unless of course your degree is in pharmaceutics and then this topic is a dreaded 2 semesters of pharmacokinetics, AKA, "PK". .......and as for elimination, it's all about this half life of the drug. Some drugs have very long half lives ........others, very short and knowing the half life is how you determine dosage and frequency of dose. All of this in an effort to optimize therapeutic blood levels...............OH hated PK and DS is taking it this semester.jacksdad wrote:
The fascinating thing about in it retrospect, you often hear how quick medication works or how quick the medication is processed and eliminated by the body and for most of us it's just academic information ...well I sure got to see that in action that night.
What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Glad to hear Jack didn't have any lasting ill effects from the medicine goof, Jacksdad.
Sirius seems fine. We took the dogs to the battlefield this morning for a walk and she seemed normal. Normal being OH needs to step us his learning curve a bit.
Sirius has issues with people with odd physical outlines, so walking with a stick, limping, wearing a backpack and such. We had stopped once and been passed by a group that struck me as being Cub Scouts, but they weren't in uniform and adults and youth combined was only about 6 people. The last one was wearing a small school type backpack and as we reentered the trail, Sirius had headed in the direction of the boy with the backpack rather than the direction we were going. No big deal, kind of a more check it out kind of thing than a chase it away kind of thing.
A while later, we encountered a couple and the man was wearing a child carrier on his back. He was a rather tall man, and the carrier stuck out well above his head. I warned OH of people and wearing a backpack. OH moved Sirius off to the side of the trail and I continued walking with Sky. After I had passed the couple I turned around and glanced at OH and Sirius. OH was standing well off of the trail, good. Sirius was sitting beside him, good. He was standing facing the trail with his hands crossed in a relaxed fashion with his wrist through the loop of the leash. The leash was absolutely slack, and he was making no attempts to distract her with a treat in front of her face.
Apparently I was the only one who wasn't surprised when she took off at full speed charging towards the man with the backpack and practically dragging OH back onto the trail. 
At which point OH commented to the man who had just been charged at by a dog seemingly intent on attack, that "she doesn't like backpacks." 
Sirius seems fine. We took the dogs to the battlefield this morning for a walk and she seemed normal. Normal being OH needs to step us his learning curve a bit.
Sirius has issues with people with odd physical outlines, so walking with a stick, limping, wearing a backpack and such. We had stopped once and been passed by a group that struck me as being Cub Scouts, but they weren't in uniform and adults and youth combined was only about 6 people. The last one was wearing a small school type backpack and as we reentered the trail, Sirius had headed in the direction of the boy with the backpack rather than the direction we were going. No big deal, kind of a more check it out kind of thing than a chase it away kind of thing.A while later, we encountered a couple and the man was wearing a child carrier on his back. He was a rather tall man, and the carrier stuck out well above his head. I warned OH of people and wearing a backpack. OH moved Sirius off to the side of the trail and I continued walking with Sky. After I had passed the couple I turned around and glanced at OH and Sirius. OH was standing well off of the trail, good. Sirius was sitting beside him, good. He was standing facing the trail with his hands crossed in a relaxed fashion with his wrist through the loop of the leash. The leash was absolutely slack, and he was making no attempts to distract her with a treat in front of her face.
Apparently I was the only one who wasn't surprised when she took off at full speed charging towards the man with the backpack and practically dragging OH back onto the trail. At which point OH commented to the man who had just been charged at by a dog seemingly intent on attack, that "she doesn't like backpacks." Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
my vet has thrown a lot of those terms around, so I am familiar with the words, but still very, very fuzzy on the meaning behind them. oh who am I kidding...pretty much clueless on the meaning behind themgwd wrote:unless of course your degree is in pharmaceutics and then this topic is a dreaded 2 semesters of pharmacokinetics, AKA, "PK". .......and as for elimination, it's all about this half life of the drug. Some drugs have very long half lives ........others, very short and knowing the half life is how you determine dosage and frequency of dose. All of this in an effort to optimize therapeutic blood levels...............OH hated PK and DS is taking it this semester.
Jack is on Kepra and sodium bromide, potassium bromide the more common anti seizure medication causes him to have diarrhea. Kepra has a short half life, which requires Jack get this medication about every 8 hours. not easy, but close is close enough as long as close is literally close. for example he starts his day at 6 to 6:30 am on average, he gets his first does then. he actually gets his next dose at about 7 hours later, then his last dose 8 sometimes 8 and half hours later. more than 1 hour past the 8 hours can be a problem.
Looking back and knowing what happened...he got his Kepra 3 hours early, so he still had quite a bit of his 1pmish dose in him, and it only took about 30min to an hour for this extra dose to "knock" him for a loop. then it took 4 to 5 hours to get back to anything like normal. that is how fast Kepra works, then leaves the body. I understood this academically...but really seeing a dramatic display of this was very educational and fascinating...once I knew Jack was going to be ok.
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Glad to hear that both Jack and Sirrius are doing okay.gwd wrote:unless of course your degree is in pharmaceutics and then this topic is a dreaded 2 semesters of pharmacokinetics, AKA, "PK". .......and as for elimination, it's all about this half life of the drug. Some drugs have very long half lives ........others, very short and knowing the half life is how you determine dosage and frequency of dose. All of this in an effort to optimize therapeutic blood levels...............OH hated PK and DS is taking it this semester.jacksdad wrote:
The fascinating thing about in it retrospect, you often hear how quick medication works or how quick the medication is processed and eliminated by the body and for most of us it's just academic information ...well I sure got to see that in action that night.
Jacksdad, as an RN, who studied a lot like gwd describes above, that is why the FDA goes through such a procedure to find out how medications work and how they interact with each other.
For example, one med I take has the notification that if anyone including me takes a proton pump inhibitor (like Nexium or Prilosec) it causes this medication to br process more quickly and so, I need a second dose of the first med.
Anyway, as gwd explained, it is a a very difficult process. At least, as the vet said, you accidently gave the right med if you are making a mistake.
Edited: Jacksdad, we posted the same time, so I will add here, that as gwd said, it depends on how long the half life is and how long it takes to get out of the system. As your vet has you giving the doses every 8 hours (and even in nursing school we learned that a half hour to an hour either way with most meds works. Like with your dog, it is similar for giving meds to kids, especially those given round the clock such as anti-seizure meds and antibiotics. Yes, giving the med three hours early it got absorbed during the height of the previous dose's half life which is why Jack was so sleepy and acting the way he was. So, by the time the 1pm dose had left the body, the accidentally early dose was then reaching its peak and thus was back to the normal amount in his body.
That is another reason that for many medications like the anti-seizure meds, the dose often depends on body weight especially for young children and small dogs. Note, too, that Sandy's heartworm prevention med and his flea/tick med go by body weight. It made me angry when we went to a different vet (emergency basis) and they weighed Sandy on a scale for big dogs and his weight was off by 5 pounds which for a chihuahua or a jr/chi mix like Jack, can make a huge difference. (This was in Maine and noted that Sandy was the only small dog there, the rest were labs, retrievers, boxers, etc. Ie., big dogs.) we always insist that Sandy gets weighed on the small, baby scale.
We just need to be more aware. Glad to hear that both Jack and Sirrius are doing well now.
And, Jacksdad, that is why gwd's DS is taking two semesters of pharmakinetics which basically means how drugs (pharma) work (kinetics which is another word for movement). I took three quarters of chemistry, too including general, inorganic, and organic. Then pharmacology is more under the organic chemistry area.
gwd, is your DS pre-med or pharmacy or veterinarian or other medical field? Is he the one at the University of Arizona? They have a great college of medicine and college of pharmacy as well as college of agriculture. (I am speaking as an alum of the UofA. Go Wildcats!)
Diane
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
I had a lovely day with my dogs..............tues is my birthday so I got to pick the weekend festivities. This is the first weekend where our favorite beach reverts back to dog (off leash) friendly. It happens to be their favorite thing to do so of course I picked the beach. We spent several hours snoofing caves, throwing the dummy and swimming. It was 80 degrees and sunny.
Dogs are not bathed, fed and very, very happy.............Tuesday is also baby girls birthday. I'm sure she'd have picked the beach also if she'd gotten to choose.
Dogs are not bathed, fed and very, very happy.............Tuesday is also baby girls birthday. I'm sure she'd have picked the beach also if she'd gotten to choose.
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Yes, UofA and he's working on his phd in pharmaceutical formulationsDianeLDL wrote: gwd, is your DS pre-med or pharmacy or veterinarian or other medical field? Is he the one at the University of Arizona? They have a great college of medicine and college of pharmacy as well as college of agriculture. (I am speaking as an alum of the UofA. Go Wildcats!)
Diane
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
gwd,
Happy Birthday in advance seeing you have already been celebrating.
And Happy Birthday to Baby Girl. Sandy sends her greetings.
Sounds like a fun time at the beach.
(sunglasses) I am glad you and the dogs had a great time.
My husband who spent decades in San Diego says that September and October are the hottest months there.
It sounds like DS picked a good program as well as career. Good luck to him on the PhD program. Tell him "Go Wildcats"!
(My husband also got his second graduate degree there, MS in Gerontology. Of course, he also had some pharmacy programs with it. As DS can attest to, problems of polypharmacy in the elderly is a major problem. And if Jacksdad had a scare, imagine the elderly not remembering if they took something and so many drug interactions. OH was working with the University of Maine on a project studying polypharmacy (meaning too many prescriptions with many overlooked interactions from various doctors for elderly patients who may be forgetful). OH likes the statistics and number crunching aspects. His BS is in math and psychology, and PhD in Sociology. Then, went back to the UofA for his MS in Gerontology. So, he loves studies with number crunching, unlike me.
gwd, good luck to DS.
As to our adventures with Sandy, we have had two interesting interactions with two other neighbors' dogs. Both dogs had gotten lose (different days) from their fenced in backyards. One was a beautiful setter who just was minding his own business and using another neighbor's yard to potty. His gate was wide open. Knocked on the door (after getting Sandy in the house) and the two boys who didn't know dog was roaming around came out and got him back in. It turns out that the dog can open the latch so they need a board to hold it closed.
Then, today, the other neighbor on the corner with a full size standard poodle got out of the yard and decided he wanted to play with Sandy. Of course, Sandy wasnt in a mood to play and with this dog on Sandy's property, Sandy became extremely protective. I picked Sandy up, tried to tell other dog to go home. He kept following so finally, I put my hand up and commanded "stay" which caused him to turn around, but stay in our area. At least he stopped. I took Sandy and dropped him off in the house. Then, the other dog followed me, very tame and wagging tail. Obviously showing body language of being friendly and had just wanted to play. Went and couldnt open the gate to his yard so I went to knock on the door. Our neighbor came out through he garage and dog ran right inside. She said he is nicknamed Houdini as he finds ways to get out. (Good to know.) Then. i was able to take Sandy out.
And Sandy's latest thing is trying to chase squirrels. And yesterday, he tried to grab a butterfly with his mouth. I do not think he realizes what that would have meant for Sandy and sensitive tummy.
Tomorrow, we will pay our respects to my father in law's grave. It will be 115 miles each way on two lane pitted roads. for Sandy as we will take the cargo van. The roads in the cemetery are not maintained and can scrape the bottom of my Accord. (The cemetery goes back to the 1700s. And his immediate family are way in the back.) Hopefully, there will be no tales to tell. 
Diane
Happy Birthday in advance seeing you have already been celebrating.
And Happy Birthday to Baby Girl.
Sandy sends her greetings. Sounds like a fun time at the beach.
(sunglasses) I am glad you and the dogs had a great time. My husband who spent decades in San Diego says that September and October are the hottest months there.
It sounds like DS picked a good program as well as career. Good luck to him on the PhD program. Tell him "Go Wildcats"!
(My husband also got his second graduate degree there, MS in Gerontology. Of course, he also had some pharmacy programs with it. As DS can attest to, problems of polypharmacy in the elderly is a major problem. And if Jacksdad had a scare, imagine the elderly not remembering if they took something and so many drug interactions. OH was working with the University of Maine on a project studying polypharmacy (meaning too many prescriptions with many overlooked interactions from various doctors for elderly patients who may be forgetful). OH likes the statistics and number crunching aspects. His BS is in math and psychology, and PhD in Sociology. Then, went back to the UofA for his MS in Gerontology. So, he loves studies with number crunching, unlike me.
gwd, good luck to DS.
As to our adventures with Sandy, we have had two interesting interactions with two other neighbors' dogs. Both dogs had gotten lose (different days) from their fenced in backyards. One was a beautiful setter who just was minding his own business and using another neighbor's yard to potty. His gate was wide open. Knocked on the door (after getting Sandy in the house) and the two boys who didn't know dog was roaming around came out and got him back in. It turns out that the dog can open the latch so they need a board to hold it closed.
Then, today, the other neighbor on the corner with a full size standard poodle got out of the yard and decided he wanted to play with Sandy. Of course, Sandy wasnt in a mood to play and with this dog on Sandy's property, Sandy became extremely protective. I picked Sandy up, tried to tell other dog to go home. He kept following so finally, I put my hand up and commanded "stay" which caused him to turn around, but stay in our area. At least he stopped. I took Sandy and dropped him off in the house. Then, the other dog followed me, very tame and wagging tail. Obviously showing body language of being friendly and had just wanted to play. Went and couldnt open the gate to his yard so I went to knock on the door. Our neighbor came out through he garage and dog ran right inside. She said he is nicknamed Houdini as he finds ways to get out. (Good to know.) Then. i was able to take Sandy out.
And Sandy's latest thing is trying to chase squirrels. And yesterday, he tried to grab a butterfly with his mouth. I do not think he realizes what that would have meant for Sandy and sensitive tummy.
Tomorrow, we will pay our respects to my father in law's grave. It will be 115 miles each way on two lane pitted roads.
for Sandy as we will take the cargo van. The roads in the cemetery are not maintained and can scrape the bottom of my Accord. (The cemetery goes back to the 1700s. And his immediate family are way in the back.) Hopefully, there will be no tales to tell. Diane
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Diane, do you have the saying we have here "butterflies in your tummy" to describe that sicky fluttery feeling a mix between excitement and fear?
MPb, I attended a lecture on wolf behaviour yeeeeaaaarrrss ago given by someone who works with captive wolves in UK. Some of these wolves attend country shows, in a big compound, and at their home premises people get to pay a lot of money to go on a 'wolf walk' where the wolf is led on a chain by an experienced handler, and the people get to walk close by. This is obviously carefully managed, and all the wolves are hand-reared. Apparantly there is a 19-day window for hand-rearing wolf cubs - any later and they will not tolerate strange people at all, and can turn dangerous any time after 6 months.
What a long preamble. My point is that the speaker told us that the hand-reared wolves react very aggressively to odd silhouettes, and so when people come to ooh and aah at them contained behind the barrier, their handlers make sure that there are no odd silhouettes, such as a child on someone's shoulders, or a baby buggy, baby sling etc. Once a hand-reared ostensibly tame (actually just tolerant) wolf has reacted to this - just once - it can never be risked at a public display again. Not only is it dangerous of itself, it can turn all the other "tame" wolves aggressive in less time than it takes me to type this.
MPb, I attended a lecture on wolf behaviour yeeeeaaaarrrss ago given by someone who works with captive wolves in UK. Some of these wolves attend country shows, in a big compound, and at their home premises people get to pay a lot of money to go on a 'wolf walk' where the wolf is led on a chain by an experienced handler, and the people get to walk close by. This is obviously carefully managed, and all the wolves are hand-reared. Apparantly there is a 19-day window
for hand-rearing wolf cubs - any later and they will not tolerate strange people at all, and can turn dangerous any time after 6 months.What a long preamble. My point is that the speaker told us that the hand-reared wolves react very aggressively to odd silhouettes, and so when people come to ooh and aah at them contained behind the barrier, their handlers make sure that there are no odd silhouettes, such as a child on someone's shoulders, or a baby buggy, baby sling etc. Once a hand-reared ostensibly tame (actually just tolerant) wolf has reacted to this - just once - it can never be risked at a public display again. Not only is it dangerous of itself, it can turn all the other "tame" wolves aggressive in less time than it takes me to type this.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Maybe when children ask if my dogs are wolves, I should start saying yes.Nettle wrote:What a long preamble. My point is that the speaker told us that the hand-reared wolves react very aggressively to odd silhouettes, and so when people come to ooh and aah at them contained behind the barrier, their handlers make sure that there are no odd silhouettes, such as a child on someone's shoulders, or a baby buggy, baby sling etc. Once a hand-reared ostensibly tame (actually just tolerant) wolf has reacted to this - just once - it can never be risked at a public display again. Not only is it dangerous of itself, it can turn all the other "tame" wolves aggressive in less time than it takes me to type this.
Sky is fine although anxious and there are some instances at home where I see Sirius rubbing off on her. I normally walk in front with Sky and OH follows with Sirius. Sky and I naturally walk faster and it allows us to get around a low visibility area and see what is up ahead before Sirius comes across it. It was kind of funny at one point on our walk yesterday. I called out "walkers," and the walkers called out "dogs."
OH has learned a lot about handling Sirius and in some instances he is great about keeping her to the side and keeping her focused on him. But then other times he just totally blows it like yesterday. I think he does better when another dog is involved. For whatever reason, he doesn't see the same red flags that I see when people are involved. To my mind, the man with the baby carrier had bright neon signs flashing all around him screaming "danger, hang onto Sirius with a death grip and hold tightly to a piece of liver jerky in front of her face so she is so busy trying to get it out of my hand she doesn't even notice man with baby carrier." I understand the concept of transmitting tension through the lead and I guess OH does a good job of not doing that. Standing calmly and confidently and watching something go by that isn't scary to him, doesn't meet Sirius' criteria for making something not a big deal. If she were the type of dog to run behind her owner in fear it would be different. She is the kind to charge forward and chase scary away. He should at least step on the lead where it is resting on the ground and dangle treats in her face. Sometimes he does, but other times he doesn't and in instances where I have enough time to say something to him about getting a better grip on her, sometimes he does and other times he just blows the thought off.
I know that with effective management, she can be out and about and not have any blow ups. It takes giving her as much space as possible from things. It takes keeping the lead short enough so she doesn't have room to go charging forward and jerk her handler around, should she decide the space given was insufficient. She is so highly food motivated and so easy to distract with treats and for whatever reason, OH is reluctant to be generous with the treats. He carries bags of treats and I carry extra bags of treats. It isn't like we are in danger of running out. I know she has gotten his fingers a time or two when taking treats in an aroused state. I tell him I don't hand treats to her, I toss them or drop them on the ground.
I know I made a lot of the same kinds of mistakes while I was learning and I try to be patient and give tips. The incident yesterday should never have happened. I am fairly certain if it had been a dog instead of a man, OH would have responded with appropriate management techniques. One can't move off the trail and then stand back and wait. One needs to keep the leash short enough to prevent the dog charging forward and one needs to keep the dog focused on oneself with treats. To me this concept is so simple and easy to implement, yet OH is very hit or miss about it.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
The new rats (btw did I mention I have new rats, no, well I do, five of them! Dastardly little vermins, so unspeakably cute but equally dreadful and devious!) have been here a week!
On day 1 Womble, now proud killer of his first wild rat just the night before (yeah, I timed that SO well) wanted to erm, well... yes. Rats were then confined to the upper level of their cage, which means they are about five foot up, out of Wombles general eyeline.
Day 2, occasional outbursts of 'I WANT TO EAT THEM ALL UP' which Womble-stylee, involves a lot of screaming. But the boy responded to a leave it remarkably well for one with still very little in the way of impulse control!
Day 3 continued much the same, slightly fewer outbursts.
Day 4 I decided to release the rats into the lower level as well, doubling their space but putting them at eye level with Womble - so I let them down for the night and shut them back up during the day, until day 6, (because for those who haven't had rats, once they get over their initial fear of something new, they tend to ping about in an excited fashion and use the excitment as an excuse to duff each other up or squabble over toys etc, behavior that would be JUST too irresistable for Wombles!)...
So Day 6, rats downstairs, at eye level with Womble. One episode of screaming, very breif and not causing fear in rats (who by now consider him just a random thing that screams sometimes and not a threat!), and some watching silently from a distance.
Something that has interested me though, and its behavior Ive seen before from him in a variety of 'shades'...
He realises he isn't allowed these rats, so he went back to the other cage where one now very elderly boy resides... 'can I eat THIS rat'... no he can't. So now he has taken to going and looking at the new rats, silently, then going outside into our back yard and yellign and scrabbling at the hole the wild rats are using!
We saw this behaviour in reverse when he was younger, he located the wild rats but couldn't actually get to them... so after a brief period, came running in and stared at the indoor pet rats!
I would love ot know how he is processing all this as he gets praise for going after wild rats, is praised if he kills one, has never been discouraged from wild rats, but obviously HAS been repeatedly redirected from the pet ones! For a boy of v little impulse control I am actually seriously impressed at his ability to compute that he is not allowed to kill these rats, but is allowed to kill loose ones.
*(For those wondering, i fully appreciate that if we ever have an escape of pet rats here and he claps eyes on one, he will kill it if he can. We take all reasonable steps to minimise the chances of that happening and thus far in nearly 15 years of keeping rats and rat hunting dogs it has never happened... but it might.)
On day 1 Womble, now proud killer of his first wild rat just the night before (yeah, I timed that SO well) wanted to erm, well... yes. Rats were then confined to the upper level of their cage, which means they are about five foot up, out of Wombles general eyeline.
Day 2, occasional outbursts of 'I WANT TO EAT THEM ALL UP' which Womble-stylee, involves a lot of screaming. But the boy responded to a leave it remarkably well for one with still very little in the way of impulse control!
Day 3 continued much the same, slightly fewer outbursts.
Day 4 I decided to release the rats into the lower level as well, doubling their space but putting them at eye level with Womble - so I let them down for the night and shut them back up during the day, until day 6, (because for those who haven't had rats, once they get over their initial fear of something new, they tend to ping about in an excited fashion and use the excitment as an excuse to duff each other up or squabble over toys etc, behavior that would be JUST too irresistable for Wombles!)...
So Day 6, rats downstairs, at eye level with Womble. One episode of screaming, very breif and not causing fear in rats (who by now consider him just a random thing that screams sometimes and not a threat!), and some watching silently from a distance.
Something that has interested me though, and its behavior Ive seen before from him in a variety of 'shades'...
He realises he isn't allowed these rats, so he went back to the other cage where one now very elderly boy resides... 'can I eat THIS rat'... no he can't. So now he has taken to going and looking at the new rats, silently, then going outside into our back yard and yellign and scrabbling at the hole the wild rats are using!
We saw this behaviour in reverse when he was younger, he located the wild rats but couldn't actually get to them... so after a brief period, came running in and stared at the indoor pet rats!
I would love ot know how he is processing all this as he gets praise for going after wild rats, is praised if he kills one, has never been discouraged from wild rats, but obviously HAS been repeatedly redirected from the pet ones! For a boy of v little impulse control I am actually seriously impressed at his ability to compute that he is not allowed to kill these rats, but is allowed to kill loose ones.
*(For those wondering, i fully appreciate that if we ever have an escape of pet rats here and he claps eyes on one, he will kill it if he can. We take all reasonable steps to minimise the chances of that happening and thus far in nearly 15 years of keeping rats and rat hunting dogs it has never happened... but it might.)
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Reads like a LOT of busy dogs this weekend. Sandy becoming quite the little squirrel and flutterby hunter, and Womble learning the important subtleties of this rat versus THAT rat.
I've been continuing with projects here at the house. I completed the new rabbit hutch as the little bunnies aren't so little anymore. Then I tackled a whelping house for Chetan. Since shadow is so reactive Trish and I don't think it safe to let her whelp in the house, but early October is pretty darned chilly here. By the end of Octobers kids go "trick or treating" in costumes large enough to hide the multiple layers of clothing needed to face -30 degree (F) weather.
The house where Lucky whelped our Orion, Cassiopeia, Capella and Midnight's Sun was GREAT for a mid-summer litter. It was originally a goat or miniature horse shelter, so it was plenty spacious - but too spacious for an early October litter. I originally planned to just build a new, smaller whelping house, but after talking with my canine behaviorist friend, we came up with a different plan. I made a divider that slides into place to make a two-room doggy family mansion - so now it's basically a doggy den inside a doggy den.
The roof has always been removable, to provide access to puppies inside. As the puppies grow and mature and start needing more space all I have to do is slide the divider out, and they'll have nearly twice as much room still protected from wind and precipitation. Today I put it into the pen where Chetan is living, and where she'll raise her litter. I spend a good half an hour watching as she explored every square inch of it. Since it's been sanitized several times with a chlorine bleach solution, I suspect it still smells of Chlorox to her, but earlier this evening when I went out to feed she crawled out of her inner sanctum to receive her supper, so I think she approves.
Just a bit ago I shot a photo of the whelping house in place. Chetan was lying in the corner of the pen, enjoying the last of the day's sunshine.
Earlier this morning Trish and I vaccinated 14 of the dogs with the core vaccines recommended by AAHA. It's nice to have most of the team on the same 3 year vaccination schedule. Of course that requires that all the dogs in the yard get some lovin' and some treats and I don't think any of them even noticed that I was sticking a needle into their skins.
This afternoon we moved the bunnies into their individual apartments in the new rabbit hutch I built the other day. They all got a big bunch of dandelion greens and lettuce and it took them almost no time at all to make themselves right at home in their new digs.
I still have more dog houses out in the yard that need some minor repairs. Most just need to be refastened with screws rather than staples, a couple need new door frames or faces, and a few more need new roofs. I have enough spares in good repair now that I don't have to fret too much if I don't get all of them done before returning to work on Wednesday.
So far the nicer weather has been holding out - for which I'm very grateful.
I've been continuing with projects here at the house. I completed the new rabbit hutch as the little bunnies aren't so little anymore. Then I tackled a whelping house for Chetan. Since shadow is so reactive Trish and I don't think it safe to let her whelp in the house, but early October is pretty darned chilly here. By the end of Octobers kids go "trick or treating" in costumes large enough to hide the multiple layers of clothing needed to face -30 degree (F) weather.
The house where Lucky whelped our Orion, Cassiopeia, Capella and Midnight's Sun was GREAT for a mid-summer litter. It was originally a goat or miniature horse shelter, so it was plenty spacious - but too spacious for an early October litter. I originally planned to just build a new, smaller whelping house, but after talking with my canine behaviorist friend, we came up with a different plan. I made a divider that slides into place to make a two-room doggy family mansion - so now it's basically a doggy den inside a doggy den.
The roof has always been removable, to provide access to puppies inside. As the puppies grow and mature and start needing more space all I have to do is slide the divider out, and they'll have nearly twice as much room still protected from wind and precipitation. Today I put it into the pen where Chetan is living, and where she'll raise her litter. I spend a good half an hour watching as she explored every square inch of it. Since it's been sanitized several times with a chlorine bleach solution, I suspect it still smells of Chlorox to her, but earlier this evening when I went out to feed she crawled out of her inner sanctum to receive her supper, so I think she approves.
Just a bit ago I shot a photo of the whelping house in place. Chetan was lying in the corner of the pen, enjoying the last of the day's sunshine.
Earlier this morning Trish and I vaccinated 14 of the dogs with the core vaccines recommended by AAHA. It's nice to have most of the team on the same 3 year vaccination schedule. Of course that requires that all the dogs in the yard get some lovin' and some treats and I don't think any of them even noticed that I was sticking a needle into their skins.
This afternoon we moved the bunnies into their individual apartments in the new rabbit hutch I built the other day. They all got a big bunch of dandelion greens and lettuce and it took them almost no time at all to make themselves right at home in their new digs.
I still have more dog houses out in the yard that need some minor repairs. Most just need to be refastened with screws rather than staples, a couple need new door frames or faces, and a few more need new roofs. I have enough spares in good repair now that I don't have to fret too much if I don't get all of them done before returning to work on Wednesday.
So far the nicer weather has been holding out - for which I'm very grateful.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Well me and the dogs (and one cat, too) are all tucked up in bed together Scout sleeping like a person, Breeze tucked under a blanket at the bottom, and Parsnip sausaging alongside me. The real point of this post though, is this:
Lodger wants a puppy! I've put a thread for this in the breed section, so if any of you lovely knowledgeable people would like to take a look, that would be brilliant. https://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=19848
Scout sleeping like a person, Breeze tucked under a blanket at the bottom, and Parsnip sausaging alongside me. The real point of this post though, is this:Lodger wants a puppy! I've put a thread for this in the breed section, so if any of you lovely knowledgeable people would like to take a look, that would be brilliant. https://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=19848
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Oooh, exciting for Lodger! And I'm sure for you as well, to get to play with a little puppy that you don't have to get up in the middle of the night for
Speaking of middle of the night, that's when Baby Delta had an encounter with a baby copperhead.
he is doing alright, barely limping, bouncing around as usual. Obviously once I saw him yelp and jump and saw a little grey squiggle nearby, I got closer for a look ("closer" being around 4 feet away) and saw that yep, that's a copperhead. Brought him inside, called the emergency vets to be sure they could deal with a copperhead bite and then zoom off we were at 3 am. Vets said since he was a young healthy thing and the bite was doing well so far, I could take him home and keep watch over him. Anyways, long and short of it is Delta's okay so far and looks to be on the right path.
Speaking of middle of the night, that's when Baby Delta had an encounter with a baby copperhead.
he is doing alright, barely limping, bouncing around as usual. Obviously once I saw him yelp and jump and saw a little grey squiggle nearby, I got closer for a look ("closer" being around 4 feet away) and saw that yep, that's a copperhead. Brought him inside, called the emergency vets to be sure they could deal with a copperhead bite and then zoom off we were at 3 am. Vets said since he was a young healthy thing and the bite was doing well so far, I could take him home and keep watch over him. Anyways, long and short of it is Delta's okay so far and looks to be on the right path.Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Poor delta............ snake bite, dog.......... my worst nightmare.
Today is our birthday (mine and baby girls) there will be pupcakes and ice cream after dinner tonight!
Today is our birthday (mine and baby girls) there will be pupcakes and ice cream after dinner tonight!
Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2
Happy birthday gwd and babygirl!
Anyone want to swap dogs?
Last week Jasper chased a deer - only for a short distance, and he came back with nothing but a graze on his bum... how he hurt his bum when he was running forward, I don't know - he probably tried to jump a bush and landed on a branch. But a couple of evenings since then, he's yelped when getting off our bed and not seemed happy about going downstairs. One time I went up to the landing and gave him a bum massage, and his back end seemed quite shaky. But a moment later he was quite happy to come down the stairs and run down the garden. He's seemed absolutely fine in the day, but still occasionally seems a bit stiff in the rear end at some point in the evening. I've had a good feel and can't find any tender bits, and there's no limping. I'd get him checked out, but he's so scared of vets, physios, chiropractors, etc, he'd tense up so much they wouldn't be able to assess him.
Also, last night I found a flea on him, and today I found another (I haven't been treating him as I knew they'd be easy to spot on him and could be dealt with when necessary). So we've had a trip to the pet shop, where the owner put the treatment on him for me, which as soon as he realised what was going on involved us both pinning him against the counter - far from ideal, but it got the job done.
And, he's realised that if there's the tiniest gap at the side of the dog gate into the bathroom/cat area, he can get through. Up till now this has just resulted in him eating a few cat treats and a half-bowl of kibble, but today he managed to get into the big box of kibble. I can't remember how much was in it, but he actually left some, and I didn't think Jasper understood the concept of leaving food uneaten I wasn't too bothered until some time later when I noticed that his tummy looked a bit bulgy and felt tight, so checked on the internet... well, as you can imagine, within moments I'd read about goodness knows how many dogs who died from gorging on kibble, so I rang the vet.
His advice is to keep an eye on him, give him gentle exercise and plenty of water to drink, and to bring him in as an emergency if there's swelling, pain, vomiting, etc. We've just been for a short walk (Jasp took a lot of persuading, he might have thought we were going back to the vets), and thank goodness he was on a grassy verge when he had a bad case of the squits He does look a bit uncomfortable, but he's still capable of coming at a trot if I call him from the kitchen, and no doubt I'll get the usual whingeing and whining when teatime nears
He's making some pretty awful smells - the scented candles will be working overtime this evening.
I would like to do some gardening but when I tried just now he started digging holes and wanted me to kick balls for him, which I'm sure isn't what the vet had in mind when he said gentle exercise.
So OK, who would like to swap their dog for him? No takers?
Anyone want to swap dogs?
Last week Jasper chased a deer - only for a short distance, and he came back with nothing but a graze on his bum... how he hurt his bum when he was running forward, I don't know - he probably tried to jump a bush and landed on a branch. But a couple of evenings since then, he's yelped when getting off our bed and not seemed happy about going downstairs. One time I went up to the landing and gave him a bum massage, and his back end seemed quite shaky. But a moment later he was quite happy to come down the stairs and run down the garden. He's seemed absolutely fine in the day, but still occasionally seems a bit stiff in the rear end at some point in the evening. I've had a good feel and can't find any tender bits, and there's no limping. I'd get him checked out, but he's so scared of vets, physios, chiropractors, etc, he'd tense up so much they wouldn't be able to assess him.
Also, last night I found a flea on him, and today I found another (I haven't been treating him as I knew they'd be easy to spot on him and could be dealt with when necessary). So we've had a trip to the pet shop, where the owner put the treatment on him for me, which as soon as he realised what was going on involved us both pinning him against the counter - far from ideal, but it got the job done.
And, he's realised that if there's the tiniest gap at the side of the dog gate into the bathroom/cat area, he can get through. Up till now this has just resulted in him eating a few cat treats and a half-bowl of kibble, but today he managed to get into the big box of kibble. I can't remember how much was in it, but he actually left some, and I didn't think Jasper understood the concept of leaving food uneaten
I wasn't too bothered until some time later when I noticed that his tummy looked a bit bulgy and felt tight, so checked on the internet... well, as you can imagine, within moments I'd read about goodness knows how many dogs who died from gorging on kibble, so I rang the vet.His advice is to keep an eye on him, give him gentle exercise and plenty of water to drink, and to bring him in as an emergency if there's swelling, pain, vomiting, etc. We've just been for a short walk (Jasp took a lot of persuading, he might have thought we were going back to the vets), and thank goodness he was on a grassy verge when he had a bad case of the squits
He does look a bit uncomfortable, but he's still capable of coming at a trot if I call him from the kitchen, and no doubt I'll get the usual whingeing and whining when teatime nears He's making some pretty awful smells - the scented candles will be working overtime this evening.
I would like to do some gardening but when I tried just now he started digging holes and wanted me to kick balls for him, which I'm sure isn't what the vet had in mind when he said gentle exercise.
So OK, who would like to swap their dog for him? No takers?
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009