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?

#RiddickPup Had A Check Up

This morning, I took Riddick to the Johannesburg Animal Eye Hospital (JAEH) for a follow up appointment on his eyes.
JAEH saw Riddick when he was about three weeks old when the SAGA staff were first concerned that there was something wrong with his eyes. Because his eyes are so obviously different to the "norm" for a Labrador/ Golden Retriever cross, there was obviously cause for concern.
Today was a follow up appointment to get a better look at his eyes and to try and determine if they have gotten worse since they first saw him.
There were a few student vets there today too and they were keen to see what is up with Riddick as its an unusual case.
It turns out Riddick does indeed have pupils, but they are fully dilated and fixed open- they do not react to light at all the way they should. He also has irises but they are a thin dark ring around the outside of his eye because his pupils are fully open.
He has perfectly normal and healthy retinas, corneas, lenses and optic nerves, which is fabulous news. His eyes will not get better with time, but they can be damaged because of his inability to control how much light is allowed onto his retinas.
We'll go back for a check up when he's 6 months old again, and then after that once a year.
So here's to good news and getting a proper sized pair of Doggles to prevent UV damage to his retinas as he gets older.

Meet Riddick!!

Our baby boy is 7 weeks old today!
He weighs 4.9kg and he is now eating 70g of Purina Olympic Puppy three times a day.
He was born on April Fools Day 2012 to dad Pele and mom Liberty. He is ¾ Labrador and ¼ Golden Retriever, and he has five siblings- 3 black and 2 golden. They were the 'A' litter, but because he is to be our pet we could choose his name and waive the SAGA naming conventions.
Because our pup has no pupils in his eyes and can't regulate how much light is allowed into his eyes we named him Riddick after the "Pitch Black" character who was blinded by bright light and sunlight! He can't be a guide-dog because it would quite literally be the blind leading the blind!
Riddick can see well enough to follow us around and not bump into things, and he can see contrasts very well, but bright lights like my camera flash blind him and it can hurt (I now have to find a way to photograph him (if he's awake) without using my flash...). And of course his hearing and sense of smell make up for not being able to see properly. We're learning, the more time we spend with him, how much he can and can't see.
In the top picture you can see how his eyelids droop a little as a way of compensating for not having pupils. He has the sweetest face and you just can't help wanting to grab him and cuddle him! And he LOVES to cuddle!
He has white toes on all four of his feet, he has a little white stripe on the top of his head, white eyebrows and a white chest. He has a little bit of brown on his nose and a white fleck on the top of his tail.
One of the other puppy walking families has very kindly loaned us a pair of small "Doggles" for Riddick to use until he outgrows them.

 

 

When Volt and Riddick were introduced Volt was immediately taken with the tiny pup, and Volt being very well socialised accepted the pup completely. They are already snuggling together to sleep and Volt tries to play with the pup- who is still very clumsy but follows Volt around like a little shadow.

Thelma and Louise are not terribly impressed with having another puppy interfering with their food and bedding and such, but they will be fine eventually.

The cats are still ignoring him, but they only really pay attention if the puppy gets too close to them.

 

After we brought him home, he pottered around the house, pulled Volt's blanket out of his crate a couple of times, found Volt's toys- which Volt pounces on and tries to get the pup to play along with him- and slept a lot!

 

 

 

Riddick will be getting pretty much the same training as Volt- except that he will be allowed to play fetch, play with balls, perhaps even swim in the pool, and he will be allowed to bark at intruders.

He is being house trained, and taught he is not allowed to chew on us or our things for fun. He is also discouraged from barking for fun and he will be socialised properly like Volt- including 13 weekly puppy classes at SAGA with his siblings. He will be taught to properly walk on a leash because walking a well behaved dog is simply a pleasure, and like Volt is taught I will teach him not to pay attention to dogs and cars and such when we're out walking.

He will also be taught "come", "sit", "stay", "down" and "wait", and as with Volt's training he will be taught to wait for his food and not go barrelling out of a door simply because its open.

At the moment we are using the bathtub to house train him at night because we don't have a crate for him and because I would like him to sleep in our bedroom with us. We put his bed in the bath and after the dogs all have their last piddle at 11pm he goes in his bed, the girls in their bed downstairs and Volt in his crate, also downstairs.

His first night he woke at 1:30am, my hubby took him outside for a piddle and he woke briefly again at 2am then slept till 5:30am when I took him out for a piddle. I then managed to get him back to sleep and at 6:30am he woke again which is my normal wake up time and the two of us went downstairs to let the other dogs out for busies and get everybody fed. I didn't think that was too bad at all.

asleep on the floor with his new daddy

sleeping snuggled with Volt

 

 

  

My husband and I are both completely smitten with our little Riddick let me tell you!

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.

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.

Volt's First Day #SAGApupVolt

This morning at about 10am, I was very surprised to hear from SAGA! If I was prepared to continue Volt's antibiotics till it was finished, I could fetch him immediately!
I was thrilled!
I immediately went home to fetch his collar and leash, his stuffed dog and my camera, and set of for SAGA.
When I got there I was given a lot of reading material, a big bag of puppy food, and instructions for his food and meds. I was also given another briefing on the rules for puppy raising.
Then I was allowed to go and sit with the puppies so I could watch them for a while before deciding on one of the two male pups.
I chose my Volt after watching them play for a while, and then we drove home.
As per my instructions, Volt has to stay in the footwell of the passenger side seat, with the leash closed in the bottom of the door. It gives him enough leash to sit and lie down, but it prevents him from jumping up onto the seat or centre console.
He got his collar just before we left the SAGA Puppy Block, and he spent most of the day trying to get it off and scratching at it!
We started with the on-command toilet training as soon as we got home and it continued with a trip outside every 30 minutes or so.

Thelma and Louise are very upset with the puppy being in their space! Thelma is interested, and will let him sniff her nose and she puts him in his place with a growl if he gets too close, but Louise is completely freaked out! She won't even come in the back yard if he's there!

When I arrived at home with the puppy, my cats all disappeared upstairs and I only caught glimpses of them the rest of the day! When the puppy and I moved upstairs for the night, the cats headed back downstairs~ I'm not worried about the cats at all though. Cats sort themselves out when it comes to stuff like this.

And now, here are some photos!

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!

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!

Back To Normal

Louise I mean.
:)
She's on medication for kennel cough- cough mixture twice a day and a daily tablet- but she's completely 100% Louise again.

Lunatic Louise!

I don't know what got into Louise today but she was really behaving strangely!
Thelma and Louise are very obedient dogs, but today it was like Louise forgot everything she's ever been taught!

Louise is such a character. If you so much as glance in her direction she's ready to jump up and say hello and get cuddles. She's not a puppy- she's already going grey around her muzzle- and she and Thelma were both spayed long before we adopted them.
I first noticed it when I had to pop out to the supermarket early this morning and as I pulled away she was trying to squish through the bars of the gate to get out! She's never done that! I immediately stopped the car to see if there was something she was trying to get to and she took to whining and wiggling her whole body and yapping at me. I walked back into the garden and she made a mad dash to get out the gate behind me! This is so not like her! I called her back in and then after a short wait to see if she would calm down, I called her and Thelma outside with me to see if they could show me something I couldn't see, but they both just ran around sniffing excitedly and aimlessly- like they do when we go for a walk- so I sent them back inside. Louise just wouldn't listen. She was jumping up on me and yapping and barking and throwing up little bits of the food she'd had for breakfast, and when I got back in the car she again took to trying to push through the gate!
I phoned as I pulled out the driveway and asked my hubby to have a look at her to see if she was perhaps hurt, and I went to the shops.
Glugs couldn't find any injuries or marks on her, so he tried to put them inside on their overnight mattress to see if she would calm down- no go. She wouldn't stay on their bed like they usually do, she was all over the place and whined and whimpered until Glugs let them outside again.
I called the vet who assured me that any kind of poison would have the opposite effect to making a dog all excitable, but suggested I try to keep her somewhere quite and calm.
After a bit of a stroll around the garden with both dogs I called them inside again, to see if I could get her to stay still and calm on their mattress. It worked to a degree, but she remained very fidgety all day.
I don't understand her behaviour at all. The girls have been with us for a little over a year now, but I've never seen such a huge switch in her mannerisms.
She did her busies as normal. She was eating and drinking water. Thelma behaved exactly as she does all the time- well behaved and obedient and calm- but Louise was bouncing all day like she'd been sipping Red Bulls on the sly!

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Monday morning update - we went to the vet this morning. She gave Louise a thorough once over, checking her temperature and everything, and diagnosed her with kennel cough!
The irritation in her trachea is what's making her drool and gag so much foamy spit all the time, and her sore throat was making her behave so strangely. This all comes before the coughing actually starts. She gave Louise a shot of some anti-inflammatories and I was given some cough mixture and tablets for her to take every day.
And because its contagious we have to keep an eye on Thelma too.
Louise most likely picked it up from another dog whilst out on a walk, and like with most diseases some dogs are more likely to catch it than others.
I am so glad its treatable and that we caught it early.
It pays to know your dog well and be able to tell if something's up.