The Lack of Agility :(

There has been a significant lack of agility around here lately :(

After our last trial it seemed like Hobbs was moving oddly. I couldn't pinpoint anything, so I decided to just let him rest. He seemed to be better, and I was ready to get him back in agility, when he broke a toenail. So we are done for the year. My plan is to start up again in January, and will be entering two trials in February....hopefully.

I am still debating whether he should go in to see a vet or not. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and willingly runs around like his normal self. The only thing I have noticed is that his walking gait has changed from a regular 4 beat to more of a pace gait. Patriot has walked this way since he was pretty young, but until recently, I hadn't noticed Hobbs doing it. That is why I am wondering if I should still take him in even though he doesn't seem to be in obvious pain.

As for Patriot, he is doing well for his age. He is going to be 10 in May!! He is really slowing down and I had to get him some stronger joint supplements because he was starting to have a hard time on the stairs and getting up after laying down for a long time. He is pretty content now not going on walks very much. He still enjoys them, but after 30 minutes he is ready to come home. It is really sad to think that he is getting old. I hate thinking about when he isn't here anymore. Hopefully that wont happen for another few years.

I have been really bad lately about taking pictures of the boys

I am going to try to do better next year!

Update

Hobbs started peeing blood this morning at Agility practice, so we got to go to an emergency vet (why is it that vets are mostly closed on Saturdays?). Turns out he has a major UTI but luckily no crystals. He got an anti-inflammatory shot at the vet because he was in a TON of pain (yelped when the vet went to feel his bladder), antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory's for the next two weeks. He gets to go back in two weeks for another check to make sure it is all gone.

I feel like I let him down by not noticing before now how much pain he was in.

To supplement or not to Supplement........

Oh wow, it has been a while sense I posted last :( That is because not much happens in the dog's life besides the occasional walk and trip to the dog park.

Hobbs is starting his next agility class on the 21st! Gosh! That is next week! I am very excited to have some time for him.....and me!

I have been trying to get the dogs out for walks, but Kaylee absolutely hates her stroller so it makes it hard. This past week it has gotten better, so we hopefully will be able to go out more. Hobbs has been getting on the treadmill every few days to get him back in shape for class. We also get to play agility every few days in the back yard.

Today he did his 6 weave poles with 4 of them totally upright! Only two of them are glued though, so they still move when he hits them, but he went through them perfectly 3 times in a row without missing an entry or popping out!

This class is going to be in a barn, which will be different, and also good for Hobbs because it will be similar to many of the competition venues here in UT. I am interested to see his reaction to the teeter sense the last time he was on it. Last time he did it at competition height and got a little overwhelmed and stressed by it. He did it again after a short break and seemed to be more confident, so we will just have to see how he does. I am planning to let him do it lowered for the first couple weeks to get his body and brain used to it again.

The class is only going to be us and 3 other dogs (that I know of) so it will be a lot of one on one time with the instructor. I will have to see what the weave pole situation is there, and I may need to bring mine, or just not practice them there....which is not ideal.

Patriot is still doing great on his allergy medicine, and is back to being supplemented for his joints.....we slacked on that for a while after Kaylee was born. And that brings me to the title of this post. I am considering starting Hobbs on joint supplements, but don't know if I should because there isn't a problem with his joints.

Back when I worked at a horse equipment store, we sold horse supplements and vitamins and our advice to people was "don't fix something that isn't broken". Meaning, that they don't really need to supplement a horse who doesn't have issues. This was my thought for a long time on giving Hobbs supplements. Lately I have been wondering if it would be healthier for his joints to have a little support when he is doing agility. It is a pretty joint stressing game, and I know that many people eventually need to supplement their dogs joints.

So everyone/anyone who still reads this blog, what is your opinion? Should I get some mild joint supplements for him, or just leave it alone?

Not Again!!!

WHAT IS WITH ALL THE FREAKING INJURIES!?!?!?!?!?

Ok, I feel better....a little. About a week ago at the dog park I kind of thought Hobbs looked like he was limping or maybe just walking funny. Then at my parent's house the next day the limping was confermed but only when he was walking on the gravel or dry sticks. I looked at the leg he was favoring (his right hind) and in between his toes was an odd looking bump with a perfectly round really small scab on it. I felt it and the bump was hard and kind of warm and Hobbs didn't really apreciate me touching it.

I didn't want to go to the vet for it, so I washed it off and dried it and put some atibiotic ointment on it. Then I wrapped his foot in VetWrap to keep it off the ground and keep it clean. It hasn't gotten worse and I have been keeping Hobbs off any gravel to keep from scratching the wound. Then today I put a VetWrap "bootie" on his foot so we could go to the dog park.....didn't work too well. It stayed on for a while but fell off and the limping began again. When we got home I looked at his food again. It looked fine, and hadn't been scratched at all.....just the same as it has been for a week. Now I don't know what to do. I REALLY don't want to go to the vet again, and can't really afford it right now (car break replacements can do that); especially just for a bump between my dog's toes. On the other hand I don't want it interfering with the Agility class we are starting on Monday. AGH! I am so frustraited! My plan for now is to keep it clean, dry, and covered in antibiotic ointment that is "made" for dog injuries. Oh, and no more dog park trips for a good long while.

Sorry, I just needed to vent a little. If anyone has suggestions let me know!

Mirror Lake and an Update

The boys and I went camping to Mirror Lake in the Uintas this past weekend....well Sunday night and Monday and Monday night. It was so much fun!

A friend of Robert's was having a personal crisis so we invited him with us. With all of our stuff and the dogs we were packed in there sooooo tight! Hobbs and Patriot were both pretty worried, I think they thought we were moving again. Poor Hobbs kept trying to take his toys out of the suitcase while I was packing. I don't know what to do to make him more comfortable when we travel (especially during the packing and getting ready).

When we got there it was sprinkling which quickly turned into pouring rain. I was really worried it would ruin the camping trip, but luckily after about half an hour it quit enough to set up camp. It would sprinkle on and off, but no more down pours.


Our Campsite


The boys in the pavilion during the rain


The trees around our campsite


Part of Bald Mountain

Inside the pavilion

The boys were put on long-lines tied to the trees. They weren't very happy about it, but there was a leash law, so they couldn't run loose. They slept in the tent with Robert and Me, and kept us very warm.

On Monday morning they went with us on a walk around the lake, and got to play in the water a little. Patriot had a good time swimming, but Hobbs kept jumping out and running down the trail like a crazy man. I took him down later and let him fetch sticks out of the water for a bit. I stopped because one time he couldn't find the stick and so he kept swimming out into the lake, and wouldn't come back because he hadn't gotten the stick. I finally had to pick up a stick and wave it for him to see. Then he started swimming back, but he got out there a long ways.

Hobbs on his long-line

Patriot on his long-line

Bald Mountain

We all went fishing most of the afternoon and I caught two fish including the biggest one of all, over 12 inches! The boys came with, and were tied to trees for most of it. Hobbs was a bit of a whiner, but he eventually laid down and relaxed. Dinner that night was great, fish and sloppy joes, and the dogs were patient and waited almost a hour and a half later for dinner.

I got a little bored and put Hobbs up on this stump for some pictures

He was so cooperative

The boys and the tent

Monday night didn't go as well sleeping wise. The wind had picked up, and so everyone was cold. Even Patriot with his huge fur coat was shivering, and came to cuddle right next to me. Hobbs had eaten too many pine needles and leaves and other junk which caused him to puke twice during the night. Not too fun to clean up.

Patriot went home with my mom, because we are going to the cabin and they are watching him. It was easier to send him with them rather than drive him down tomorrow. Hobbs is going to a friends house. We got home around noon, and at 4 Hobbs got to go into the vet for his infected neuter incision. Fortunately it isn't retained stitches, just an allergic reaction to the stitches. So $75 later we have some antibiotics and a note in his medical records to never use that kind of stitches on him again. The vet said something that I find a little odd. She said that for most internal stitches to completely re-absorb it takes around 6 months! I thought they just dissolved after like two weeks! I really hope this is it for me and the vet visits for a while.

Patriot's face looks like it is getting better, so I hope it doesn't flare up while at my parents house. I still have meds for him though if it does. I am looking into some pet insurance, but there are millions of providers so it might take a while to find one that works for us. Any suggestions would be wonderful!

Hobbs is getting really good with the clicker stuff! He now understands "touch" with my hand very well, and is learning "touch the toy" which I will turn into him knowing the names of his toys. He still gets frustrated and shuts down, but I just encourage him, or click for a small move in the right direction (such as just looking at the toy). The only thing I am not liking about the clicker training, is it is making him jumpy. Now when I ask him to do something simple like just a sit or down, he wont stay put. He just sits and then jumps up, or he will lay down and then sit right back up. I am going to work on it on leash so he will get a correction when he pops back up. I don't want this clicker stuff turning him into an ADD puppy. His obedience used to be so amazing.

Ok, this novel is over!

More Owies to deal with

Hobbs has an infection in his incision. I noticed about two weeks ago that there was a left over (not absorbed) stitch in the very end of this neuter incision. I pulled on it lightly but it didn't come out so I left it alone and forgot about it. Last night Hobbs was CONSTANTLY licking himself down there, and would only leave it alone for a second. Finally Robert looked at it, and it was infected around the left over stitch. So he cut the loop in the stitch and it came right out. **Caution this is the gross part**

Then out came a ton of puss and blood! He squeezed it a bit so that all the puss was out. Ok, gross part is over. lol!

It is still a bit red around the area but I am going to do warm compresses (or just warm washcloths) on it to keep the infection to a minimum. Does anyone know another way I could keep the infection at bay? Cross your fingers that it heals up and I don't end up having yet another vet visit and bill. I am seriously considering getting some sort of health plan for the boys so I am just making a monthly payment and then the really expensive stuff is covered. What is it with my poor injured dogs?!?

GDB Internship: Day 2

Today was pretty much like yesterday! I got a new CWT (canine welfare technician) to supervise me, so it was a little slower pace. Instead of dishes this morning, I helped clean the inside part of the runs (after the dogs being locked inside all night) and then I helped to feed breakfast. Then the day basically went the same, although I didn't help much with the kennel enrichment or toy times. Instead I walked a few dogs, and watched a training video on leash technique. I got a couple of breaks during the day which were nice.

During lunch I actually got to relax because I wasn't stressing over a flat tire. I did get a call from my leader though, saying that Hobbs once again got diahrrea at her house so if it doesn't go away in the next couple days she is going to take him to the vet.....which isn't cheap. I wonder if there is something in her water that doesn't sit well with him. Because it didn't ever happen at any other puppy sitters' houses. I guess he will just have to tough it out until I get home.

I got to watch some obedience testing for some of the dogs in my kennel, which was really interesting. It is great to see how happy these dogs are to work, and how much they love their trainers! I was walking a little dog, and she saw her trainer and about knocked me off my feet trying to get past me!

The kennel techs had a meeting to talk about fun day booths, but that is all I am going to say about it! If you want to know more, come to fun day!! I am trying to decide if I am going to go even though I don't have a PIT.

Here are some pictures I took, on one of my breaks, during nap time. Enjoy!! I wont be adding the names to most of the dog pictures, just to safetly stay within my bounds as an Intern.

The center and NorthEast Community Run areas

The SE Community Run

The center of the world in Training Kennel 1

The north runs....

and the south runs.
Now for the Kids!

This little gal is a guide, and has become my favorite (even though we are not supposed to have them) Her name is Babs

Here are some of the dogs on my list that I have said hello to....if your dog hasn't been given a special hello yet it is probably because most of them are not in MY kennel so I have to wait until I have an excuse to go into the other kennels.....which doesn't happen often. Anyways here is the list:

Velma - no

Loden - Yes...he is in my kennel

Lawrence - no

Lizzie - Yes...in my kennel and I am staying with her raisers

Remington - Yes...he is in my kennel

Sakino - no

Bono - no

Getty - I saw him/her but didn't get to say hi

Riff - no (the dog on the video was named Riff from 1994!)

Forrest - no

Femke - no

Belvedere - no

Bea - no

Duncan - no

Ontario - no

Andera - I saw his kennel run, but he wasn't there, so I didn't get to say hi

I am falling asleep typing so I am going to add more tomorrow morning...I wake up soooo early from just the one hour time difference!

Two Whole Days...

That is how long Hobbs lasted in his "e" collar. Lol, I got sick of seeing him struggle to walk around the house, and he was in enough pain that he needed everything else to be easy. I make him wear it at night and when he is home alone, just incase he decides to be naughty. He is doing much better walking around now. We only had to tell him off once for thinking about licking his incision, and now he doesn't even try. We tried to go for a short walk today, and he lasted about 5 minutes...then he started dragging his feet and really wanted to just stop. So we turned around and went home, and he has been asleep ever since.

Patriot went yesterday to live with my parents for the next couple weeks. Apparently he is already re-adjusted to being a farm dog. Hobbs will be dropped off on Saturday with my leader's family. I am still worried about leaving him with a puppy sitter while he is in this "fragile" state. I know that I am babying him, but Calliope's incision opened up and had to be re-stitched. So I am a little worried about that happening with him.....and I am much more attached to him than I was with her. Is that bad to say?

If I thought I had butterflies about my internship earlier, that was nothing compared to now! Packing has been crazy, and I know that I am going to forget something. I have tons of books on tape to get me through the drive, so hopefully I don't go crazy.

I will try to update this blog every day during my internship, with as many pictures as I can possibly take! It of course depends on if my host family has Internet (preferably wireless) so that I can use my computer.

Here is my list so far of dogs to say "hi" to:

Velma
Loden
Lawrence
Lizzie
Remington
Sakino
Bono
Leah
Getty
Riff
Forrest
Femke
Belvedere
Bea
Duncan
Ontario

Please let me know if there are any others that need some special attention.

Bad Day for Hobbs

Poor Hobbs got back from the vet a couple hours ago, and is not a happy boy. He is visibly sore, and hasn't moved since he laid down on his bed in the living room. Thank heavens for pain pills. The vet gave him an "E" collar (or cone) to wear because he was naughty and licked his incision. I feel so sorry for him!

I have only ever delt with one dog after surgery, and that was Calliope. She never missed a beat, so this is going to be new to me. Hobbs is supposed to wear his cone for two whole weeks!!! I don't think he will last that long in it....in other words I won't be able to leave it on the whole time. He is also not allowed to be off leash except in the house under close supervision.

This is going to make his puppy sitter's job pretty miserable. I actually feel bad that it worked out this way. I would MUCH rather he be with me during his recovery, but I am not giving up my internship to sit at home with my dog. lol.

Hobbs had been like this since he came home :(

Neuter Date!!

Hobbs is getting Neutered tomorrow!!

We never got his neuter letter because it was sent to an apartment I lived in a couple of years ago....3-4 moves ago. They are sending me another one, but asked that I get him neutered asap so I made the apointment for tomorrow. I am glad that we are finally getting this done!

Home Sweet Home!

Hobbs is finally home, and it seemes like he feels fine! He has been playing non stop with Patriot since he got here. The diahrea has made him lose quite a bit of weight, but I guess that is normal. He is still seems stressed and jumpy, but like I said in the last post, he didn't get a very good evaluation. As soon as he is healthy I am expecting him to go back to her house again. I am pretty sure he is still on house arrest.

Patriot is sooooo happy to have his buddy home! Lol, he was grinning for the longest time when Hobbs first got home.


Drinking water


Back together again!

Tomorrow!!!

I just heard from my leader. Not bad news, but not super good news either.

Hobbs hasn't gotten to go anywhere or be evaluated at all since Tuesday!!! The reason? He has really bad diarrhea again!! She got him a new bag of food, and that is when it started. He has been on a bland diet since then, but nothing has helped....and he vomited today. So he has not gotten a sufficient evaluation, but he is still coming home tomorrow. If he doesn't get over the diarrhea by Tuesday he is going to go to the vet. I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu from last July and August, when it took three different antibiotics (all together) to kick the bacteria in his system. Hopefully that isn't what we are getting into again.

My boy is coming home!!!!

Soooo i guess no one crossed their fingers....

So Hobbs has diarrhea again. I don't know if it is just the same thing or if it is because he ate a couple kitty poops out of the litter box on sunday night. Either way I am super sick of this! Plus I have been deathly ill yesterday and most of today so I can't really deal with him. I can barely make it down the stairs to the potty spot let alone hurry with him! So keep sending us your happy thoughts and we will see what happens. He is still on the low residue food so I am hoping it was just the kitty poop/litter.

Cross your fingers....

The diarrhea meds are gone!!

So Hobbs has been on meds (two different kinds) for the past two weeks and today is the first day without them. I am hoping beyond hope that we are past all the diarrhea and can get on with normal life. He is growing so big and is now officially bigger than Dodge. I can't believe that he will be 6 months old on friday! With Patriot it seemed that I had him forever before he was 6 months old! Dodge doesn't like to play with him at the moment because he is trying to get used to having the cat in the house. So Hobbs is livin on tie-down so that he doesn't harass Dodge. We are working on getting them to just hang out together like they used to be able to do.

I have been thinking of ways that I can write to calliope's person so that it is easier for her to read my letters and respond. well there is a center for the blind here in Bakersfield, and I am thinking they may be willing to type up a letter for me in braille. I am going in on monday to talk to them and I hope they can accomidate me. Other than that nothing much has happened here. Oh! The Bakersfield summer is over!! Around here it is either 110 or a balmy 85! I am so happy that Hobbs wont have to suffer through the heat any longer. Now we can take walks at times other than 8:30 in the morning. I am just hoping that this is really fall around here and it doesn't bump back up to being summer.

Here are some pictures of our favorite puppy!


Just a funny face


A good view of how big he is getting


Hobbs and his Kong


This one is a little dark but I love that Hobbs cocks his head like this



Awww what a cutie!


I realised there are no picutes of me and my husband on this!
This is a while ago (you can tell cuz my hair is long) in San Fransisco. Robert drove up to go with me to Calliope's graduation.


And an addorable picture from Hobbs' first day with me!

Giardia Update:

Hobbs does not have Giardia or any internal paracites! The vet thinks he may just have an overgrowth of bacteria in his system so he is on two different antibiotics and a low residue dog food. Hopefully this will go away soon and we can get back to normal life. The other possibility is that he has a food sensitivity (whatever that means) which is harder to treat I guess.

To the vet again we go!!

Sooooo Hobbs is going to the vet again tomorrow morning to have a Giardia test and hopefully they will fix it this time. Hobbs has had diarrhea for almost 3 weeks now, and lots of people are getting concerned. Hopefully there wont be any permanent damage because then I will feel awful. Cross your fingers that this is the end of the diarrhea and we can move on!

Vacation update

So Hobbs has Demodectic Mange! Sounds gross but apparently it isn't contagious (Megan I was super worried after Sherman and Hobbs played at puppy meeting). IT is just a mite that all dogs have on their skin that can flare up in puppies and is pretty easy to fix....easy but expensive. Hobbs' Diarrhea finally cleared up after a couple pills from the vet. He weighed in at only 34.8lbs that is only 4 lbs heavier than at his 16 week shots! I guess they don't gain very much living on rice lol!

We went to the puppy meeting in Orem and met Sherman (who is very handsome) and all the other puppies in that club. It was so nice to be in a club again where we actually get to work on things. Hobbs benefited a lot from that meeting.

I have notice that this vacation has made Hobbs mature a lot especially in the socialization area. Before we came out here if we went more than one place Hobbs was stressed and wouldn't just lay down and chill. My husbands best friend got married on Saturday (the whole reason for the trip) and Hobbs and I went with him to the rehearsal (which took most of the day!! j/k part of it was running errands for the bride) and rehearsal dinner which were on Friday. That included going to three different tux stores to figure out a problem, Walmart twice, into a bunch of different people's homes, and eating his dinner (of icky rice) on the run, and of course a restaurant. By the end of that Friday he was pooped. The next morning he went to the puppy meeting, the vet and had to be left there for an hour getting his medicated bath, then to a few other peoples houses, then to the wedding where he sad quietly the whole time with a ton of very noisy people, then we stayed for the entire reception with hundreds of people there wanting to pet the puppy and ask questions. My husband and I wanted to dance so I tied his leash to a chair and told him to wait there for me and we went and danced for a while and when I came back he was sitting patiently (if not just a little worried) for me! He finally got to go home and crash around 10pm. Such a good little puppy!

I just hope he is ready to handle Fun Day. Has anyone ever boarded their puppy at GDB the day before Fun Day? I don't think Hobbs is ready to walk around San Fran all day and am leaving him at GDB for the day. I am just wondering what the puppies get to do that are being boarded there. I really hope they get to play with other puppies so that it isn't so stressful.

Anyways there in my update....sorry it kind of turned into a novel.

Not a happy vacation for Hobbs

So Hobbs' vacation has kind of taken a turn for the worst. He has had Diarrhea for almost a week now and says that he is thoroughly sick of eating rice. He has an appointment at the vet for a skin issue (I told him he is not allowed to have allergies) and hopefully the vet will figure out the diarrhea thing. As for now he is just pretty unhappy.

THE VET!!!!

Ok I am going to vent for a little while about my visit to the vet and I posted some pictures of Hobbs.

I just went to a vet where they refused to take the reimbursement form and insisted that I was to pay for the services myself. I am assuming that I just fill out the form and send it in to get reimbursed but I don't know for sure.

Also I specifialy told the vet that I only wanted the DA2PP shot like it says on the papers, but I just looked at my invoice and they gave him the Corona virus shot as well! Without my permission! I just assumed that the DA2PP shot came at two separate shots....stupid of me I guess. So now I am out $20 because I know that GDB wont pay for the Corona virus shot. I am wondering if I can get my money back from the vet for the second (unotherized) shot....lol I am not expecting to.

I wonder how many puppy raisers have this problem with their vets. I am definatly not going back to them for his second set of shots! I wonder if having GDB call them and explain the reimbursements and shot schedule would help keep this from happening to other raisers. Anyways here are the pictures:





Trying to make a break for it off the table!



Sitting nicely!




In the car afterwards....feeling a little icky.