Bath Day

Sunday was bath day at our house. It was quite overdue-they were getting pretty ratty, except Zodiac because he had a bath before therapy last week but he got bathed again. They are all so pretty and shiny and soft now. Here are some pictures of Zodiac in the sunshine today. They would have really looked pretty except for his tongue flopping around in all of them. He's such a beautiful dog with a great coat but he is sadly not very photogenic.

This cute little girl is Skylar-she is available for adoption through MOKAN BC Rescue. We are watching her this week while her foster mom is out of town on vacation. She is very energetic-she and Legend have had a good time playing together since she got here last night.

Cooler weather

Tonight was a beautiful evening and so we all spent a lot of time outside. Zodiac worked on utility-he was totally confused by doing leather dumbbells instead of metal. Earlier this week he was working all 6 metal ones like a pro. Go outs and directed jumping were pretty good and signals were good except for the sit-instead of sitting up he was creeping forward and lying back down. I worked him on a little agility too since he has to get through at least 2 more courses. Then Legend worked some agility. We have been working her contacts since after not working much this summer she seems to want to blow through them. So we did some targeting and then some jump sequences-which
were awesome. Then they all played ball. Here are some cute
pictures from today. This cat is Lefty-he is prowling in the pig pen.


I noticed when the horses came in tonight that Squirt was already just a little bit fuzzy-he didn't even get one good bath this summer-it just went by too fast!
















This is what Icy was doing the other day while I was typing. Tonight she has been in and out of my lap the whole time. She's so helpful.

Old Dogs Pant

They just do. Sometimes I can explain it. Some dogs have heart problems or pulmonary disease or endocrine disease all of which could cause "panting." But sometimes old dogs just pant for no reason. Oreo is one. He has always panted and acted hot a lot but with age it just gets worse.

He pants when it's hot. He pants when it's cold. He pants when he's tired, not tired, anxious, nervous, hungry, thirsty, or bored. Sometimes he wakes up and just suddenly starts panting. This can make it hard to watch TV or sleep but what are you gonna do. Just part of life I guess. I got a sample at the CVC of one of the many "herbal" anxiety remedies that people try to sell. I don't know how well any of those work but they generally appear safe so I thought I'd try it to see if he panted less or slept better. Results were inconclusive. Oh well-we still love him!

This picture was taken the other evening-it's getting dark too soon!

End of summer

We had a really good Labor Day Weekend. We got some things done around the house and got to have some fun too. We went to White Water on Sunday (the first time this summer!) and then since we were already wet headed over to Celebration City to ride their new ride Roaring Falls. This is a fun enough ride but I'm pretty sure the main point is to get wet. All you do is ride the boat up the hill, around the corner and come splashing back down. And believe me, you get really wet!

Yesterday we headed to the beach (trying to get all our water fun in at the last minute). We found out the beach was officially closed due to flood damage from earlier this year but lots of people were parking at the boat dock and heading over anyway so we followed suit. The facilities need some work and maintenance but for a picnic and swimming it was ok.

I finally got the throw rug replaced in the rabbit enclosure. This was traumatic for Spring because it involved a lot vacuuming which she is afraid of but we got it done. Here is apicture of the two of them huddled in the corner during the "remodeling." It's not the greatest size comparison because Spring is hunched up. Anyway, here they are in their upgraded pens. It looks so much better, I hope they don't start shredding it right away! It looks so good it really makes me wish we could get new carpet in all of our house!

Zodiac gets to start his new therapy assignment today. We will be visiting the children's hospital instead of the assisted living facility. I think we will really enjoy that. Plus we get to go with another team instead of alone so that will be fun.

Eating Grass

Last week at the conference I went to a lecture about why dogs eat grass (among other unusual behaviors). I know you are all on the edge of your seat right now waiting to finally hear the answer to this age old question. Well, sit back in your seat and prepare for disappointment. We still don't really know. However there have been several surveys done and the data analyzed and grass eating is a common behavior of normal dogs rarely associated with illness. So, if your dog eats grass don't be concerned that he or she is sick, was sick, or wants to be sick. And here is a picture of Oreo eating grass.

There is one theory that is based on the principle that wild canines may eat plant material as a naturally way of purging intestinal parasites and that this is an instinctual behavior left over from pre-domestication days. However, given that most (hopefully) of our pet dogs are parasite free this would be based purely on instinct and not on the premise that the dog actually feels he has worms.

More New Toys

Well we loaded the Tug-A-Jug last night. All the dogs thought it was great. I thought they might fight over it. We shall see if they have sustained interest. It does seem to be harder to get treats out than some of our other dispensing toys so that is good-keeps them busy longer as long as they don't give up. I may soon be wishing I bought more than one since at the conference they were only $7 for the large. Here is Legend playing with it last night. You can also purchase them at Helping Udders. Finally here is Jelly with her catnip mouse from the conference.

Conference

We arrived home from the CVC (Central Veterinary Conference) today. It was a really good time. I got to attend a lot of lectures-most of which were pretty good. I also got to learn about some new products and medications-some of which look pretty exciting. And of course I collected a large amount of free stuff I don't even need. Saturday night we went to the MU alumni reunion where I was able to visit with friends and classmates and their families. Sunday we attended the free Jo Dee Messina concert sponsored by Hill's. Although I am not a huge Jo Dee Messina fan it actually was a good concert-she put on a very entertaining show and was really funny between songs.

The dogs were excited to see me but were also excited about their new toys that I got for them at Crown Center (we managed to get some shopping in while we were there too). I also got a "Tug-a-Jug" at the conference but they have not tried that out yet. Here are Legend and Zodiac tugging on one of their new "Tuffies." Leslie and I ran into our practice consultant while at the conference and she insisted that I go with her and Leslie to some practice management seminars despite not being a practice manager or owner. It was a good lecture though and gave us some ideas of things we can do different or better at the clinic so we are excited about that.

Rabbit Photos

Here are some recent pictures of Spring-still growing!

Meals

I have always been a fan of teaching your dog or cat to eat meals, rather than having food out all the time or feeding them whatever they want throughout the day. This prevents a lot of obesity but also is more convenient in multi-pet households (especially when everyone eats something different). Also, if your pet stops eating, you will know right away. That said, everyone in our house generally eats in meals, they just all do it differently.

Zodiac is the gulper-he eats in no time flat. Do not chew. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Oreo used to be very demanding about his meals. He had to eat first thing in the morning and was up barking when the alarm clock went off. He would not even go outside before eating. Since he had some problems last summer he is no longer quite like that. We actually went through weeks of trying to get him to eat at all. Now he eats regularly, just not consistently. He will go for days and eat well and then days of not finishing. We just save the leftovers and add his next meal to it-he will eventually catch up. Sometimes he gets a late night meal.

Legend eats like a reasonable animal. She takes modes bites and chews her food.

Jelly has always eaten meals well.

Icy used to eat meals well until her surgery. Now she eats smaller amounts more frequently but is getting back to normal.

I used to free feed the barn cats because I didn't want either one to get short changed. Lefty used to roam a lot and I was afraid Barney would eat all the food if left alone. However they both got significantly overweight and so now they eat a limited amount. After a few days of this Lefty learned to be home every morning so they each get a fair amount and they are looking thinner.

I'm sure this has been most interesting for everyone but hey, I did write it in advance just so there would be something posted while I was gone!

Fake Artwork

I took this picture of Legend today while we were out practicing. It would have been really cute but it was a little blurry. So I used some program Jerry downloaded to make it into a drawing and now it doesn't matter so much that it's blurry because it is "artistic." I used to actually be able to draw and paint and now I just use a computer program. It's so sad sometimes. Cool program but still sad that I haven't picked up any kind of art tool in years. One of the many things I gave up to go to vet school-not enough time for it all. And just think, in exchange for that I examined a cat because it won't come inside anymore and a dog who started sneezing this morning and has sneezed all day but not while in the clinic. I found nothing wrong with the cat and prescribed the dog some antihistamines which the owner doesn't even know if she can give because they are pills. You just can't help some people. And it is, by the way, my opinion you should not own a dog you can't pill. Cats are a different story-I'll let you get away with that. It's not always convenient but I understand.