Pent-up Energies

The cold of winter has settled in and I am showing my age. I have to force myself to get dressed and go outside if it is at all windy and cold out and that didn’t used to be the case. Back in “the day” when I had horses and was much younger, I’d be out riding or just messing in the barn no matter what the weather was like or where the thermometer sat. Not any more. But thankfully I have Callen. At eight months she is so full of energy that if she doesn’t get outside to run and play, then life here inside is nearly impossible! What also helps is regular training sessions of her obedience skills.

This morning we went out rather late to do our duck chores. (I called Lisa and woke her up and we chatted for almost two hours!) The dogs got to run while I watered the ducks and then we went down the lane to drop some mail in the box for pickup. More running ensued. And then, since I was up and out and coupled with the forecast of another potential couple of inches of snow, I decided to stay out with the girls and scoop the yard. Callen is still likely to munch on the available poop-cicles so I have to either not let her outside unattended or keep up with the scooping. I’ve been doing the former but figured that if it snows and the yard is poop free, then she can be let out to play without me having to stand outside and watch her.

That was at 9:30 this morning. It is now 3:45 and we’ve had no snow. But that’s okay. The yard is still poop-less and Callen will be allowed to go out and run without me watching her every move. Something she is bugging me to do right NOW!

The Morning After

It wasn’t much of a border collie Christmas here again this year as the dogs spent most of the afternoon in their crates while Mike’s family visited. It’s not that they don’t like the dogs. It’s just that they are too much dog for most of Mike’s family – especially being as they are not really “dog-people”. And Mike’s mom’s ‘hesitations’ about dogs from years past have grown into almost a fear as her Alzheimer’s progresses.  So I keep the girls crated so that they’re not jumping up or tripping people or generally being . . . well, dogs! But I can understand that three very active border collies can overwhelm the general population. I’ve always told potential BC owners that it takes a certain type of person to own a BC and not everyone is cut out for it.

So this morning the girls are ‘doing their thing’ here in the kitchen while I get caught up on my computer time. I’m doing a bit of laundry and then we have to carry the holiday table out to Mike’s shed and get it stored for the year. We only use it on Thanksgiving and now, for the first time this year, Christmas. It’s just too big to keep in my tiny house year-round. I’m hoping to find the energy to take the girls for a long walk since they’ve been short-changed on quality time since before Thanksgiving. We’ve gotten in some ball-playing but they really need a good, long walk to work those muscles and air out their brains. I’m also hoping to get Trey some time on the ducks this week if the weather and my energy holds. If I want to trial her at the advanced level next year then I need to take advantage of every break in the weather this winter. It doesn’t help that I don’t enjoy herding as much as I do obedience, but I have to hold up my end of the bargain I made with Trey – she did obedience for me and now I’ll do herding with her.

So another year is drawing to a close and I am thankful for my husband, my extended family, and my friends – both dog and non-dog. And of course I am thankful for Beckett, Trey and Callen!

Super-Momma Trey

I just got back from a trip over to Tara’s to help her with the baby. Tara is experiencing the “baby blues” and just needed some moral support and ‘mommy comfort’ from her own mom. So I loaded up all three dogs, left Mike to care for the ducks (which he wasn’t too keen on but did for Tara), and spent two nights and two full days in Indiana.

Tara has gotten more accepting of the dogs being loose in her house as long as they don’t jump up on her or the furniture and also they must leave baby Ellie alone. Well at first they were a bit excited (except Beckett who is on muscle relaxants for her neck injury and was content to stay in her crate). Tara’s house has laminate flooring throughout and the dogs slip a bit as they wriggle around to greet Joel and explore. But after a bit they settled down (or Callen settled as much as a high-energy, seven month old puppy can).

Callen was curious about Ellie, especially when she made noise of any kind. Being as she is still pretty much a puppy we were super-vigilant about keeping an eye on her whenever Ellie was in her little bouncy chair on the floor. Callen would try hard to get Ellie to play and that would include nosing her face and pawing at her, so we would let her sniff once and then have her lie down with a chew toy.

But Trey went into ‘Super-Momma mode’. We first noticed this when we visited on Veterans Day. We had the dogs gated off in the office area because Tara wasn’t eager to have ‘dog germs’ near her week-old baby. That’s okay. We were in her house with her baby, so she gets to make the rules and the dogs were not hurt by those rules. But each time Ellie fussed Trey would yip/bark until we brought Ellie to her to see that everything was okay with the baby. And the same thing happened here over Thanksgiving – Trey ‘mothered’ Ellie and was worried each time she fussed.

So this visit was more of the same with Trey needing to be reassured that Ellie was okay even if she was fussing. When we laid Ellie down in her playpen for some ‘tummy time’ Trey went over and sniffed and then laid down right next to the playpen while Ellie was there. The height of the ‘Super-Momma’ behavior was on Friday afternoon when Ellie was in her seat by the dining room table and we were getting ready for an early supper so I could head home. Joel had just gotten home so Beckett was out to greet him. She was just passing in the vicinity of Ellie when Trey darted out from under the table and put herself between Beckett and Ellie with a snarl and a showing of teeth. She was very definitely guarding the baby.

As cute and endearing as the behavior is, I don’t want Trey to be that possessive of anything or anyone. Dog fights are ugly and loud and bitch fights are downright dangerous, especially if one bitch thinks she’s protecting her young. So I had Trey move away and lie down and had Beckett come over to sniff the baby (not something she really wanted to do as Beckett really has no interest at all in Ellie). Then when Beckett moved away on her own, Joel picked Ellie up out of her chair and removed her from Trey’s almost obsessive mothering.

It really is sweet to see Trey be so ‘involved’ with Ellie to the point of putting herself between both Beckett and Callen if they get too close. But it’s not a behavior I want to encourage to the point of zealousness. Protecting family is a good thing, but guarding behavior isn’t acceptable. But it has put Trey in a good light in Tara’s eyes. She said that she ‘almost likes Trey now’ due to her super-momma-ing. And that is high praise from Tara!

It’s In Her Neck

Beckett’s pain is in her neck. Not surprising considering she took out that post by running straight into it.

Beckett has all the “classic” signs of cervical pain – reluctance to jump, pain when coming down stairs, stiffness when turning her head in one direction - and also a not so classic but not unheard of sign – difficulty eating hard or crunchy food.

Yesterday at the vet’s office, we spent almost a half an hour evaluating Beckett’s responses to various physical tests. This was all hampered by Beckett’s “normal” attitude at the vet’s which is a low-hung head, hunched shoulders, and a general desire to avoid Matt at all costs. I don’t know who I feel sorrier for – Matt or Beckett – Beckett who just generally hates going to the vet’s or Matt since he’s never done anything to Beckett to warrant the attitude.

Matt did what he (and probably others) calls the “Jane Fonda” test where he takes her muzzle and moves her head in all four directions – up, down, and side to side. No indication of pain or stiffness (or no more than her general resistance to Matt). He then did the same thing with a food lure. Nothing clear-cut but perhaps a bit of hesitation to turn as tightly to her right.

Then he took her to a bigger area and started to lure her into circles in both directions. She wasn’t cooperating and so I told him that I have that trick trained. Matt said, “of course you do” since he’s found that I have a lot of behaviors on cue which have helped in the past. He had me circle her alternately in both directions a couple of times and then had her do three circles clockwise and then three counterclockwise. Bingo! She could do the first three and then once counterclockwise but then she pulled out of it and sat down. I could get her to do it but it wasn’t as tight a circle as in the other direction.

We went back to the exam room and Matt palpated the front of Beckett’s chest and found that she was painful on the right side of her prosturnum, so we are assuming that is where she took the brunt of the blow. Matt said that it’s possible she chipped something off a bone in that area (the point of her shoulder or prosturnum) but he feels that it is more of a deep bruising issue as she moves soundly and was not really lame in the past two weeks since the accident except for the first day or two.

So then came the discussion of whether to do x-rays or not and we decided not, as a picture would only confirm what we’re sure of now.

With the diagnosis in place, we went over the treatment protocol. Beckett has been on Deramaxx (NSAID anti-imflamatory) for two weeks but cervical injuries respond better to steroids. Unfortunately, the two don’t play well together, causing ulcerations of the stomach and GI. Ideally, we’d like to have her off the Deramaxx for 10 days but that isn’t possible with her pain level. So we started a potent stomach-protecting drug (Cytotec) right away. And I had gotten the heads up the day before that they may need her off the Deramaxx so I didn’t give her the morning dose that day, meaning she’d already had a head start of eliminating it from her system. Matt dispensed the dexamethasone injectable for me to take home and I will be talking with him or his tech every day for the next five days. If Beckett needs the injection today, we’ll give it to her, but ideally we’d like to give her another 24 hours off the Deramaxx (and on the Cytotec) to help protect her stomach. I am to continue her Tramadol TID and keep her quiet – no running, jumping, or stairs - which is no problem as she doesn’t feel much like doing any of those things.

The Dexasone should give her immediate pain relief and can last up to 72 hours. That is great except that the 72 hour mark occurs during the weekend and this weekend I am on the road for dog shows and not able to run to the office and get another injection should she need it. So Matt gave me two doses but we are both hopeful that she’ll only need one. But better to be prepared in case!

So short-term pain relief for Beckett is now in the works. Hopefully the Dexasone will calm down the injured cervical vertebrae and they will start to heal. Long-term I am still looking at taking her to the chiropractic vet when she has a bit less pain and see if there is any realignment needing done. So fingers are crossed here that Beckett will soon be out of pain and on the road to recovery.

Before I left Matt told me about another client whose young German shepherd ran into a broken off post. He hit the end of the post with his chest. It knocked his breath out of him but his owner said he sat up and shook it off almost immediately and then continued to run and play. About five minutes later, the dog keeled over and died. The blow to his chest bruised his heart and killed him, much like when kids get hit in the chest with a baseball and die. Too very sad and, yes, this scenario did cross my mind when Beckett’s accident first occurred. Guess she and I were very, very lucky.

Of Christmas Trees & Puppies

Anyone who has had a puppy or a young dog during the Christmas season will know the havoc that ensues when the puppy first ‘meets’ the fully-decorated tree. Around here tails are the worst offenders – both Callen’s and the older dogs’ tails sweep ornaments off the lower branches with great regularity.

Inquisitive puppy noses and their innate desire to ‘taste’ everything are of great concern for two reasons – 1) I don’t want my decorations redecorated with tooth marks and, 2) I don’t want to have to pay for a surgical removal of said decorations from a puppy gut. After having Riley with me thru his first Christmas season, I learned that the tree needs to be in the living room so it’s not in an area where the dogs are constantly, and most of all that an ex-pen in front of and around the tree is a must.

Three years ago the shortest ex-pen I had was 24″ tall and it looked like the tree was in prison. I tended to take it down because I didn’t like the way it looked and of course then Riley would knock something off or try to eat an ornament. This year I have an ex-pen that was made for small animals (guinea pigs, rabbits, etc). It is only 12″ tall and is coated with blue and green plastic – not too unattractive. The height is the best as it gives the dogs a visual barrier but doesn’t hide the tree.

Now it doesn’t prevent the dogs’ tails from sweeping ornaments off the tree, nor does it stop Callen from reaching over and snagging an ornament. But it does give them a physical reminder to stay away from the tree. We made sure not to hang anything too tempting at nose level and the living room is gated off when we’re not in there so constant supervision isn’t required. And the longer the tree is up the less ‘new’ it is and Callen’s curiosity will diminish.

Mike did hang a small metal bell on a branch that sticks out near the ex-pen. After showing it to Callen and ringing it, he hung it on the tree. A bit later Callen was sniffing the tree and her nosing made the bell ring. We didn’t say anything but she backed off from the tree. During the evening she would go by and ‘ring’ the bell – touching it with her nose just enough to make it tinkle.

Callen't bell

It was pretty cute and on the plus side, it was the only ornament she bothered as it apparently has piqued her interest.