Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

I’m a Lepto Maniac

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I got that tee-shirt at the Blog Paws Conference this past May and I absolutely love it!!

Siriusly you guys, Leptos is the only vaccine I voluntarily give my dogs.

I’m not anti-vaccine by any means, but I do question certain ‘protocols.’

Vaccine Doses

I’m uncomfortable that an 8 pound Maltese would get the same amount of vaccine as a 90 pound lab and that a 90 pound lab gets the same dose as a 130 pound Newfoundland.

Frequency

I also question the frequency of vaccines and if our pets (and we) are protected longer than we think we are as well as what immunities are passed down through parents who have been vaccinated.

Combination vaccines

Merriam Webster defines a vaccine as such, “a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease.”

These organisms work with your immune system to develop antibodies to help fight off that particular disease. Personally, I think combination vaccines are too much for one little immune system to handle.  And if my dog is already working their immune system fighting off an infection, I pass on the vaccine until (s)he is feeling better.

And next year, when both of my dogs are scheduled for Leptos and Rabies, I will space their shots about two weeks apart.  It may seem radical to some people, but I feel very strongly that their immune system should be able to focus on one thing and one thing only.

Leptospirosis is a Zoonotic Disease

Washington State Department of Health defines Zoonotic, “A zoonotic disease or zoonosis (plural is zoonoses) is any disease of animals that can be transmitted to people.”  And Leptos qualifies as a zoonotic disease.

Newer vaccines vs established ones

Leptospirosis is a fairly new vaccine, at least in my area. Relatively new as compared to say Rabies.  I had read an article written by a vet who felt the vaccine didn’t last for a year and that the vaccine might in fact lessen symptoms so I wanted to be sure I mentioned this to my vet.

Dr. Soutter says the vaccine covers four strands of the Leptos virus and two of the strands are the ones we see in this area.  She feels the vaccine may last a little less than a year or perhaps even a little longer than a year, but she is very comfortable giving the vaccine.

It’s been a bad year for ticks

I always ask about Lyme.  We have a lot of ticks and although we use a natural tick preventive, we still get the occasional dog tick.  Normally I find and remove them before too long, but the little deer ticks that traditionally spread the Lyme are very hard to find.

Dr. Soutter said the Lyme vaccine has gotten better in terms of protection, but she still sees a lot of reactions to it, reactions such as lumps, painful injection sites, etc.  We passed on the Lyme vaccine.

We did have blood drawn for the Four Way Snap Test, which tests for Heartworm Disease, Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis.  Dr. Soutter says with this test, no news is good news.  Fingers and paws crossed we don’t get a call.

Heart Like a Dog

So what was Sampson doing while he was being poked, prodded and pricked?

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He was getting rubbies, lovies and treats from Chris.

Sampson lives in the now.  He is not worried about what he did yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. He embraces each moment for what it is.

In my opinion, that’s a great attitude to have and something I’m striving for in my life.  What about you?

 

I Spy With My Little Eye

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The leaves have been falling in our little corner of paradise for the last three or four weeks.  Last week during one of our walks I noticed that Delilah had a bunch of leaves plastered to the back of her left foot.

Fotor01019220717 Yup, poor Delilah.  She stepped in an ass bomb.

I pulled the leaves off and wiped as much of it as I could off and when we got home, I washed her foot.

Now if this had been Sampson I’d have had no idea where he picked this up, but seeing as Delilah is on leash and limited in her travels, I figured she picked it up on one of the trails.  So the next time we were out there, I found the offending pile in the middle of the trail and removed as much of it as I could.  I say as much of it, because the ass cake was right in the center of an embedded rock.

And no, butt nuggets do not rock.

This month’s #ScoopThatPoop blog hop is Poop Poetry.  I guess I should have checked before I designed this post.  Because I don’t have any poetry prepared.  I had to do it on the fly…sorry!

Don’t fly the coop
After you drop that poop
Teach your human to scoop
Before someone steps in that goop
And falls on their ass with a whoop!
 

I know it’s not always easy, I mean I’ve had them both pooping at the same time on different sides of me.

As I’ve mentioned before, poop from a raw fed dog is much harder than a standard poop.  What I may not have mentioned is….the color.  My dog’s poop is a mustard/yellow/gold color.

Did I mention that a LOT of the leaves that are falling in our woods are yellow?  Yup, sometimes I just can’t find that poop.

For example, see if you can spot the poop in this photo.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA (Yes my trained eye found the offending Lincoln Log and picked it up.)

This may not be the best example because most of these leaves have dried and turned brown, but I think you get the point.  Go ahead and guess, I already have a photo ready for Friday’s post that shows you just exactly where the colon cake is.

It’s like the Where’s Waldo of poop.  I spy with my little eye…….butt butter.

Anyway, I know all of you clean up after your dogs, but we need to find a way to get everyone to do this, it really helps cut down on the spread of diseases.

Besides, it’s the environmentally friendly thing to do.

So how do we get people to understand the benefits of cleaning up after their dogs?

Jump Mama

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K-9 Kamp Kounselor Delilah here again, updating you on all the things we are doing to get fit and keep K-9 Kamp F.U.N.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, this month is our 2nd installment of K-9 Kamp.  A great challenge hosted by our friends Koly and Felix at Kol’s Notes, Kelly and Ike at Peggy’s Pet Place and Gretel and Chester at You Did What With Your Weiner.

k9kampbadge-300x300 Right now we are still taking advantage of walks in the woods after The Mama gets home from work.  If she gets right to it and doesn’t diddle around, we have just enough time for a 30 to 40 minute walk.

Even so, we’ve been working on some fun things to do with The Mama to help her get into shape, as well as keeping Sampson and me, healthy and active as well.

One of my new favorite games to play with The Mama is a little game I developed called, jump the leash.

It works like this.  The Mama is always holding the leash in her left hand, so I with my Ninja like Lab skills, will dart around behind her back, and then cut across her path so she has to jump the leash.

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When I do this I say, “Jump Mama”

And The Mama says, “How high, Delilah?”

The Mama: Excuse me?  I do not say that!

Um, I’m pretty sure you do Mama. 

Um, I’m pretty sure I don’t Delilah.  And the reason I know this, is I am too busy trying to draw air into my lungs and keep from falling on my ass.  

You say Toe-may-toe and I say Toe-ma-toe Mama.  I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.  And Mama?

Yes Delilah.

Remember all those times you said, “Give me five minutes Delilah, I’m trying to finish a blog post?

Um…..yes?

In case you weren’t aware, I’m busy working on my latest K-9 Kamp post.  People and dogs are relying on me to help them get into shape and stay motivated.  Give me five minutes please Mama.

Excuse the interruption, The Mama struggles with not being in control.  Anyhoo the leaves are falling fast and furious in our little neck of the woods and we have to be super careful when we are walking because the leaves make the trails slippery, especially when we are going downhill.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA So whenever possible we try and stick to the flatter areas, although against my better judgement I have let The Mama off-leash a couple of times.  Just to get down the steepest part of the hills mind you.

Wherever we are, you can be sure we work The Mama hard, to make sure she’s going over, under or around various obstacles.

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The harder part is getting her to move along at a good pace, she’s still a little on the S.L.O.W side.

So how are you all doing with your K-9 Kamp?  Are you helping your humans get in shape or are you just keeping score at home?

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