I have never seen Steffi with the zoomies. But Anika, being the younger and far more energetic Weim, has them in the house, in the yard, but never at the dog park, where it would be perfectly OK to have them.

There's nothing you can do once the dog starts the zooming. Just sit back and enjoy the sight. And pick of the pieces later.

If you want to watch Anika zooming around the yard, click here to see a YouTube video of it.