Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – October 5, 2014

It’s Dog or Nothing said, “The fluffies’ pyr personalities definitely show through when they encounter something new. They always approach very cautiously in case any funny business happens. I love the way they stand a foot back from the object and stretch as far forward as possible without moving their feet ”

LOL yes, she was at the end of the leash too, stretched as far as she could while she made sure it was safe to step closer.

Walk it Off

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, “I love walking with my dogs, too; but I hate that I’d have to get them in and out of the car twice to go to the park for a decent walk. ”

I hear ya!  That is why I’ve taken to walking up the street, it’s a hassle with the ramp.  BUT the ramp might make it easier for Callie,  Sending good vibes her way.

Emma said, “Mom is laughing at the tip about letting us off leash to practice recall as we would be off and gone so fast!”

Well yes, you couldn’t go off-leash unless it was fenced.  Maybe a baseball field?  Ours are usually fenced completely in and it’s a great place to blow off some energy.  Although you and Bailie seem to do alright posing for pictures off-leash. 🙂

Beth said, ” I like that up command, seems like that would be really useful in an area without sidewalks!”

The original intent was to teach them to get out of the road when a car came, just in case (God forbid) they ever got loose.  But I don’t think they associate the car with the up command because if I don’t say it, they don’t do it. LOL

Frankie and Ernie asked, “WE went fur a ride in Jennifer Jeep today… and we had to walk down the stairs to get in her. Do you suppose THAT would count as a walk?”

No.  Frankie and Ernie, it does not count.  You need to attach mom to her walkin’ string and walk down the hill. 😉

Elevated Liver Levels ~ Delilah’s Story

Cupcake said, “GAH! She’s drunk on coffee and whiskey! Naughty girl! Mom said I was drunk last week from eating too many pieces of anisette cookies and then being the worst behaved dog at Read to a Pet Night at the library.”

Oh Cupcake.  Who gave you the cookies?  Perhaps you were just hopped up on sugar?

Retro Rover said, “I choose not to do a liver biopsy for Ping when they saw no obvious tumors because I just wasn’t sure what the benefit would be and it was risky. ”

I doubt that we will do a biopsy.  I plan on writing a bit more about this, after my talk with the Holistic Vet, but for right now we are taking steps to support her liver and will continue to monitor her levels closely.  I think you made a wise decision for Ping.

Sue said, “The mysteries can drive you crazy, right?”

It’s a very short drive, Sue. 🙂

Monika and Sam said, “Sam is now 9 and I have been concerned about dental care since plaque had been building up and the idea of putting him under once a year to get his teeth cleaned not a great option. So I introduced him to elk antlers in February and they have been miraculous in keeping the plaque at bay.”

Delilah is too hard of a chewer for the antlers, but I’m wondering about your ‘once a year’ comment.  Is that recommended where you are?  That is not the protocol here.  I actually had to ask to have Sampson’s cleaning done last year.  His teeth looked good, with very little plaque, but since he was 9 1/2 I wanted to get it done before he got much older.  Delilah’s was necessary because of the broken tooth.

Jan K asked, “So there are no symptoms that go with this? If you hadn’t had that other blood test you might not have known she had liver issues? ”

The only thing I’ve noticed and that has only been recently, is she does seem to eat a bit of grass at least a couple of times per day.  AND this just cropped up but I’m not sure yet if it has any bearing on this.  She’s lost a little weight.  I’ve increased her food but you can bet I’ll be monitoring this very closely.

It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses a Tooth

Houndstooth said, “Well, you have to love a girl who keeps you on your toes and provides blog material on a regular basis!”

Because really, without Delilah, there would be no Bisquick stories, no chicken neck stories, no packing peanut stories….the list goes on and on. LOL

Sue said, “Poor Delilah and poor you! It’ll be interesting to see what her blood work reveals once she’s all healed from the tooth problems.”

I’m very curious about that.  We are adding a couple of supplements to her diet, which I’ll share in a future post, but I’m hoping a combination of all of the above will make a difference for her.

That’s a wrap folks.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Laugh – September 28, 2014

Cupcake said, “GAH! Balsamic Spider! How yummy! Once I ate a butterfly. It wanted to be eaten. It flew right into my mouth. ”

Oh Cupcake, is there anything you won’t eat? LOL

Emma had this to say “Bailie was really bad when we first got her. Being from a litter of 14, she fought for food since day one, so she would hoover up everything and anything she found.  One morning right after we got her, it rained and those disgusting worms were all over the ground. She tried to eat those and I thought Mom might puke…yuck!”

Oh that would gross me out too.  My dogs like to rub themselves on a dried worm every now and then.  Of course, they get washed when they get home. 

Let’s Talk Turkey

2 Brown Dawgs said, ” So did you know that a flock of turkeys is also called a “rafter of turkeys””

I did not know that!  I did hear that a group of Baboons is called a Congress though….LOL  Although some websites dispute this.

Jessica said, “I think I’m a bigger coward than you are. My “go to” command for situations on walks is “Let’s Go!” Followed by turning around and going the opposite direction.”

I don’t think that is cowardly at all, in fact I think it’s very wise to know your pets limitations and to choose your battles wisely.  In this case taking the wait and see approach worked for me.  We were at a safe enough distance where I felt comfortable waiting.

My Dog Ate What? – WTF Wednesday

Molly the Wally asked, “LOL now that takes the biscuit. What next we ask?????”

I’ve found asking myself that question can have far reaching repercussions Molly.  Usually as soon as I ask that, I’m given the next challenge!

I can’t even tell you what Retro Rover said, it’s too gross. LOL

Dawn said, “I’m wondering, though, why charcoal would be harmful. Isn’t that what they give dogs when they eat something poisonous because the charcoal absorbs it?”

DZ Dogs said, “But charcoal? No it’s not dangerous unless its been treated with tons of chemicals. ”

You guys are sharp!  I looked this up when Sampson ate the packet and I knew one of them had the potential to be toxic, it was iron not charcoal as DZ Dogs pointed out.  I have gone back and corrected the post.

It’s NOT a CAT!

Lauranne said, “And perhaps you need to make yourself big and scary to cheer off the cat bear fox thing (I can’t remember what it’s called!) I don’t know if it’ll work but the idea of you walking around stomping your feet and flapping your arms amuses the hell out of me!”

I’m glad I can amuse you.  😀  You do remember my melt down in the street, no?

Monika said, “Sam does that sometimes. We’ll be walking along and all of a sudden, the leash pulls tight and I know “ugh, he’s taking a dump.” Could be in the middle of the street, middle of a sidewalk (especially going up toward front doors–awk!), wherever the notion strikes, this doofas will squat. Some days I want to wear a bag over my head and then I realize how sweet he is and just chalk it up to yet another idiosyncrasy. ”

I’d like to think that if you’ve owned a dog you expect the unexpected and you remember that when you see other dog owners.    That being said, I totally get what you are saying!

Pamela said, “I wonder if you should think of carrying citronella on the walks. It wouldn’t hurt the fisher and if you accidentally sprayed Sampson or Delilah, they wouldn’t like the smell but it wouldn’t hurt them either.”

That might not be a bad idea Pamela, I currently carry pepper spray but do worry about spraying myself or the dogs.  I’ve also been told an air horn would be effective as well.

That’s it for me folks, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up the week.

You Make Me Laugh – September 21, 2014

Jan K said, “We have to put Luke’s food dish in the middle of the room, because he likes to circle around it to keep getting a better angle at it!”

Luke reminds me of Delilah.  She licks her dish so thoroughly that it sometimes winds up in odd places.  The other night Hubby found it at the bottom of the stairs.

Dawn said, “I’m not sure if that’s a way to be smart or lazy.”

Well generally he’s a very lazy dog.  He will lie on the couch and when the Kong falls off, he just waits for someone to pick it up.  In this case, he was lying the wrong way and couldn’t reach the Kong, so he got off and stood up.

Please Don’t Hit Him

Lauranne said, “Do it, do it, do it!! With BD I am just desperate to find some friendly people that I can work with him with (does that make sense!!)”

It sure does!!  I think it would be wonderful to have someone in the area, to just practice with!

2 Brown Dawgs said, “Interesting. Don’t take this wrong, but none of the dogs in your situation acted appropriately.”

I totally agree with you!!  If my dogs hadn’t been asses, it wouldn’t have escalated to that point!

Emma said, “With us, Katie and Bailie normally walk right by any other dog, but I can be bitchy sometimes and if I growl or howl, it starts everyone going and it takes lots of arm strength to hold 160lbs of three dogs. ”

Yup, I’m holding back about the same amount of weight, it’s tough.

MelFr said “How wonderful would it be if both if you could practice working with your dogs together???”

I think it would be great.  While I’m NOT a professional trainer, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night and I do have friends who are trainers. 🙂  I have the basic idea of what to do, I just need to figure out how to implement it.

DZ Dogs said, “Maybe train with your dogs separately until you know that you can walk them together without incident?”….”Maybe a gentle leader would help you to better control your pups on walks?”

That would be the ideal thing, but I don’t have that kind of time during the week.  Then usually on the weekends I’m lacking the motivation.

I chatted with Maggie from Oh My Dog who suggested working on the “Look” command.  I asked about “Leave it” and she said, if the dogs have a solid “Leave it” that could work.  Did you know she has an e-book on clicker training for sale on iTunes?  Neither did I, but as soon as I find out the name I’ll pass it along to you.

For now I’ve changed our walking routine and will work the dogs good and hard on Look and Leave it.  And if I do get the opportunity to speak to that woman again, I will definitely do so and train the dogs one on one.

Sherrie Petrie, please check your spam folder.  I have e-mailed you several times. 🙁

Lick Granulomas – Caring for Critters Round Robin

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom asked, “Have you tried Cosequin DS for him? ”

No, my vet had a supplement in mind and since he’s due for his yearly I’m going to check then.

Jan K said, “Sheba licks her paws a lot, and we try do discourage it. Only once or twice did she seem to start with what might have been a granuloma….the last time was a year ago before we were going away. I think I cleaned it up with apple cider vinegar and water and my sister said when we were gone she wasn’t licking it anymore.”

I heard Apple Cider vinegar.  I’m going to have to bust that out again.

Kim T said, “Our lab/shepherd used to lick holes in his “wrists”

Ugh, that’s horrible!!  The poor thing.

Dawn said, “I never heard of lick granuloma until Sampson got it. Then Maya had it for two summers in a row. She didn’t have it this summer, though. I think hers were caused by insect bites and this summer was relatively mild as far as insects are concerned.

From what I’ve read sometimes something happens (such as a bug bite or injury) that draws their attention to that area.  They lick at it and lick at it and then it can become a habit.  In Sampson’s case I really feel like when he is uncomfortable he licks the wrists.

Do I Have Dirt in my Ear? – Thursday Barks and Bytes

Hawk said, “My Humans once lived in an area where there was an active dog thief steeling dogs for laboratory use.”

That scares me.  While I haven’t heard of an active dog napping ring in our area, I do know of some missing dogs.  Of course, that could also be due to wildlife (coyotes and fishers) but I’d just rather not take the chance.

Jan K said, “You make me worry about things I didn’t worry about before….like sticking my finger in my ear, and putting my dogs’ name on their collar (which I’ve always done).”

I’m sorry Jan, that is not my intent.  I watch the news too much. 🙁  We have two little dogs Burton and Zuzu and they have been missing since February.  Someone broke into the house and when the owner came home the door was open and the dogs were gone.  So far, there have been no leads.  If anyone is interested in sharing their information here is their Facebook page.  Someone has to know what happened to these little guys.

Caring for Critters Round Robin

Have any of you been following the Round Robin?  There are some awesome posts about so many things!!  I have added links to all the posts to the Community Page, if you have contributed to the RR please check the page and the blurb about your topic and let me know if you’d like anything changed.

Update on Leroy

Most of you probably know by now that Leroy is home from the hospital.  He has been diagnosed with severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  He’s doing better now, but he still has a long road ahead of him.  The response to the Go Fund Me page was amazing.  Thank you all so much for all you did to help.

That’s it for me, I’ll be back on Sunday with a funny story about what Delilah did last night that made me laugh.

Have a great weekend.