Thelma And Louise News

We saw a dog on TV that looks just like Thelma and Louise! Its a Hungarian Mudi!

Thelma and Louise don't have the medium length, slightly wavy coat, and they certainly don't have the high-energy behaviour of these specially bred working dogs, but they do have the lovely affable personalities, the build, and the size! I wonder if there isn't a little Mudi in the girls' bloodline somewhere...?

Hungarian Mudi

Some sad news is that Louise had another epileptic seizure last Friday.
While she's seizing she's quiet- panting hard and foaming at the mouth- but quiet. As she starts coming out of it though, she does this yelping scream that gets the entire neighbourhood's dogs barking! Immediately after a fit she's exhausted and thirsty and immediately wants to go "busy", but she's also not all there. She's wobbly and walking around but she's not really seeing where she's going. Twice before she's fallen in the pool, just walked in as if she didn't even see it. She also doesn't seem to recognise or hear me or the other dogs for a while.
The lights are on but nobody's home.
She is on medication for her epilepsy, but she's now on the second highest dose I can give her and I am very worried about the future... With her diagnosis, a seizure every three months or so is "normal".
Below I have put in a video of a dog seizing like Louise does.

NB! 

PLEASE don't watch it if things like this really upset you. 
It is distressing if you haven't seen it before.

I have uploaded it here purely for educational purposes as I have never filmed Louise's fits.
You'll see and hear in this video how he talks calmly to his dog and touches him gently, I do the same with Louise but some dogs actually get aggressive during or immediately after a fit. Louise even snapped at me once! You'll also see how long it takes the dog to get up after his fit, Louise is the same.

The Doggy Parlour Came To The Girls!

Last Saturday we were heading out the driveway, and parked outside our one neighbour's house was a van from The Dog Lady. I popped over to where they were busy with a couple of Huskies, and got a leaflet with contact details on it.
They came back to my house the following Monday morning and Thelma and Louise got the full treatment! There's a bath and a grooming table in the van, they plug an extension cord in in the house and the girls were brushed, bathed, blow dried, had their ears cleaned and their nails clipped!

Neither Thelma or Louise liked it very much, but the two people who came with the van are very confident with the dogs and they handled the girls firmly but kindly.

And the girls have never been aggressive or mean so whilst they would jump off the table and run back in the gate if they weren't leashed, they put up with the process without a whimper or a growl.

Both girls have a double coat, so without regular brushing they have a soft fluffy undercoat that starts to clump and it looks really scruffy. I brush them fairly often, but having a good spa-treatment once a year makes a huge difference.

Louise's coat is much fluffier than Thelma's too, so she had to endure the blow drier for longer than Thelma did- you can see the fur literally flying in the next photo! Thelma's lovely short coat dried very quickly in comparison.

And Thelma and Louise are both so silly and bouncy when they go back into their garden again, its almost like they know they're all clean and smelling nice!

Dinner Time!

The dogs eat their meals in the kitchen, and even before I call them the girls come running to the back door if they hear me moving their bowls around!

Come On, Louise, Don't Blow It.

I'm a tad concerned about Louise... And about Thelma, but more about Louise...
Louise (our black dog) is between 5 and 7 years old. When we adopted her and Thelma from Wetnose in 2010, we were told they were about 3 years old, but within a year the hair on Louise's chin was going grey so we figured she was at least a year older than that, if not more.
In 2011, I started noticing some oddities about Louise, but it wasn't until late in the year that she was properly diagnosed with Canine Epilepsy and put onto medication. Without her meds, she suffers grand mal seizures- severe epileptic fits. Its scary to see and you can do nothing during a seizure but make sure they're safe from falling in the pool or some such. As Louise's Epilepsy has progressed she has had a few seizures since starting meds and her dosage has been changed, and it takes her longer and longer to recover from a fit each time she has one.
According to the vet, the seizures do not cause brain damage and she should be okay as long as she's treated.
But in the last few months I have noticed changes in how Thelma and Louise behave around each other.
Let me just stress, they're both healthy (apart from the epilepsy). They both eat well, their poops seem normal, they're not aggressive and they are really well behaved.
They are mostly outside dogs, and they have a doggy igloo on the front stoep that they share, with blankets and a big cushion. They've never been cuddly girls- never snuggling together- even when its cold, so I always made sure that inside or out, they had enough space to be comfy without necessarily touching each other.
The first thing I noticed that was odd was them snapping at each other when they're in the igloo together. Unfortunately I haven't been able to see who is snapping at who because when I go to look they stop.
But it didn't seem serious, so I didn't try and do anything about it.
Then this last week, I noticed Thelma has taken to chilling in the shade at the far end of the back garden. Now this is very odd to me. Thelma is a fabulous guard dog, barking only when there's something worth barking at, and the front stoep has always been her place.
If Louise barks at something, Thelma comes running round the front to see whats up and join in, but when they both go to the gate Louise snarls and snaps at Thelma!
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

Aaaand Louise Has Now Had Kennel Cough Too!

So all the dogs have had it now.
Louise's cough was a dreadful wheeze and I was more than a little worried about her, but she never lost her appetite and with cough mixture twice a day she was fine in less than a week.
All three of them will get the kennel cough vaccine in a week or so, as soon as I am sure all three are completely over it.

Thelma Had Kennel Cough Too

I knew it was inevitable after Volt had it and then Riddick caught it briefly that one or both of the girls would get it too.
Thelma was coughing a lot and I felt very sorry for her, but I dosed her twice a day with the cough mixture (Benylin with codeine) that I had left over from Riddick and Volt's stints with the bug and by Sunday she had stopped coughing already!
I'm now waiting on tenterhooks to see if Louise will get it too...
The nature of kennel cough means that it depends on a dog's constitution and immune system, but there is also an inoculation against kennel cough that you can have done every six months.
And its a good idea, especially if your dogs are socially "active", spending time in dog parks and traveling with you, to have the kennel cough inoculation done regularly. Its a spray into the dogs nose so it doesn't even hurt!
I'm thrilled that Thelma got better so quickly!

Louise And Her Canine Epilepsy...

Louise has been on meds for canine epilepsy for about six months now, and she's been okay. She had one petit mal seizure AKA focal seizure (there's no twitching or foaming) and her meds was increased to 1.5 tablets twice a day but the vet had told me she may have to increase her dose of the first one didn't keep her stable.

Then on Monday she had the worst grand mal seizure I have ever seen... She was twitching, kicking and frothing at the mouth and round about when I expected her to stop she started yapping like a jackal and that got the whole complexes dogs barking! It was the longest one yet. She eventually stopped seizing and started slowly to try and stand up. She is always very unsteady after a fit and I try to stay with her but she is so disoriented its like her eyes are open but she's not seeing or recognising anything. She doesn't respond to her name or to my voice. She runs around sniffing as if she's never been here before.
I was following her around the garden to make sure she was okay and I was on the phone to the vet. When the vet put me on hold to consult with someone quickly, Louise walked to the other side of the pool (which isn't covered) and sat there for a while. I started to call her to see how awake she was and before I could click that maybe I shouldn't call her, she got up and tried to walk to me STRAIGHT ACROSS THE POOL!!! I got such a fright I nearly jumped in after her when I saw she was awake enough to swim across to me and I used her jersey to pull her out of the pool.
I then hurriedly rubbed her dry and took her inside the house with  me.
She was still very "strange" and kept trying to jump up onto the couches and ran around and around sniffing every corner.
Eventually she settled down and she seemed to be herself again but it took a good couple of hours.
The vet suggested we increase her meds to 2 tablets twice a day (she can have up to 2.5 twice a day) and see how she does...
So far so good...

Two Years With Thelma and Louise

Happy adoptiversary girls! I hope you enjoyed your biscuit treats!

 

I can hardly believe it has already been two years since my husband and son went to Wetnose to fetch Thelma and Louise after our adoption was approved!

Whoever abandoned them- you have no idea what you are missing out on, these two girls have the most amazing natures and they respond so well to attention and training!

 

on their inside bed (they sleep inside at night)

happy puppies

so well mannered

my beautiful girls!

Louise's epilepsy is properly under control with her medication and she is closely watched. She is a little overweight but we are doing something about it so it doesn't ever become a problem.
She and Thelma are adapting much faster to having Riddick the puppy around than they did to having Volt in the house, but thats a good thing!

Updates I've sent to Wetnose to keep them up to date:
Greta and Gretel (now Thelma and Louise), Thelma and Louise, Thelma and Louise, Thelma and Louise, It has been a year!

Donate to Wetnose!

Thelma And Louise

These two are such silly girls!

Here they are in their winter jerseys, Thelma smiling like she does if I go outside and Louise snuffling and licking her nose between smiles!

 

Louise is getting her epilepsy medication twice a day, rolled up into a little ball of bread, and she hasn't had another seizure. She's also far livelier and more like the Louise we first adopted than she was before we put her on meds.

Thelma is the same as always. She's the guard-dog professional at our house. She doesn't like riding in the car as much as Louise does, but she's happy to jump in when I tell them to.

A Growing #SAGApupVolt

After Tuesday's puppy class, Volt was quite worn out and he slept most of the afternoon away! He loves his yellow Cyberbone, by the way, and would give anything for us to play tug-o-war with him! He still takes a chance with something he's not supposed to have every now and then, but he will drop it when told to.

After I got some tips from our PDS at puppy class on Tuesday, walking with Volt is going better. See, he's not allowed to sniff the ground when we're out walking and it's been very tricky since he does an excellent vacuum cleaner impression when we're out and about. As a result we're going to keep his regular collar with the disc on for constant wear, and we're now going to graduate to a "big boy" collar - the half-check collar from Rogz (a blue one) for walking and working, the same as Thelma and Louise wear. I used Thelma's collar for our walks this week (I had to use Thelma's lime green one as Louise's collar is pink and I couldn't put that on him *giggle*) and it gives me far better control over him. I also have to vary our walking routes every day so that Volt doesn't get so used to one route that a new route freaks him out!

The heat at home at the moment is simply insane! Volt is not a fan of the heat (takes after his mommy, LOL) and will go and lie in a doorway or flat on the tiles when he sleeps. Today he spread himself out in front of the open back door. I was sorely tempted to join him!

I also got an email this week with the schedule for the guide-dog "group walks" and I am very much looking forward to participating in them as often as I can! We'll be group walking with dogs and pups with names like Tuppence, Khaos, Jitsu, Nordic, Frosty, Basheera, Dobby, Saxon, Ogden, Hula, Oreo and Oakley! How cool are those names!?

On Sunday we will be attending one of this year's graduation ceremonies and Volt will get to meet his sponsors! I sent a photograph of Volt through to SAGA today, one that I took in January, for them to frame and give to Volt's sponsors- Chris and Olga. I am very excited to meet them and have them meet Volt.

Oh and I was very impressed with Volt on Wednesday. I had a customer come and collect her cupcakes and when the gate called to say she was here I put Volt's lead on and we met her at the door. I made him sit and only when he was sitting calmly could he be greeted. After some very excited squirming he settled down and I took his lead off, and he was good as gold! No jumping or anything, and within five minutes he was asleep on the kitchen floor again! I was very proud.

Ooh and in other good news, it looks like Thelma is actually playing with Volt a little! Louise will run up and down and wrestle a little of she feels in the mood, but Thelma is finally showing signs of playfulness with Volt. And she's far less protective of her food when he's around, though she still growls a little if he gets too close. I am very very happy about it. Very happy indeed.

click on the puppy to make a donation to SAGA

Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure!

Louise Is On Meds Now...

This Sunday past my poor Louise had THREE epileptic seizures!
Her last one (that I witnessed) was in December and before that, starting in August or so, there was maybe one a month... but I didn't see them I only saw the aftermath so I am not 100% sure.
On Monday we went to the vet and we had a detailed discussion about her history and behaviour, and she had a thorough physical as well. She is slightly overweight at 11.7kg, and her teeth are going to need scaling in the next few months, but apart from that her coat is lovely and shiny and she is healthy over all. Unfortunately we have no idea of her exact age or pedigree so we don't know much about her history, but the vet was quite satisfied to diagnose her with canine epilepsy, and has prescribed Lethyl 30mg tablets for her to have twice a day- at breakfast and supper.
Luckily its easy to give Louise meds, a little piece of bread with some peanut butter gets the pill stuck inside it and she swallows it in one gulp!
He warned us that the meds may make her drowsy for a couple of days as she adjusts to it, but that that will stop soon enough.
We may also have to relook her meds or her dose if she has another seizure as she can become accustomed to the medication over time, but I am hoping that won't happen soon and she will be seizure free from now on.
If you would like to know what it looks like, you can see some canine epilepsy seizure videos on YouTube.

This Week's #SAGApupVolt News

Volt is now 11 weeks old and weighs in at 8.8kg!

He is eating 110g of Purina Olympic Puppy three times a day. He LOVES his food, but he has very quickly learnt that if he's bouncing all over the place he's not going to get any. Once he's calm and sitting nicely I put his food down, and he doesn't jump into his bowl immediately anymore. He's learning to wait until I say he may have it! Lunch and supper are eaten inside his crate, and breakfast is eaten outside with the girls, after Thelma and Louise have been fed and whilst they are eating. I am so proud of him!

He has now slept downstairs in his crate for two nights in a row. After his 7pm supper and a late night "busy", he starts falling asleep at around 10pm. Then we "kennel in" and he sleeps till 5am, or a little after. I set my alarm so that I wake up at 5am as well as I don't want him having to call me when he's awake. Thelma and Louise are allowed onto their beds at 11pm, or a tad earlier if its cold, and in the morning they all head out the back door for breakfast and busies. Thelma and Louise are protective of their food, but that's getting better with time, and unlike before Volt arrived they now eat ALL the food in their bowls before taking up their morning patrol of the garden.

Leash walking is getting better every day, but he gets so excited if Thelma and Louise are walking with us! And let me tell you, the three of them together is a mission - Thelma and Louise are trying to stay out of his way and he's trying to walk and play at the same time!

The cats are settling down nicely, as with Thelma and Louise its Turk who is the bravest when it comes to Volt. They don't play, but Turk is far more tolerable of Volt sniffing him and following him around. Greebo and Magic's hissed warnings and the occasional swat from them has definitely made him wary of felines, but he still needs to be reminded every now and then with a "no" that they are not to be chased.

Last week we did a "drown proofing" as my swimming pool is not fenced, and Volt gets very excited if there are people in the pool - sticking his whole face under the water if you give him half a chance. So what I did was to walk him past the pool with my son walking behind me, and when we were heading for the steps I gave a signal and Volt was pushed into the pool. My son then jumped in and using his leash and my son's guidance we showed him where the steps were. He was drenched, but not particularly shaken, so here's hoping we've put him off - not given him an excuse to jump in when he wants to!

Tomorrow we go back to puppy class for our second session with his siblings and other puppy raisers! I am less nervous than last week, but I am still very aware that I am being "observed" when it comes to Volt's training and behaviour.

Volt just LOVES water! And he loves the rub-down that he gets if he does get drenched! 

This picture was taken after he discovered a tiny fountain coming from a hole in my hosepipe!

 Thelma and Louise are warming up to him slowly, and Thelma will even play a little bit, but they're still happier on their own bed if he's in his crate!

RUNNING! Check his ears!

Just look how he's grown! He's already lost that super-soft puppy face!

This is his favourite toy! He has a rope as well but he much prefers this rubber chew toy.

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Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure!

Louise Is Epileptic!

My sweet Louise (the black dog) had a seizure on Friday night and thoroughly freaked out my son and his friends as they were all sitting on the patio with Thelma and Louise at their feet.

As soon as I walked outside and saw her lying on her side "running" in the air and foaming at the mouth I knew it was an epileptic fit.
As she stopped twitching she sat up and looked at me- I had gone to sit next to her- but she didn't "see" me, if you know what I mean? She then immediately ran to do her busies and then went looking for water. She was all nervous and wanted to come into the house so I let her and Thelma come in earlier than they usually do and made sure Louise was warm and comfortable.
I called the vet's emergency number and chatted to him, and given that she hasn't been sick in the last few days or weeks, epilepsy is the most likely culprit.
I then also chatted to him about what I'd seen over the last few months and I concluded that she must have had at least 4 seizures that I didn't see happen, I only saw her afterwards. And when I saw her face covered in white foam in November and concluded that she had suddenly come down with kennel cough again- even though I hadn't seen any other symptoms- it must have been soon after a fit. She salivates so much during a seizure that her whole face and neck is sopping wet, and I have seen her with a wet face on a few occasions and not known what caused it.
She hasn't had another seizure, but I will be taking her to the vet as soon as I can so that we can arrange tests and medication for her. The meds should prevent any more seizures.

Thelma and Louise Don't Snuggle...

We adopted them together and we think they're sisters... or perhaps mother and daughter... But unlike a lot of dogs who spend every waking moment together, they don't snuggle together when they sleep!
Even inside their igloo kennel, they are apart, one on either side of the round cushion.
In the house at night they have a big square cushion and they each have a half of it.
Even in winter!

I Am Exhausted! #SAGApupVolt

This puppy raising business is nothing to be sneezed at! When he's awake, he is constantly throwing himself around, he doesn't walk anywhere! I'm sure you've seen how puppies do that? How they throw themselves around? And they're all adorably clumsy? Aeroplanes flying overhead catch his attention!
And he is getting taught not to bark at or chase the cats - who are still very wary of him but getting braver.

Magic checking out a sleepy puppy from a safe vantage point

His training starts as soon as he wakes up! He gets taken outside to his potty area and as he does his business he is told "busy busy", so that he associates the words with the action.
And he wakes up shortly before 5am too!
Then he's awake for about thirty minutes and goes back to sleep for a little while.
Then its breakfast time for him, and he has to sit until I have put his bowl down and I am no longer touching it, and I have said he may eat.
We're still working on this of course.
:)
And when he's awake he has to be watched constantly because if you blink he will chew something he's not supposed to! I have to say "No leave it" and give him his rope to chew.
He already knows "No", and he listens!
:D
And I now know exactly where the saying "follows me around like a puppy" comes from! Wow! If I move he's between my ankles!
We are progressing well with the crate training. He runs straight for the crate if Thelma snaps at him for getting too close, or if I tap his nose for chewing or jumping. Tonight is his first full night sleeping in the crate in my bedroom. When he wakes up we'll go out for busies and then its back in the crate. I try not to play in my bedroom as I want him to associate the space with calm and quiet.
He spent his first full night in the crate last night and he was so good!

asleep on his back in his crate

When he's outside he's allowed to be completely puppy and run and bounce, he's just not allowed to chew anything except his rope. And once a day we do a little leash exercise so he gets used to it.
Thelma and Louise are still adjusting but we're making progress.

the girls are relaxing slowly but surely

They are hanging around longer and longer when he is awake, and I never leave him with them unsupervised. He just wants to be with them! He gets so excited when they come in the house and he runs and bounces and yaps at them! Its adorable.

click on the puppy to make a donation to SAGA

Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure! 

Oh Louise...

My sweet Louise has kennel cough again! I can't believe it! When she was treated in July she recovered so well and I was sure that would be it!
This last week, I noticed a couple of times that she seemed to be behaving a wee bit strangely, but I didn't notice the  same symptoms as last time, when she was gagging and throwing up slimy foamy blobs...
And then this afternoon- on a Saturday afternoon when our vet is already closed- she suddenly showed up at the kitchen door with her face and neck covered in white foam and panting with her mouth wide open! I couldn't believe she'd gone so quickly from a suspicion of symptoms to full blown sick!
Poor thing...
I then called my back-up vet, and he said I could pop round and collect some antibiotics and some anti-inflammatory tablets as I couldn't afford a R420 weekend appointment!
My hubby then Googled kennel cough to see if there was something we could do for Louise to make her feel better apart from the meds, and discovered that a couple of teaspoons of honey will ease her itchy sore throat and that chicken soup- yes, a classic remedy for sick humans- will also help her feel better and boost her immune system!
I am seriously considering making chicken soup for both Thelma and Louise and the cats on a regular basis just for "in case"! I don't think it can do any harm.

A Heart Stopping Moment

This morning I was in my bedroom reading and answering emails when I heard a dog squealing! Like when a dog is being beaten kinda squealing.
I ignored it the first time since I've never heard our girls do that and we have a couple of dogs in the complex, one of which is a labrador pup.
When it happened again a few seconds later I got up and looked out the window. I couldn't see anything but I did see Thelma standing near my front door looking at the pool.
And then it happened again!
I ran downstairs thinking that perhaps the pup had gotten into our yard and fallen in the pool, or was being chased by Thelma and Louise since they don't like it when the pup comes near our gate.
I got our the front door and found Louise IN THE POOL!!
She was the one squealing!!
They have both been shown where the pool steps are- we put them in the pool last summer so they could orientate themselves, just in case- and she was at the first step (the deeper one) but hadn't moved over far enough to find the second, higher step and she couldn't get out!
My heart nearly stopped!
I pushed her gently to the second step and helped her out of the pool as she's too heavy for me to lift, especially soaked to the skin!
I then sat her on one of their outside rugs in the sun and rubbed her hard with a towel to try and help her get dry quickly. It is a rather chilly day today even though the sun is shining.
She seems no worse off for the incident, but I'll be keeping an eye on her to make sure she hasn't caught a cold or something.
I would love to know how she fell in the pool!

Just Chillin'

The girls are so cute when they spend time inside with me!

They stay on their cushion and sleep, wagging their tails when when I look at them and smile.

They are such good girls.

Turk and the Dogs

Proof that Turk is getting closer and closer to sleeping with the girls! Thelma and Louise are still wary of him as I have taught them they're not allowed to touch the cats at all, but he's definitely worming his way into their space!

Turk Takes Over

I had a real giggle today!
Thelma and Louise have been sleeping inside overnight and spending time inside the house with me in the day time for about 6 months now, and whilst the feline furkids no longer lose the plot when Louise comes haring in the front door- they're not exactly cosying up to each other either!
Turk is the one who spends the most time going up to where Thelma and Louise sleep, either sniffing noses or trying to sneak up on them, or taking a swat at one of them, like he's making it clear who's boss.
Thelma and Louise no longer snap or bark at the cats, they responded very well to my training that the cats were out-of-bounds, they will sniff Turk's nose if he goes right up to them without making a fuss.
This morning I was tidying up the kitchen and the girls were inside, and I happened to glance over to where their bed is and lo and behold- there was Turk, curled up and sleeping in the doggy "donut" right next to their bed cushions! I was astounded!
And then a little later in the afternoon I was cooing and squeaking at Diva- 'coz thats how I roll- and Louise heard me, walking over to see if maybe I was talking to her too.
The next thing I know - Turk is running across the living room and chases Louise back onto her cushion!
It was hysterical!