Annual Check Up
Three of my guys are getting ready for annual check up time at the vet. Fortunately, I don’t get too much pressure to over vaccinate my pups at St Mary’s Animal Hospital which is where we go. I’ll have them titer parts of the distemper vaccination and I have to give the required rabies, no Lymes, no Lepto, no Canine Flu, no bordetella.
Also, if your dog is microchipped, my aren’t, you may want to ensure the chip is still placed where it was inserted when you go in for your annual check up. Apparently chips have been found to migrate around a dog’s body. If that happens they recommend inserting another chip and hoping that doesn’t float around.
Here’s an interesting article that was posted on my Facebook page.
March 30, 2012 No Comments
Bummer! Little Holly is Heartworm Positive
It takes heartworms 6 months to develop into adult worms and little Miss Holly is guessed to be only 6 or 7 months old which means she had to be bitten by a mosquito when she was just a tiny pup. Poor thing goes in for xrays next week and then will start heart worm treatment which is a series of painful injections of an arsenic-based drug called Immiticide into the back muscles that will kill the worms.
Dogs have to be quiet for 30 – 60 days post treatment as the injections kill the worms that break off and dissolve in the bloodstream. Chunks of worms could break off and block a blood vessel causing death. Keeping Holly quiet, leash walks only, will minimize this possibility.
We are chuckling as Holly currently refuses to walk on leash. She lays flat like a dog rug when you try to get her to walk on the leash. Fortunately, she weighs only 29 pounds so we’ve just been picking her up and carrying her to the vet, the van, in the house, etc.
She’s starting to feel a bit more comfortable living here now as last night we noticed she was laying tummy up on her dog bed—she’s great with other dogs and looks to them for guidance, but I think she is beginning to trust me and Joe.
March 30, 2012 2 Comments
Dog Park at our House!
We used to read a counting book to our daughter when she was little.
High in the sky, in the shape of a vee, how many wild geese do you see? Hurry and county them as they fly by, you will see nine geese and so will I”
With two young foster dogs in addition to my four goldens, it’s kind of felt like a doggie day care center or dog park at our house the past couple of weeks. I spend a fair ammount of time counting to make sure I have enough bowls, bones, kongs, dogs in the house or van. It’s also been surprisingly easy. Everyone is getting along great. The two young pups, following the lead of the resident dogs, were house trained in just a couple of days.
We have a routine which is comforting to our dogs as well as to guest dogs. They know what to expect and when to expect it. We eat around the same time, in the same place each day. Everyone has their spot in the bedroom. It’s very cute to see a couple of dogs snuggle together on a bed. It’s bone time now, so I have time to write. Either a bone, bully stick or a frozen peanut butter kong is lunch each day. They run like crazy in the morning. Take a nap while I run errands mid morning. Hang out and do chores in the afternoon. Play ball when Joe gets home; have dinner, and then go for a walk; play some more and then get their teeth brushed, their body brushed, their ears cleaned if needed and go to bed.
March 30, 2012 No Comments