Foxtails and Dogs
A couple of weekend ago, we had a foxtail scare. Clover got one in her eye. Not good. Everything turned out okay, but if you want to know more about why foxtails scare me, please keep reading.
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Yikes! 5-fluorouracil Deadly for Dogs
I saw this medication warning while scrolling through FB this week, and I wanted to be sure you saw it too. It’s called 5-fluorouracil is deadly for dogs and cats. It is often used for human dermatology cases, including certain forms of skin cancer.
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Foster Puppy, Good Deed, Good Distraction
Yeah. In the midst of everything else, we took on a long-term foster puppy for our local shelter. The new executive director there is a long-time friend and former coworker, and she specifically asked me to get involved. I’ve been wanting to do some fostering now that we have dogs who like other dogs enough to allow a canine visitor, so it isn’t like it happened crazy out of the blue. This little guy needed us, so here we are many months later. Don’t miss the shelter’s video about his case and a little photo montage I made for his first birthday, which the shelter designated as June 1 (based on estimates on his age when rescued).
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The Story is Not My Story
If you follow Champion of My Heart on Facebook, you know that we spent the better part of July helping a family spot and rescue their border collie. She went missing in the huge wildland park near us on July 4. The headline? The family rescued sweet Nellie July 24, and she is recovering from her ordeal really well. I want to talk, though, about storytelling — especially in public / social media / online settings. Whose place is it to tell stories like this? In this case, not mine. The story is not my story. Here’s why.
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Where Everybody Buys Your Dog Name
While Clover and Tori may or may not ever compete in various dog sports, we are working on earning some Trick Dog titles. In 2017, when I considered Clover’s debut into agility competitions, I did the paperwork for her PAL listing through the AKC. Tori didn’t have an official dog name yet, so I just did hers recently so that we could apply for their Novice Trick Dog Titles. Alas, we hit a snag on choosing Tori’s “registered” name. Somebody bought some of the words I wanted to use in Tori’s registered name so that no one else can use them for like 5 years. Really. So weird. Usually kennel names are more original than that.
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Dog Life | Dog Training | Dog Training Video | Dog Trick Video | Dog Video | Hot News | Newsworthy | The Story of Tori
Tori’s First-Ever Agility Class
As we started testing the theory that Tori could, in fact, now ride in the car without getting sick, we took her to her first-ever agility class in early July 2018. After years of only doing agility at home with the equipment we have here and what I can teach her on my own (after years and years of classes, even though I’ve never competed), Tori walked out and nailed it. It was the sweetest, funniest thing to see. Don’t miss this short video.
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Tori says, “Car travel is my passion!” Adventures in carsick dogs
We’re not quite ready to declare total victory on Tori’s car-sickness issues, but she has gone for 3 whole trips to town and back without throwing up in July. Maybe she is *finally outgrowing her car troubles. Maybe we finally found the right combination, dosages, and timing of meds. Maybe she loved going to agility class (for the first time) so much that it has helped her realize that the car can take her fun places. As a joke now, Tom likes to use his “Tori voice” to say, “Car travel is my passion!” which makes me giggle after 3 years of car struggles with our sweet girl.
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Book Review Animal Lover’s Guide to Changing the World
My book review process typically starts with finally being offered a book of interest. I agree to write and post a review. Then, I promptly freak-out about finding the time to read the book. Weather, in turns out, did me a favor. Thursday, May 3, 2018, we got a ton of heavy, wet snow. So much that I didn’t go to agility class. So much that we lost power (and phone service) for about 12 hours. I did as much writing work as possible on my laptop and through sparing use of our battery back-up system to access wifi a few times to check email, but there was only so much I could do. So, I read Stephanie Feldstein’s book all in one sitting. Here is my book review Animal Lover’s Guide to Changing the World – Practical Advice and Everyday Actions for a More Sustainable, Humane, and Compassionate Planet. Details on the book giveaway at the end. Scroll down.
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Veterinary Costs New Insights
The veterinary costs detailed inside the latest Nationwide Purdue Veterinary Price Index show interesting drops and increases in what people pay for veterinary care for their pets — particularly in the immediate aftermath of The Great Recession as well as in the most recent couple of years. My general sense is that my experience overall has been different as a Dog Mom in Colorado, where the recession wasn’t particularly bad, with costs going up and up. However, one point about veterinary costs at primary care / general veterinary hospitals versus at specialty veterinary hospitals rings true. Eerily true.
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Corporate Consolidation in Veterinary Medicine – Why I Worry
Corporate consolidation in veterinary medicine — and the pet world in general — makes me worry. Here is the latest example of how it’s changing my experience as a Dog Mom. Recently, I learned that the veterinary clinic I use for primary care decided to drop its AAHA accreditation. This is the latest unwelcome change at the clinic since it got bought out by one of the corporations that now collectively own about 11% of all veterinary practices in the U.S. I’m worried about what this may mean to me as a veterinary client and for the future care of my dogs.
