Monday

Monday yet again and all is well at our house. Tilley's tail is half again as small as yesterday and healing nicely. Thank goodness we are no longer considering a tail amputation as long as there are no twists in her recuperation. She is feeling much better; she's been off her pain meds for several days and seems much more lively.

She had her first run on Sat. morning with my husband and did amazingly well. It had been a very long time since she went for a full out run. He kept her mostly by his side to monitor her and she was full of excess energy.

It is so glad to be over the hump; we even managed dinner out lastnight as she is no longer attempting to remove her bandage. This morning she was calm when I removed her bandage and we even left it off while she took a nap outside. I kept a close eye on her as it is still very much an open wound and touching anything results in a velcro reaction.

During this ordeal Tilley was wearing an amazing new washable bandage that I found at www.bonafido.com Even the vet commented on it the last time we went for a visit. They have been wonderful and she was only able to remove them twice. They are secure, flexible and washable. I recommend them highly.

It is has been a long haul with many ups and downs but we are on the track to the end of the tunnel.

Epilepsy

I knew I shouldn't have said it, I shouldn't have even thought it. Everytime I have thought to myself or said out loud that "Luke has not had a seizure in a long while," sure enough. And like clock work I thought it yesterday afternoon. Lastnight I was jolted out of bed around midnight by my husband saying "I think he's having a seizure." I'm up and down on the floor with Luke seizing in my arms before I'm even awake.

Like a researcher I monitor each seizure closely; although lastnight I was barely awake and had my eyes closed for most of it. This seizure was definitely different; much quieter and without the second half of spasming and body contorsioning. This seizure Luke was stiff but not the typical contorted and stiff. Usually he is in a very strange position with his legs pulled up behind his head or under his body is some abnormal position. The only part of him that was contorted was his tail, he had it as high as it could go for the entire seizure.

It lasted approximately 7 min. as he slowly started to come out of it. This is when he typically goes into the second half of the seizure but that didn't come in a normal concession lastnight. He started blinking which is the first sign that he is coming out. Then the panting starts which stops as soon as the second session starts up. Lastnight he panted a bit and then jumped up on the bed which he usually cannot do as he is way too shaky on his legs. I got back in bed and noticed that the panting had stopped and his body was convulsing ever so slightly as I lay my hand on his chest.

He was awake and aware but not completely. He was sitting with his head up looking far off somewhere but maybe a little bit gone. There was no big ending, no coming out of it like usual; we sort of just fell asleep. Every other seizure ends with a heavy panting session added with a cling on poodle. I am unable to make a move without him by my side touching me, this lasts at least an hour. Lastnight he was content to sleep at the end of the bed and not up around my neck.

So needless to say we slept in this morning until after 8; which is very late for us. But with a restless night with one eye open monitoring my boy it makes for a rough morning.

Picture perfect

Good morning, what a nice morning it is. We have another worker here so it was up and at it early. The weather is cooler for a bit.

Yesterday I had two picture perfect scenarios. I didn't get a picture but I sure wish I would have. I just got my camera back from getting cleaned so it is sitting on my dining room table with no lense. But even if I did have a lense on my camera usually the cutest shots change the minute you pick up your camera anyway.

The first adorable scene was when my husband was sitting in our livingroom; just home from a hard day of work and about to dig in to a bowl of mixed nuts. The three dogs excited to see him after the day of absence were sitting in front of him giving their typical greeting when they realized he had a snack. It was like watching an audience watch a tennis match. With every movement of his hand the three heads moved in unison. Adorable.

The next scene was in front of the warm glowing fire. It had been a long week and we were enjoying a glass of wine in front of the fire. The dogs are not allowed on the couch in the livingroom, it being fabric and Luke a constant digger for comfort. So I spread a blanket out infront of the fireplace so that we could all sit together. Once everyone was comfy I went to the kitchen for an additional snack for all.

When I came back with snack in hand the sight was like I said; picture perfect. My husband sitting on the blanket with the three dogs surrounding him. The glow of the fire bouncing off of them all; my husband was enjoying his wine and the dogs eyes were half squint as they mellowed. It truly looked like a greeting card. The dogs love the fire as much as we do and relax as soon as the warmth hits them. Again "picture perfect."

The enforcer


Wow, two days without my camera and I was feeling a little lost. Of course I get a photo request when my camera is in getting cleaned. So with camera back in hand I'm good for the day.

What I want to discuss this morning is enforcing. Enforcing; meaning to follow through with a request to your dog and not letting it slide. Lastnight we had tri-tip, almost everyone was home and we were having a wonderful dinner in the backyard with the sun setting and the sky lit up in beautiful pinks and blues.

Tri-tip is always an issue in the house, it is a huge hit with the human boys and an even bigger hit with Luke, the canine boy. The problem starts when I pull it out of the fridge. Luke can be in a dead sleep and he knows the second it is on the counter. He runs into the kitchen with an outstretched nose I give him a stare and he remembers himself.

Once on the bbq he is hovering, mostly standing on the stairs out in front of me which puts him at a height advantage. When the tri-tip was cooked to perfection, steaming; the aroma feeling the air, I spread the food out in the kitchen as a sort of self serve deal. Everyone sat down and Luke starts his rounds, staring at whomever he thinks might cough up some tri-tip for him.

I've had just about enough when he approached my daughters boyfriend for a begging session. The dogs use to sit incely; all on a bed while we ate at our last house but rules have not been established yet in this new yard. So I pull out the bed and ask them all to lay down there and stay. The girls comply immediately without a peep.

Luke has in his eyes that he is not in the mood. So I get my enforcer suit on. With his eyes darting back and forth I know he is waiting for the moment I turn my eyes away. And he takes the chance moving in once again. I give him the look, he has a desperate look on his face as I push my chair out with purposeful force.

He then runs to the other side of his beggy in attempts of avoiding the enforcer. Quickly I round him up with my body in the "I mean business" posture. He's down again but not for long. As I watch him I can see he is forming his mouth for a definant bark but is hesitating for good reason. Should he bark at me, he knows he's going to be in for it.

So after several round ups, he gets a poke; serving as a "period" end of topic, end of discussion!!!! He gets it. After about 5 min. and everyone is done eating I release him. What a guy!

Quick note - visitor

Today I have painters coming so I'll loose my computer usage any moment. Tilley's tail is still on the mend but she did have another chew incident yesterday.

Yesterday a friend came over who we had not seen for a couple of years. It amazes me how much my dogs remember her the minute she walks in. Luke goes insane, spinning and jumping and generally behaving out of control. This behavior is saved for her alone, quite an honor. It does not matter how many years go between visits; all of my dogs remember her in one quick sniff.

It is easy to know when Luke remembers someone because if he doesn't know you; believe me you get quite a different greeting. He is of suspicious nature like his Mom. During our visit Tilley took advantage of my lack of supervision while I was gabbing and went for her tail. I had just unwrapped her tail to show my friend and rewrapped it up. No more than 10 minutes passed and I heard the familiar panic panting. I jumped out of my seat; where Tilley had been only sitting a few feet away and saw the damage immediately.

There was blood all over her new bed, her face and her wound looked bad. I quickly bandaged it up again and have yet to have a peek this morning. I am heading that way to see what it looks like this moring but there has been a huge change with the reduction of swelling.

Have a great day.

Tilley update

Tilley's tail is looking better, I have not opened it up this morning yet. But, yesterday it looked much better. She also went on an outting for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Her tail is completely raw but the swelling is going down.

I cannot post a photo because my camera is in getting cleaned. Will post as soon as I get it back.

sleeping with dogs

I'm sure all of you who keep up with this blog probably sleep with your dogs. Maybe not but there is a certain stigma that has been put on "dogs in your bed." When I have a new client and I ask where the dog sleeps; I am always given a sheepish "in our bed," if the dog does indeed sleep in the bed.

Funny; the answer I get if they don;t sleep in the guardians bed is very factual "in the garage or kitchen." So who gave sleeping with dogs such a bad wrap? I'm not sure but I know one thing, I love sleeping with my dogs. I should rephrase that actually, I love spending time with my dogs in bed. I'm not as fond of the part where they hog the bed as I am TRYING to sleep.

There are rules about sleeping in bed with our dogs and they should be followed strictly. There is to be no negative feedback from our dogs if we move, push or otherwise want them out of our spot. If your dog objects to being moved around or moved off of the bed, they then loose the great priviledge of being on the bed.

This is very serious and a very common problem, growling. Many people tell me that their dog growls if they attempt to move them or remove them from their bed. Hey, who's bed is this? You have all the bed rights as top dog in the household. If your dog is growling at you about bed rights then that is a very clear sign of where you rank in the big picture.

Your dog needs to stay off of the bed until such a time where you have re-established your hierarchy ranking. This is simply done by having your dog comply to many rules within the household.

Remember, sleeping the bed with the big boys is a priviledge not a right. Think of it in those terms and you will better understand why your dog should not tell you where you can and cannot sleep.

Basic manners


As a dog trainer I am accustom to seeing dogs go from uneducated to very well mannered family members. My training is very personal; meaning that no two families are alike and no two dogs are alike so how you train each dog within each household is going to vary drastically.

When I am training my goal is the dog within the family so rarely will my eyes leave the dog. How, when and the level of reaction to the guardians actions is everything. I talk alot during training, I even tell people when I start with them that I talk alot. With every session comes print outs because I talk so much. There is no way people can remember everything I am saying.

All the talking I do is a running commentary so that I can fully explain to a guardian why their dog is doing what they are doing each and every moment. Many times I'll say "see that look?" Hopefully the dog is still displaying the look when the guardian views for themselves but often they are not. So that's when I will say, "keep watching" as I attempt to reconstruct the situation.

Stopping annoying behaviors before they are in full force is much easier. So watching your dog and keeping one step ahead is always a good thing. The more you watch the more you will see and this itself will help you to teach your dog more easily and quickly.

I have found it very hard to turn the "trainer" off in me, even when strictly doing a photo shoot. But over the years I can now separate the many hats that I wear. See you can teach an old dog new tricks.

tilley

Good morning, Tilley's tail seems to be on the mend. She got at it yesterday for a few minutes and did quite a bit of damage. But I washed it, treated it and wrapped it up again. This morning it is looking better again.

Weird, anyone else seeing it would freak but it does look like it is healing. I can't imagine how long this is going to take, it a huge open wound. But with the wrap on she is doing very well. She doesn't walk around much and I'm doing my best to get her up and around once in a while.

Crazy busy day today.

Hierarchy unrest


Good Saturday morning. For those who are keeping up with Tilley's tail so to speak the update is as follows. This photo was taken at 10:30 this morning, the photo above taken at 10:45. I was outside with Tilley letting her tail air; I filled up the birdfeeder and when I turned around the black skin was gone. I was hoping that it would come off on its own, but Tilley helped it. It must have been extremely painful to take it off as she was panting very heavily after she did it.

Since the Thursday before last I have seen some shiftings going on in my home with the pack. At first there wasn't much happening, often one of the dogs is down for a couple of days. But now that it has progressed to over a week it is quite obvious. Luke is definitely seeing a weakness in Tilley and pushing her alot.

I believe Tilley is seeing it as well as she is becoming much more aggressive with the other dogs. Yesterday she would not let Jessie walk out of the kitchen. They have a bed beside the doorway and Tilley was on it. Jessie approached the bed to lay down with her and she received a very serious growl. Jessie immediately turned her head and walked away in slow motion.

She then decided to leave the kitchen and thought nothing of it; but as soon as she neared the doorway Tilley growled at her again sending Jessie into a head spin and back into the kitchen. I then walked Jessie out of the kitchen and onto another bed in the livingroom.

Tilley also growled at Luke lastnight for approaching her bed. As she is weak for a longer length of time Luke is seeing this as his time to move up. Because Jessie feels as she is already the top dog there isn't too much happening with her except some unrest because of the movement in the pack.

I will not let Luke obtain any status because Tilley will soon be back on her feet. And Luke having any status would just not be good for anyone :)

TGIF

Oooh storm watch 07 here in SoCal. We are expecting rain which is big news here. We had rain the night before last and boy do we need it.

Tilley's wound is the same this morning. I'm having a problem with one piece of the dead tissue that will not come off and keeps resticking to the open wound. I'm going to attempt hydrotheraphy but don't know how much pain it will cause so I'll take it very slow. I have non stick gauzing now which really helps now that it is such a large open wound.

My other two are feeling a little housebound so yesterday my daughter watched Tilley and I took Luke for a run on his own. He is actually much better behaved when he is on his own. I took him to one of my favorite parks with a great view. It looks over all of Mission Viejo and the mountains.

Luke is a big watcher as I have talked about before. He constantly watches my feet to give him a heads up of which way I'm heading. Yesterday I threw him a curve ball. Without thinking about it; as I scoped the park for "the dog police," I was walking down the path backwards. This is something much more common back home in Canada when a fierce winter wind is blowing in your face but I dont' think I've done it here. Obviously I had never done it with Luke, because he immediately ran to my side watching my feet.

My feet were telling him that I was heading the other way yet I was still walking in my original direction. He stood looking at me while I walked with a puzzled face. Luke has a great sense of humor and seemed to think that this new directional challenging walking was pretty funny. He ran up to me, did a couple of "I don't know whats going on," type jumps and decided that he would just keep a close eye on me.

You can see how closely your dog watches your direction destinations by walking and turning your feet to see if they watch and no before you turn that you are turning. It is something that obedience dogs quickly learn to stay in line with their guardian. Give it a go.

Quick update

Just a quick note to let everyone know whats going on. Took Tilley's wrap off this morning, it doesn't look good. Hard to tell what is going on, it looks like it is trying to heal. There was some green which is never good and a split now coming from the center hole. Thanks Carol, I am sending the shots to UC Davis, hopefully someone will have an idea.

I did find a disease that it could be but it is rare. I need to call my vet and ask him about it. I will post the name so you can all read up on it.

Tilley has had a rough year, she had a staph infection in her bladder which we treated. She got this tail thing and has another bladder infection, believe me I'm wondering if this is all connected somehow. The vet said yesterday that even if this does heal, it will be at least 8 weeks.

Funny, I needed a baby sitter for my kids and now I need one if I need to go out. Someone has to be here with Tilley so that she does not pull off her bandaging. When I am here I have to take off her dressing several times a day to air. She pretty much goes crazy and it is near impossible to stop her from nipping at it. It was off this morning for several minutes and then bandaged again.

More later.

Amputation

Back from the vets and I'm sorry I have not put a new photo of Tilley's wound up yet. But I will shortly, not that you will want to look at it but maybe someone will be able to enlighten me by looking at it.

There is a good chance that Tilley will have to have her tail amputated. It is not for sure and I have dedicated myself to stopping this if I can. But if it comes down to a health issue I will allow the vet to remove her tail. So until then please cross your fingers for her.

Thanks for listening

Wednesday

Good morning, it will be a busy day today. I have quite a few deadlines to get on top of both for my photography and I've been asked to write several articles for magazines. So I'll be on here alot today. That is once I get back from the vet again. The hole in her tail is double the size but thats about all the difference. She does seem to be feeling better as she got up and greeted my husband at the door lastnight which was the first time since Friday.

She is sleeping great with the pain meds and I am researching like crazy. This is one of those things that no one can give you a definite. It is the result of something, a staph infection, a tick bite gone bad or spider bite. We just deal with what we have and making Tilley comfortable is the top concern for me right now. She is on antibiotics which is good now that she has a gapping hole in her tail. I will post a new shot today, don't open my blog if you are squimish.

These type of things don't bother me at all. My husband can't even look at her tail and doesn't want to hear about it. Funny guys are suppose to be so tough but some of the toughest like my husband who I would put up there in one of the toughest guys I know, have such squimish stomachs. Although my son gets right into it with me, holding her tail while I rewrap it and I believe yesterday he put an image of her tail on his MySpace, nice. I'm sure many of his friends will be completely grossing out.

Jessie has taken to sleeping beside Tilley no matter where she is and Luke; well he is a typical bonehead. He had a zoom yesterday and just about ran Tilley over. He been a bit housebound since this happened. And being the wanna be alpha he is he has tried to take advantage of Tilley when she is down. But thats not happening on my watch, he has received several good pokes resulting in plastered submissive ears back and very large sucky eyeballs. Man, boys!!!!!

Tuesday morning

Both Tilley and I had a good night sleep. I got some much better pain meds for her so she was out. After hours of more research it looks like it could have been one of many things that started this but it also looks like we are in for the long haul before it is all healed up.

On a much lighter note the weather has cooled and the dogs and I spent much of yesterday just puttering around the yard. (Tilley slept) I had a chance to weed the gardens and clean up the yard without melting. I just love the cooler weather; the fall decorations come out and we can pretend we are once again in Canada with the leaves turning color.

With the combination of the very chilly air this morning and a warm cup of coffee I was pretty much in heaven. My workers are gone and the dogs and I are all snuggled up in bed, Luke is very happy. He is having one of his sleeps where he closes his eyes shut so tight that he gets wrinkles. This means he is enjoying his sleep immensely.

Hopefully today will bring some more cooler weather and I can walk the dogs after 9am and not fry.

Time to start getting ready for Christmas, yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great day all.

Tilley


After doubling up on Tilley's pain meds she was feeling some better yesterday but very minimal. We left her outdoors for most of the day as she seems to like not having her tail wrapped. The wrapping bothers her alot.

After another long day I had the chance to do some research. Looking at Tilley's tail; it looked very strange. My son immediately said it looks like a spider bite. So I looked up spider bites and sure enough Tilley situation mirrored the people who have been bitten by a brown recluse. This is a very bad spider and does alot of damage; even causing fatality so allow she has suffered she is alive.

Tilley must have at one point sat on a spider because it says that they are not an aggressive spider and will only bite if bothered.

so off to the vet we go. She may need to have a good amount of tissue removed.

As before I will keep you posted.

Sherri