You make me laugh (or smile), the funny, sweet, loving things my dogs do on a daily basis that brings a smile to my face or a laugh to my lips.
Delilah, the way you drool on our walks, you make me smile. When you capture something in that drool and it hangs from your mouth….
Does this leaf make my mouth look big?
You make me laugh.
Do your pets drool on their walks? Have they ever ‘caught’ something?
Sampson is a social dog. If you ask my husband, he’ll say we socialized him too well. The minute he spies dog or person, he’s a dog on a mission.
If it’s a dog, he barks, yips and lunges trying to get to the other dog.
If it’s a person, he roos at them and pulls towards them. If they pass him by without acknowledgement he’s slightly dejected, but he will try again the next time he sees them. He just doesn’t give up.
Take the woman up the road who always seemed to be out working in her yard as we passed by. After a couple of days of rooing at her, one day she spoke to him. Three days later she pet him.
That’s a win in Sampson’s book.
Of course there are some folks that are just dog people and it really takes little to no effort on Sampson’s part. Take last Tuesday. I took the day off to spend with Sampson while Delilah had her dental surgery.
Sampson wanted to head a certain way on our walk and I let him go. It was not typically a way I would take him because we would be walking along a busy road and there were sidewalks only part of the way. Still it wasn’t a busy part of the day, so I figured why not. I knew it was a bit of a longer walk than Sampson is used to, but I thought if we take our time we’ll do okay.
About 25 minutes into a 40 minute walk he saw her. She was crossing the street to put something in her mailbox, he roo, roo, roo’d and before you know it, Sampson was getting loved on and she and I were talking on the side of the road.
Ah, this is a nice break from our walk.
After a few minutes, Sampson got tired of waiting and pulled up a spot on the ground. He lay there patiently waiting, just enjoying the day.
Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?
We chatted for about 15 minutes, which was just long enough for Sampson to catch his breath enough to continue his walk.
Do you think Sampson is over socialized? Is that even possible?
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In June we discovered our dear Delilah’s liver levels were slightly elevated. Since then we’ve had them checked twice and each time they seem to increase ever so slightly.
You’re talking about elevated liver levels again?
Last Tuesday she had her dental cleaning and a very bad tooth was removed. While Delilah doesn’t have dental disease I’m very hopeful the tooth is the root of the liver issues.
Still I want to be as proactive as possible, so I had my vet fax over the results of the latest blood tests to our Holistic Vet.
He called me Tuesday while Delilah was having her cleaning. Bottom line, he’s not super concerned about the slightly elevated levels.
Here’s why:
Delilah’s ultrasound showed her liver was the correct size, shape and texture and there were no obvious signs of liver disease, and no masses.
He did say that Gastrointestinal issues can cause the liver levels to become elevated. On the surface Delilah (or Old Iron Guts as we often call her,) doesn’t appear to have stomach distress.
I think she’s vomited three times in the entire seven years she’s been with us, and her stool is usually firm. She has however taken to eating grass lately. Not mowing on it, like a cow, but she takes bites here and there.
My vet has recommended a liver biopsy as the next step and both Hubby and I are very uncomfortable with it. I discussed the biopsy again with the Holistic Vet who asked me, “Will you do anything differently if the biopsy showed you something was wrong?”
Our answer to that is no. Don’t get me wrong. We want Delilah to be healthy and happy and are willing to spend the money to make her feel better. We just don’t want to do it with synthetic drugs, or chemicals.
The Holistic Vet wants to try supporting Delilah’s Gastrointestinal system and Hubby and I are on board with that. Since last Tuesday we’ve added Enteric Support by Standard Process and a Chinese Herb called Leaky Gut. I’m also going to be adding a probiotic (although they do get Kefir) as well as a good multi-vitamin. In addition, I’m making some dietary changes by trying to incorporate some new proteins.
With the tooth out, we will keep her on this new protocol and recheck her levels in two months. We’ll adjust our plan from there, when and if it warrants it.
Because I have a tendency to second guess myself, it helps to talk things over with a professional. I felt much better after chatting with the Holistic Vet.
Like we are on the right track.
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