Puppy Has a Name!

Say hello to: 

J-Lyn's Imperial Shadow Trooper

Trooper had been with us for a few days now and his personality has really come out. He's affectionate, goofy and energetic. He loves food, rope toys and belly rubs. He's very good at figuring out how to squeeze into places I thought were puppy proofed so I need to watch him like a hawk. Expect blog posts to be short until we get into a routine.

We're still trying to figure out the "potty outside" thing. He's not fond of sleeping in the crate at night either. I'll continue to share. Happy Monday! -- K

Vestibular Disease in Dogs

Roxy in her favorite spot

Roxy gave us a big scare several months back. She was restless and appeared queasy. She wouldn't lay down and couldn't stand straight. She kept walking in circles and occasionally fell down. Scariest of all, her eyes were jumping back and forth. This went on for about 30 minutes. Then the episode passed as suddenly as it came on.

Hubby and I weren't sure if she was having a stroke or if she had a brain tumor. It was 9:00 at night and we were at a loss. We called her favorite person in the whole world (Son #2) and asked him to come spend some time with Roxy. We were up well past midnight just loving on her. I really thought that was our last night with the old girl.

I called the vet's office as soon as it opened Saturday morning. I told the tech that Roxy was a 13ish year old German shepherd and described the symptoms. She said "Oh, sounds like vestibular. Come on in." She didn't sound nearly as worried as I felt.

The vet gave Roxy a thorough once-over. The official diagnosis was idiopathic vestibular disease -- the best possible option under these circumstances.

Roxy left with a bottle of ear drops, steroids (for other old dog issues), shorter toenails and a belly full of cookies. The vet said she looked great for an old girl. (Yea!) We were warned that Roxy could have another episode. Should this happen, we were instructed to keep her comfortable, try to prevent her from hurting herself and give her anti-nausea medicine (i.e. Dramamine) if she looked queasy. However, there was no need to worry.

Idiopathic vestibular disease -- sometimes called "old dog disease" or "old rolling dog syndrome" -- is actually a sudden, non-progressive disturbance of balance. Vestibular disease is diagnosed after a complete physical examination and other possibilities, like a stroke or ear infection, are ruled out. 

It's called idiopathic because no one can really identify why this happens. As the AKAs imply, it's usually seen in older dogs. It's also more common in large dogs. And if you believe the internet, German shepherds are often affected, though no breed or size of dog is immune to it.

Roxy has had a couple minor episodes since that night, however she seems normal (at least as normal as a 13+ GSD can be.) Oddly enough, I have two friends whose dogs were diagnosed with vestibular disease about the same time as Roxy. Their dogs are worse off than mine. One (an 11 year old German shepherd) has a permanent head tilt now and the other (a 17 year old terrier mix) has lost his appetite.

Vestibular disease is scary and I'm still learning about it. Has anybody else experienced this? Please share! -- K

And Puppy Makes Three

The puppy came home yesterday. We're still playing around with names. We're also working on crate training, housebreaking and trying to nap when the puppy naps. Smart puppy shows us a puppy proofing failure more often than I would like. Puppies are hard work! whew.

I tried to get everybody together for a family picture this morning. Yeah, that didn't happen. So I took individual photos and downloaded a collage app instead. More news later. -- K

Run, Jedi, Run

In April we discovered a new dog sport -- Fast CAT. This is a timed 100 yard dash for dogs. Dogs are handicapped by size and then timed as they run 100 yards as fast as they can down a straight, flat course. Times are turned into points. Titles are earned by point accumulation. More info can be found on the AKC website.

Look at that happy face. My friend took this picture. Isn't it great?! 

A lure is used to coax the dog to run, but Jedi couldn't have cared less about it. I was at the finish line, jumping up and down yelling "Come to Mommy!" -- and he did just that! Jedi's fastest time was 10.12 seconds. That converted to 19.87 miles per hour. I know, WOW!

Jedi has run the Fast CAT four times, and will need to run another 2-3 times to earn enough points for his BCAT title. We're looking for another trial now. I'll keep you posted. -- K

Jedi's Road Trip

Two weeks after the dog shows we took a trip to visit family in Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina. I turned 50 this year, and wanted to celebrate with people who claim to love me. However, everybody we were visiting lived in multi-level houses. There was no way Roxy could negotiate the steps from house to yard every time she had to pee. Hubby and I decided to leave Roxy with her all-time favorite person, Son #2. However, Son couldn't care for both dogs, so Jedi went with us.

First stop: Major tourist trap, South of the Border in Dillon, South Carolina. This used to be a fun place for me and Hubby when we were dating. Unfortunately, it's become run down in the past decade and has lost it's charm. Still, we got some fun pics with Jedi.

The Virginia Welcome Center was very nice. Jedi had many admirers.

Jedi made some pirate friends at the Privateer Festival in Baltimore . . .

And some doggie friends at the Culpeper Dog Park. 

He visited one of many dog-friendly wineries in western Virginia. 

He also met his doggie cousins Skadi . . . 

And Rosie.

It was a busy ten days. Jedi was happy to come home to his own couch. I was too!

Until next time, -- K

What a Day

Some days are busier than others. And some are just difficult to describe. Thank goodness for cell phones. I take pictures because I don't think people would believe my stories otherwise! These were from a day a few weeks ago.

A peahen was hanging out with the crossing guard, making sure the kids got to school OK. The peahens have been here for a year and I'm still getting calls!

A young opossum refused to leave a resident's laundry room. (He was relocated to a nearby park.)

 

A pair of female mallard ducks played in a puddle outside City Hall. Yes, I got called by several "concerned citizens."

 

Did I mention that technically I don't deal with wildlife? Good thing it's Wordless Wednesday, else I'd say a few not-so-nice things right about now. TTFN, -- K

One More Time

At 4.5 months the puppy is all legs
and wonky ears

Life's been busy, busy, busy since I returned from Westminster so many months ago. Somehow I totally missed spring. It was cold, I blinked, and suddenly it's summer. Here are some of the things I've been up to:

• Work. Warm weather brings more work to my tiny beach town. (Maybe I'll tell you about my cruelty case later. It was a doozy!)
• Old dog drama. Roxy is now 13+ years old. We've spent a lot of time and energy dealing with her senior issues. I'll share what I can, but sometimes I just cry.
• Dog sports. Jedi earned another title (Farm Dog), but his training has stalled in Barn Hunt, Nose Work and Rally.
• Dog shows. The April specially shows happened. There were a few problems, but all in all they were successful.
• But the biggest news of all: I'm getting back in the conformation ring -- with a new puppy! I know, I'm shocked too.

I've been talking about the possibility of getting a new puppy for a few months now. However, I haven't even talked to breeders. Mostly it was "After Roxy is gone..." (Did I mention she's 13?!) At the last Club meeting I stated that I would take the Show Secretary position again. However, if I got a new puppy I would have to step down, as I would want to show and that's against AKC rules.

Fast forward a couple weeks: Last weekend I got an email from one of the breeders in the club. She said that she held two puppies from her last litter, a boy and a girl. Both are spectacular and good show prospects. However, she realized that she really doesn't need to keep another male. She already has four boys, and as a breeder keeping the female was the better choice. But she was conflicted, because the male really is a good dog. He has nice movement, good structure, a good temperament, is eager to please and is very food motivated. (Breeder has bred 28 champions, so I trust her assessment.) She remembered me saying I wanted a puppy and offered the 4 1/2 month old boy to me. She thinks I could do well with this guy (under her tutelage if I so choose) and knows that regardless of ring results, he would have a loving home and enriching life with us. "But no pressure, if it's not the right time..."

I'm not an impulsive person. I like to take time think things through. (LOTS of time according to my husband.) So immediately I had a thousand different thoughts. Fortunately, Hubby was home and able to sort through everything going on in my brain. We drove an hour to Breeder's place and tried to objectively assess the pup. Everything she said about the puppy appeared to be true.

Long story short: This guy is coming home with me on Friday. I'm still playing with name ideas. I'm open to suggestions. AKC naming rules were explained here back when we were waiting for Jedi. (FYI the kennel name this time is J-Lyn.)

Stay tuned friends, it's about to get real around here! -- K