Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Coneheads

Monday, my bonus day off work for an extra long weekend and most of it> was spent at the vet. Ozzy had an appt' booked in advance. He enjoyed the truck ride to town. He's fascinated by the radio. Where is that sound coming from? He was not a happy camper at the clinic. He reverted back to behaviors I haven't seen in months. He shook like a leaf and hid under anything he could find. I had to carry him through the door. I did feel kinda special though as when he had a choice of hiding or clinging to his momma, he picked me! Nice to know he trusts me, even when he's freaked right nout. For the past ten days or so, he has been chewing the fur off his tail and making it progressively worse. I thought it was stress related. Ozzy is an anxious little guy and he does live with Goldie. I can see how that could be stressful sometimes! But it turns out that Goldie and Ozzy have been playing a little hard. He has a small injury to his tail. Dr. Kim says it looks like it got squished somehow! The nerves in the end of his tail are damaged a bit and as they regenerate, it itches and Ozzy bites the fur off! Treatment--anti-itch cream and 10 days of conehead!

Preacher did not have an app't, but just before I left, I let him back in the house. When I let him out at 7am, he was fine. At 10am, he has blood running out of one eye! Upon closer exam, his lower eyelid was torn! So I called the clinic and asked if they had time to see 2 dogs instead of just one. One nice thing about having 29 pets is that they always find a way to squeeze us in! I paid for that fancy new building, so I get great service! Dr. Kim is convinced that the tear is from a bite. I didn't hear anything that even vaguely sounded like a fight and everyone else is fine. I think Preacher bonked into something--he is already blind. He bonks into stuff sometimes! Kim wanted to knock him out and put a couple stitches in. I refused. Given the fragile state of Preacher's health at the best of times, I was concerned he would just keep sleeping. So Preacher is on anti-biotics and eye ointment and is also a cone head for a week or so. If it hasn't started to close in a week, surgery will likely be required. I don't want to go there if it can be avoided!

There is alot of stuff getting knocked over around here now! Two conehead dogs is not good. No candles getting lit for awhile!

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Purrincess Felicia...

Felicia is a two year old siamese mix. She was born with deformed front legs. She's supposed to be handicapped, but don't tell her that! She gets into just as much mischief as a cat with four good legs. She's a wee little brat! She hates having her picture taken. She looks pissed off in every pic I have of her. A few days ago she was more cooperative than usual though! I actually got a couple good shots of her.


"What is the human doing with my toy?"


"Put the camera down, human slave and no one gets hurt!"

;)

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Earle is going to school!

Stuart was recently hired as the administrator of our local humane society/shelter. As part of his new job duties, he does educational programs in elementary schools. Tomorrow he is doing a presentation to grade four kids on how to avoid a dog bite and some basic pet care. Earle will be accompanying him! Ealre will be the demo dog for such things as how to approach a dog safely, calming signals ect. Earle will be in his glory. He adores kids, loves being the centre of attention and is very well mannered in public (not always at home, but anyone who meets him doesn't believe that!)


Earle is a great ambassador for huskies--and dogs in general in my very biased opinion! I am hopeful that he will make an impact on these kids and maybe somewhere down the road another critter will benefit from it!

Monday, March 07, 2005

Not retired after all!!

After Paxil's surgery to remove the mast cell tumor from her leg, I had decided that she was retired. Paxil had other plans. Although she enjoys her time by the woodstove and being a house dog, she is not ready to give up the harness yet.

Last week, my parents were visiting and I took my Dad for a sled tour. I had no intention of taking Paxil. Her stitches were barely out! I let her outside while I was hooking up so she could get some fresh air, but had fully planned to leave her at home. She's a smart little thing and she was having none of that! She waited until I was harnessing my most timid male, Antare. She rushed over and head bunted Antare out of the way and tried to put her head in the harness. She would not leave and continually kept getting in the way.

I can take a hint so I put her harness on her. She waited at the gate very patiently until it was her turn to be hooked up. No way was she going anywhere in that team but up front. She dragged me right to the leader line and started woooing and jumping around like a yearling!

I explained to my Dad that when Paxil got tired, as I expected she quickly would, he would have company in the sled basket. Paxil could come, but she could ride home when she'd had enough. 15 km later, we came back in the yard with Paxil still out front, tug line still tight, tail up and ready to go again!

She's gone twice since then. The last time was on Friday night when the only time she even slowed down was to bark at a person with an off-leash dog. She blew right by the dog with no problems, but slowed down to tell the owner off! I am quite sure she told him to keep his dog on a leash and out of her way!

I talked to my vet about letting her run and he said that if she feels up to it, let her go, just watch for the same signs of distress I always look for in my dogs.

In the picture Paxil is the black and white dog up front in the red harness, yelling at us to hurry up!!


Her relisancy and determined spirit amaze me.