A Trip Down Memory Lane

Our senior dog, Linguini, the eleven year old dalmatian mix, was adopted when she was a little pup. M had been looking for her lost cat at the Pasadena Humane Society and had to pass by the dog kennels first. She saw Linguini shivering, all by her tiny self, inside an enormous outdoor kennel. It was November; a cold and rainy month. 

M was forced to jump through various bureaucratic hoops in order to adopt Linguini, but it was worth it. Of course, we have not adopted out of that place since. 

 M's peanuts instantly fell in love with this beautiful and sweet doggie.

Linguini grew up with Rosie, our beloved chocolate lab. Soon, she'll be joining Rosie at ... the rainbow bridge. We're trying to get used to the idea. 

Linguini is a sweetheart--an angel of a dog.

 She welcomed me into the family and was always gentle with my tiny sickly self.

Her second favorite thing is going places...

 ... but what she loves the most is FOOD!

Linguini is so sweet-natured, she even put up with Pedrito!

We love our senior spotted dog!

(She enjoyed yesterday's dog hike so much that she forgot about her dog arthritis and even chased after a bunny)

Twinkie

Counter Surfer

Who's the counter surfer in our family?

For those of you who know my pack, the answer would appear obvious. 

Hint: It's not Linguini, my dalmatian mix sissy

You're obviously forgetting that Pedrito is "special".

Wasn't me!

Dog Arthritis And Blown Cruciate Update

(continued from yesterday)

Our dalmatian mix's blood test results came in, and meanwhile we were also able to locate what was making her so violently ill. It was the medication (hormone) that we had her on for her dog incontinence. Linguini had a rare reaction to Proin (phenylpropanolamine). We have already taken her off it and later, after her health has improved, we'll start looking at alternatives. The mop and bucket (along with bleach and Nature's Miracle) will have to replace the Proin for the time being. That's all good news since she hasn't thrown up once in the past 24 hours. She's already getting stronger.

The limp is a totally unrelated situation we need to tackle. We're going to give Linguini a couple more days to recover from the reaction to Proin and then put her on Rimadyl twice a day for a week. At the end of that time period, we will reconvene with the dog vet and decide for or against surgery. There is still a slight chance that the cruciate is partially torn versus completely blown. If it's partially torn and it's the dog arthritis that is mainly acting up, surgery will be postponed indefinitely to spare the senior dog from going under anesthesia.

I got some comments about dog glucosamine and chondroitin versus Rimadyl. I am grateful for all feedback, but in this dog's case, supplements will not suffice. She's already been on glucosamine for dogs, and on chondroitin,  and on fish oil for dogs. Supplements are always preferable to medication, but only when drugs can actually be avoided. Under the circumstances, the drug, Rimadyl, will potentially help avoid a rather involved, risky, and expensive surgery, so we have to give it a chance.

Twinkie

Dog Arthritis And Possible Rimadyl Adverse Reaction

Our Linguini, an eleven year old female dalmatian mix, has been diagnosed with dog arthritis. 

She's had arthritic type signs for a long time. Due to recent sudden weight loss accompanied by acute vomiting, we rushed her to the dog vet to find out why she was wasting away so suddenly. What was making her so ill? The Rimadyl, the fish oil for dogs, or Proin (phenylpropanolamine), the hormone to help control her dog incontinence? The vet did x-rays and ran a new blood test (her last one was ten months ago).

The telling x-ray

The above x-ray clearly shows that our girl's left leg is heavily afflicted by dog arthritis, as is her spine. Surprisingly, her right leg doesn't show any signs of dog arthritis! After a thorough physical, our dog vet added that the dog's probably suffering fro a blown cruciate and will most likely need surgery. 

We're waiting for the blood test results to come in before we decide how to proceed. We are also playing around with her medications, to figure out which one may be causing the excessive and violent vomiting (the fish oil for dogs is not a suspect at this point). The cruciate surgery is promising. The chances of full functionality are really good. There are rare complications (breakdown) with this type of surgery, but we are lucky because our dog vet happens to specialize in it. The cons are significant as well: with a senior dog there is always an elevated risk during sedation, the recovery is long, and the cost makes us wish we had heeded our own warnings an PSAs and gotten pet insurance!

To be continued . . . 

Twinkie

Simple Math | A Dog Quiz For the Smartest Dogs

Today, we're going to do simple addition and multiplication.

Problem #1: How many 2lb chihuahua puppies does it take to make a 4lb teacup chihuahua?

* * *

Problem #2: How many 2lb chihuahua puppies does it take to make one 10lb chiweenie?

* * *

Problem #3: How many 2lb chihuahua puppies does it take to make a 64lb spotted dalmatian?

* * *

The Answers:

2, 5, 32

If you were able to solve all those problems correctly without looking up the answers, congratulations! You are among the smartest dogs. You passed to the dog quiz and you obviously rank highly in the dog intelligence scale. Have a great take, geniuses!

Twinkie

It's His Fault!

It was the puppy's fault I didn't get to post earlier today. He didn't let me sleep all night and then he kept me busy all day. Add to that a couple of long power outages and the seven cat-astrophes. . . It's already tomorrow in some countries.

I'd like to share more pictures of Junior not only for your viewing pleasure, but also for feedback. If any on you, have any clue as to the breed of this adorable monster, please leave us a comment. See, we thought he was a chihuahua, but then when a certain troublemaker, she knows who she is, insisted that the puppy is a dachshund, we started to doubt ourselves. Bottom line, we don't really know what he is. Not that we really care, but I for one am really curious. Is he a chihuahua like me, a chiweenie like my sissy, a miniature rhodesian ridgeback like my hiking buddies? I doubt he's a dalmatian like my older sissy though.

Until I find the truth, I'll keep referring to him as a chihuahua. Ready for some more chihuahua pictures?

 After keeping all of us up last night, he sleeps like a baby during the day,

and he sticks his tongue out at us!

 He also likes to eat my favorite giraffe.

 Don't be fooled by how cute he looks. 

"Little guy, you're a whole lotta trouble."

Of course, I'm going to be responsible for many of his behavior issues. I'm already teaching him how to respect his elder chis.

National Dog Week Day 1 & Contest

Happy National Dog Week everybody! I was shocked to find out that National Dog Week has been around for three quarters of a century. We can all thank William Lewis Judy for it. Mr Judy was a serious dog fancier. He helped create the Dog Writers' Association of America as well as National Dog Week in 1928. Thank you very much.

Some would argue that "any day is national dog week". I agree, BUT for those of us fortunate to have loving forever homes, this week means extra everything. Extra hugs, walks, hikes, and of course edibles.

I wanted to do something special to mark this year's National Dog Week and thanks to Yoghund, I am doing a free giveaway contest. Yoghund has mailed me 5 free box coupons to give away.

I posted about the upcoming contest yesterday hoping to get some good suggestions, but since so far my main input was that one of our furiends cannot participate in any contest involving physical activities and exertion, I decided to do a rather sedentary contest. 

National Dog Week Pet Photo Contest

by Twinkie:

SHOW US YOUR TONGUE

I live with a quirky mom who is into dog bums and dog tongues. Since the first one may be offensive to the sane dog owners, we decided to go with her second fixation, the dog tongue.

Send or post your TONGUE photo anytime between now and the end of National Dog Week. My email is twinkietinydog (@) aol.com and I am looking forward to your submissions. If you choose to post, please email me the link. I don't want to miss anybody. For those of you that lack imagination, think peanut butter, yogurt on a stick, something yummy. Go on, tell your parents and make sure you tell them what "ingredient" to use to get your tongues to look better. Furiends, you should have known my contest would be a fun one for the participants.

I shall leave you with some sample submissions, courtesy of my brindle chiweenie and spotted dalmatian sissies:

Synchronized ear and TONGUE action

I mock you TONGUE

Silly TONGUE

Desert TONGUE

Bite your TONGUE

Double your TONGUE

OMT

(oh my TONGUE)

What's THIS doing in my pet photo contest?

Which reminds me... all animal species welcome BUT frogs and lizards. That would be cheating!

May the best TONGUE win!

Twinkie

*** An update and a much needed clarification: One tongue per beast please.

Scorcher

When the temperature jumps up to the triple digits, it's nice to have a furiend with a pool. The other day, it was 103 degrees at my home, when the phone rang. It was my pal, Hank, the rhodesian ridgeback. He and his sister wanted to know if we would like to go over to cool down by his pool and have a kick back.
I jumped at the opportunity. I told the rest of my pack and they loved the thought too. The chiweenie put on her favorite leather collar, the dalmatian mix brushed off her fur (so she wouldn't get the pool full of hair, and I, the teacup chihuahua, went to work on M. She was easy to convince. We were out the door in under five minutes. Thanks, Hanky!

As soon as we arrived, Hank was anxious to show us his pool.

The chiweenie wouldn't go for it.

Linguini, chose a shady spot.

After our swim, Hank tried to spend some alone time.

"Not, today, Hanky boy. I have a headache."

We moved over to the front yard as soon as our furiends told us about Lizzy. We were curious.

Ay ay ay! Chiweenie.

The lizard is to your left! Other left!

The rhodies watched us go after the lizard, from a safe distance.

I thought they were laughing their heads off because of our unsuccessful hunt, but apparently they thought what I was doing was funny.

"Whaat? I'm just leaving you a little memento -- something to remember me by!"

Even the chiweenie understood my gesture. 

Overall, we had the best time! We can't wait for the temperature to rise again!

Twinkie

Dog Obesity

The obesity rate in the U.S. is still growing dramatically. About one third of of american adults are indeed obese. Great news for dogs: get off the couch and walk your pooch. Canine obesity is a serious matter. If you care about dog health, read on.

There are two main actions one can take to curb obesity: Eat less, exercise more. Same exact principal applies to your canine companion. 

1. Adjust the amount of food you give your dog. 

2. Provide your dog with regular physical activities, such as walks (a couple of times a day if there is already an issue), dog hiking, dog parks… 

All dogs are susceptible to obesity, just like humans, however those that are fed high calorie diets (that includes table scraps I'm afraid), and those that do not get adequate amounts of exercise are at risk. There are some breeds, such as doxies, beagles, and labradors that are known to be predisposed. 

Fact: Obesity affects 20-40% of all American dogs

Visible Signs: visible body fat, not visible ribs, from above your dog the belly is bulging out

Clinical consequences: difficulty exercising, walking, getting up or down, difficulty berating, and canine arthritis (in other words, extra stress on the already inflamed joints)

Causes: too much food very little if any exercise

Organs affected: bones and joints, lungs, heart and potential diseases include canine diabetes

Exceptions to the rule: hypothyroidism, insulinoma, intestinal parasites, fluid in the abdomen, pregnancy

The majority of dog obesity can be easily treated at home, cutting back on your dog's caloric intake and increasing the exercise periods. If you have tried this simple solution and see no results, it is a good idea to visit your dog vet for a proper evaluation, including blood tests that can rule out hormonal and thyroid disease. The dog vet is also where you can purchase low calorie kibble, although having checked all the ingredients on those (mainly byproducts and lots of corn meal), I recommend to stay away and instead use a good quality dog food in slightly smaller portions. Some dogs love canned pumpkin, green beans, carrots . . . See if your dog likes those. I personally use all of the above including a small dollop of non fat yogurt for my barely obese senior dog. I know many people who simply cut back by a quarter of a cup per day the food intake on a larger dog and they have no problems. I use both of my suggestions: I substitute some of the reduced kibble with veggies and I cut back a little of the dogs' food. This way, my dogs never know they are on a diet! Do not ever put a dog on a crash diet. That can both shock his system and make him miserable. Long term but steady weightless is the goal. 

Table scraps and treats are generally bad for dogs, but especially bad for overweight dogs. Some dog owners also use a large portion of dog treats, disproportionate to their dog's overall daily caloric intake. Be careful with that. A treat is just a treat, not a meal. The good news for dogs is that nowadays you can find many low calorie dog treats available. You can also substitute store bought treats with boiled chicken cubes, celery with a taste of peanut butter to make it more desirable, and experiment with carrots and other safe vegetables. All our dogs are nuts about carrots. 

Two cases:

1. Our brindle chiweenie is almost two years old and she weights 9 lbs. A week ago, during her physical, the vet recommended she loses one whole pound! That is almost 10% of her body weight. How did we miss it? Because of her age. As she is still growing, she would one day look chubby and the next normal. Now that we heard the dog vet's warning, We're watching her like a hawk and monitoring her food intake more than we did in the past. 

2. Our dalmatian and german shorthaired pointer mix is slightly overweight. Since she's almost 11 years old, a senior dog, she is also suffering from dog arthritis. I have to keep her weight as low as possible.

For both these dogs, I do as I said from the start of this post: healthy diet, regular exercise, and creative low calorie dog treats. My dogs' health is of chief importance. 

Twinkie

Hiking By Our Favorite Creek

We love our hikes. Hiking with dogs is my favorite pastime, even more so than running crazy with my rescue dog friends at the horse barn. So, we left the newborn kittens and their outdoor cat enclosure behind and off we went. My sissies, Frankie the brindle chiweenie, Linguini the spotted dalmatian pointer mix, and I, Twinkie, the teacup chihuahua, met up with the rhodesian ridgeback pair, Hank and Sue.

Our senior dog, that is definitely suffering from dog arthritis, took the lead

Everyone enjoyed drinking the fresh creek water

I enjoyed walking on it

We pressed on and had a blast exploring, smelling, and marking, but we were cautious because one must always be aware when hiking with a senior dog

And did I mention . . .

We love hiking with dogs. It puts a smile on our faces!

For now, we're pretending our senior dog's fatty tumors aren't there. Unless they interfere with her quality of life, we're going to leave them alone. Unfortunately, her aging seems to progress rapidly. She can not get in the car unassisted any longer and her front legs often "give" which leads to some not so pleasant face plants and a look of pure shock on our girl's face. No matter, we're all going to enjoy our dog hikes and life at it's fullest until we can't any longer. As for me, I have apologized profusely for leaving my pack and getting lost the other day. For a while, my apologies were not heard as I found myself hanging for a green retractable leash, but I took care of the problem. I hid the offensive leash (and that's one of my best dog training tips so far). 

Take your dogs for a hike, you'll all benefit.

Twinkie