Maine Millers

It’s like a run away roller coaster…  Today I got up and Taz was feeling pretty good.  She woke me at 6:15 to go out, something she NEVER does so I’ll take that as a positive.  She went down the stairs did her thing and came back up looking pretty good, not too tired, which is good because even at 43 pounds she is heavy to carry up and down.  Patch weighed more but he didn’t mind walking to the top of the stairs so it was easier to lift him.  With Taz I need to pick her up in the house and go out the door and then down the stairs.

Her gums are slightly pinker than last night and she ate again this morning.  I believe what it is called is autotransfuse so she is re-absorbing the blood in her belly.  Hopefully she doesn’t bleed again for a while.

Another unusual thing was she asked to go for a walk latter in the morning.  She actually pulled the leash off the table and danced when I picked it up.  We walked about 4 houses down the street and back, much shorter than our usual walk but plenty for her today.

All in all an up day!

since we found out what was happening with Taz. In that time we have basicly maintained status quo, maybe a small improvement. Taz’s gums are slightly pinker than last night so maybe the bleeding has subsided for now. She is still sleeping a lot of the time. Last night her hematocrit was 28 which is low, the blood that was drawn at 5 yesterday was run today and it was 33 so there was a definate drop last night. It’s such a game with this disease we learned in January with Patch, you don’t want it to end but you already know the outcome . If anyone reading this has any thoughts or ideas let us know. We don’t have a lot of options for Taz and time is short.

I was going to post about Scout today but instead a quick brief update on him: Final shots today so now we go to the city and get another tag to go with his name tag and rabies tag, he will jingle with the big boys. He is 27 pounds, and for those of you keeping track he was 15 at his last vet visit 7/25.

Unfortunately we found out today that Taz has Hemangiosarcoma, the same cancer that took Patch from us this winter. I had her in to the vet today because she has not been right and after taking her home I found her down on the deck with Scout dancing around her barking at her trying to get her up. He is leaving her alone which is good but I cannot believe we are going to lose another dog to the same disease in the same year. The vet said that they see about 20-25 cases a year in their office so two in the same family is rare and it’s more rare in Aussies than in other breeds.  I don’t even know what else to write at this time.

I guess I should have known…email address=junk mail
I just sent in the registration papers August 15th and today is August 23 and I already have gotten emails for vet services with vets not even in our area, and several emails for pet insurance, some for free months and some for pay services. I hope ASCA is better about the emails.

If you read yesterday’s post about dirty dogs then you will understand the need for “The Bath”. It was one of those things we were dreading in the back of our minds, with Patch and Taz we only got one bath in at home and then it was always off to the groomers for future bathings. To difficult, messy, and stinky (wet doggie smell).

Scout did pretty well for his first bath. He was a little nervous about the tub and of course the kids laughing and screaming in the bathroom didn’t help, but he was a trooper. It took all of 10 minutes from into the water to out of the tub. He did try to drain the tub by flipping the stopper handle, we caught him and put a stop to that pretty quickly. He tolerated the shampoo and cups of water on his back pretty well. I couldn’t get him to sit or lie down to make it easier for his stomach, and everyone kept asking when I would wash the cottage cheese off his face. I had to remind them that if he is anything like Patch or Taz as soon as his head gets wet the body starts to shake all the water off, so I do that last. He didn’t disappoint us at all and promptly shook off water right after wetting his head. All in all it was fun and not nearly as bad as I remembered from 12 years ago.

Once he jumped out of the tub, yes, we were done, he started to rub his face and body on everyone in the room. He would squeeze between us and the wall or vanity and then on to the next dry person in the room.

Wow, what a dirty day all around. I took the kids to dig steamer clams for dinner (of course they didn’t eat them) and we all came home covered with mud from the clam flats. Then after the delicious clam and linguine dinner that Michele made we fed the dogs. Taz is still not feeling 100% so she ate cottage cheese and rice for dinner again and it was the end of the cottage cheese container so Zach held it for Scout to lick out.

Now, most dogs you would think would start to lick at the lip of the container and work their way to the bottom…no, Scout just dives in and pushes his head in as far as possible. He is such a goof ball .

Of course after he did all this cottage cheese diving he needed a bath…stay tuned…

It’s official, I think, maybe not? we’ll see… I mailed Scout’s papers to AKC and ASCA yesterday and they have his official name for his registration:

Sealevel Propwash Red Boyscout

I guess we will hear back from them soon enough with the official word… ASCA required some side photos for their files, one left and one right…here he is.

Tonight was Scout’s first puppy class (my second) and he got a good work out. We practiced attention, sit, sit stay, and loose leash walking. We have the sit down and the attention pretty well also, but we need some serious help with the loose leash walking. All the neighbors keep telling me how much bigger he is getting, we just don’t see it. I would guess he is around 20 pounds but that is a guess, we will find out next Friday at his vet appointment. I just hope he gets the loose leash walking soon or he will be tough to hold when he pulls.One thing I did decide in class was that I need 3 hands. We were practicing the sit/stay and you have him sit on your left, hold his collar with your left thumb and put treats out on the floor a foot or so out of his reach and tell him to stay. Then when he does stop pulling for the treats just click the clicker and give him a treat from the right hand while holding him with the left hand, stand on your head and spin clockwise at the same time…I just need three hands!

He seemed to travel better this time, not so nervous in the car and he just settled down in the crate. It might have been the fact that it wasn’t the usual car crate abut his regular house crate (we have three different ones). All four of us went to class so I had to turn the crate sideways in the back of the car instead of flipping down the seat and putting it front to back, he could not see us this way so maybe that was key?

Lot’s to practice this week…

Sorry, it’s been a while since I posted anything. Things have been hectic here lately. I am back to work so time is an issue. And we have been having company on and off for the last few weeks. At one point we had 8 people, 2 birds, and 3 dogs. It felt like a zoo.

Anyway, Scout is doing fine, he is 16 weeks old this past Monday and he has had two rounds of puppy shots and will get the third on August 25th. He is growing like a weed, at least that is what all the neighbors say when we go for a walk. I guess Michele and I don’t notice it since we see him all the time. One thing we have noticed is that his adolecent coat is starting to come through on his back, it is much coarser that the puppy coat and the red is deeper, a good thing is that he has kept his amber/green eyes and maybe they will stay that way (fingers crossed).

Tonight is the second class in a six week puppy class and it’s the first one we get to bring Scout along. I’ll post back as to how that goes. He has for class mates: a Jack Russel Terror, Lab mix, Boxer, Chinook, and two other that I cannot remember right now.

I’m getting tired of having to stand between the two dogs at meal time. Scout is such a pig, he inhales all his food and just dives into Taz’s bowl to try and finish off hers as well. The sad thing is she is letting him do it. I think it might be wise to start feeding when the other is outside? Just a thought. Of course Taz doesn’t eat every meal so that makes the food that much more important for HER to eat.