You will NOT believe what Lilly did Sunday. We headed out for our usual 3-mile walk, and as habit dictates, Lilly ran to the edge of our bridge to “look” at the snakes who live in the rocks. We’ve had big bull snakes living in there forever, and Lilly likes to look at them, sniff them, etc. Sure … sometimes, she gets excited and barks at them, but usually it’s an amicable-enough thing.
…
The daily rain this spring and summer makes the wildflowers pop out like crazy. Even neighbors who have lived in the valley much longer than we have say it’s the most rain they’ve ever seen. And, the flowers? Well, see for yourself. …
Ginko is HOME!!!! We may never know why he was vomiting so much. Tom only got to talk to the doc for a few minutes, so I don’t have much info, but It seems that since the bloodwork was clean, then we’re not looking at pancreatitis. He’ll be on antibiotics for a few more days since he did have a fever and did have a slightly elevated white cell count. He also will take some pepcid each morning (we’ve learned it’s a better/safer choice than pepto for vomiting) for a few days. Ginko is only allowed tiny spoonfuls of special …
I’m still waiting for adequate information on Ginko’s health status. The best I’ve gotten so far is that he’s doing “OK” or “fine” and that his bloodwork was “good.” I’m trying VERY hard to be patient and NOT freak out from worry, but I still have major crying jags when things get to be too much … because I’m the kind of girl who needs details not only on his medical status but his emotional one as well. …
We are worried sick! Ginko has not kept any food down since about mid-day Tuesday. Between dinner Tuesday night and lunchtime today, he threw up 7+ times. At first, he could keep the food down for 2 hours, then 1 hour, then only 10 minutes. So, off to the veterinary hospital we went, and the doctor hospitalized him pronto. We don’t know for sure, but it sounds an awful lot like pancreatitis. …
Toward the end of our behavior consult last Saturday, a storm with plenty of lightening and thunder rolled across the mountains. I’ve never had to help Lilly cope with a storm away from home. I guess I should have planned better, but here is how we got through it. …
My deadline-soaked and worry-filled pace continues, but two days last week I felt less like my head would explode. Decent weather meant I could write outside, so I ran up and grabbed Katie (Lilly’s best, best friend — the borzoi) to visit. I got a remarkable amount done those days, despite having three goofball dogs racing around all … day … long. …
Sometimes I feel l like the more I read the more confused I get about training a fearful dog and what can go wrong if you reward the wrong things. Essentially, I believe you cannot make a real fear worse by comforting a fearful dog. Despite what the tough-love people want us to believe, my understanding is that using classical conditioning makes fears better, not worse. Yet, I read some things in Dr. Nicholas Dodman’s book The Well-Adjusted Dog that have me doubting myself again. Help!?! …
Remember me mentioning that I got to interview Temple Grandin, Nicholas Dodman, and Jean Donaldson for a magazine article a while back? Well, the story is through editing and is set to run in July. (I promise, I’ll be able to tell you soon what it’s about.) The editors had one photo of me and Lilly, but they wanted one of me with both dogs in a more spring-like setting for the magazine contributors’ page. The old photo was taken in winter. So, one day last week, I actually did my hair and put …
When I reported the results from Lilly’s wellness exam, our training and blogging friend KB over at Romping and Rolling in the Rockies posted a comment that she knows someone involved with the rattlesnake vaccine. She offered to ask him some questions on our behalf. Here’s what we have to report from his answers. …
