Camellia Camelo

[CarolW]

Gail Dame and Camellia and I met in a school parking lot a bit after 11 this morning. We took an hour and a half - really hit it off, chatting, while Camellia indicated she wasn't REALLY ready to let me touch her yet, but the first picture here shows that a bit of Lamb and Rice Rollover could attract her attention. Sensible Gail hadn't fed her this morning.

She had no trouble with the unusual diet, either.

We just took everything slow and easy. Camellia had never worn a harness before, but we fit her with one from my collection of various sizes. Gail got her into her crate in my car, and off we went.

Camillia was quiet in the car; no complaining.

When we got home, I put all the gear in the house, leaving Camellia shut in the crate, till I was ready. Then I opened the crate door, and with a bit of patience, managed to attach the leash to the harness.

Then it took another half hour or so, with Camellia centimetering or mllimetering steps at a time, easing out of the crate, with some Rollover encouragement. Turid Rugaas, your work, of course, was operating throughout.

Camellia hesitated quite a bit at the cliff of the car-to-ground distance, and then she did a Kwali-sail-off, traveling on a hypotenuse of some five or six feet (but Kwali would have done 12 feet).

It was all too much at that point, and Camellia bolted for the road, but of course the harness-leash combination brought her up, just a bit sharply. I gave with the leash, to minimize the jar as best I could.

Camellia turned toward me, and squatted. GOOD GIRL! She eased herself into the grassy area, and shortly, produced a stool only a bit soft from all that Rollover influence, but otherwise, very good!

Then we puttered along the path to the double-baffle gate. Camellia was a bit hesitant about passing this barrier - so close to her, so obviously intended to confine, but she followed me okay into the baffle in just a moment, and I shut the Outer Gate.

Camellia allowed me to remove her harness without flinching. GOOD GIRL!

So then I opened the Inner Gate, and we were home, in the yard.

Camellia explored, doing a quick agility-course on the log rounds, and then quickly came up into the Front Parlor, which used to be the Front Stoop, and easily came into the house.

She spent much of the afternoon going in and out (I left the front door open), going to the Inner Gate, as if to say, Okay, now it's time for me to go home. Kumbi did the same thing on Kumbi ComeDay.

As the afternoon progressed, Camellia explored the house, and some of the yard, and took brief little naps, rousing and fleeing when I got up and moved around, but very shortly returning to me. Periodically, I gave her a bit more lamb and rice Rollover.

Camellia sniffed at the Dog Food Bin - she could smell her own food in there (thanks, Gail). So I put a quarter cup in her food dish in her crate, which used to be Kumbi's crate, but is located where Kwali's crate always was, beside my desk.

By late afternoon, she was really quite hungry for some substantial food, but hesitant to eat in the crate facing its back. So I moved the food and water dishes, putting them on the floor in front of the crate door.

I added another quarter cup of Camellia's kibble to her food dish, then dropped in about three tiny pieces of Rollover. First, Camellia went after those, dropping a couple of kibbles on the floor right next to the dish; then, she demolished the entire contents of the dish.

GOOD GIRL, Camelia! I've been saying her name surely five million times today; I did call her TJ once - just once, shortly after we got home.

She's responding to "Camellia" - of course, could be just as easily to my voice!

I tried her on the dog door, but she wasn't having any of it, not even with Rollover, so | just left that alone. Early evening, when I came out of the bathroom, I couldn't find Camellia.

She popped into the house through the dog door!

GOOD GIRL, Camellia!

By mid-evening, Camellia was rolling over for belly-rubs, and allowing me to run my hands over her body, as long as I progressed slowly and didn't move suddenly.

She's not used to being allowed on the furniture, as far as I can tell, though at first I also thought she didn't know about dog doors, but it's clear she does know that. I have her blankie on Our Bed; let's see what happens tonight!

Off to bed in a few moments. Four pictures from today are in my Camellia photo album.

1) Gail in the parking lot with Camellia in her van.

2) Me sitting in the parking lot, with Camellia approaching for Rollover

3) Camellia in the yard, near the log-round agility course. The logs in the background are outside the fence.

4) Camellia lying on the living room floor.

We are both tired. I slept only two hours last night, will have to rest and nap a lot. Camellia had a VERY long day. I think we'll try a bit of a road walk tomorrow, a couple of hours after breakfast, and see how that goes.

Good night, all!

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:14:20

Dear friends at k9diabetes - Kwali and Kumbi have surely chosen well. Camellia will have her own page on Coherent Dog, when I have time to make it!

Camellia had a REALLY bad experience when she was spayed a few months ago. Coming out of anaesthesia, Camellia bit. The assistant apparently punished her! This was a huge setback, and where Camellia had previously been outgoing and happy, she became shy and nervous.

I can tell she'll overcome this eventually, assuming I can protect her from any other such traumatic event

She's a wonderful dog, a Havanese about 3.5 yars old, in perfect condition (I can feel that with my hands).

She comes from seantiagohavanese.com. Bev Dorma of mistytrails aided us in the exchange, as did my beloved neighbor Terri, whose Havanese Keegan enchanted me.

I got lucky. Yes; I got lucky.

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:16:41 (PDT)

[diggydog]

Oh Carol - she is so cute.
I am so pleased for you and the news of your new arrival has made my day.
Kwali and Kumbi done very well for you!

[Tikobird]

Carol - a new adventure guided in spirit by Kwali & Kumbi....enjoy the ride & keep us all in the loop :)

[CoolGram]

Carol - I'm sooooo happy for you, AND also for Camellia for finding such a fabulous new mom and home. She may not know it yet, but she is one lucky dog - and how adorable! I'll be watching for further posts about your progress as you get to know each other.

Carolyn

[k9diabetes]

:) Congratulations!! :) She's adorable!!!

She will figure out that she's safe. Jack never once looked at us when we met him.

I sure hope someone set the vet and the vet tech straight!

Natalie

[Patty]

Carol,
Congratualtions!!!! :D:D:D
So very happy for you both!!
Patty

[ozzi]

Carol,
I don't know which one is more beautiful: Camellia or you, my bff!! She is just gorgeous, and somehow I doubt she will remain shy or nervous for very long. How could she, with all the love and attention that you will be providing? Seriously, if I ever become critically ill and need constant care, I'm moving in with either you or Marie (Bruno's mom)! Carol, I wish you the best of luck with Camellia...I already know it's a match made in heaven. Camellia is one lucky little girl. I'm so happy for you. This news has made my day!
Love,
Kevin

[BestBuddy]

Carol,

I didn't realize you were so close to finding your new dog and now you already have her. She is beautiful and so lucky that you have taken her in. Camellia is a beautiful name and before long in your care she will truly bloom.

Jenny

[CarolW]

I'm really pressed for time right now, but your responses fill my heart with joy. I'll be back when I can, likely not till tomorrow.

Love and hugs to all - ALL of you here on the forum share the kinds of love and compassion we humans with diabetic dogs tend to have!

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:56:01 (PDT)

[Ladybug]

Dear Carol,

I do think that Kwali and Kumbi made a very wise choice and, they knew when the time was right! She is absolutely beautiful and I adore the name!

Looking forward to hearing more!

Linda/Ladybug :)

[ladysmom06]

Dear Carol,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Camellia is so beautiful - I am so happy for the two of you :D:D:D:D. Looking forward to hearing more about her. Hugs to you and your precious girl.

[Dollydog]

Oh Carol, I am so thrilled for you both....what a blessed little doggy to be living with you and sharing your life! :) I am looking forward to reading about the new adventures that you two will be enjoying together.
(((HUGS)))
Jo-Ann

[CarolW]

Thanks, Linda, and everybody else who replied.

I managed to get a page up for Camellia. I'm falling asleep at the keyboard again, so will come back later.

http://www.coherentdog.org/camcome.php

G'Night all!

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:44:55 (PDT)

[O'Riley]

Wow! This is great and happy news. She's adorable and you two look as if you were made for each other. I love Camellia's hairstyle...the way the bangs cover one eye, and my, what sparkling white teeth she has. She's a lucky, lucky girl to have found her home with you, Carol. I'm certain everyone on the board would agree that if any of us ever comes back as a dog, we would all hope to get you as our owner.

Best wishes for a long, happy and healthy life with Camellia.

~Rosey

[CarolW]

Again thanks for your lovely posts! Camellia and I are both badly needing a lot of rest, but we've been very busy getting through the basics of introduction to our lives together. Part of my effort is to establish the daily routine and ritual that are so reassuring to dogs, when we humans can mostly provide that - some semblance of similarity from one day to another, of how daily events go. This allows the dog (and the human too) to know what to expect.

Which, in turn, provides the sense of security and stability that all dogs - and humans! - need, for best health and comfort.

I did get my Camellia ComeDay page up, and have begun to work on Camellia's Journal, but it will take me a few days at least to get the first of that series up on Coherent Dog. Probably I'll post a fairly detailed journal of Camellia's first few days, or week, with me, and thereafter, occasional reports, or descriptions of significant or exciting or fun events.

No question; the Havanese are a true companion-breed for humans. Just amazing, really! Camellia has clearly been very well raised and trained. She sits nicely to have her harness put on, when at first, it scared her to have anyone reach for her head - but this harness has to be dropped over the head. Now she doesn't even shy away from my dropping the harness over her head, and she also sits nicely while I attach the leash.

GOOD Camellia!

More later; I'll be working on the journal, and pointing you there, but now, Camellia and I both need a LONG night's sleep!

People here REALLY understand what dog-and-human bonding is. All of you provide the great intensity, and the careful attention, that makes truly great care for your dogs.

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:20:19 (PDT)

[eileen]

oh Carol, I just took a look at the picture of your very first meeting...what a beautiful girl she is!

Her coat looks alot like Mildred's littermate, Patsy.

Can't wait to hear the adventures of your new life together.

[Margaret Boyle]

Carol.

I am so happy for you and I know Camellia has found a great new dog Mummy.:)

It is exciting for you getting used to Camellia and learning all her wee tricks, and for her to getting to know you :D

I wish you both lots of happiness, and good health.

Hugs

Marg

[CarolW]

Ahh, Margaret; you understand dogs so well. Yes, wee Camellia - not so very wee, as she's "too big" for the breed standard (Havanese) - and that contributed greatly to her being available for me! - has so many of these luverly DOGGY things she does! Lots of them are things Kwali and Kumbi never particularly did, and it's with TOTAL fascination that I watch her!

The woman who sold her to me said Havanese don't dig, but she was referring to digging out under a fence, and I expect she's right about that - but Camellia DOES dig, and that makes me happy. She also lies down with her paws crossed, or one paw tucked under. Kwali and Kumbi didn't cross their paws, but very rarely might tuck one under.

I'm too beat to continue working on Camellia's journal - I keep falling asleep, but will have to note some of the luverly things she's doing. For now, I'll go have a long nap with her - we BOTH really NEED it!

So, back sometime later; not necessarily today!

Hope wee Lucy is doing well, Margaret. I'm watching!

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:04 (PDT)

[CarolW]

i sent the following note to a few friends (the Havanese people, and some un-diabetic buddies), this evening:

*** paste ***

Here are a couple of links where you can check on Camellia's progress, as I update the pages, which I hope to do occasionally.

The journal pages are only barely sketched in, and I hope to add to the ones that are up now - far too tired to do it now.

I won't have that many daily pages, but it's interesting to have them for Camellia's first week with me.

Best start with Camellia ComeDay, here:

http://www.coherentdog.org/camcome.php

and then continue with Camellia's Journals (there's a link at the bottom of the ComeDay page).

In case you get lost, the Journals start here:

http://www.coherentdog.org/camjrn01.php

There's also a Parts List on that first Journals page, as well as the links down the right sides of the pages, under "Latest."

Camellia is currently well-sacked out on Our Bed. She has her legs close to the edge, lying on her side, and her head hanging over the foot of the bed - first time I saw her do that! I think she's not in danger of falling off.

When I get up from the computer chair, she MIGHT follow me! Has been doing so, but less and less easily disturbed. GOOD DOGGIE, Camellia!

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 22:01:59
Carol and Camellia Camelo Suerte del Cielo DulcePaws
http://www.coherentdog.org/camcome.php

*** end paste ***

No sooner sent - than Camellia FELL OFF THE BED!

I heard her scrabbling, got up quickly; she was trying to climb back up at the foot of the bed, but didn't have enough solid stuff to hang onto - just loose bedding and mattress, and she had precious little (essentially no) room to maneuver in, as she was caught between a night table and the end of the bed.

I gave her a boost, and got her back up on the bed. Checked her over just generally, though she didn't seem to be hurt, only scared.

She seems fine. I left the room, and she jumped off the bed and followed me.

Now she seems reluctant to get on the bed at all. I'll have to play this by ear; I may invite her up again, then boost her up if/when she comes, but I have her sleep on the INSIDE, against the wall, while I'm on the outside, so she won't fall off. However, SHE will have to be responsible for sleeping up away from the foot of the bed, so as not to fall off there!

Just call this an instance of famous last words!

Camellia has now gone into her crate to nap till I come to bed, which I hope to do shortly, but first, I need to move today's photos from my camera to the computer. I'm taking LOTS of photos!

The links in the note I sent should work for you, my beloved k9diabetes forum buddies, as well as for anyBodyBrain else!

I'm off to do the day's photos - then to bed. Back tomorrow, doG willing and the creek don't rise.

Love, hugs, licks and wags to all forum members - dogs and humans alike.

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 23:12:26 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Hard for me to believe it's Tuesday already, which makes this Day 9 for Camellia and me together. Camellia is still startling very easily, so her cortisol levels are still quite high. We need lots more rest (Camellia does, and I do too) before her stress-hormone levels can be expected to drop low enough so she doesn't startle-and-jump, say, at a leaf blowing in the wind. Or at me scuffing a foot for some reason!

I've cut back to one walk a day, to reduce exposure for now.

Feeding at six a.m. and p.m. isn't working so well. Camellia isn't ready to eat at 6 a.m. She seems to manage at 6:45, but I think I'll change to 6:30 a.m. and p.m. and see how that goes, before I give in and do it at 6:45 or 7.

It's SO useful to have a dog on that schedule - necessary type of schedule for diabetes, but dogs who don't have diabetes can benefit also.

It's especially good if you have to give medication that needs to be given with - or without - food! - 12 hours apart!

I'm beginning to feel slightly better, having a bit more rest, but I need so much more, and so does Camellia, so we should continue suiting each other very well!

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:06:16 (PDT)

[peggy0]

Carol

I've been away and didn't see the post about your new love Camelia!!! She is just adorable and so lucky to have you as her new mommy. You, Kevin and all the folks on this board are so wonderful to look for and love special needs pups. I know you're a match made in 'heaven' :)

xo

Peggy

[CarolW]

Oh, Peggy; thanks for your comments! Indeed; I am SO VERY fortunate to have found this dog, of course, with Kwali's and Kumbi's help; ha!

Managed to add a couple of pages to Camellia's journals today; one covering about four days - it can be really hard to keep up with this, and journal pages will become only occasional now.

But I'm really thrilled at how well Camellia is doing, because a dog so easily startled can be difficult to bring along. It seems, though, that the woman who let me have her (well, so she sold her to me, but for a nominal price), must have been right when she said before the traumatic spay experience (23 April 2010), Camellia was a normal Havanese - very friendly, outgoing, and stable.

So she'd had nearly four months of instability - and that's how I managed to get her! She would not, likely, have been available to me otherwise; I can't afford to buy one of these dogs - normally!

It seems our forum members are EXTREMELY lucky people, especially if we keep a weather (and lee) eye out for dogs we want, as Kevin managed, with Ozzi's help, of course, to get Kobi.

And you, surely with Forbin's help, found Toby! I swear, our forum members are DRIVEN! Probably, that's the only way to be, if you truly need another dog!

Please update us on Toby, too! It's been a little while since you posted about him!

Aren't we LUCKY Humans!

Love and hugs,

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:27:15 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Forgot to add a link to the new journals.

One will do; then use the NEXT button above the top main picture on the page to find the next one.

http://www.coherentdog.org/camjrn09.php

I tell ya, my beloved forum buddies - being here is the greatest place to be, to share not only care for diabetic dogs, but just about anything else concerning caring for - and living with- these fabulous creatures!

And of course, we never, ever, EVER forget those who have preceded us to the Bridge. They surely keep in touch with us; all we have to do is open our hearts to them as we did when they were here on Earth with us.

Hehe!

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:33:11 (PDT)

[CoolGram]

Hi Carol,

I just finished reading Camellia's daily journal and enjoyed it, along with the pictures, so much. You are doing a wonderful job with her and I know she's going to be very happy with you. I'll be checking back often for new chapters.:)

Carolyn

[CarolW]

A quickie update on Camellia and me - we have been given notice to vacate the trailer where I've lived for nearly 10 years - because my landlord needs to move into it, for his health. It's now clear to me he would have given me notice for earlier, but he very kindly refrained, while I nursed Kumbi, and THEN, until I was able to get another dog. That was VERY nice of him!

I have a line on a place, though they weren't planning on permitting a dog; yet appear willing to reconsider. A previous tenant had a dog who howled at two in the morning. Something about separation anxiety - gosh - the dog didn't have somebody home then? Must not have been one of those well-cared-for AND diabetic dogs!

Hope to go view the place sometime between now and Sunday.

I'll keep you posted.

I went for medical insurance, for illness or injury, for Camellia, and chose Trupanion, which has very good features about it, and I could happily recommend the company for North America (Canada and the U.S., which is where they have coverage; don't know if other places).

http://www.trupanionpetinsurance.com/

There's a start-up fee, then a five-day wait for injury coverage, and a 30-day wait for illness coverage. I think our 30 days are up as of today, approximately, so we should now be fully covered. I took the zero-deductible, which covers 90% of costs.

So if Camellia were to develop diabetes, my costs would be bearable. They do NOT cover routine care, including dental, so I have to teach Camellia to have her teeth brushed! Haven't tackled that yet, but soon will. I've been changing her food, as she was on Eukanuba Small Bites Adult Maintenance. I don't know WHY Iams insists on using those nasty preservatives, BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin.

Camellia's current food is one called NOW! - apparently a new company which uses local sources for ingredients. It strikes me as being rather high in protein, and I MIGHT not stay with it; we'll see.

http://www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=160

I'll let you know if/when we find a place to live!

Camellia sends her love and best wishes to all k9diabetes forum dogs, whether diabetic or not. Oh, to cats, too, though she would be a cat-chaser if off-leash!

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:03:50 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I'm really great about putting my paw in my mouth. There are people who must WORK at two in the morning, away from home! Quite possibly, the owner of the dog I mentioned in my just-previous post wasn't aware he was howling at two in the morning - at least, not at first, but I expect the landlord let the person know.

Separation anxiety requires long and careful work to reduce and then prevent. There are drugs that can help, but they need to be used together with behavior modification, as it's called, desensitizing the dog to being left alone at home.

It'll be a long time before I try to teach that to Camellia, as we need to get her fully comfortable, first, which could easily take a year or two. I AM glad I'm retired, and my time is my own - and Camellia's!

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:09:27 (PDT)

[BestBuddy]

Hi Carol,

I am sorry to hear that you have to move out of your home after 10 years. You seem to be taking it well, I on the other hand would be a complete mess.

I guess all that matters is that you get a roof over your head and room for your trusty dog then all will work out fine. I wish you success in finding that perfect place soon.

Jenny

[Patty]

Wow Carol. I too hope you find a nice place very soon. What a difficult situation. Please keep us posted!

Patty

[Dollydog]

Well Carol....I've been wondering how you two were making out and now I know!! Wishing you all the best in your hunt for a place to live and hope it's way better than the one you're in!! Wouldn't that be awesome! Glad your present landlord was kind enough to not move you out while you were looking after a diabetic dog and looking for a new one.
Lots of prayers coming your way....
Jo-Ann

[Margaret Boyle]

Hi Carol,

I do hope you get a place soon, what a situation to be in.

Keep us posted:)

Hugs

Margaret

[CarolW]

Oh, my most dearly beloved forum buddies - all your good wishes and prayers WORKED!

Yesterday I signed a year's lease for a really lovely place. I had gone to look at another, the night before, and hated it, but made a verbal agreement to take it, because it is SO difficult to find places around here that will take a dog.

But it was dreary, and I could only have had a tiny dog-run - no bigger than a boarding kennel, really - and with lattice fencing insufficiently high to be really secure, because the owner didn't want wire! Lattice only would have increased the darkness, too.

Yesterday morning, a beloved neighbor who is good at searching real estate on the Internet sent me email around 9:15, showing a place just up the road from me. I phoned the property management agent, and he agreed to meet us at ten at the place.

We'd done our morning promenade, so I popped Camellia into the car, and went and woke up Parrot Lady, who is Camellia's goDMother.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/parrotlady.php

Marg is a NIGHT, not a day person, but she agreed to join me to look at the place - where my head is fuzzy, hers is sharp!

Two hours later, I was signing a year's lease. The rent is beyond my means, but I should be fully eligible for a grant to cover part of the rent monthly; and we'll just squeeze by that way.

I can put in a dog-run - rather, my friends will. Not as big as our current one, but satisfactory, and I'll bring a few of Camellia's beloved alder logs!

Camellia loved the place too! She's just learned to cope with open outdoor stairways - learned that at the groomer's, then at Marg's. I used a clicker to help teach her.

http://www.coherentdog.org/clickbridge.php

It's light, airy, and really beautiful. It's partially furnished, and I decided to go ahead and rent it furnished - most of what I need is there, and I'll have a big garage sale and sell off my stuff from my current home.

Nothing will change about my address except the street name and number and the postal code. My phone will stay the same, also, my email address, so no hassles there.

We got home early afternoon, and immediately, I phoned the people who own the place we looked at the evening before, and told them I'd taken a different place. I made sure to tell them it was the dog-run that made the difference. I said NOTHING about the darkness of the place.

But where night before last, my heart was drowning in self-pity, yesterday and last night and today, my heart is singing with joy. Light makes SO much difference, and TRULY, Camellia needs a proper dog-run where she can feel safe and secure. Now she'll have one.

A side story: I was driving up and down that road day before yesterday, before we went to look at Dark Place - and a big construction truck was blocking the road. Turns out this truck had knocked down a fire hydrant Water was gushing and running down driveways. I took a couple of photos. Then we went to town, and after, to view the Dark Place.

The place I took is just above that fire hydrant. I wonder if that has some significance; haha!

Lots to do today; gotta run; I'll keep you posted!

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:09:55 (PDT)

[Patty]

Oh Carol,
I am soooo happy for you! I do understand what a difference light and space can make and the challenges of looking for a place that "fits."

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! And I'm so happy to hear about the grant! :)
Patty

[CoolGram]

Carol, I'm so happy that you found a nice place to live, I know it must have been such a worry for you. And it's nice you're not going far. I know you'll be very busy over the next few weeks, but soon you'll be settled again and you can begin the process of getting comfortable in your new surroundings. I'll be thinking of you.

Carolyn

[Margaret Boyle]

Oh, my most dearly beloved forum buddies - all your good wishes and prayers WORKED!

Yesterday I signed a year's lease for a really lovely place. I had gone to look at another, the night before, and hated it, but made a verbal agreement to take it, because it is SO difficult to find places around here that will take a dog.

But it was dreary, and I could only have had a tiny dog-run - no bigger than a boarding kennel, really - and with lattice fencing insufficiently high to be really secure, because the owner didn't want wire! Lattice only would have increased the darkness, too.

Yesterday morning, a beloved neighbor who is good at searching real estate on the Internet sent me email around 9:15, showing a place just up the road from me. I phoned the property management agent, and he agreed to meet us at ten at the place.

We'd done our morning promenade, so I popped Camellia into the car, and went and woke up Parrot Lady, who is Camellia's goDMother.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/parrotlady.php

Marg is a NIGHT, not a day person, but she agreed to join me to look at the place - where my head is fuzzy, hers is sharp!

Two hours later, I was signing a year's lease. The rent is beyond my means, but I should be fully eligible for a grant to cover part of the rent monthly; and we'll just squeeze by that way.

I can put in a dog-run - rather, my friends will. Not as big as our current one, but satisfactory, and I'll bring a few of Camellia's beloved alder logs!

Camellia loved the place too! She's just learned to cope with open outdoor stairways - learned that at the groomer's, then at Marg's. I used a clicker to help teach her.

http://www.coherentdog.org/clickbridge.php

It's light, airy, and really beautiful. It's partially furnished, and I decided to go ahead and rent it furnished - most of what I need is there, and I'll have a big garage sale and sell off my stuff from my current home.

Nothing will change about my address except the street name and number and the postal code. My phone will stay the same, also, my email address, so no hassles there.

We got home early afternoon, and immediately, I phoned the people who own the place we looked at the evening before, and told them I'd taken a different place. I made sure to tell them it was the dog-run that made the difference. I said NOTHING about the darkness of the place.

But where night before last, my heart was drowning in self-pity, yesterday and last night and today, my heart is singing with joy. Light makes SO much difference, and TRULY, Camellia needs a proper dog-run where she can feel safe and secure. Now she'll have one.

A side story: I was driving up and down that road day before yesterday, before we went to look at Dark Place - and a big construction truck was blocking the road. Turns out this truck had knocked down a fire hydrant Water was gushing and running down driveways. I took a couple of photos. Then we went to town, and after, to view the Dark Place.

The place I took is just above that fire hydrant. I wonder if that has some significance; haha!

Lots to do today; gotta run; I'll keep you posted!

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:09:55 (PDT)


Fantastic Carol:D

I am so happy for you and Camellia I wish you both lots of happiness and good luck in your new home, this will ease your mind..

Hugs

Margaret

[Dollydog]

What awesome news Carol....I'm so glad you're happy about your new place....and it sounds like a great "fit" for you and Camellia! I hope you'll be able to stay there for a very long time.
Jo-Ann :)

[eileen]

FANTASTIC news, Carol !

So glad your new place will have all the comforts that you and Camellia will enjoy.

hugs

[ozzi]

Carol,
I felt so badly when I read that you had to move after 10 years, and I could not be happier for you that you found a great place! I'm really thrilled that you didn't have to compromise and take that dark house with no place for Camellia to run and play! I hope the move goes smoothly, and if I lived closer, I'd be there in a heartbeat to help you!
Best wishes,
Kevin

[CarolW]

Most dearly beloved forum buddies - you all so WELL understand about dogs and their Real Needs. Humans, too!

I find it hard to believe it was only yesterday I signed that lease - yet I've been over there twice since; once yesterday afternoon, once this afternoon. I parked there, took Camellia out back a bit at the new place, just to look around again, then came home again. Today, though, we parked there again, went up the open stairs (Camellia is now handling that well), got a bare peek inside through just barely open blinds. Then came back down, and walked up the road some. I'd bought Camellia a new harness in town today, wondering if part of her reluctance in walking is some discomfort with the harness. I tested the new one before buying, and she DID seem more comfortable in it; then same this afternoon. I'll post a picture eventually.

Camellia did SO well in the pet store today; I was thrilled! Some young children around, who were well-behaved (that really helped) - they didn't run around and scream. A cat - Camellia passed very close by, and didn't chase the cat; I've been concerned about that, as we have local roaming cats, some rather aggressive, and Camellia makes to chase them. But the cat in the store was REALLY savvy, acknowledged Camellia, and Camellia sniffed at the cat, and then came along with me politely.

During all the harness try-ons, in which I had to remove her harness and leash, she stayed safely, quietly, with me. totally unlike my Australian Terriers; I could not, safely, have taken them off the leash, because they'd chase whatever passed by, and be at risk of running out into traffic. Not Camellia!

She was fabulously patient, while I struggled with the rather weird fastening, over the back. This is a step-in harness. I never could get Kumbi to step into a harness. Kwali MIGHT have managed it. But Kumbi had a Thing about harnesses anyway.

I bought the harness, and after we got home, I worked out how to handle it, then tested it on the walk. Went very well. We'll see how things go on with it.

We got a bit wet at the end of the walk. When we arrived back at our old home, Camellia did her Identified Flying Object run, from one end of the trailer to the other - some 60 paws - I mean, feet. Jumped up on the bed, rolled and (Allison), dug in the bedclothes, and again did her IFO run. What a blast!

We'll have to re-orient the IFO runs at the new place as there's no long hallway, but I feel very sure Camellia will find a circle-route among the variety of tables, chairs, rooms, and the like!

Evey fall, winter and spring in this trailer has had me struggling with depression for lack of light. THIS fall, winter and spring, I know it's not going to happen. There are skylights in the kitchen-living room, and also in the bedroom, which is very small, but with the skylight - and a porthole! - it'll be fine!

Oh - and having the ocean view is great - it's not so much the ocean, though that's lovely, but the ability to see a long DISTANCE - a far horizon - that counts. Haven't had that for some ten years now. I can keep an eye on the weather that way, too!

Look ahead; look astern, look the weather and the lee.
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sail-ed we!

NOT assail.

Going to bed shortly! I can rest some now, and we WILL be settled in a month or so, I think!

Thanks so much for all your cheery posts! They increase my joy by Camellia-and-Terrier-type leaps and bounds! Sharing this with you quadruples (at least) the joy of it!

Good night, dear buddies!

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:06:09 (PDT)

[peggy0]

ah a place by the sea!! Its so good for the soul and your health!! Congrats carol on the find and the great work with Camille. Sounds like she is becoming one happy little dog. I'm soooo happy for you!

xo

peggy

[eileen]

I have a visual of looking out over the ocean, I much prefer the mountains myself but can imagine the view of the horizon and how nice that must be for you.

Sounds like you and Camellia had quite the day!

hugs

[CarolW]

I love it that you share my joys; this really is a great place to do it!

That road this place is on is where I lived from May, 1974 to January 2001, but I was considerably farther down the hill on that road - on the waterside, TOO exposed to wind and chill. This place, though high up, is better protected.

And we get to stay in my home community. Imagine - it's like this forum.

We hit a milestone yesterday! Camellia, just before her supper last night, began to CHEW one of her bully-sticks! I never thought she would, but left them on Our Bed anyway. She chewed, total, well over an hour - before and after her supper. She took the bully-stick out into the yard; I was afraid she'd bury it, or lose it down a hole, but she did neither, and came back in with it later.

A milestone for the Equinox, and an auspicious omen for our move.

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:11:46 (PDT)

[Ladybug]

Dear Carol,

Deep in my heart I do believe that Kumbi and Kwali are right by your side, guiding you and Camellia every step of the way, making sure that everything is how THEY would want it for their doGmom and sister. Not deary and dark, but full of light!

I've been reading your thread in the background and I'm so happy that you have finally found the perfect place for you and Camellia.

You must post photographs once you get settled in!

Linda/Ladybug :)

[ozzi]

Carol,
I agree with Linda...we want photos! I want to drool over your ocean view!! I'm totally jealous here (and full of joy for you)! And when's the housewarming?? LOL
Kevin

[CarolW]

Hey, Linda! Surely I'll put up pictures. Camellia and i have gone to our new place each day; went a bit after noon today, and Camellia chose to walk down, rather than up, the road. Our walk wasn't all that long, but it was very pleasant and slow. Camellia is just nothing like Kwali, who generally "walked" as though running away - in fear! Pulling, and fast. Camellia ONLY pulls if there's some particularly fascinating smell she wants to track. Kumbi, too, would pull a lot, but far less than Kwali did. But the two of them together did quite a job pulling! They WOULD, however, stop if I said, "Wait." Goood doggies!

With Camellia, it's the other way around; she goes slowly, slowly. I think she's checking out her new world. Kwali and Kumbi - I agree with you - thought a slow dog would suit me about now!

This afternoon, I was reeling with fatigue, needing a nap, but it was not to be; my landlord kept coming by. We were working on transferring the fuel oil for heating, and the electricity, accounts.

Then my next-door neighbor came by - we'd agreed on the visit, yesterday. She's a sweetie, and stayed only about 20 minutes - saw how tired I was. Camellia quite takes to this person. As well she should. She has good taste in humans; ha! So did Kwali and Kumbi.

I also suddenly realized, late this afternoon, that I actually CAN 'move" on 1 October. When I move, I bring the computer. Well, making arrangements with the phone company today, I asked them to hook up the number I use exclusively for the modem, and they can do that on 1 October. For the other line, the one I use for voice phone, I have to wait till 21 October, since a second phone line has to be run to the house (one is already present, and can be changed to the new number via office-switch, I believe).

I have adequate furniture in the new place, as it's mostly furnished and the bed is really comfortable - and wider than our current Our Bed, which is nice for both of us.

Then I can gradually move the rest of the stuff I'm taking during October. And sell off the rest.

I'll be paying double-electricity in October, keeping it on in the old place, so the place doesn't get too damp and grow moldy. My landlored was surprised when I told him I'd keep it on during October. But he's done me a LOT of favors, and it will help ME, too, keeping stuff for sale from having problems.

The new place has electric heat, which is lovely, because it's so clean. The furnace here in the old place emits dust no matter WHAT you do, and it's a constant battle keeping the dust down.

Working out details and logistics seems to me very complex right now, and my brain is SO fuzzy. I feel about as overwhelmed as people with a newly-diagnosed diabetic dog!

But Camellia keeps me sane. Kwali and Kumbi chose SO wisely for me! Camellia agrees. She says, my HumanMum is perfect for me, of course, because I'm perfect for her.

Good night, dear Forum Buddies All!

Yip, yip. yes, good night, from Camellia

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:24:05 (PDT)

[CarolW]

The goDs must be smiling on us. The other night, I met the also-new-tenants who are moving into the main house. They are doG-people, and very empathic, sensible, and their values match mine very well indeed. Wow! A great property manager, and great neighbors.

The three things I MUST have in order actually to move are:

Camellia - and her stuff - including a secure dog-run (hope I have enough wire and posts to make a new one at the new place, because I suddenly realized I ALSO need to have the old one up until I finish selling stuff off, and actually vacate the trailer).

A working phone (that should happen, no problem, on 1 October).

My computer in the new place. Aha; means I need furniture to hold it, too! So there IS non-animal stuff to be moved; haha!

We had another milestone today; that is, Camellia had her first professional grooming since becoming my dog. I'd guess her grooming till now has been rather casual, as probably, she wasn't shown, being too big for the Havanese breed standard.

My fabulous neighbor up the hill, who has a Havanese and helped me get Camellia, pointed me to a groomer who doesn't advertise. Doesn't have to. She's so good she's always swamped.

This woman, Kate, takes things at a pace to allow the dog to learn, so today all she supposedly did was to brush Camellia. But I notice she ALSO did a bit of clipping in strategic places; seems she clipped toenails, though I haven't looked up close yet, but they'd be more noticeable from a distance than they are, if she hadn't clipped them.

Camellia is REALLY tired this evening after that experience; and I am too, but because I've lost SO much sleep, and most times I try to nap in the day, I get interrupted. Now my glucocorticoids are running so high I can't STAY asleep at night - (see Pip's thread on the diabetes forum) - so I get a few hours at a time.

The more I get done, the better the logistics, the better I'll be able to sleep. It will take time. Probably the most complex thing I face is locating the dog-run. Property-manager will help me work that out.

I gotta say, Camellia looks SO good after her grooming! To avoid mats, she'll need a bath soon, and Kate will let me do it at her place, and at the same time, instruct me. Kwali and Kumbi just got washed about any which way - well, not entirely, but it was pretty rough and ready. I want to do it right with Camellia because of the possibility of matting in that hair!

It's time for me to turn into a canned pumpkin, not pie filling; if I don't, I'll foul up everything I type. Good night, dear forum buddies!

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:47:33 (PDT)

[CarolW]

update on Camellia - she had done so well with her brushing session that groomer Kate thought she was ready for a full grooming session - that would be THREE HOURS, non-stop! - perhaps with a pee break in the middle.

So, this past Wednesday, I took Camellia for that full grooming which included clipping her coat right down, quite short.I made sure to get a proper winter coat, for the cold weather.

Camellia did very well with the session, though both she and I were very tired afterwards; I helped with the bath, in order to learn Kate's techniques, and then with the blow-dry before Kate finished off with the final clip-down. She had cut off quite a lot of the coat BEFORE the bath - why wash hair that's not going to be there!

I found it fascinating to be able to see Camellia's structure. It looks good to me!

We took possession officially of the new suite yesterday. I brought a few essentials over - a food dish, a water dish, for Camellia. With a neighbor's help, we brought some of the ex-pen panels - quite a few, so I could confine Camellia on the landing just outside the front door. Had the perfect length of pen-fence for that.

But I also hope to install a dog-door, which means I have to find a door, put a pet-door in it, and store the current door. Once you put such a door n a door, there's no taking it out again!

Still extremely short of sleep, lots of interruptions, and I'm hoping to go to bed very early tonight, Camellia, of course, at my side!

She's getting more relaxed, despite the huge stresses! GOOOOOOD Camellia!

Love, hugs, licks and wags to all, from Camellia Camelo and me. and from Kwali and Kumbi at the Bridge.

Sat, 2 Oct 2010 19:05:00 (PDT)

[Patty]

But I also hope to install a dog-door, which means I have to find a door, put a pet-door in it, and store the current door. Once you put such a door n a door, there's no taking it out again!

So glad the grooming session went well Carol!...and that the move has begun.

We are doing the same thing on Monday. Having to take the original door off to install one with a pet door since we don't own the home and can't put a storm door up.

Usually we install a Storm door with pet door in it made by Larson. Just an idea to consider if your landlord will allow it.

Take care,
Patty

[CarolW]

Hey, Patty!

Thanks for the tip about the Lysodren - I mean Larson - storm door! Just out of curiosity, I'll look into that, too.

Yesterday I took Camellia to the vet to get an application of Advantage, because I was out of it; that was an extra 40-minute drive each way, in the middle of the day, when all I wanted to do was sleep.

As long as we were there, we took a weight on Camellia. She was down from her standard and stable 7.8 Kg (17.1 pounds) to 7.6 Kg (16.7 pounds) - so that's nearly HALF A POUND OF HAIR she lost!

I am SO SLOW that I wondered if I was feeding her right - then I realized the hair weighs something! Yikes!

Off for a trip to the new place, take a little more stuff!

Sun, 3 Oct 2010 07:22:52 (PDT)

[buddingartist]

Carol, happy to read about all the fabulous things that are happening in your life.

A wonderful furry companion, a new place, a great view, lot of light and the tone of your posts filled with happiness and sunshine.

Good for you

Louise

[CarolW]

Oh, Louise - thanks for the feedback!

I can be quite a Polly-Anna, and surely, this is the time to be one! I am so INCREDIBLY fortunate to have found truly the Right Dog - and were it not for my 30+ years of intensive study of dog-behavior and training too, I could not have been confident I could bring this dog along.

But - I knew that if the problems weren't genetic, I should have NO trouble bringing Camellia to a state quite normal for Havanese - at least moderately outgoing and friendly, supposedly (if all her real needs are met), without a care on Earth.

She's showing all the signs of being, underneath, a normal Havanese.

That's feedback for me. I can't, any more than anybody else can, know what will happen, except by hindsight, so I'm used to working that way - by hindsight. Try one thing, observe the results, and let those steer me about what TO do, and what NOT to do, next!

In short, I let the dog tell me what it needs, and always work that way. The results of working that way are that your dog learns to trust you, to trust that you can and will listen, and listen again, if you don't get it right the first time.

Also, that way, the dog learns to be the most Perfect Dog it can possibly be.

It's a bit tough that with diabetes, we have to learn all the various ways of communication that apply to DIABETES, rather than just "behavior" the dog purposely intends!

Learning to care for a diabetic dog is a job and a half, but has similar pay-offs, in the sense that we do learn how to manage the disease (and whatever else is going on with the dog, which might require
further exploration, care and attention - yikes - so much money, too!)

Probably our forum members here mostly turn into total experts on their dogs - after all, the commitments are there already. All of us do our darndest to keep our dogs as healthy as possible. Do the dogs know that? Maybe not in the words we humans would use, but yes, they DO know that!

We can count on the dogs. They tell the truth, always. And those whose Human-Parents learn to listen and respond - as we do here - end up with dogs who know they can count on us.

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 06:52:35 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I missed one rather important item in my just-previous post, and that is, when a dog suffers a really traumatic experience, as clearly, Camellia did, the dog never forgets; the experience is lodged deeply in the limbic (emotional) system. That can indeed alter behavior for the dog's lifetime.

So, despite my experience and knowledge, there's no guarantee I can bring Camellia fully to the state of a normal Havanese who has never had a bad experience!

Instead, she and I can acknowledge, together, that she had a bad time, and together, we can learn to adapt our lives to allow for that.

Again, that has similarities to what we face with diabetes! We adapt, cope, and do the very best we can.

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 07:00:32 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I'm fascinated. Camellia and I BOTH need more rest. We supposedly took yesterday off, yet we made two trips to the new suite. Each trip is somewhat tiring. I have to allow Camellia all the time she needs to adapt to the current environment. This means it takes me at least three times as long to get a task done as it would otherwise take.

Because - Camellia comes FIRST; haha!

We've been there most days - only missed the two days the landlord was supposedly staying there to get his stuff out. (He didn't make it, but got there on a third day, so we met him! Very decent and nice guy.)

I was actually staggering from lack of sleep. Could not go on, so I've now been sleeping more, for the last day (should be night) and a half.

Camellia also had an application of Advantage Saturday. That is a POISON, you know; it DOES affect the animal. Camellia has been coping.

She's now sleeping more, too. That PARTLY means, she's relaxing more! How much of which it is - how much the Advantage, or the trips and other events, we can't know. But Camellia will take the rest, if she needs it, given a chance, and I, of course, will support her choices, as best I possibly can.

If I can manage the time, I too will be sleeping a lot more at least in the next few days. I feel a little better today.

This morning, I thought Camellia wasn't going to get up for her breakfast. She's now reliably on a schedule of eating twice a day, 12 hours apart. She does get treats throughout the day; I wouldn't be giving those if she were diabetic. Of course, the nutritional value comes out of what I feed in meals.

Anyway, I thought Camellia wasn't getting up for her breakfast. She was dozing in her favorite bed-corner (by where my shoulder goes - the IDEAL position from my point of view - how did she figure that out? Maybe she didn't; maybe she did; maybe she likes it best, too).

I put Camellia's food down, spoke to her, she sat up, but did nothing else in particular. I sat down on the edge of the bed, leaned back, and stroked her very gently for about two instants. Then I got up and returned to the computer.

Here came Camellia, to her dish by the computer (in front of her crate) - and she polished off her breakfast in short order! Whew!

Then she went outside and did her stuff.

GOOOD Camellia!

And she did her happy-dance, leaping back up on Our Bed, where now, she is snoozing again.

SMART Camellia!

Can you guess I love this dog? HAHAHA!

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 07:15:20 (PDT)

[Patty]

Can you guess I love this dog? HAHAHA!

Absolutely not, Carol :D:D ...she is blessed to have you! ;)

Hope you both get some rest.
Take care,
Patty

[k9diabetes]

I think it's possible to eventually recover from those emotional experiences. I say that because I had a very interesting experience that taught me something about how the old brain processes those kinds of experiences.

In my 20s, I was struck by a pickup truck while walking through a crosswalk. (Fortunately for me, I was wearing a very thick heavy wool coat that cushioned a lot of the abrasion.) I have no conscious memory of anything that occurred between the time I turned and saw the grill of the truck in front of me and the moment when I woke up already on a stretcher and being attended to by paramedics. I didn't feel afraid when I saw what was going to happen... it was more like "Well, this isn't going to go well." Very matter of fact. I was a bit shocky later but that's something that runs in my family - we have overrreactive vagal nerves. And reading about it was weird because it was like the description must have happened to someone else, not me.

But for about six months after that accident, I was extremely anxious and nervous when walking close to traffic. I couldn't bear to ride my bicycle for a long time. So no question my brain had recorded the trauma of that experience even though I had no conscious memory of it.

But within a year, as far as my behavior around traffic is concerned, you'd never know there was an accident.

So my brain learned rather abruptly that cars and traffic, previously ignored, were capable of causing a very painful and traumatic experience and were a threat. But over time, as I had experience after experience after experience with traffic that didn't hurt me, my brain slowly relearned the lesson that it's not scary and I don't have to worry about it every moment. So now I wander out into the street without thinking like everybody else!

So I think Camelia has a good chance at recovering completely as her new, safe environment teaches her every day that the world isn't a scary place.

I might add that Jack, our fearful border collie, has been helped tremendously from anti-anxiety medication. It has taken him off of constant alert and helped him to learn that the world is a safe place.

Natalie

[CarolW]

Hey, Natalie!

Thanks for your very thoughtful and astute post!

Sorry you got run down when hit by a truck! Nobody would ever guess you'd had such an experience - with this single exception - it gave you some particularly useful knowledge!

I agree that Camellia may not suffer permanent damage from the bad experience as she was in recovery from her spay - at age 3 years and some six weeks or so - this past 23 April.

It surely was WEIRD that a vet tech didn't know enough to know that any animal can and may bite when coming out of anaesthesia - that there's no intended aggression involved - just response to pain and disorientation. For a tech to punish the dog in that situation seems to me inexcusable - but it happened. Well, not all vets and staff are created equal.

Meantime, Camellia would never have been mine, had this not happened!

The question remained, how much trauma did Camellia really suffer - how deep did it go? My understanding is that, indeed, it hits the old brain - the amygdala, the limbic (emotional) system.

Certainly Kwali and Kumbi, and previous dogs of mine, too, had some traumatic experiences. They didn't FORGET, but they can recover from the EFFECTS, apart, I think, from maintaining awareness of possible dangers.

Part of rehab work is to help change emotional associations with events and environments. So that's what I began with.

I'm so glad veterinarians and vet behaviorists are wililng and able to use drugs to help dogs recover. What is Jack on? Prozac? I think you mentioned that. Clomicalm would be more specific for certain kinds of trauma.

I THINK Camellia will recover fully without drugs, but I'm willing to use them if need be.

However, part of what we've been doing is visiting the vet fairly regularly and often. And the grooming experiences are (oddly) more traumatic than the vet ones - not really so odd, as all we do at the vet's, mostly, is get Camellia on the scale -though she DID have an exam on 26 August. I could see she was doing well with that. No offer to bite, at all - no HINT of tt, even. Same with the groomer. At the groomer's. on her fourth or so visit, she experienced the noose on the grooming table, but that was for brief, brief periods. That Kate the groomer can REALLY see what a dog can manage, and doesn't push beyond the dog's capacity.

An approach that aids greatly is that where the person handling the dog remains totally calm (and observant).

But I do have to laugh at the praise methods some of these people use. They're not ones I would EVER use - they CLAP THEIR HANDS - as though the dog were showing off in a show, or something! maybe dogs deeply experienced with hamming it up in shows- say, agility, or something like that, or even conformation. somehow understand that clapping hands and making a lot of noise is a form of praise.

Well, DOGS LEARN BY ASSOCIATION! HAHAHA! We can count on that!

Camellia won't ever catch ME doing that! My praise is quiet and croony-giggly. And usually, accompanied by treats.

We're taking today off (in a sense) - at least, lightening our schedule today; it's raining, a good day for a nap or two!

To summarize, I think Camellia's startles are now approaching normal, and only people who HEAVILY violate the rules of polite dog-dog communication will get to see them.

Some people just CANNOT listen to instructions, or, CANNOT adapt to dogs. Some think ALL adaptation has to come from the dog, regardless of what the human does. I'm not one of those; how did you guess? haha!

Fri, 8 Oct 2010 06:49:03 (PDT)

[k9diabetes]

It really was, afterward, a very interesting experience - probably influenced by the fact that I didn't have any severe injuries. I was in California but still had this massive houndstooth wool coat that I happened to be wearing. The only places that bled were places that stuck out of the coat!

I've always been interested in brain science anyway but I got quite an education about the way the "old brain" reacts to threats - how a single traumatic event can recode it and how it can be coded back but only after a great deal of time of good experiences. It reacts much more decisively to bad ones.

I also was kind of fascinated by the fact that I didn't panic or even feel upset by the upcoming event. It was so calm and matter of fact. Weird.

Yes, Jack is on Prozac and it truly has been miraculous in reducing his overall edginess and hyperalertness. Six months ago, he would react with fear if Jeff moved too quickly or raised a hand over his head. He doesn't do that at all anymore and they have a great time playing tug-of-war with one of Jack's plush toys.

And Jack LOVES to be clapped at! And told "Yay Jackie!!!!!!" That's as much fun for him as getting a treat or a toy. He totally understands it as a happy reward and likes the praise and attention.

Natalie

[Patty]

Wow Natalie...Thank goodness for that coat! Glad you were ok. ;)

[Patty]

Carol,
How are you and Camellia doing?
Patty

[CarolW]

Hi Patty, and forum-buddies All,

Patty, thanks for asking. We are both very tired - Camellia and I, as we are making trips back and forth between the old place and the new; it's quite exhausting. I can only carry tiny-stuff; luckily, my friends can handle the big stuff, and they do that willingly!

We have a new (but much smaller) dog-run at the new place, where at least Camellia can get a bit of a run, back and forth, and we took eight of the Alder Logs over there. Those logs will rot in a few years, and no longer serve a purpose; for now, though, they can be fun for Camellia - later I'll post a picture of Camellia pretending to be Part Alder Log. It's TOTALLY HILARIOUS! Well, maybe I can find it now; I'll try.

Our official moving day is tomorrow. We had a hassle about the fridge (provided as part of the furnishings) that took up two days of my time and worried energy - that one really sapped me, but we came to a highly-satisfactory solution, as the landlord agreed to provide another fridge. His was very small, unsuitable for living so far out of town, for more than just one person and occasional snack kind of stuff. But I agreed to use it for a few days, and they'll bring in a new, probably bigger, fridge, around the weekend.

Tomorrow, DogDaddy George will move the computer and computer desk, and I'll plug it into the line I usually use exclusively for the modem, but for now, it's also serving as my voice line from the new place. My regular (voice) line will be moved on Thursday, and things should be back to normal with computer and modem after that.

Tomorrow will likely be the most traumatic for Camellia, with people going in and out with furniture - mostly, the computer desks (lots of heavy stuff), bookcases - I actually managed to figure out how to get SIX of them in there, though I also have several others, and lots of books have to go! - they'll find good homes in the neighborhood, though.

And so on. Camellia is REALLY being a trooper! I DO give her the time she needs, to walk, at both places. She MUST, she says, have a walk at the trailer, before or after the short trip to the suite, and she MUST, she says, have a walk near the suite, along the road, before or after we arrive or leave - or both!

Camellia, my dear companion, I understand your need, and I will meet it.

So, although this whole thing is wildly stressful for both of us, Camellia is continuing to come along nicely. It would have been REALLY rough for Kumbi, though I would have hung onto the diabetes-schedule for feeding and insulin.

Camellia continues to do well on being fed 12 hours apart, twice a day - really well! Though she gets treats in-between, where a diabetic dog would not.

Lucky she can see, but even Kumbi would have learned the stairs, with encouragement and assistance, I know. I just would have blocked him from taking the stairs on his own, making sure I had him on-leash to do any stairs.

And he also would have learned his way around the suite; after all, nothing wrong with his NOSE and ears, only that they aren't working too well when he's dead [deadpan]

My doGNess, I love that Kumbi. And Kwali, too; she too would have done well with the move. Camellia has her own way of doing well with it!

I won't be done till the end of the month, when I finish clearing out the trailer, again with help from friends. I had no idea how VERY much my community friends from way back would help! It's amazing, really. Camellia is getting to know some of them, and though she's still nervous at first, she will take treats from them.

I'll be back when I can, I hope, more relaxed - not relaxed really, till November, when the move should be complete.

I AM reading here, particularly on the diabetes forum, at least once a day if I can. My habit has been to read more often!

Love and hugs to all,
Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:02:38 (PDT)

[Dollydog]

Thanks for the update Carol....I've been checking. It's good to hear that the move is proceeding as well as possible!! :rolleyes: Moving seems to get even harder as I've aged :(
Take care....

[peggy0]

Carol

The new picture of camellia is just beautiful. She is very very pretty pup and looks like she knows it LOL. Pace yourself on this move. Sounds like you are doing an awful lot of work and worrying. It tears you down after awhile! I'm sure you'll be looking forward to November. Post those beach pictures!!!

[Patty]

Carol,
I hadn't gone to your album to see this picture until Peggy mentioned it. She's beautiful. And looks very relaxed lounging on those logs ;)

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=168&pictureid=985

Thanks for sharing!
Patty

[k9diabetes]

Wow, that's great camouflage!!! How cute!

Natalie

[CarolW]

I do find it totally HILAROUS!

We are installed in the new suite now - this has been a wlldly long day; two friends helping. We got SIX of my bookcases in here! I still have to go back to the trailer, select the books I'll keep; they'll fill the shelves fast; the others, I'll sell, and I have a ton of other stuff to get rid of out of the trailer. But we're quite comfortable in this small place.

Today, DogDaddy George was working on setting up the computer, and I discovered I needed to pick up more stuff at the trailer - some clothes! and a few other items. I returned in less than an hour.

George said, he looked out the kitchen window - and there was Camellia, SANS HARNESS sans leash - chatting with some workman on the ROAD - some 50 yards away! How the heck did she get out of the yard!

George went out with treats, and, goooood Camellia; she didn't exactly COME to him but sort of returned up the driveway, and finally, George picked her up and carried her in. After I arrived home, she sasn't tempted to take off again, at which point George probed the yard. He found that at the high end of the small dog-run, the fence was completely loose at the bottom ANA! Camellia must have gone out through my house-mates' yard. George found a way to tack the fence bottom down temporarily, and we'll tack it more securely tomorrow.

GOTTA go sleep.

Camellia is sleeping comfortably on the sofa and find the bed comfortable too, and so do I.

Good night, all!

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:12:47 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Well, I said good night the other night, but got a warning on my computer, first, to update Firefox, and THEN, far WORSE, that I must, for computer-safety, update Adobe Flash Player.

ERGH!

i had tried four times already to do that, and NOTHING succeeded, in efforts of three to four hours each. So I decided probably it wouldn't update because I'd uninstalled Adobe Acrobat Reader, in favor of Foxit.

Well, I bit the bullet, installed Acrobat from an installer file I'd stored. THEN it took me about three MORE hours to get what seemed like, MAYLBE, an update to Adobe Flash PLayer. But I couldn't tell.

Then the reader insisted on updating itself (about three hours more, during which I slept, and then yesterday, my computer kept dialing and downloading something, for hours and hours and hours! This, before my voice line got moved to the new place from the old - I use a separate line for my modem, and had been using that for voice, too, in the new suite).

So yesterday, my voice line got moved - nice tech person - the Telus techs are just great. Camellia was good with him - didn't bark much, and greeted him nicely, even without treats.

No treats yesterday - because Camellia lost her breakfast in the morning. Of course, on the bed. I cleaned up, and noticed it was really undigested food, with some grass.

No wonder. The day before, she was at it, with me, for some 14-16 hours. Talk about one exhausted dog! I could NOT have put Kumbi through a schedule like that. I would have had to board him for the day, perhaps with my vet. But Camellia has never been boarded since she became my dog, either, and I knew she'd find THAT very scary. Being with me, running back and forth between old and new place, though not especially scary, WAS completely exhausting for her. And, of course, for me, too.

We had three hours of sleep, Wednesday night to Thursday morning.

Meantime, since Camellia had lost her breakfast yesterday, I avoided feeding her treats; however, though I'd hoped NOT to go to town to shop (too tired), it turned out I HAD to bo for one badly needed item, so, tired as both of us were, we went to town. And I used a few treats with Camellia, when we went into the hardware store, where dogs are welcome.

I trusted Camellia would eat her supper, but no, it was not to be. She signals so very easily when she wants food - dances around, looks at me, sniffs out where the food is (on the counter or table). So, again, I picked up her food after a short time. I didn't even eat supper last night - it must be contagious - though I had a little snack of crackers - and cold coffee (which I love).

We went to bed early. I was up a couple of hours in the night, but Camellia, smart dog, stayed in bed.

Back to bed. Didn't even hear my house-mates (other part of the house) leave for work this morning at 5:30. Awoke to my computer Calendar program, and went through my morning routine - for Camellia, I merely put two tablespoons of her dry kibble into a small bowl.

About 10 minutes later, Camellia started sniffing and dancing - OH! Maybe she'd eat! So I put this dry kibble down, nothing on it. Sure enough, she ate - and looked for more! So, about 10 minutes later, I gave her another two tablespoons. And twenty minutes after that, another two tablespoons.

She's holding it all down, now, about an hour later.

SIGNS AND MEANINGS - fasting, sickness, stress.

All I can say is, I was mildly worried - well, considerably - but I had a feeling likely Camellia's inability to digest the other day arose out of STRESS. No particular illness. It DID worry me that she also didn't drink any water. Opposite of a diabetic dog!

In the wee hours, I managed to get Camellia to wet hour mouth down, but NOT by offering water in a bowl. I had to dip my fingers, and let her lick those. And then, I tried a bit in my palm, and she tentatively licked that - and another bit (if water has bits). But then, she was through. I was very concerned about possible dehydration, though she didn't seem too dehydrated - maybe slightly

So, when she ate this morning, I felt rather elated - on the other hand, it's not my habit to feed a full meal (albeit spaced out over half an hour) after a dog hasn't eaten anything but a few treats for 24 hours.

I'll probably learn later today whether it was indiscreet of me to allow Camellia to eat so much (as much as she usually gets for breakfast) after mostly fasting for 24 hours. If she's going to lose her breakfast, it'll probably be by mid-afternoon, maybe earlier.

I'm betting, though, that she'll keep it down. I am SO thankful for all the teachings of Norwegian trainer and behaviorist, Turid Rugaas, who teaches about stress and its effects on dogs. I've studied her work for about a dozen years, and of all times for it to be helpful to me, this is one of those times!

http://www.coherentdog.org/links.php#turid

Learning from a diabetic dog

My dear forum buddies - my years caring for Kumbi, my diabetic dog, without question, gave me extra powers of observation, and a lot of experience in assessing what might be the useful approach to take, WHEN!

Guess I'll keep one of Kumbi's OneTouch Ultra2 meters. Even if Camellia never develops diabetes ( and of course, I hope she won't! - and I don't see much in the way of Havanese on the diabetes forums, either) - it's good to know I COULD test Camellia, if need be, even just to track her stresses a bit! Ha! I can see it might be a bit tough to test her, as I did check her capillary-refill time, while testing also for possible dehydration - that's where you press on the gums, and watch how long it takes for the blood to return the gums from white (as the result of pressing) to pink - the capillaries refill.

Above all, though, it's the ability to make a passably educated guess about why a dog might behave differently from normal, with respect to food, or anything else, for that matter.

When in doubt, and when warranted, a once-over from a good vet is good, and when not NECESSARILY needed (stress of a vet-visit, not to mention, for us, the trip as well), being able to guess with some idea of what I might do or not-do, is a LARGE help.

Guess I've gone on long enough; HA!

Thank you all for being my very instructive forum buddies, with all your reports, expressions of uncertainty and of knowledge, too.

We're going to take the day off today, as much as we possibly can. Camellia and I could REALLY use TWO days off at least! But by Halloween, we should be mostly settled in our lovely, small, new suite. And I'll be more practiced, then, at climbing stairs! Haha!

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 08:49:59 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Thought I was finally through, didn't you!

Nope. I mentioned the other day that Camellia got out of the new dog-yard. DogDaddy George went and got from the trailer the tent stakes I'd been storing for some dozen years, and never used. Camellia had left the yard, looking for me, when I'd gone to the trailer to pick up a few things.

Well, yesterday, Camellia got out again!

THIS time, it was while the fabulous Telus Tech

http://www.coherentdog.org/telustechs.php

was moving my voice line. DogDaddy George was helping me out again yesterday. He'd gone to the trailer to pick up some things. Coming back, backing op the steep driveway, he noticed a wire across the driveay; thank goodness he saw it - and he stopped and parked, right there in the middle of the driveway. My neighbors were out, not expected back for a bit.

So, this was an ideal time to find out HOW Camellia was getting out of the yard, because she did it AFAIN yesterday morning! George had already pinned down the loose fencing at the back end of the run, so it wasn't THERE that Camellia was getting out.

Looking at my double-baffle gates, I decided that likely, she was crawling under the Inner Gate. Have to be a pretty athletic dog to do that, and also, probably would have had trouble if wearing a harness.

So, with DogDaddy George in the driveway, I deliberately left Camellia alone in houes-and-yard. Carrying Camellia's harness and leash, I went out both gates, and down the driveway, talking to DogDaddy George there.

Sure enough, here came Camellia - I saw her crawl under the Inner Gate. But then, where I thought she might be pushing through fencing, nooooo; she crawled under the OUTER gate - that might have hurt, as there was only a small space - and a lot of pressure along Camellia's back. Gosh!

So now I know how Camellia was getting out. My friend Marty, who put the new dog-door in, and built the new dog-run, and helped move a lot of furniture, will surely be willing to dig up the ground under both Inner and Outer double-baffle-gates, so the gates will swing, but leave practically no space - not eough for Camellia to crawl out under!

Right now, the ground being uneven, perforce, there's space between the bottom of the gate and the ground. I have an old scruffy plywood bedboard; maybe we'll dig up the ground, and use that board as a base, and to flatten the area.

The last time a dog of mine escaped a supposedly secure dog-run was when I had taken my other dog for a walk, and left Kwali shut in. Kwali scaled a five-toot fence that was attached to railings on the second floor, and from there, dropped to the ground, to get out.

The ONLY times my dogs have escaped, or tried to - was to join me!

Oh, well; after all, I do attend constantly to my dogs, even if they're not diabetic!

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:15:26 (PDT)

[Patty]

Sorry about the computer issues Carol. That can be such a challenge.
Glad Camellia, I mean Houdini :D, is feeling better today. Good luck with fence patching. We've put up several fences for Ali in past moves and they can be so smart at finding the one area not well contained.

Hope you get some rest and don't need any more cold coffee (bleh :p, lol).
Patty

[Noodle]

I'm still trying to catch up around here and needed to stop and offer my very belated congratulations on the arrival of your new beautiful girl, Camellia!! She's a doll, Carol! Looks like Kumbi & Kwali did an excellent job of helping to guide her to you. :D

I also wanted to say I'm so happy you found a new place that you and Camellia like, that is filled with light, and could pass on the darker place. Moving is such a pain, so I'm glad your getting settled in now and have that stress behind you.

Sounds like this one is going to keep you on your toes. I think I hear Kumbi & Kwali giggling just a bit. ;)

[Patty]

Carol,
I read about your telephone service struggles in the main forum. I do hope they get it fixed quickly for you!
Take care,
Patty

[CarolW]

MESSED-UP business practices.

Telus (monopoly on phone service in my area) was recently de-regulated, so of course, they doubled my bill for my voice line, and then offered "free" services none of which I'd subscribed to. Having no choice, have to pay the bill for service, I picked caller-ID, and, at the company's invitation might pick another couple of extra services that I'll be paying for whether I use them or not. All THAT has to wait while I deal with my OTHER phone line.

A major reason I have two lines is to be able to talk to my vet while I'm also online - including receiving phone calls from my vet.

Out in the boonies, I'm on dial-up for Internet access. After my house move, I began having difficulties. First, moving my OTHER, voice line, killed BOTH lines, and I was left without phone service at all. Turned out to be a bad line from the phone box into the house - $40 to put in a new line there. Landlord will reimburse me for that. I went two weeks with no phone service at all.

But while my voice line works fine, the modem line deteriorates badly in any damp weather, giving me, at best, 26.4 Kbps (Kilobytes per second transfer speed), when it SHOULD give me minimum, 48.0 Kpbs. I can get that speed if I use my voice line, which TIES UP my voice line; not what I want.

On 25 November, I STILL didn't have November bills for my two lines, so I went to the Telus (phone company) site, to find out what I owed. While there, I was invited to LINK my two accounts. Okay; made sense to me - put them both in my same user profile - that was how I understood it.

I then received email from Telus, saying my modem line had been removed from my user profile. WHAT? I have no idea.

That line had been getting worse, now only very rarely giving me 48.0; now giving me 26.4 (luckily, this forum works fine even at the slow rate, because of the software structure here on the forum).

I'd been asking for repair on the modem line. Now, when I talked to the office, asking for repair, they couldn't repair my line nor plan to, because they couldn't find an account for it - GONE. Can't repair a line that's not there, can they!

One of the people asked me to dial my service on that line (while I was talking on the voice line), so I did. Got 26.4 Kbps. Reported that. They still couldn't find the line. After hours of talking with the office, during which they said that line should have been disconnected when I linked it to my other account - WHAT? - I said, NO! I'm paying for TWO separate lines, both of which exist, one of which is working normally; the other, only very badly.

But I couldn't ask for repair on a "non-existent" line. So they said they would disconnect it, then I should call in and re-order it, having it connected again, and THEN I could ask for repair.

And I asked the office please to UN-LINK the two accounts. The woman said she did that. Good. (But I see no sign that it was actually done.)

They still can't FIND this line I'm on right now.

Got home from Hunt Day (my weekly errands trip) yesterday afternoon, tried the non-existing line with my modem - got 48.0 - HEY - maybe they fixed it!

Nope - fell offline (this happens occasionally) late yesterday evening, and when I dialed in again, I was back to 26.4, as I am also this morning.

All I can say is, I'm glad I can use this forum at 26.4. I've spent many, many hours TALKING to the office and repair service, and my patience is limited. I don't HAVE a Patience Hat for phone COMPANY problems - only for DIABETES and dog-problems.

http://www.coherentdog.org/tidberries7.php

That hat REALLY helped me wait for Camellia, as I was in agony with NO DOG AT ALL!

It wasn't designed to help me cope with a de-regulated, irresponsible, phone company that has a monopoly in my area.

Camellia says, Mum, remember, I will assist you with anything that actually exists. I can't do any more than YOU can with something that doesn't exist. Meantime, have fun on the forum with a non-existent phone line.

Oh, Camellia, I tell ya, this forum is SO great, it restoreth my soul. And you, dear Camellia, are a true joy to me. And I have you on a diabetes-type schedule, but without the shots and testing. Wouldn't you like to serve as a model for testing? No? Okay; I won't ask you to do that. Kumbi's already done it, anyway. Shots, you wouldn't even feel except for that tiny prick at the very start - well, perhaps a bit of the warm trickle of insulin. Oops, no insulin for YOU, Camellia, you're the wrong dog for it.

Love, hugs, licks and wags, to all forum members, from me and my beloved animal companions. Along with HUGE thanks for all your wonderful contributions to the forum, both questions and answers.

It's good to be here, where sanity reigns.

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 06:11:01 (PST)

[Patty]

I don't HAVE a Patience Hat for phone COMPANY problems - only for DIABETES and dog-problems.


LOL...I do understand. What a mess! So, if the line doesn't exist, does that mean you don't have to pay for it? ;)

[CoolGram]

Hello Carol,

It's really good to hear from you, although I'm sorry you've been having such a time with your phone line(s). For years we used a giant phone company here, but we recently signed up for phone/cable/internet service from a small local company and it's been working out great. The reason we switched was because every time I called the "giant" company I could NOT get a real live person on the phone - at least not before spending at least 20 mins. or so, choosing one "option" after another through their automated service. And of course none of the options was what I really wanted. I finally got tired of the frustration.:(

It is too bad that you don't have other options there for your phone service.

Anyway, hang in there, and keep posting and updating us on how you and Camellia are doing. I enjoyed the story of her going under the fence. We had that happend with Gretel a time or two and didn't know where she was getting out, so we too stood outside the fence and waited to see her make her great escape. I'm glad she's at least not a fence climber! ;)

Carolyn

[CarolW]

Update - Camellia and me.

Dearest forum buddies,

I've been missing you all - my computer was down; got it back today; thank goodness, all fixed.

DogDaddy George lent me HIS (second) computer, but we couldn't get my modem to work with it, so I remained offline.

November and December were a blur for me. It was weeks before I began to get anything like enough sleep. I learned that to get enough, I need to go to bed by eight p.m.

This is my own fault, of course. I insist (to myself) on feeding Camellia on a schedule right for diabetic dogs. That is, two meals a day, 12 hours apart. NORMAL people don't necessarily feed two meals 12 hours apart - if there are no health reasons to do so.

But - well, by now, you know me; I'm a bit of a compulsive perfectionist, at least for some things. Among those is for the health and well-being of my dog(s) (now only one dog).

And I think it's massively health-inducing, or aiding, for a dog to eat two meals a day 12 hours apart! The Body likes it!

Camellia is quite thriving on that schedule. The difference for her, from diabetic dogs, is that she gets treats throughout the day. Limited to healthy food -Dick Van Patten's Lamb Roll. I always used to use that for training treats for Kwali and Kumbi. Camellia likes it too.

We're walking along the road, usually, twice a day - till the last few days. We've been having a lot of rain, and plenty of chill - can't really call it cold compared to most Northern regions - usually above freezing. But I'm getting older all the time, and plenty scrawny, and I REALLY feel the cold now.

Camellia is teaching me how to take care of her. She says, NO COAT if the temperature is above freezing and it's not raining HARD.

Okay, Camellia; you got it.

She chooses to sleep on the sofa; I think the wrap-around effect of sleeping close up to one arm and the back of the sofa makes her feel really good. She starts out on Our Bed with me, but about 20 minutes later, disappears into the Main Room - gets on the sofa, and there she spends the night.

She still startles easily, but nothing LIKE as much as she used to. I've stopped tip-toeing around her, and stopped paying attention to not moving fast. I do continue to use canine calming signals with her, mostly in how I approach her - I make a little curve to come up beside her, facing the same way as she is.

When I put my coat or jacket on, I turn so it doesn't swing in her face. But I'd do that anyway, and always did the same with Kwali and Kumbi, too. These are just basic courtesies, but they make a difference to a dog.

I've taken her along many times when dong my errands. She waits nicely in the car! Doesn't go hysterical on me. She might bark some; sometime I should go out of sight and check!

I take her into the hardware store, the bank, the drug store - and the pet store. She's doing fine there - UNLESS she sees another dog - then it's bark-bark-bark - and I get her outta there! But I think in time - at least a year - she'll handle seeing other dogs better than she's doing now. And already she's doing just a tiny bit better - not automatically barking wildly at first sight.

I tell ya, though, I will be glad when spring comes. I'm a Winter Chicken. SQUAWK! (flap, flap, flap). And when I want a great cuddle with Camellia, we lie on Our Bed; she comes up on my "lap," where I have my tummy pillow that usually holds the book I'm reading - and lies across it, letting me nuzzle her back and head with my fingers - and I have a box of treats on my bedside table, and I feed her those, bit by bit, pinching off small pieces.

Yum, yum, yum, Tum, tum, tum

Fri, 7 Jan 2011 17:45:58 (PST)

[Patty]

Glad to have an update Carol. I was wondering what had happened to you ;). Good to have your computer back up and running.
Patty

[CarolW]

Thanks, Patty!

I really missed being here! Catching up now - sort of!

Camellia had a trip to town today, to get weighed - 8.0 Kg - a good weight for her; very slight gain from a couple of weeks ago, so I'll reduce her meals by a few kibbles. Reaching a stable weight now, I trust!

I also took her into the hardware store, where she led me around by the nose; haha, and the bank. She waited nicely in the car while I did a few errands; then home, a tiny walk, and late this afternoon we had a two-hour cuddle-sleep on Our Bed. Just lovely.

Now we've both had supper; time for me to wrap up and get to bed somewhere near early enough to get something like a reasonable night's sleep!

This forum - the whole thing - is truly magnificent, thanks to you, Peggy, Natalie, and the forum members. I am so grateful.

Sat, 8 Jan 2011 20:25:07 (PST)

[peggy0]

Hi Carol. Good to hear from you and Camelia. I do not like winter either. I squawk all the time about it. Toby does well in the car as well. He loves to go and doesn't mind sitting in the car waiting for me to come back. Stay warm!

[CarolW]

Glad Toby copes well in the car, too, Peggy. Yeah, well, your cold is undoubtedly a lot worse than ours! Stay warm!

Camellia sends her greetings to Toby. Now, we have to find Kevin, Kobi, and Maggie!

Sun, 9 Jan 2011 06:20:45 (PST)

[jjefferjo]

Hi CarolW!
glad you are back - Ed and I haven't posted much, just watching and learning-
I have been researching food options - cooking vs everything.
Ed and J :)

[CarolW]

Glad you're researching food, Jj. I have an eye on your thread; glad if you'll report as things go along!

Camellia and I had two walks today, which is normal for us - pleasant day, relatively speaking, though I really feel the cold. Camellia is dancing around on the Flexi.

But - my computer is acting up again - it only got a cleaning on the first repair, then seemed to work, but now tha power supply is acting up again, so it has to go back into the shop - don't know for how long, nor when, because I have to scrape up the money for the repair!

So I'm likely to disappear again; when, I don't know, and for how long, I don't know.

Not sure how long it will work right now, so just a note for Margaret and Lucy - thanks for reporting, and I'm wishing you the best.

Sun, 9 Jan 2011 15:30:28 (PST)

[buddingartist]

Carol

I must say it is so heartwarming to read posts like yours and the tenderness, caring and bond between yourself and Camellia.

Take good care

Louise

[jjefferjo]

Carol,
Ed and i will report in - We just enjoy reading your post, glad Miss C is fitting in.
Ed, he was low today for the 1st time- not sure what caused it. But I was walking by and noted we were 8 hrs post shot and thought why not just see where is 58!
Sugar and food and when I think about it he was being a tag along tootsie around 230pm, quietly underfoot on the bed watching me watch tv. I will report this on the other side as wel.
I think I will be moving him over to Orijen or BB lite- he is so itchy lately, chewing at his haunches (if thats a word) but he has always done this even as a pup, just seems worst. I think it is the WD food - numbers have been good but he has been itchy.
Itchy Ed and J

[CarolW]

JJ - I'll pick up your thread on the "other side"- haha!

Yeah, food is tricky for itchiness. Camellia had orange stains (from licking and chewing herself) all up and down both front legs. Well, she'd been fed Eukanuba Small Bites (for adults), and it has those nasty preservatives - BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin. I BELIEVE WD has the same preservatives! Wonder if those are making Ed itchy - have no idea.

I changed Camellia's food to a kibble called NOW - grain-free, careful selection of ingredient sources. But it was really too high in protein for safety for the kidneys - 26&, and anyway, I was using Dick Van Pattne's Lamb Roll for treats, which is anything BUT grain-free (so what sense did that make with my choices! - ha!)

Yet - as time went by, she licked and scratched less and less, though very gradually. Then I changed her to a kibble by the same company, called Go - it has 22% protein, which is much more reasonable.

And the orange stains, mostly on her forearms, in front, have again gradually reduced. They are still present, but much less than before.

Meantime, I've been trying to figure out how MUCH to feed her; a bit tricky, when she gets a LOT of the Lamb Roll every day - probably about an inch of the big, four-pound roll. I can't find out how many calories that has - can't find it on the web site. Need to ask, but their email server isn't working right, I gather!

Well, she gets something like similar amounts of the Lamb Roll from one day to another, so I'm leaving that out of my calculations, and just working out how much kibble to feed her, based on any apparent or real changes of weight.

Looks as though I'm coming really close to feeding the right amount of kibble. Camellia weighed 8.0 Kg on the vet scale the other day. She was 7.8 late in August, and was on the thin side. Has now filled out her harness - not a bad way to estimate!

I can feel her ribs easily yet she looks anything but skinny. Her energy levels are good, and she feels well.

Next project for me - get my computer fixed - scraped up the money, but scheduling the trip to the Big City is something else again - fairly long trip - can't leave Camellia, and she has no sitter for such an event - so she'll have to come with me.

And the weather is due to turn bad - I don't drive in bad weather - tires not up to it, and it's not worth the risk.

If I'm REALLY lucky on all counts, I could have my computer fixed by late Tuesday. otherwise, it'll probably be at least a week, maybe two weeks. I feel very stressed about it, as it's my lifeline - but - it's not a LIFE! So, Camellia is who matters, just like all the diabetic and other dogs on this forum and elsewhere!

So, I'll take this moment to wish very special dogs - all the forum dogs - diabetic or not - the very best! Same for their humans! Same for all Earthly (and heck, why not) - Bridgely - dogs! - and humans! Oh, cats, too; why not!

When I start rambling like this, I KNOW it's bedtime!

Sun, 9 Jan 2011 21:07:44 (PST)

[k9diabetes]

Hi Carol,

Sorry to hear about your computer! But happy to hear that you and Camellia are doing so well.

I just completed an online contact form asking for calorie information for the lamb and turkey rolls, which we use also - will see what they say. I was surprised to find that they don't list it. That's unusual.

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/DFRolls.html

I know there was a brand of cat food that the feline diabetes forum liked that refused to list calories as they liked to keep their exact ingredient options open... still seems like they could have offered a range or a minimum or something.

Natalie

[CarolW]

I have my computer back - well, duh! this time, with a new flat-screen monitor, so I can see something - my old monitor was quite worn out; vintage 1998 - and I had to turn brightness and contrast to maximum, and STILL couldn't see the screen when the sun was shining (lots of windows in here). So DogDaddy George, a GREAT shopper found a monitor on sale, and got it very cheaply. What a RELIEF! (pleasant to use).

Today was Hunt Day, meaning DogDaddy George stayed with Camellia while I did the weekly errands. She said, after I got back really tired - she needed a walk. She really DID need one.

Another success. A terrier mix, slightly taller than Camellia, but close to her size, Radar, who typically ranges the neighborhood (owner never keeps him home), came running down from a house with a very large front yard, which is home to a lovely, good-tempered Borzoi female. The roaming dogs - Radar, and also my neighbor up the hill - Cavs - King Charles Cavalier Spaniels - and sometimes his Portuguese Water Dog, go visiting there quite often.

Radar came trotting down to see Camellia; Camellia, on a Flexi, ran to him - and they went nose-to-nose - Camellia was then QUIET! for a few seconds. Then, bark-bark-bark. Radar, so politely (has excellent dog-manners), turned his back and went back into the property. (We were close to the road.)

Then here he came again, and we had a repeat nose-to-nose - again Camellia was quiet for a few seconds - then again, bark-bark-bark. I told her Radar is a nice dog. (hehe - fat lot of good that did!) All the same, it gave me a bit more insight into some of the possibilities. There's an advantage to the Flexi, though I'm nervous so close to the road - I can "let the leash loose." A tight leash really fouls dog-dog communications.

I didn't feel quite so tired then!

About those calories, I think you're probably right about the reason they don't list them. Hope you get a reply to your inquiry. It's not exactly looking promising, is it!

It's really good to be back; I have a huge catch-up to do.

Wishing Jack and you well!

Hugs,
Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:38:04 (PST)

[k9diabetes]

Hello Natalie,

Thank you for contacting Natural Balance and for your interest in our Dog Rolls. Please know that for the Lamb, Turkey, and Beef Dog Rolls will have the following caloric content:

4 lb or 2.5 lb Rolls: 260 kcal per 1 inch

1 lb Roll: 151 kcal per 1 inch

OR there is about 57 kcal per oz.

Have a good day.
Sincerely,


Jennifer Freeman, B.S., R.V.T.
Director, Customer Service
Animal Nutrition
Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc.



Here's what I got from Natural Balance via email. :)

Natalie

[CarolW]

Oh, Natalie; I'm SO glad you got a response from Natural Balance. Seems slightly odd to me that these three quite different rolls all have approximately the same calorie count! But I'm trusting that's reasonably accurate.

I was inquiring on Monica Segal's Yahoo Group K9Kitchen; nobody there knew the calorie counts for these rolls. I'll post there and put in a link to your post. LATER today - need to go back to bed!

P.S. I'll have a more detailed report later today, too; Camellia went to the vet for a check for condition of her teeth. Indeed, they need cleaning, but Dr. Carla (Bell) thinks extractions are unlikely.

Dr. Carla is SO good with the dogs, and Camellia was delightfully relaxed with her, showing a lot of confidence! What a treat to watch!

More later; good night to all k9diabetes forum creatures!

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 03:57:59 (PST)

[CarolW]

Camellia Update: dental

We went for Camellia's dental on Tuesday 8 February. I'd fed her later and later for several days beforehand, so when we skipped her breakfast, she barely noticed. Got her into the vet just a bit early, but didn't have to wait long.

I'd warned the vet about Camellia being debarked - therefore, narrow trachea, to get past a scarred larynx.

Well, they couldn't get a tube past the larynx - used a 4.5 tube and it wouldn't go, and they wouldn't force it. So Camellia kept waking up, and they couldn't do anything LIKE a complete job. They got SOME cleaning and scaling done, less in the back molars.

She was wonderful at the vet's, and coming home, too. No sign of distress.

For the next week, I spent time trying to chase down information. The woman who sold Camellia to me was wonderful; she helped me chase it down. I wanted to know what size tube they'd used for her spay on 23 April 2010, and Gail chased that down - they'd used a 4ETT - my vet, when I reported that, said, oh; that's a size for about a four-month-old kitten.

She remarked that knowing that was very helpful. Before, she'd thought Camellia could never have major surgery. Now she thinks it might be possible, but probably not dental, as using such a tiny tube might allow water (used for rinsing) down the trachea - can't have her aspirating the stuff!

I was pretty depressed about all that for a couple of weeks. There was just NO reason to debark Camellia - I'm not even sure who owned her at the time. Gail kindly also chased down the information on the date and clinic of the debarking. I passed that information on to my vet. She was debarked at the age of nine months - 10 December 2007.

She DOES have a bark, at least. But that messed-up larynx - I really don't like that. We can TEACH dogs to bark appropriately, though it's a lot of work.

But it all goes under the heading of holding a deep respect for dogs - for who they are - and - merely, meeting all their real needs - whatever those needs might be. I can see I could have taught Camellia not to bark excessively. It would have taken time.

Because she shouldn't have extractions, I'm taking special care of her teeth. We're learning about tooth-brushing together. Doing pretty well. For a small dog, Camellia has good teeth - none missing, and good conformation. We got lucky with THAT part of it, as many small dogs have TERRIBLE teeth - genetically. I'm hoping Camellia's are good genetically, and it looks as though they are.

So, on to the next story.

Sun, 6 Mar 2011 19:53:01 (PST)

[CarolW]

I just lost a long reply - page refreshed - lost it. I'll come back tomorrow to tell the story of Camellia backing out of her harness today. I'll just say, we got home safely - harness ON.

Camellia's fourth birthday is tomorrow, 7 March. We plan to celebrate. Quietly, with a normal day's routines. I might spoil her just a little bit, though! Some people would say, I always spoil her. To me, meeting all Camellia's real needs isn't spoiling.

We might have an extra cuddle or two, though!

I'm too sleepy to re-write that story tonight!

May all k9diabetes forum dogs, diabetic or not, always have lots and lots of birthdays, and may they all be happy! Camellia agrees with me.

Sun, 6 Mar 2011 20:16:38 (PST)

[diggydog]

Happy birthday Camellia!


I have never heard of debarking before but it does not sound like something that should ever really be done?
I am glad that Camellia she was good at the vet and not too distressed - your girl has come a long way.

Hugs xx

[Patty]

Happy Birthday Camellia!!!
Hope you have a great day :cool:

[CarolW]

Allison - thanks for the good wishes! Hope Alfie is doing well; I'll drop in on your thread, to check. Camellia sends her thanks, too!

About de-barking - I see no reason EVER to de-bark a dog. People do it sometimes if they're threatened with eviction if their dogs don't stop barking. Careful planning can usually avoid such a situation. But, as I said to Gail, who sold me Camellia, people know SO LITTLE about dogs in general, and often, it just doesn't OCCUR to them they can teach a dog, and usually, the dog will learn, though it takes considerable savvy, along with skills you develop in yourself, and quite a while, to do the teaching.

Some dogs, genetically, bark an awful lot more than others. And there are people who don't tolerate ANY barking (very unreasonable) from neighbor dogs.

I can tell you the principles, though - block views that set off the dog barking, and where you can't do that, go with the dog, thank the dog for making the announcement, ask the dog to come to you, and reward the dog (usually, with a treat). Meantime, you can also very gently go between the dog and the thing it's barking at - that's a canine calming signal, called "splitting up." Dogs use it a lot. And if you can't get between the dog and whatever it's barking at, you can usually place your palm in front of the dog's nose. If you do that, you have to be aware of the possibility of a re-directed bite - some dogs, in great excitement, bite whatever is nearest to their noses. So some people might have to wear gloves to do this.

The principle works well - a few barks generally need to be allowed; then thank the dog, and give rewards. Also, naturally, move awaly from the distraction when you are giving the rewards!

Camellia sends her greetings to Alfie; so do Kwali and Kumbi.

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 07:12:00 (PST)

[CarolW]

Patty - you are so calm and quiet there that Camellia climbs up and gives you a quick lick on the face! Ignoring Ali! She didn't even bark ONCE at Ali! Good Camellia!

THANKS, she and I say, for the birthday wishes!

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 07:14:16 (PST)

[CarolW]

Having lost my post last night, I re-wrote it with a text editor, in generalized form, so I can paste it here. It only lacks references to this beloved forum. So, here it is.

Today is Camellia's fourth birthday. It feels funny to me, as though I should have had her from four months of age or so!

Yesterday, Camellia gave ME an early birthday present for herself. Here's the story.

She was clearly needing a walk by early afternoon. Sundays can be a bit busy around here, and I try to keep stimulation down for her, as she's over-reactive to other dogs - goes off barking in a frenzy. She can and does quiet after they pass. We can't pass, because I'd have to drag her to accomplish that. I still don't have any formal training on her, though I'm working gradually, in the house, to get her to follow me, or do a few other things. No Sit yet, nor any formal Come. No Down. No Stay. I'll be working very gradually to get her to follow these cues, as she shows she's up to it. She does follow me around pretty easily, and takes cues to jump up on the low bed, or even on the higher couch.

She's a Houdini - can get out every gate in the place. That wasn't so at the old place, but in the new one, the guy who built the dog-yard, having Great Danes, just had no idea, and Camellia can pull open and get out any gate in the place. A Dane wouldn't be squeezing through (more likely, would just push the gate down!)

However, Camellia ONLY tries to get out if left alone in the yard. I think I can count on that. She's come out a few times when I've left her alone - and come to find me. THAT part is encouraging; she comes to me.

But there's always a chance something will frighten her, and she'll bolt - or that something will interest her too greatly - say, the neighbor's cat, Hobo - she's likely to chase, including into and across the road.

Havanese are fast. Without a Reliable Recall, Camellia is at risk if she gets out, and something attracts her attention. You can bet that my work with Camellia will include Reliable Recall (Leslie Nelson).

We left for our afternoon walk around two. We saw a woman and dog go down to the little beach just a bit down the road from our driveway. Camellia barked, but since they disappeared, she didn't keep it up. (That's progress!). Later, a woman with a German Shepherd Dog came walking along the other side of the road. I saw the woman take the dog's collar. Camellia hadn't quite caught sight of them; I spoke her name, laid my box of treats on the roadside, and began to feed treats.

Camellia is SO polite. She won't grab the treats, but wait till I hand them to her. She glanced at the woman and dog, but let out only one little yip. THAT, too, is progress.

After they passed, we continued our walk, down the road I live on, nearly to the place I USED to live - for about 27 years (before the 10 years I lived in a trailer one road over). I saw a couple with a small dog coming up from the park, the end of the road, at the bottom, and thought they looked like the people who have another Havanese. As they came closer, I saw it was them; the dog is Sailor - nice dog! The people are nice, too. We'd met on the road once before, and the man (no dog) often passes us on the road when we take morning walks).

Again I laid my box of treats by the roadside. This time, though, as the people and dog came close, Camellia backed away. I'd locked the Flexi. The people warned me Camellia was backing out of her harness, as I was trying to unlock the Flexi - but - too late - there I was, locked Flexi with harness dangling, and Camellia a few feet away.

Camellia danced a bit, approached Sailor, who stayed very calm (on leash), and backed away from him again. The man and woman just stood, quietly. Very savvy of them! They stayed in place, while I tried to get Camellia to approach so I could put her harness back on.

After a number of attempts, during which I allowed Camellia to eat all the treats in the box, I still hadn't succeeded. I have to reach toward her some, to get that harness over her head, and each time I tried, she backed away. I remarked to the people that in a situation like this, the humans have to stay totally calm. They did, and I did.

Eventually, after thanking the people for hanging out that way, I said they could go home, but I asked their permission to follow them up their driveway if need be for Camellia's safety. They said that was fine. They live right next door to where I lived those 27 years, and I know the house.

Knowing I had a way to remove Camellia from traffic, I sat down on the roadside, at the bottom of the driveway where I used to live. Placed the (second - I always carry two) box of treats close up between my extended legs, and gently called Camellia. She came. I fed her a few individual treats. Attempted, several times, to drop the harness over her head - FINALLY succeeded. Then I had to fasten it! She'd have to come close again. She did; I fastened the harness, then attached the leash, and we were safe.

There were still lots of treats in the (second) box.

The Universe was smiling upon us, because we had no other traffic, and no passing creatures. I continue to marvel at how savvy (and how nice) these neighbors are, and how nice their dog is.

We came home without further incident.

Reviewing the incident, I remembered I had purposely imitated the event when I first met Camellia - sitting on the pavement, and letting Camellia come to me for treats. I have no idea whether Camellia remembered that. Doesn't matter if she did or didn't, but I had the confidence she WOULD come to me, and the only tricky part was that I had to reach for her to get the harness over her head.

The mental note I made for myself was, remain aware of when and how Camellia might back out of her harness. I remember Kumbi doing that, at the top of our long driveway. I managed to avoid it after that, and I trust I can do the same with Camellia.

I'm also curious about possible after-effects. My neighbors were SO nice and SO helpful; by staying quiet and totally calm, themselves - Sailor contributed to that, just looking on with interest, but no extra motion.

I'm not anticipating extra difficulties after the event.

Happy fourth birthday, Camellia! You're a good dog!

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 06:56:17 (PST)

[pgcor]

Carol - you have my undying appreciation of showing the importance of staying calm and Camellia - Happy Fourth Birthday!!!!

[CarolW]

Thanks, Pam. For a long time, I had to PRETEND I was calm, but after a time, I actually BECAME calm, largely, by trusting my dogs, and knowing they trusted me. It was good that Camellia demonstrated her trust in me yesterday.

Dogs don't just overcome scary things immediately, not even through experience. It takes time for them to learn things are safe. I have a feeling Camellia has years of experience feeling UNsafe! Therefore, hypervigilant.

A few days ago, we were walking in that same area, and I noticed a pair of trash cans by the road, near those two driveways - Sailor's, and the one I used to live on. They are right next to each other on the road.

Shortly, Camellia saw them too - at a considerable distance - and she began to bark. Bark-bark-bark! I just let her bark, without saying a word. If we talk to dogs when they are doing that, it reinforces the barking. (Ouch!) When she turned back to me, I gave her a treat.

Then we turned to go home, though Camellia kept looking back at those trash cans! If she'd been willing to go look at them, we would have done that. But she didn't want to approach them, and I never push her to go where she doesn't want to go.

The cans were gone by yesterday.

Drop us a note to let us know how Pip and Newman are doing!

Love and hugs,
Mon, 7 Mar 2011 17:56:27 (PST)

[k9diabetes]

:) Happy fourth birthday Camelia! :)

Natalie

[pgcor]

Carol - I learn something new every day from you. I try to talk with Pip very quietly when he's barking like a maniac. I see that's not right either! OMG!

Both dogs are doing okay Carol, thank you for asking. Pip isn't feeling well, so we're looking to perhaps bring him to the specialist again.

Between Turid Rugaas and Dr. Yin's advice - no wonder my dogs are.....

[CarolW]

Oh, Pam; I know the temptation of talking to our dogs - so quietly - when they're a bit over-wrought and barking! I've had to remind myself at times not to do it! It DOES reinforce the behavior!

Keep us posted on how Pip is doing - wishing you the best with the specialist. Inform us on Newman, too!

This community is truly a community.

On Camellia - she has bit of a bug of some sort; not as energetic as usual, and not wanting to eat her dry kibble. She eats it if I soak it, and feed it all nice and mushy and warm! - eats with gusto. So, I'm watching, and hoping she recovers on her own, which, likely, she will, but if not, it's off to the vet! She's on Our Bed right now, and I'm going to join her and we'll have a nice nap!

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:37:50 (PDT)

[eileen]

Happy Belated Birthday Camillia!!!

[CarolW]

Camellia says, Natalie, Eileen, thanks for the birthday wishes! She adds, I caught just a bit of a bug a few days later, but seem to be getting over it now, so Mum is taking me out for a nice walk in the sun/rain this afternoon. One instant the sun is out; the next, it rains.

Also, she offers you one of her Lamb Rollover treats each. Isn't she GENEROUS! For Camellia, that is GENEROUS!

And she sends wags and licks - look out! she'll get you on the lips!

(hehe) - with hugs from me,
Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:47:14 (PDT) P.S. she won't give you her bug!

[pgcor]

Hi Carol - I have been negligent in saying that Camellia's picture relaxing on the couch was very heartwarming! You really are so good for her! She looked so happy!

Pam

[CarolW]

Thanks, Pam! It's partly a matter of keeping the faith! I notice sometimes, if we have a rather active day, Camellia gets rather jumpy again - startles easily again. So I continue to use calming signals - these are SO effective! But normally, now, I can move a lot faster, or more suddenly, without startling Camellia than used to be the case!

Do update us on Pip and Newman when you feel up to it; I gather Pip is having some health problems - I'd surely love to have your report, when you're able.

Camellia, though, IS far, FAR less hypervigilant, and startles FAR less easily than she used to. Same as for diabetic dogs, keeping a regular, predictable schedule as far as possible, providing plenty of quiet, down-time, allowing sleeping dogs to lie (but with a diabetic dog, that must needs be interrupted for food and shot) - is VERY good for ANY dog.

My next-door neighbor - in the main house (I'm in the attached suite) - had two dog-visitors yesterday, along with small child and young mother. These dogs were running around. Camellia rushed down into the yard and bark-barked, a number of times. Sometimes she barked from the tiny deck.

All the same, even her bark-bark sessions are a lot less frantic than they used to be! I make NO comment - anything I say could only reinforce the barking. Once she quiets, which she does periodically, THEN I can speak to her. Usually I call her to me, and reward her with a tiny treat for coming.

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:08:08 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Ummm, I just looked in my own photo album here, and i can't FIND the pictures of Camellia relaxing on the couch! So suddenly, I realized, I didn't post them here, but on the Yahoo group Pos-4-ReactiveDogs, which I link to on the Links page of Coherent Dog.

The pictures I posted are a bit too large for the k9diabetes albums, and also, my photo-allowance is nearly full, so I'll have to check later, if I have time and energy, and see if I can re-size those down a bit, and whether I can spare the photo-space HERE!

I've been too beat to update Coherent Dog with Camellia's current pictures. It'll probably be some time before I do that.

Just wanted people to know why they can't find recent pictures of Camellia lying on the couch!

Continuing my huge good wishes for Pip, Newman, and you.

Hugs,
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:42:15 (PDT)

[Patty]

You could always link to a Photobucket account to make it easier too Carol. Bet that's a cute pic!

[CarolW]

Good thought about Photobucket, Patty - but it's actually easier just to put them on my web site; I'll make an attempt after a bit - my ISP is having a slight problem this morning! They say it's resolved, though!

Hugs,
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:06:07 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Today is our nine-month anniversary of being a team - I, the Human DogMum, Camellia, the Canine Companion.

We still have a lifetime to go together. Camellia turned four years old on 7 March. Early in February, she had dental surgery - of a sort, as anaesthesia was incomplete because of her scarred larynx preventing full insertion of the tube. She did well with it, though. That was our last major event, except that she's had another full professional grooming (12 April). Three hours of grooming - very stressful; she did very well, as usual!

She still bark-bark-barks at all other dogs. Sometimes barks at humans along the road. Barks at a passing horse (cute, right?) - may never have seen horses close up before, for all I know.

All in all, though, she's looking quite contented. We're on a very regular schedule for meals, as though Camellia were diabetic - I think it's good for ANY dog to be on a regular schedule, particularly for food and sleep.

NEW COMMUNICATIONS!

Camellia is telling me it's also good to be on a regular schedule for walks!

This creates a kind of conundrum, because weather doesn't always permit! Kumbi would willingly walk in the rain, while wearing a raincoat. Camellia hates wearing any kind of coat. She also dislikes getting rained on. What else is new? Smart dog!

If it's walk-time, and it's raining, even just lightly, Camellia says, "Forget it." Twcie this morning, even though the rain had (mostly) stopped, I suited up (a five-minute job at least, to get my gumboots on, strap the Flexi to my waist, make sure I have all safety-gear for Camellia with me, and so forth) - and - Camellia wouldn't come down the (outside) stairs to get her harness on to go walking.

Earlier in her time with me, I used to put her harness on anyway, having to do a lot of moving around, as she'd dodge my efforts - and sometimes, I'd half pull her, to get her to start out with me. I don't like doing this, and it's not good for her. In fact, it's a rotten thing to do to a dog. (Oops!)

Dragging a dog around just ain't where things are! Bribery is better. Show the treats. But also, bribery is NOT how training works! Training works by REWARDING, after the behavior you want is at least under way. So, when Camellia is doing what I want, I can thank her and give her a treat, to reward her - reinforcing the likelihood that the same behavior in the same environment, will occur again.

I have completely stopped dragging Camellia. I did it a few times in her first months with me, but no longer do. It does more harm than good.

She's learned to jump into the car - she jumps into the driver's seat, and then moves over to the passenger seat. She also jumps out well now, once I put her leash on, and get out myself, holding the leash, so she can't bolt into danger.

We go on walks most days, weather permitting - a longer one in the morning, shorter in the afternoon. Camellia will turn with me when I ask her to, though she may take a minute or so to do that, perhaps wanting to walk more first. But she accepts my request to turn, before long.

Our two major achievements lately are - first - brushing teeth. I never brushed my dogs' teeth before - never learned how. Kumbi really could have used that.

But with Camellia, it's really urgent. So I brush her teeth every day. We started out slowly; I was able to tempt her with the toothpaste; I tried gauze around my finger, as well as a rubber finger-cot kind of toothbrush. The gauze is fine, but has the disadvantage of not getting into crevices. The finger-cot brush will get into crevices better. But a child's soft toothbrush is definitely the best for getting into crevices, just as my vet's major receptionist taught me. So now I use that exclusively.

It took us several months to get good at it together. If Camellia sees me coming with the toothbrush, she'll usually try to escape - but lately, hasn't made such a big deal of it, perhaps because I'm getting better at keeping her comfortable during brushing. After we're done, I let her lick the toothbrush. Then I undo the job by feeding two treats right after the brushing. However, the treats I feed are dental-chew biscuits. I'm hoping to eliminate those treats after a time, or, rather, move them much farther in time from the tooth-brushing time. Bet we'll get there!

At least, I know now we're getting effective brushing. I can see the results - Camellia's teeth remain rather shiny and bright.

My current project is to learn walk-scheduling with Camellia, especially when the weather is unstable - as in, it's about to rain! Would you believe - I would - that it took me a long time to bring to the very surface of my shaky brain - the understanding that Camellia is a better immediate-weather-predicter than I am!

Knowing today will be a rainy day, I suited up an hour early, because it hadn't rained yet, and I was hoping to get Camellia out "'fore it rains, 'fore it rains." We got out the door, but Camellia stayed on the landing; wouldn't come down the stairs.

Short of an hour later, I tried again. Again, Camellia wouldn't come down - but the rain started just then - so - I gave up, came back in, and de-suited, for the second time this morning.

Then I thought some. Dogs don't need as much exercise as some people think. On their own, they will take the exercise they need, assuming they have a good environment for it. But a relaxed dog will exercise in short spurts, or sprints - then hang out and rest for the remainder of the day.

Camellia is well-exercised, well-muscled - the two walks a day, though they are slow and rambly (I let Camellia go pretty much where she wants, along the roadway), they are news-reading escapades - for Camellia. SHE can read the roadside news, so much better than I can! And loves doing it. When we get ready for a walk, Camellia has a joyful little dance she does. That is, when she WANTS to walk.

AHA! She wasn't doing that today - not yet, anyway. Perhaps she'll do it by late afternoon.

So, I suddenly realized, I don't have to go wasting my time and effort suiting up, only to have to de-suit five minutes later. I'm going to try letting Camellia tell me when she wants a walk - at least, most of the time. I can usually do that, as I have no obligations elsewhere - most of the time.

We should have SOME period today when it's not raining - we'll see what happens. As I'm short of sleep from coping with computer problems, I also plan to take a long nap, probably starting soon now. We won't walk during my nap.

And I'm going to let Camellia teach me about how she can tell me she wants to go walking - now! I'll bet we'll get in ONE walk today, mid to late afternoon. I won't take her out in the dark, as there are too many bear and cougar around. Cougar, especially, are a threat I want to avoid.

I'll be interested to pay better attention to what Camellia is telling me, and how she's doing it, and to have us both figure out how she can tell me, "I want to walk - now."

Mon, 16 May 2011 11:42:07 (PDT)

[pgcor]

Congratulations on your anniversary Carol and Camellia!!! You're a great team and have a lot of knowledge to share with the rest of human and dogdom!

Many, many more happy anniversaries!

Hugs,

Pam and Pip

[CarolW]

Thanks for the good wishes, Pam. If ever I've learned something, it's that there's ALWAYS more to learn about dogs, including about our own dogs.

We had a sunny day today, and, with the full moon, a low tide, so I hoped we could get to the beach. For dogs who walk right along, it doesn't take that long to get to the lovely beach in the park - a long, sandy one (sandy when the tide is out; otherwise, stumbly-gravelly!)

So I was hoping we could make it to the beach this morning. It seems I need to give some kind of signal I'm willling to walk-now, so I sat down to get my gum-boots on - sure enough, Camellia started dancing around, meaning, she was willing to walk now.

We left at 8:30. It took us nearly an hour just to reach the path to the beach. Things are safe enough till then. The path is narrow, muddy and slippery, and I DO NOT want to be meeting dogs coming up it when we're going down it, nor vice-versa. Before entering the path, I exchange Camellia's regular, light-weight six-foot leash for the Flexi (which I keep strapped to my waist, to MAKE SURE I don't drop the handle, which would then chase Camellia and terrify her!). Camellia does really well on that path, doing a "follow," when I ask; I guide very gently with the leash. I'll let her in front of me (always like to see where she is) when I can see it's clear in front.

We managed to get across the creek-bridge near where the path reaches the beach, and walked along that path, which parallels the beach all the way to the main park-area. There are only a few places where it's fairly easy to get down on the beach from that path. We went quite a distance, as I saw The New Visitors - neighbor dogs who are allowed to roam as they wish - they were chasing sandpipers at the near end of the beach, but covering a third of the length of the beach in their chases.

The dogs are quite harmless, but being BIG German-Shepherd-Dog mixes, they scare a lot of people, and they do scare Camellia as well.

All the same, we got down on the beach, and I changed the leashes again, so Camellia could have a bit of running around. What she did was, go to the end of the leash (3 meters, about 15-16 feet), and bark-bark-bark at the New Visitors. They ignored her. Thank goodness.

Eventually, I was able to get Camellia turned and walking away from them.

Meantime, I was also trying to take some pictures. Also, juggling treats; gave her a few here and there, rewarding her for coming along, or checking in with me, so to speak.

All in all, we really were lucky this morning. Had a short beach-excursion, longish walk on the path, which is quite beautiful, and shady, too - always good in full sunlight. I also saw another neighbor-with-dog leave the beach and go up the path to the road - another I prefer to avoid meeting on that narrow, muddy path.

A third neighbor with two rather large dogs was walking on the beach, but we missed them, too, as they came along well after us.

So, we got up the path to the road again without meeting any dogs, and then went home. Camellia barked at my nice neighbors with a Borzoi, who had come out and walked ahead of us, then disappeared down the road to the tiny beach just across the road from my new place.

We were out nearly three hours, which is more than enough walking for a day. Camellia had had a bit of a rough night, with reverse-sneezing breathing, and I wouldn't, then, have chosen today for a walk to the big park-beach, but these opportunities don't come along all that often, so I'm glad we made it.

We did no other walks today; Camellia didn't need any more. Nor did I; I am getting old!

Now we'll see how things go. I'm wondering if I should stop feeding Camellia yogurt. I often give her some, after her meals, but it's possible the dairy element clogs her up a bit and contributes to what I've identified (I think) as reverse-sneeze, or, stress-breathing. Guess I'll check in with my vet on that. That DARNED scarred larynx does strongly affect Camellia's breathing.

I'm still glad I took her, despite learning she'd been debarked, because she's mostly a sweetie-pie, though people who don't know dogs at all can have difficulty learning that!

It all fits right in with Dr. Sophia Yin's material on preventing bites. (But Camellia would be VERY slow actually to BITE a human or dog; she'd threaten, but only VERY rarely actually bite.)

Don't think I got any good pictures, though I took a lot. Using a point-and-shoot camera - and much of the time, literally did just that - point and shoot - without even being able to see what I was doing!

But we had a nice day, and that's what counts.

Tue, 17 May 2011 20:48:32 (PDT)

[Patty]

Well Happy 9 month Anniversary Carol and what a truly wonderful day you had today! :):):)

[CarolW]

Thanks for your good wishes, Patty! We managed another trip to the park-beach, Tuesday past; this time, got luckier with dogs; any on the beach were at a great distance. Camellia actually got in a bit of exploring on the beach, with a tiny bit of dancing around (on the Flexi). Again we were VERY fortunate, and didn't meet any dogs (nor humans) on the narrow, muddy path between the Near End of the beach and the TurnAround on the road.

We also managed it in about 2.5 hours, instead of the previous 2.75 [grin].

I decided to try to find out WHAT might be causing Camellia's "reverse sneezing," or stress-breathing, or whatever it is. Sent email to my vets. The younger replied, Friday evening, saying that if it didn't calm, they should see her. Dr. Carla was the one who emailed me, saying at this time of year, it might well be allergies, and I might try some Benadryl, and if that didn't help, they should see her. I have some Benadryl in the house, and gave her one at 3:30 Saturday morning. It seemed to have no effect at all. I didn't know if it was supposed to work right away.

Anyway, with the remarks about seeing Camellia, I thought I'd try to get her seen yesterday - to AVOID having any emergency. Dr. Amanda was totally swamped yesterday, but the receptionist said I could bring her in and hang out; see if she could be fit in. Breathing is always something to be watched right away.

So I popped Camellia in the car, having given her a very short walk before phoning the vet at nine, when they open.

They took her to the back, to watch her, weigh her, and so forth. She often does best without me, and I trust all those people, so I just waited outside.

Before too long, they brought Camellia back out again, saying the tech, Nyla (who is also a dental specialist) had examined her, found her heart good, lungs good, color good. They said I should keep a log.

HAHAHAHA! But - I'm now keeping a separate "breathing" log.

They said, give her down-time - no long walks.

I'm SO familiar with that! I've been logging, and thinking. Suddenly today, I understood that I hadn't explained well in words what this "reverse sneezing" - but it wasn't really that, I think - was. I'd also called it "stress-breathing." Just have NOT described it successfully. It's hiccup-y in nature! As though something is bothering her throat (and I think of her scarred larynx).

I THINK I've figured it out. I THINK it's the dental chew biscuits I've been feeding that are setting it off - I could test that, bit by bit, but I'm also a bit reluctant to set it off on purpose; it's so miserable for Camellia!

Anyway, because I think it's those, I haven't given her any today; I've been using them several times a day, sometimes, as treats, especially after brushing Camellia's teeth!

So I disregarded the instructions for no long walks, and took her on her usual walks today; a longer one in the morning, shorter in the afternoon.

Our morning walk had a horrid event - two cocker spaniels, belonging to a new neighbor up the hill - were running loose. I've never seen them loose before. Camellia knew they were around long before I did, and began her bark-bark-barking - they ran up to us. I'd learned, talking to their owner, that they have problems similar to Camellia's - with other dogs.

One of the dogs, the larger, really threatened Camellia, right up close, and really scared her. I think she expressed her anal glands with that one. The other stayed a bit back.

My neighbor, hearing the commotion, came out. I handed her a bunch of my Lamb-and-Rice Rollover treats, and said to feed them - that helped; she got hold of both her dogs. She said they'd gotten out of her fenced yard. Oh, my; I know about that kind of problem, too well! At least I got her phone number; I don't even know her last name. Haven't been able to reach her by phone - no answer - but want to congratulate her on keeping her cool! She did really well.

Meantime, despite that terrible stress, we continued our walk, had one more dog-encounter with bark-bark-barking (Camellia's - the two dogs being walked just ignored her; smart dogs!).

Some time after arriving home, I brushed Camellia's teeth - and THIS time, did NOT give her the dental-chew "treats" afterwards. Gave her a couple of bits of Rollover instead. Messing up the brushing, of course. After this, I'll just let her make do with licking the toothbrush. She likes the toothpaste.

Walked her again this afternoon, with no really major incidents. We had one or two brief instances of the hiccup-y breathing this afternoon and evening, but much briefer than before. So I'll be watching, checking, and eventually, reporting to my vets again.

I can return the bag of dental chews, for a full refund. It's possible another brand wouldn't cause the problem, so I'll look into that. Test it.

I just fell offline, dialed in again, and appear to be back okay without losing my post! Guess I'll find out when I try to save it!

It's way past bed-time, anyway! I have high hopes I've identified the source of the problem. Will let you know.

Sun, 22 May 2011 22:20:45 (PDT)

[Patty]

What an ordeal with the cockers Carol. Glad the owner came out.

Hoping you have the problem with Camellia's stress breathing figured out! ;)

[CarolW]

The cockers' owner was great. Haven't been able to reach her by phone yet. She seems to have fixed the fence; we passed by today, and one of the cockers came up to the fence, but made no attempt to get out. We stayed on the OTHER side of the road! A man was working outside there, and waved.

I THINK I have a line on the "stress-breathing" - it's NOT breathing/stress - but EATING!

I've been soaking Camellia's kibble ever since her dental early in February (8 Feb 2011) - but been feeding DRY dental-chew biscuits. Those biscuits seem to set her off. It's SO difficult to find the right words to describe, but it's hiccup-y, gulpy, spasmodic, with a pounding heart.

Which is why I thought "stress." Of COURSE it's stress, but apparently results from something to do with SWALLOWING!

Today I began feeding treats only with Camellia's nose DOWNward. That seems to help. And no more dry biscuits at all. We'll see how it goes. I'll be reporting to my vets.

Mon, 23 May 2011 19:52:34 (PDT)

[k9diabetes]

I'm sorry to hear that Camelia has been ill. What does the vet think she has?

Natalie

[CarolW]

First - could somebody change the thread title to just "Camellia Camelo" please? That would leave me room to add something when posting! Didn't need to have her full name in the thread title; haha! Besides, I'm likely to ADD to that name!

Anyway, to try to answer your question, Natalie - my vets think likely, this is seasonal allergies to pollen. That DOES make sense, as the stress-breathing, or "huffing," or "stress-huffing," which I'm now calling "shuffing" (pronounced as in "shuffle"), has been increasing over the last month - a time when pollens have been increasing.

We had a kind of crisis this past Friday night and Saturday. Camellia began to vomit, and had diarrhea. I was up with her all night, except that I caught an hour of sleep. Poor doggie! She was truly miserable.

Eventually, she ejected a LARGE hunk of grass from the rear end, and then later, another LARGE hunk from the other end. If I'd had my wits about me, I would have pulled those hunks apart, to see if there was anything inside those hunks - perhaps I didn't because I thought it very unlikely she was getting rid of anything but grass.

The emitted stuff was tinged with blood, and that's what caused me to be on the vet's doorstep Saturday morning when the clinic opened. I thought likely, all those sharp edges on the grass had made tiny cuts throughout her GI system; bet I was right about that.

My beloved Dr. Amanda (Booth) was on duty, but completely and totally swamped. However, with what might be partly a breathing problem, Office Manager Violette took Camellia (I almost said, Kumbi; haha!) into the back, to be watched by whoever was around - techs, and so forth. Shortly, she returned with Camellia, and reported that Tech Nyla (great tech; specializes in dental stuff) had examined her, and found her color good, heart good, lungs good. Hmmm. GREAT relief for me!

I'd been exchanging detailed emails with Dr. Carla (Bell) for some days; she was there too, probably helping with the overload - and she provided us with a tube of something called Diarsanyl FOS, an oral medication for dogs and cats. Said to give 1 ml twice a day. I haven't been successful in locating detailed information about it on the Internet, with only cursory efforts to do that - too short of sleep, I guess.

I gave Camellia her first dose of Diarsanyl right in the clinic, at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Then, too, I'd had voice mail from Dr. Amanda, suggesting we change her antihistamine from Benadryl to Reactin (generic: Cetirizine Hydrochloride) - she wanted to try that, as it's given only once a day (10 mg caplets), and it doesn't tend to cause drowsiness.

So, on the way home from the clinic, I stopped to buy fresh white rice (my supply was low), and also, this generic Reactin. And I bought some extra Pill Pockets; I use the Large Beef ones. Of course, I couldn't use those this past Saturday, with Camellia's tum upset.

Dr. Carla said to feed Camellia (small amounts, frequently - remember, Camellia is NOT diabetic), beginning about 2 p.m. Saturday past, as her last vomiting had been 2 a.m. Saturday. She didn't want Camellia to dip into any hypoglycemia. Interesting.

So I began cooking around 1:15 Saturday afternoon, and by 2 p.m., had a large supply of very sticky, overcooked, over-loaded with water, white rice, and freshly cooked "Stir Fry" strips of white chicken breast, skinless, which I get at my local grocery store.

And I began to feed small handfuls to Camellia. She had trouble with the sticky white rice - managed a fair bit of it, though, in the first feeding. After that, she began to refuse it entirely. I think the stickiness REALLY got her down!

Rather than cook more, less watery rice, I decided it was unlikely she'd have problems if I added a bit of her regular kibble, soaked to a much, along with the chicken - did NOT want her to have ONLY chicken.

In the evening, I gave Camellia her second dose of Diarsanyl. It's sticky stuff, too, but I put it on a piece of chicken folded over, like a sandwich. She got it down fine.

She went without any antihistamine this past Saturday.

Sunday, I began with the Cetirizine Hydrochloride; by then she was eating fine, and no more diarrhea, so I used a large Beef Pill Pocket for the caplet.

I fed four times Sunday, three times Monday - by then feeding her only her usual soaked kibble (Adult GO, salmon and oatmeal), splitting her allowance into three parts, and went back to her normal feeding schedule Tuesday. Kept up the Diarsanyl twice a day, and Reactin (generic, 10 mg), once a day.

I noted, as I'd been doing for the past week, occurrences of shuffing. There were lots, some of them fairly strong.

One of the difficulties I'd had was trying to describe this shuffing - I could tell from my conversations with Violette, also Dr. Carla, that I wasn't really succeeding in bringing a visual picture to anybody! I'd also called it (tentatively) reverse sneezing; yet it didn't seem to be that, either.

FINALLY, on 30 May, afternoon, I was able to catch examples of shuffing on video, with my little point-and-shoot camera.

I sent two tiny clips by email to the clinic, but they were so short that they didn't really help a lot. Even so, they were about 5 MB - giant for uploading or sending by email!

Later, I was able to get longer clips - but they took up so much space I wasn't even able to upload them to my web site - couldn't hang onto the server long enough (some 10 hours or more).

So yesterday, when I went on my weekly Hunt Day (errands), I took copies of the two longer clips (18 and 85 MB, respectively) to the clinic on a flash drive, and they will have put those on their computer. I left the flash drive with them and said I didn't need it back in a hurry; anybody could take it home and bring it later.

But also, I've been trying, somehow, to get the files up on my web site, so anybody can download them, as I think they might be useful to somebody besides me and my vets. The big question is, what words do we used to describe this stuff! I'm calling it "shuffing" for now.

Well, here's the lovely thing - Wednesday morning, 1 June, VERY suddenly, Camellia appeared to recover totally. She danced around, raced around, tore through the house on several tours, with a large episode of "The Zoomies," as I like to call them.

Her stools had been excellent since Sunday/Monday, so the Diarsanyl did its stuff (Dr. Carla said to keep her on it five days, and I did). Last dose was Wednesday, and she continues with perfect stools.

You can imagine my joy at the dramatic recovery! Also, I barely saw any shuffing after that. Only traces. I was thinking of taking her off Reactin, but yesterday morning, Camellia shuffed once more, so I gave her a daily dose before leaving on Hunt Day. DogDaddy George dog-sat yesterday, and reported no shuffing while I was out for several hours.

Thought we had the shuffing licked, but no. However, it's GREATLY reduced. Camellia goes on feeling good, eating well, no diarrhea.

One thing that I'd wondered about was whether using an antibacterial gel on Camellia's back molars once daily might have caused the shuffing, and, experimentally, I stopped rubbing it on her teeth; last time I applied it was 29 May, evening. I was JUST about to resume with it when the shuffing appeared again, and I decided to wait a while, and see, as diligent tooth-brushing SHOULD keep Camellia's teeth in pretty good condition without that gel.

If/when I go back to trying the gel, you can bet I'll be watching closely in case it starts up the shuffing again.

Shuffle-Huffle!

Thanks for asking, Natalie. And to anybody who read this WHOLE THING - wow; you are dedicated, and thanks!

Fri, 3 Jun 2011 09:00:32 (PDT)

[CarolW]

On treating symptoms without a solid diagnosis!

Our situation, Camellia and I with my vets, is this: we are treating symptoms, without a solid diagnosis. This would NOT be a good thing to do with diabetes, nor with Cushings.

The tentative diagnosis, without batteries of expensive, and likely, unnecessary, testing, is seasonal allergies (to pollens, most likely). The antibacterial gel is probably NOT the problem, but I plan to keep Camellia off it for a while.

Without a solid diagnosis, everything is quite confusing to me!

Allergies and stress are known to be very closely related; stress easily brings on allergies, and part of the recommendation from Violette and the vets and techs is to keep Camellia's stress levels low.

Havanese are bred as animal companions - that being their main purpose, so to speak. I was thinking that "should" mean, they wouldn't be very easily stressed. But then I think of the general description I meet here and there - that they are known to take off and rush around madly (Zoomies), and must NOT be let off-leash outside.

I believe that's true, and possibly, when Camellia gets really old, her Zoomies will reduce somewhat. Meantime, I work steadily on recalls - but on an all-tape Flexi. I don't purposely let her offleash. Once she did back out of her harness - I hadn't handled her well. Got her harness back on in about 15 minutes - evidence that Camellia loves and trusts me despite any hypervigilance - easy startling, and despite the Havanese characteristic, I'm told, of being Identified Flying Objects (IFO).

Anyway, I have to wear my Patience Hat a lot with Camellia. Meantime, we keep going along together, and Camellia loves her walks so, we are doing them. Those, too, require me to wear my Patience Hat, as Camellia goes along so slowly, sniffing around a lot. This can get boring for the human, and often becomes that for me. I try not to be too bored!

It's SO good to see Camellia feeling so much better - essentially, back to normal, with bits of shuffing here and there - and I do all I can to stop her from eating grass - without scaring her.

The grass-eating, though, is no longer frantic, so it becomes possible to keep it under control. Typically, people use basket-muzzles to stop dogs from snarfing stuff up, but a muzzle would deeply affect Camellia's confidence, so it would be a very last resort for us.

Camellia is looking at me significantly, saying, Please, Mum; it's WALK-TIME!

You're so right, Camellia; I'm coming; I'm coming!

Fri, 3 Jun 2011 09:21:03 (PDT)

[Patty]

Thought we had the shuffing licked, but no. However, it's GREATLY reduced. Camellia goes on feeling good, eating well, no diarrhea.


I'm glad she's breathing and feeling better Carol, even if not 100% yet. Keep us posted!

[CarolW]

Patty- thanks for changing the thread title (or whoever did). Yeah; now that I've laid out the background pretty completely (wry grin) - it will be easy to keep you posted, and I surely will!

I'd been sending daily log files to my vets - same as I used to for Kumbi with BG readings, with endless detail; haha! Who woulda thunk it?

Won't do that here; ha! But will post anything significant - and I've ended the ENDLESSLY detailed to-the-vet (by email) logs. (But of course, I'm keeping them in Camellia's log book!)

One lovely side note - my vet clinic FINALLY has a web site, after more than 20 years. They need a better webmaster- it takes forever to load on dial-up, and that's not necessary. I mentioned that to them - they agreed the site needs work.

But - when I went to look, I learned that Dr. Carla Bell has become part-owner of the clinic, sharing it with Dr. Amanda Booth. This is GREAT news - we can't "lose" Dr. Carla to some other clinic or job! Because she's such a dedicated and excellent vet, same as Dr. Amanda is (though she doesn't have an IM specialty, as Dr. Amanda has - however, the vets in that clinic always consult with each other, and also see to it all the staff gets updated - and they all keep up with current veterinary news).

They have a third vet, part-time, Dr. Ute Mannhardt - she's the one who was on the day Kumbi died, and you absolutely couldn't ask for a kinder vet. And she has to be very skilled, too, because you have to be to be a vet at that clinic!

This makes things great for us, because I can take an appointment with ANY vet who's on duty at the time I need one.

It's getting to be long-nap-time - I have weeks of sleep-loss to catch up on; ha! What else is new? So many Human-Parents of diabetic dogs have this same difficulty!

So, Natalie, thanks for asking; Patty, thanks for the invite to continue (hehe - I will do that) - but above all, thanks for this entire set of forums, and for your threesome (Peggy too) dedication to them.

Camellia says hi!

Fri, 3 Jun 2011 12:23:00 (PDT) - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[CarolW]

Small update: somewhat unscientifically, I'm still experimenting with what might be causing Camellia to shuff (stress-huff). I just changed her food from GO salmon and oatmeal (adult) to NOW (adult), which is mostly turkey-based. It's grain-free, which puts its protein-content quite high - too high for my comfort (and I mentioned that to my vet), but as long as she drinks enough water, and doesn't get very old (ha!) - it should be okay - for now. Protein around 36%, and fat around 16%, so it would NEVER do for a diabetic dog.

I need to go back to bed, but will report in more detail later today.

For now, I'll just say that I changed the food VERY quickly - over two days - but Camellia has had this food before, and showed no distress - on the contrary - she's doing very well, though I still see a little shuffing.

Wed, 8 Jun 2011 02:23:43 (PDT)

[jjefferjo]

Carol,
hope camellia continues to do well, I call it in side out cough Ed will do evry once in a while, like he is trying to clear something. I will watch fro trends in him
Jj

[CarolW]

Jj - very good thought - "inside-out cough." I managed to get it on video with my little point-and-shoot camera, and took the video to my vet's place. They copied it, as I'd asked.

Heard back from Dr. Carla today; she suggests that since we don't have a diagnosis, we can't do much for now, but says if things get worse, we should work on diagnosing the thing. I totally agree!

Today I tried taking her off the antihistamine (Reactin, but the generic form, which is Cetirizine Hydrochloride; 10 mg, given once every 24 hours). Four hours after I usually give it (7 a.m.), she was shuffing again, so I gave her one then. Tomorrow, I'll give her one at 9 a.m., and the next day, back to 7 a.m. All else being equal!

Next step, if we go for diagnosis, is blood work and chest x-rays. I can only say, I'm so glad I took out accident/illness insurance on her; I have to pay the initial fees, but after that, anything continuing, they will cover, 90%. I still have to cover that 10% after that.

But at least, paying her medical bills becomes possible, with the insurance.

Camellia is looking well otherwise, and continuing to enjoy the food change. And chewing on her bully-sticks, which she didn't touch since early February!

Camellia sends greetings to Eddie, again waving her magic wand for him and for you! I suddenly remember that when first I got Camellia, it felt strange to have a dog who isn't blind! (If she doesn't go diabetic on me, likely she'll keep her sight for many years to come, barring nasty accident or eye-illness!)

Wed, 8 Jun 2011 21:58:12 (PDT)

[jjefferjo]

Carol,
Good deal on the insurance that was very insightful, should I ever let another dog, pet acquire me I will do the same.
so glad she doing a bit better! Ed goes for his 2 month post surgery check up on the 17th. He is doing really well cannot believe it - will update after visit thank you for the good wishes
Have a great week-end!
Jj

[CarolW]

I chose TruPanion because they seem to have a good history of paying up without hassles (of course, the vet's office puts in the claim). I'd thought of just putting the premium money into a savings account - but - that would NOT cover the very major expenses one can have, say, if your dog goes diabetic - and incurs large expenses for stuff like hospitalization in the early days. I'd have wiped out a savings account fast on Kumbi - THEN where would I have been? (Same place I was - I was very fortunate - friends helped me with vet bills - but - I don't want to have to depend on that - being long retired and on a fixed - and eroding - income.)

With Camellia, having taken out this insurance, I find it's not EASY to pay the premiums, but I can manage it, and I can manage the portions of expenses I'm responsible for - but if I incur large bills with Camellia, she - and I - will be safe, and not have to deny her truly needed medical care for lack of funds.

I tend to follow principles suggested by Dr. Nancy Kay - no unnecessary diagnostics, medication when needed, same for diagnostics. One does need a good, working, teammate vet to make this all work out well - and I have that, all right!

More on Camellia - a friend wondered out loud about turkey, as her now-dead diabetic dog was severely allergic to it - and the NOW food I changed her back to is largely turkey - AND, though Camellia loves the food, she's begun scratching herself frequently - something she hasn't done for many months, while on the GO salmon and oatmeal. Hmmm.

So yesterday I bought a bag of Acana Wild Prairie. Acana is the "lesser" line by Orijen - "lesser" because it's lower in protein content - 33% instead of 36%. Anything to reduce the protein a bit - not easy with grain-free foods. This particular food has chicken, whitefish, and egg for its main protein sources.

Fortunately, Camellia really likes the food. At the suggestion of the pet store clerk, I fed her her 15 grams of Acana Wild Prairie separately first, and then the 37 grams of NOW she still had coming. She chewed up and swallowed the Acana food with great pleasure; the NOW as well, so I think I have a working diet-to-come for Camellia. I plan to take four days to change her over to the Acana. That's still quite a quick change - people say, from four to seven days to make a food change complete.

Then it's six to eight weeks before we learn the full effects of the change of food.

I'd started Camellia on the change back to NOW from GO, Sunday evening last, so she's only been on THAT for a very short time (recently; she was on it for months, before) - yet began scratching herself a lot since. I do ask myself, "What if I'm wrong?" (and it's something else suddenly turning on the scratching) - but the most likely culprit IS the food, so we shall see what we shall see.

I'll report, of course. And, Jj, I'll look forward to your further reports on Eddie - such a sweet little guy! Though I went Havanese this time, I truly adore the Terriers! On the surface, the two kinds of dogs are quite different; of course, underneath, they are all - dogs! (haha)

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 06:18:47 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Somebody gave me a tip that MAYBE Camellia COULD have an allergy to turkey - her dog had one - and after a quick change from the food GO to the food NOW (which she'd had before), Camellia suddenly began scratching herself a lot - she hadn't done that for months - so the GO food was better than the NOW food for her, in that respect - most likely (I could always be wrong).

However, I decided to change her food AGAIN - after only a few days, so yesterday, I picked up a bag of Acana Wild Prairie kibble, which is a "lesser" line of Orijen - meaning, lower in protein content! It's grain-free, though, and the quality control looks good.

Began the change last night, and this evening, we were up to half her food being Acana Wild Prairie, and half NOW, as usually, Camellia has an iron-cast tummy! By Sunday, we should be changed over.

Camellia loves the new food - loves the NOW, also, and will eat both dry. I had to soak the GO to get her to eat it.

But this morning, oh, my sweet Camellia! - I gave her a (generic) Reactin tablet - 10 mg, a 24-hour dose - in a large Beef Pill Pocket, as I've been doing. I had never used Pill Pockets before Camellia. With Kumbi, I merely wrapped his pills in his canned food, which he loved - fed a small glob first, then immediately a larger glob with pill in it, then instantly a third glob, to make sure he swallowed the second!

With Camellia, though, she's been taking the Pill Pockets, chewing them - and swallowing them, along with the pill (a small caplet).

Not this morning, though! This morning, she spit the pill out. Must have been badly placed in the Pill Pocket.

So, though I haven't done this for MANY years, my previous experience keyed in, and I opened Camellia's mouth, and inserted the caplet way back on her tongue. Camellia! You were SO GOOD! She made no objection, nor effort to fight me, but merely swallowed the pill, easy as pie.

It's good to know she (and I) can do that, in case she ever needs a pill without food. I guess she's become accustomed to my handling her mouth - in brushing teeth, for instance. I was quite chuffed, with the pleasure of having been able to give her the pill without any sort of struggle - therefore, no discomfort to Camellia.

So now, Camellia is quite properly sleeping and here I am, still up and on the forum - way past bedtime - when I BADLY need sleep. But I had to check into the diabetes discussion ANYWAY, of course!

Good night, all; sweet dreams.
Fri, 10 Jun 2011 23:15:22 (PDT)

[Patty]

Hope the food change helps Carol!

[CarolW]

Thanks, Patty - I too hope the food change makes a useful difference! It's GREAT that Camellia loves the food, and also that she'll eat it dry. (And that, at the same time, she's again begun chewing her bully-sticks - she needs the chewing, for her teeth!)

So far, so good; we're up to half-and-half on the food last night and this morning; this evening, we go 3/4 Acana, and 1/4 NOW, hold that tomorrow morning - where did I miscalculate? She'll be on all-Acana tomorrow night. (The Acana is largely chicken and whitefish, with some egg.)

This is NOT very scientific. Leaves lots of room for, "What if I'm wrong?' But the longer I watch, the more I think it's possible that this is an irritation in the throat somewhere - could be partly from pollens, and partly, that eating sets off the shuffing, by tickling the throat. Hey, who knows! Not me, not my vet!

Making two food changes so quickly also gets very unscientific; on the OTHER hand, the change from not-scratching herself much at all, to scratching often, was dramatic after I changed her to NOW - for only a few days.

Wobble-wobble thinking! Camellia looks well and bright-eyed today.

I'll report again later.

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 06:28:40 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Yesterday, late afternoon, Camellia and I attended a rather large birthday party, put on by Parrot-Lady Marg - for her own half-century (Big 5-0) birthday. She rented the community hall for the purpose - a private party. Marg is very active in the community, and very dearly loved by many, as well she should be! And she is Camellia's Fairy doGMother, too! Rarely, she visits us at home, and rarely, we visit in her home, with all the parrots and other birds.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/parrotlady.php

When we arrived, there were maybe a dozen people in the hall; we moved around; they moved around, and lots gave Camellia treats from her treat-box (Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Lamb Roll). I took Camellia outside a couple of times, but it seems she didn't need it; still, it was a good idea to give her a short break.

Then more and more people arrived, and things became quite crowded - and very noisy - the acoustics in the hall are bit rough! But Camellia isn't particularly sensitive to noise; *I* am a bit sensitive.

There were no other dogs present; lucky, because Camellia remains terrified of other dogs, and her response is to try to drive them away by bark-bark-barking and rushing at them. We haven't made much progress with THAT yet. I don't know how far we'll get, but we'll keep working on it.

However, Camellia behaved just beautifully at the party, and so did the humans, who, though they tended to do all the things that upset fearful dogs, such as, leaning (looming) over the dog, reaching for the top of the head to pet, reaching over the back instead of petting on the side closest to them. But they were gentle with their hands, and Camellia is exquisitely gentle when taking treats, even when she's aroused and excited.

The party was super-fabulous. If DogDaddy had been able to stay with Camellia at home, I would have stayed for the whole party, but he couldn't make it, and finally, close to seven p.m., I saw that Camellia had reached the limit of stress that was good for her.

I'll have to think about it, to describe how I knew that, but I truly did; I have an eye for Camellia's stress levels.

Allergies and stress are known to be very closely related. Somehow, I had the confidence that it WASN'T so much stress that was setting Camellia off into shuffing - it was mostly - what? pollens, perhaps - and possibly, food as well. I suspect the pollens of irritating Camellia's throat, and the food (the NOW food) of irritating her skin.

Tonight I start with ONLY Acana Wild Prairie kibble; we'll see how THAT goes. Chicken, whitefish and eggs, grain-free, as opposed to the GO salmon and oatmeal, and the NOW mostly turkey (grain-free).

I need to do up Camellia's log for my vets. I fed her an hour and a quarter late last night - can get away with that, as Camellia isn't diabetic (never mind that also, she ate almost 2/3 of a box of treats, which would be something approaching 60 calories).

She shuffed a couple of times last night, but I believe the shuffing is now considerably reduced. Because I've gone about this in an unscientific way, I can't be sure, so there's lots of room for, "What if I'm wrong."

Right now, as our morning walk-time draws near, Camellia is lying on her back on the sofa, TOTALLY RELAXED. No shuffs yet this morning, though she had a couple last night.

So - I WONDER! Maybe the food change is right! And maybe the Cetirizine Hydrochloride (Reactin, 10 mg), also! Pollens and food? Certainly possible. Stress? possible too! But Camellia doesn't look stressed right now! (Yay!)

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:13:33 (PDT)

[Patty]

Today is Camellia ComeDay; we are celebrating our first anniversary together, so I'll try to post in Camellia's thread in Everything Else.


Looking forward to hearing how things are going Carol, but wanted to say...
Happy Anniversary to you and Camellia!!! :):D:cool:

[peggy0]

Keep us posted! and Happy Anniversary to you and Camellia and many many many more

[MaryLea]

Happy, happy Anniversary! You have done well with her. She's one lucky dog to have such a good HumanMom. :)

Mary

[Judi]

sounds like you both had fun! I hope the food change is the trick!

My shar pei, who I had years ago, was allergic to anything with soy. It took us a little while to figure that one out I remember.

Camellia is so lucky to have you

Judi

[jjefferjo]

Carol
Happy Anniversary to you both
Ed sends a wink!
Jj

[CarolW]

Camellia ComeDay was, in many ways, lovely. Not especially easy on Camellia, but she did well with it.

She's still shuffing occasionally, and I plan to go over this with my vets when she has her annual exam, probably early September. She's not suffering, though. She's doing well on the Acana Wild Prairie food. I had to experiment to find the right amount to feed her; have come up now with 40 grams per meal, twice a day, and have relaxed the timing a bit, so instead of being on the button, 6:30 a.m. and p.m., I'm feeding her between 6 and 6:30 a.m. and p.m. [grin].

In general, we follow the same routine, day after day - dogs so much thrive on that. This still-new-to-us suite, on the second floor, has lots of light - big, tall windows facing west - and - in the afternoon on a sunny day it heats up something fierce. I have to draw the blinds on the windows - a chore - ha! Getting used to doing that. Then if I open both back and front doors, I get a goodly breeze to keep temperatures down to a dull roar! Under 80 degrees Fahrenheit!

This morning, I got a call from town that a manual for my phone was in, so decided to substitute an extra trip-to-town for our usual 1-2-hour morning walk. We went into the hardware store, where Camellia did some visiting. Treats, of course! We got home shortly after noon.

I spent part of the afternoon reading on the forum - and was TRYING to post here, but kept falling asleep, so finally, went for a nap, and half an hour later, had a call from doGMother Marg, Camellia's Fairy doGMother (she's the Parrot Lady, and will take Camellia if I get run down by a truck or anything like that!) This was a very special celebration for us.

Marg arrived with an incredible fancy Camellia ComeDay cake. I took pictures of it. I really can't eat cake, but I did anyway, and will pay the cost; haha! Camellia was Quite Interested, but a little gentle prompting got her to stop reaching for it.

When we put the cake plates away, Camellia snuggled with Marg for a bit. This was truly lovely to see. I haven't seen Camellia so relaxed, snuggling, before.

In town this morning, she'd reacted to dogs in the distance, but I'd distracted her a bit with some treats. She had more treats with Marg, so I didn't know if she'd eat her supper - but - I fed her at 6:30, and she polished off her supper, which means our evening will be Quite Relaxed.

I gave the remainder of the cake to my fabulous neighbors in the main house, where I'm in the loft suite. They will take very good care of the cake. [deadpan]

All in all, it was a lovely Camellia ComeDay celebration. Marg commented on how much Camellia had changed in the year we've been together - and she saw it all.

DogDaddy George is away camping, so missed the whole thing, but I'll show him some pictures when he gets back.

Thanks to all of you for your best wishes. I'm convinced they have a strong effect, on me, and on Camellia, too. There is just NOTHING quite like this forum for the energy it has for good things for dogs and their humans.

Love to all, from me and Camellia, with all best wishes for health and happiness.

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:13:37 (PDT)

[Patty]

Carol,
Glad your celebration day was good. I'm sorry to hear Camellia is still shuffing at times, but happy to hear she's not suffering for it.

Nice to hear Marg will take Camellia if ever needed and that Camellia seems to love her as well...but, Carol, we hope you DON'T get run down by a truck or anything like that ;):D.

Have a good night!
Patty

[ozzi]

Happy 1st Anniversary Carol and Camellia!!! :D

It's hard to believe a year has gone by already! I remember the pics of you and Camellia the day you brought her home! It seems like yesterday!

All my best,

Kevin

[buddingartist]

Happy anniversary to both of you.

I echoe Kevin's words in saying that it seemed like yesterday that you introduced us to your new baby.

Boy Carol, you seem to have done an absolutely wonderful job with that little Camellia.

Enjoy
Louise

[pgcor]

Hi Carol and Camellia - Happy Anniversary!!!! While I don't know Camellia that well, I can say that Carol you are a SINGULAR person!!!! I don't throw that phrase around much for humans! LOL, but Camellia is a lucky girl!

The change you made in my life and for my dogs is priceless! We all say thanks!

[Ladybug]

Hi Carol!

Happy anniversary to you and Camellia! Time goes by so fast...seems just like yesterday when you brought her home.

Linda and Ladybug :)

[CarolW]

Catching up - or should that be Dogching up? Thanks for all the lovely congratulations! You KNOW, we don't see things all that well from close up - some changes, going along, are relatively imperceptible when we're right on top of them. So it's really nice when other people notice and comment on the desirable changes!

I don't know how far we'll get with getting Camellia to relax when other dogs are within her range of vision. I do have hopes it will be possible. I remember how Kwali used to rush up to any dog, grab its throat or neck, and hang off the dog (usually larger than she was).

She generally did bark at other dogs when we went walking, but improved a lot over the years, and maybe Camellia will, too.

Right now, I'm working out logistics of managing road-walks, as we lost our big play-yard, and the current yard is too small for any real play or running at all. So it's road-walks for exercise and activity.

I let Camellia choose where to go. We have three different routes.

1) Up the road, to the top of the hill, to the cul-de-sac, and back. Usually that's about 1.5 hours, at the slow pace we go. It can be relentlessly hot when the sun is out - or - relentlessly chilly, when there's fog and it's windy. Or alternating between those, at this time of year!

So I wear a jacket, but can peel it off and let it hang over the leather belt I wear tightened around my hips - that belt holds the handle of Camellia's all-tape Flexi lead. Which gives me hands-free action, even if Camellia goes to the full length of the lead (about 3 meters, or, a bit over 15 feet).

Now I'm working with fanny-packs, one with an extra pocket attached, because I badly want a walking-stick, as I am getting older each day (imagine!) and find it difficult to stand around for any length of time - never mind carrying stuff in packs - especially, going uphill.

Our other two route choices start by going down the hill on the road we live on, and then either continuing on the same road by bearing left, or we bear right at an intersection, and go up the next road - one that comes in from the highway. Our community mailbox is on that road, so Camellia's choices affect how and when I pick up mail!

It's good to have email, as I barely use snail mail any more, but there are some things that require snail mail.

Today we did a test-run with my new walking-stick, which I may or may not continue to use; we'll see. I got a broom-handle - a long one. My kind neighbor drilled a hole at a designated place not too far from where the handle is supposed to screw into the brush part.

Threaded a leather boot-lace through the hole, tied it around the screw-part, which anchors the lace nicely. Spiral-wrapped the stick down to the hole, left a loop of lace dangling to use as a strap for my hand/wrist.

On the other end, I put a cane tip.

Tried this today, with an OPEN box of treats set well into the fanny pack, worn front to back, so the treats sit handy right in front of me, above the hip-belt-leash assembly. The point here is to be able to feed the treats without continually opening and shutting the little boxes I normally carry treats in - little metal boxes that snap open and shut. But those require two hands - one to hold the box; the other to open and extract a treat.

The question was, if Camellia pulled on the leash, as she usually does when she has a bark-bark-bark fit (she's like a fish on the end of a line) - would an open box of treats in the fanny pack keep treats from spilling? Answer - it worked, today. We had one bark-bark-bark session. I used the walking stick to brace myself. Can't feed treats when Camellia is being a fish on the end of a line.

Once she relaxed, though, then I could get treats out with one hand. I had two boxes with different kinds of treats, today; normally will have only one, but I'm using up the chicken we had with Camellia's recent tummy upset. Diced it and froze it. We have one more tiny bag of those to thaw and use tomorrow.

Today's trial went well; NO spilled treats, despite the fish-line-activity. Whew! And I could feed with one hand only. And - lean on the stick! The stick is just a bit heavy, so DogDaddy George might bring me a real walking-stick. We'll see.

In general, Camellia seems contented and happy. Still shuffing several times a day. It'll be a few weeks before we get any detail on that.

Mostly, we keep to fairly regular routines, and that, of course, is very reassuring to dogs. Speaking of which, it's about bedtime for us!

I tell ya; being here on the forum is VERY good for me - therefore also for Camellia. She sends her greetings, and waves her truly magnificent Magic Wand - in favor of all forum members. Even the dogs! (hehe)

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:14:43 (PDT)

[jesse girl]

your a very special person carrol you dont give up you keep plowing forward for your babies . you give them the exercise and stimulation they need for a good quality of life even though it can be a challenge at times

[Patty]

Good to hear Carol. I like your walking stick idea. I do wonder which one is the fish on the end of the line though ;). Is she reeling you in or the other way around, LOL.

[Abby's Mom]

Carol, you are an inspiration to us all!

[buddingartist]

I do wonder which one is the fish on the end of the line though ;). Is she reeling you in or the other way around, LOL.

Hum I wonder:)

Carol sorry I totally missed yours and Camellia's anniversary:o. Belated wishes

Take care
Louise

[CarolW]

Hehe, Patty - about fishes on lines - well, I am bracing, and Camellia is going back and forth, back and forth - but neither of us gets any closer to the other during these events! So I don't know who is getting reeled in, if anyBodyBrain!

Jesse girl - you KNOW people on this forum give their all for their dogs. I'm no different from anybody else here! We just all do all we can to give our dogs the best lives they can have. I appreciated your comment anyway!

Barb - all of you are inspirations to ME! That's what keeps me here! I see new people coming in, and they pick up the vibes - they are here because they are ultra-dedicated - and - they become part of the inspiration too.

Louise - I often miss this and that, especially here on Everything Else. Often can't keep up even with the Diabetes Discussion forum. I try to, but often miss. But this one, too, has very special qualities to it - where we can get onto other topics.

I have more to say about behavior, but can't now, as this has been an extremely busy day for both of us - Camellia and me - and - umm - we're both reeling. Just not IN (haha!)

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:09:10 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Yesterday while Camellia was being groomed, I dropped in at Saseenos Vet's, to get my fabulous-vets-fix. Found a brochure from Trupanion, the insurance company that provides my medical insurance for Camellia - announcing a contest; grand prize $500 for the winner - $500 for the winner's vet, to aid more animals.

I thought, I should try this! Deadline is Friday 30 September. Collected photos today - took me 3/4 of the day - will rough-out a draft tonight, and I hope, send my entry tomorrow.

Suddenly, reviewing the rules, I discover the winner will be based (I think) on NUMBERS OF VOTES!

This means, I'm going to be asking my buddies here to vote for my entry!

YIKES! I've never done anything like this before. But - the money would be so welcome, even though Camellia is my first animal companon to be covered by insurance. I DO like the policy; Trupanion has a reputation for hassle-free coverage. I bought the 90% coverage with no deductions. That's because I'm ALWAYS short of money, on a fixed, low income (long-retired).

Let me see if I can find the link for voting.

http://blog.trupanion.com/tru-hero-vet/

That must be it, but my entry won't be there probably till tomorrow evening.

Meantime, though, I've uploaded the photo I'm going to use; it's here:

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/album.php?albumid=168&pictureid=1380

Kumbi, of course, is the star - along with my fabulous vets. Too bad I never got a picture of Dr. Ute Mannhardt. But she was the ringleader, the day Kumbi died unexpectedly.

My brain is running in circles. I'm telling myself to relax and have fun while writing my entry - that's the ONLY way I'll do a half-decent job of explaining why my vets are my true heros.

Hope my buddies here will go and vote for my entry - once it's up there. I'll try to announce here when I've posted my entry.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer!

Kwali and Kumbi thank you too. So does Camellia.
Love and hugs,
Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:28:31

[MaryLea]

That's great, Carol! Please do let us know when your entry is posted. Maybe we can figure out a way to let more people here know, too. Then there's other patients and customers of your vet as well as your friends.

Good luck!!!

Mary

[SandyL]

You KNOW you'll get LOTS of votes from all of us!! Let us know when it's time

Sandy

[CarolW]

Oh, my beloved buddies - THIS is what we are all about here. Love. Sharing. Stories of our dogs. And of our vets - well, especially, the good ones.

NOT going around drumming up votes to see who has the most friends connected to the Internet!

I SHOULD have read ALL the rules with care, but typical me; I saw the business about singing the praises of our vet heros - and liked that!

There's no way I can win this one, so let's just have some fun with it.

Haven't written my draft yet, but hope to, if I can stay awake long enough. Then will write to you all again tomorrow, here, when I've posted my entry. Not going to stop now just because the winner depends on numbers of votes! Been on the phone to my vets about three times today, to get permissions! Usually, I don't bug them with stuff like that, but I guess they weren't too swamped today.

All the same, I just could NOT ask for greater vets and staff. I truly adore those people. They are so deeply caring - first for the animals, but then also, for their clients - after all, the animals need the clients, as well as vets and staff, to care for them; haha!

But my buddies - it's like this forum. The DEPTH and CONSISTENCY of the caring is just unmatchable.

And I thank you all.

By the way, Camellia is coming along. She's SO gorgeous today, right after a full grooming. I took a lot of pictures, but most didn't come out well at all. Lucky if I got one or two decent ones!

Off to tackle a draft entry.

Love and hugs,
Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:38:59 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I sent my contest entry about a half hour ago. Got THAT off my mind; just as well, because today is Hunt Day - when I do my weekly errands - vrey busy, and I'm always tired on Hunt Day.

Looking again at the contest rules, it doesn't look like standard "voting," it's something else - apparently comments are solicited, and it's a matter of the most COMMENTS. Interesting. So not QUITE as bad as I painted yesterday.

Again, the rules are here:

http://blog.trupanion.com/tru-hero-vet/

Though I've sent my entry, I'm sure somebody has to check it out, and then (if acceptable) put it onto the blog page. So I don't know WHEN my post will show up there; might not be tonight - maybe tomorrow. When I see it there, I'll let you know.

I did have fun writing it. That was the point, for me. And I sent a copy to my vets.

Thanks for your encouragement! I trust, no more contests for me (but who knows). Hey; I'll post the text here. Already put the photo in my photo album.

Love and hugs,
Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:50:37 (PDT)

[CarolW]

My Australian Terrier Kumbi, diabetic and blind, died suddenly and unexpectedly at home, Tuesday 8 June, 2010 - just before his breakfast-time.

I carried him out to the car, laid him on the passenger seat, and drove to the clinic, compressing his chest all the way, though Kumbi was thoroughly dead. Half an hour before opening time, after a long wait, Dr. Ute Mannhardt arrived. She took us right in. Dr. Carla Bell had the day off, and Dr Amanda Booth was on a plane to Anaheim, for a conference of Internal Medicine specialists (she's a board-certified specialist).

Dr. Ute and I exchanged hugs over Kumbi's body. I asked for an informal post-mortem exam; Dr. Ute agreed. I went home, dawdling - no Kumbi at home. He was my last living animal companion.

Over the next three days, Dr. Amanda sent me daily email from the conference. Kumbi had died of cancer, not diabetes. Dr. Carla had come in on her day off to assist Dr. Ute with the post-mortem, and all three vets had been in touch with each other.

Kumbi had been in hospital the day before for observation, and all had said he appeared quite chipper. He just took us all by surprise, before we could do the planned ultrasound. Kumbi was my first dog ever to die without euthanasia.

My vets all work together, and see to it that all the vets and staff get continuing education. It is we human clients - and the animals - who benefit. My vets work as team-mates, and we, the clients, are also team-mates; the vets ask for our observations. This practice makes for the best possible care for the animals.

A neighbor showed up at my home with a huge basket of food sent by the staff.

My vets and staff pitched in and helped me work on finding a dog to adopt. Dr. Amanda wrote me a reference letter. So, eventually, Camellia, a badly traumatized Havanese,aged 3.5 years, became my next dog. She is doing very well, and has the usual aid from my vets and their staff. Camellia has Trupanion insurance.

This story is only one of the many acts of kindness I've had from these vets in the more than 20 years I've been with them. I know others have had similar kindnesses. Also, this clinic sets aside a percentage of time and funds to care for homeless animals - who are not paying clients.

So you can see why these vets are my Tru Heros.

Saseenos Veterinary Services, Ltd.
Sooke, B.C., Canada
http://www.infovet.ca/saseenosvet/

Carol Whitney
Shirley, B.C., Canada
http://www.coherentdog.org/
Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:15:54 (PDT)

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:54:17 (PDT)

[MaryLea]

Awesome vets and story! You are "blessed with the best."

Mary

[Judi]

love that story Carol

[CarolW]

My vets really ARE great. I left a lot out of that story, because we were limited to 500 words, and I didn't want to push it right to the limit. There's a lot more here about Kumbi and his death than in that story!

Can't tell you all how much I appreciated your support.

Not much over two hours after I sent my entry, it was acknowledged by the person who is managing the contest, so I know they got it. Don't know when it will be posted. When I find out, I'll let you know.

Had to hunt up a link to Kumbi's thread, in my saved email - found it. (Can't search from here). So here it is:

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274&page=23

Includes events leading to his death. It's fascinating to go back and browse through my saved email from that time. So many beautiful condolences. (Tears again!)

I could wish everyone here had vets as great as mine! Most especially, because they work together, and consult each other, I can use ANY vet who happens to be on duty that day, with total confidence.

Overdid the work on the entry last night, so I'm short of sleep - must go catch a nap - won't be long, though, because Camellia's supper is due in about 1.5 hours!

Thanks to all of you for your most welcome remarks! You all are a great inspiration to me!
Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:10:28 (PDT)

[Abby's Mom]

Carol,

What a wonderful story and your Vets should be honored with just high praise. A month ago, I read your story, and it is a good thing that I work from home, because it heart breaking. All of us on this forum have at least one thing in common, besides diabeties, and that is we love our pets and would do anything for them.

You are truly blessed, not only for your wonderful vets, but for Kumbi, Kwali, and Camellia...

[Shellie]

Who says you CAN'T win? Of course you can! And we'll do our best to make sure you get your shot! :) Yay Carol! :)

Hugs!

[CarolW]

Barb and Abby - you're right. All of us here would do anything possible for our animal companions. Having this in common, as you mention, is probably the essence that binds us, so that we're like an extended family.

That makes for great support we can all offer each other!
Sat, 1 Oct 2011 01:11:21 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Hey, Shellie and Hank - err - Mr. Pickypants!

well, THANKS!

I'm still confused about some aspects of the contest rules, so not completely sure how it will work. But I think I DO understand that the idea is for people to post comments for the entry they like best.

The rules, here:

http://blog.trupanion.com/tru-hero-vet/

are just a bit down from the top of the page.

They indicate my entry (and others) should be posted two days from now - 3 October.

Scrolling to the bottom gives you a chance to read entries already posted. I read through them once, and found them fun to read. Each has its own flavor.

Each seems to have a button that says "Reply," rather like here. Looks as though a person Replying has to provide email address (won't be posted) - and name.

And, the rules say only one comment per person is permitted - if I figured that out correctly.

Gosh! I'm SO glad we don't have that limitation here! HAHAHA!

So, it appears the comment is the vote, and you're only allowed to vote once.

Thanks for the support!
Sat, 1 Oct 2011 01:44:02 (PDT)

[ozzi]

Carol,

I should have read the entire blog, including today's post from you, but in my haste to vote for Camellia, I did not...LOL. I jumped right to the Trupanion site and was frustrated that I could not find your entry. I just saw that it won't be on until 10/3, and you KNOW I'll be back to vote for her!!! Best wishes and I think you have an AWESOME chance of winning. I will keep my fingers crossed for you and Camellia. AND, by the way, she is sooooooooooooo cute! I remember that pic of you on the ground with her when you first got her. It's nice to see it again!!

Lots of love (and votes!) :D

Kevin

[CarolW]

Well, thanks, Kevin. I'm sure I'll be excited when my entry is posted. Also, I'll look forward to seeing the other entries.

Of COURSE I would like to win; after all, I'm always very short of funds - and my vets could really use their share of the winnings too, as they donate quite a lot of their time and funds to homeless animals - and SOMETIMES, to some of their regular patients - such as Kumbi.

That picture you mention helps me remember how far Camellia has come since she became my dog. She HAS come a long way; seldom gets jumpy any more, unless she's been under a lot of recent stress.

She does still have a problem with other dogs; we'll see how that goes; I'm not counting on her getting over it entirely. But I'm guessing she'll make very slow progress of some sort.

She's lucky I have this forum to lean on!
Sat, 1 Oct 2011 21:17:49 (PDT)

[MaryLea]

Carol, please remember to let un know when your entry is posted. I want to add my comment that everyone in your story was "blessed with the best" (the dogs with good owner and vets; the owner with a wonderful furry friend and good vets; the vets with an owner who is a good client, and patients who teach patience!)

Mary

[CarolW]

Wow, Mary to get comments like that, I'll surely have to let you know when my entry is posted - as - um - I think it will be - but - not sure, actually! I just don't understand the rules - that is, they say the five finalists will have entries posted, but I don't know abou the OTHER entries.

I think the rules as pubished have big fuzzy holes in them; haha!

Tomorrow is the day for posting entries. If I make the cut to the five finalists, it seems they'll notify me by email - that would make my life easier.

Of course, we have a huge storm coming in, and likely will lose power, possibly for up to 24 hours, and if that happens, I'll be offline for a day or more.

Cute!

If we have power, I'll say something here tomorrow. If you don't hear from me, assume I'm offline during a power failure of indeterminate length! Being out in the boonies, we get service back last!

Love and hugs,
Sun, 2 Oct 2011 22:37:25 (PDT)

[ozzi]

Carol,

Let's hope the storm isn't as bad as predicted and that you maintain power! In the meantime, please do post when you can. Many of us are waiting for your prompt to post comments. We want you to win, but either way you are a winner already!!

Kevin

[MaryLea]

Carol,

Let's hope the storm isn't as bad as predicted and that you maintain power! In the meantime, please do post when you can. Many of us are waiting for your prompt to post comments. We want you to win, but either way you are a winner already!!

Kevin

Definitely agree! :) ;)

Mary

[CarolW]

Kevin, and Mary, you are toooo sweet!

Nothing at all from Trupanion yet today. I'll be taking Camellia out walking, probably for the rest of the morning, and check my email when we get back. Nothing on the Trupanion site, either!

The worst of the storm seems to have passed us by, so I don't think we're going to lose power. I detest power failures, as I have no auxiliary heat nor light nor stove. Just have to make do!

I'll let you know when I learn anything about the contest!
Mon, 3 Oct 2011 10:17:41 (PDT)

[buddingartist]

I detest power failures, as I have no auxiliary heat nor light nor stove. Just have to make do!

I'll let you know when I learn anything about the contest!
Mon, 3 Oct 2011 10:17:41 (PDT)

I'm with you on power failures Carol. Thankfully we have 2 propane fireplaces. How does Camellia behave in a storm? Cleo just absolutely freaks out the minute the lights go off and it doesn't have to be thunder or lightning.

I have been checking that site also and a bit confused on whether we can vote or not or is it just simply that we add comments to reinforce your submission.

Louise

[CarolW]

I'm REALLY fortunate with Camellia, who seems to take a power failure completely in her stride. So did Kwali and Kumbi! Not in the least frightened. Whew!

I feel SO bad for dogs who fear storms.

About the contest (nothing yet!) - as I understand it, if you use the Reply button on the entry, and leave a comment, THAT constitutes your vote!

So, adding a comment IS a vote for the entry. Too bad, because it means (one vote only) you can't comment on other entries!

Sheesh! Nutty rules!

Gonna have a nap this afternoon - maybe there will be something by evening.

I'll let you know!

Love and hugs,
Mon, 3 Oct 2011 13:53:09 (PDT)

[Shellie]

I don't see yours! :mad: Bad people! I wanna see OUR entry! Yes...I've decided we're taking you up as a cause and wanna see it! :)

[CarolW]

Ahhh, Shell, how nice of you and Hank Mr. PKP - may he universalize his tastes one day!

You are a wonderful sunshine around the forum!

Early this morning I wrote to the manager of this contest, Stacy, and by the time Camellia and I returned from our morning walk, she (I assume she's a she) had replied, saying, in part:

*** paste ***
Hi Carol,

Thanks for reaching out. We haven't forgotten but have just had a little bit of a delay due to a few sick days. It's that time of year! We are working through the entries today and hope to have the finalists announced by this evening. I apologize for the delay and thanks for your patience.

Best,

Stacy Kowalchuk

*** end paste ***

My doGNess! They are REAL HUMANS out there, subject to life happens, like the rest of us! (hehe)

I wrote her back and thanked her.

So this IS the correct link:

http://blog.trupanion.com/tru-hero-vet/

And I'll keep an eye on it, and when I see something significant, I'll post here as promptly as I can!

Love and hugs,
Tue, 4 Oct 2011 11:28:49 (PDT)

P.S. I should send her a k9diabetes online forum Patience Hat. Come to think of it, I should send her sick colleagues a Patient's Hat! Kumbi's will do very well!

Here's our one for humans:

http://www.coherentdog.org/tidberries6.php

And here's Kumbi's Patient's Hat:

http://www.coherentdog.org/tidberries5.php

Guess I'll send both to Stacy - the Patient's Hat for her colleagues.

Love again,
Tue, 4 Oct 2011 11:34:19 (PDT)

http://www.coherentdog.org/tidberries6.php

[Patty]

Glad to hear they are working on it Carol.

[CarolW]

Yeah, Patty, I was glad too, and glad I wrote to ask. It would have been good for the webmaster to put in a note about the delay!

Oh, well, not EVERYBODY is perfect!

While looking up the Hats for Stacy, I got caught browsing my own HUGE site - and I started to laugh; some of those pages, I haven't seen for a long time.

They are JAM-PACKED with REALLY bad puns, and now Camellia is helping me cook up ideas for more.

For instance, "little Novie" is Novolin-NPH - except that Vekkie, the teacher, spells her version of it "Novalin." The idea there was to avoid confusing with the real thing - Novolin. But I see lots of people spell it with the A - Vekkie must have got to them!

Same with Vetsulin - Big Vetsie (2.5 times as big as Little Novie - Vekkie spells the kind she makes as "Vetsalin."

Camellia suggests "Little wHoMe" for Vekkie's Humalin, if she ever makes it. I don't know what color Vekkie would make it - maybe sunny yellow.

And in the parts with Canodyne (links down the right sides of main pages in the main part of Coherent Dog - not in the Diabetes Playground), Camellia suggests a third version (all the same stuff of course, same as Vetsalin and Caninsalin) - that is, nAnoDyne.

Also I noticed a page I hadn't seen for a long time, about the Dyne Drops

http://www.coherentdog.org/dsvinedrop.php

and then Vekkie going fly-fishing to pull in a DyneOSoar vine - from which to collect Dyne drops, of course. She collects them into vials of vine.

http://www.coherentdog.org/flyfish.php

The CarSisters appear in many places. Carlova is the daughter of Carlotta, the great web-weaver, and her sisters, all different colors, and she do all they can to aid Vekkie with various projects. In one story

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/accident.php

Carlova puts Little Novie back together when he starts losing himself by crying (in fear).

Oh, well, I think I BADLY need a nap! zzzzzzzzz

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 14:22:25 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I just received email from Stacy:

*** paste ***
Dear Carol,

Congratulations, your story has been chosen as one of the five finalists for Trupanion's Tru Hero Vet 2011 sweepstakes! As a finalist, you have won $50 cash. Please let me know the address to which you would like your prize sent.

As a finalist, you are also in the running for the grand prize of $500 cash, plus $500 cash for your veterinarian to give to needy pets and a Tru Hero plaque to display. From now through October 19th, it's your task to get as many "votes" as you can on your story. Votes are counted by the number of comments left on each individual story. Only one comment per person/IP address will count towards final tally. Your story is located on our blog here:

http://blog.trupanion.com/2011/10/tru-hero-finalist-kumbi/

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to share such a personal and compelling story with us. Please let me know if you have any questions and best of luck over the next two weeks!

Best,

Stacy Kowalchuk

*** end paste ***

I haven't seen the entry yet, but will go look to make sure that indeed it is there.

Love and hugs,
Tue, 4 Oct 2011 17:46:44 (PDT)

[MaryLea]

Carol, just made my comment. It is "awaiting moderation," which I suspect means they edit for content to avoid injurious statements.

Good luck!!! :)

Mary

[peggy0]

just left mine :) Congratulations Carol! and bless kumbi

[Shellie]

I left my reply...and strangely, Hank was able to leave one, too. Of course...he can't read so I had to read it to him but he loved it! He wanted to vote so much I let him use my other email address. ;)

Hugs!!

[Shellie]

Hrm...Hank's reply took mine away. Darn. Will have to do at work. I'm on it! :)

[CarolW]

Ah, so they are strict. Haha!

I think if I "have to be" in a contest where votes get drummed up, this is a nice way to do it. You can't just vote, you have to SAY something. And they check for fairness.

Goodness knows, my (non-)experience with Trupanion has been good; for instance, they lowered my premium rate a few dollars, because prices were dropping in my area. At that point, I went for extended coverage in case Camellia ever got lost. So I end up paying just a few dollars more than before, per month.

After my difficulties raising money to care for Kumbi, and sometimes, wondering if I'd have to let him die because of no money, I decided never to face that with another dog again if I could possibly help it, so that's when I looked at various pet insurance companies. Chose Trupanion partly, or even mostly, because they have a reputation for being hassle-free, and for paying up promptly.

I was supposed to be going to bed

YES MUMMY! come ON!

Okay, sweetie; here I come!
Tue, 4 Oct 2011 22:06:48

[CarolW]

Shell - I'm not comfortable with one person (or one dog) leaving more than one comment - read - vote.

One reason I chose Trupanion was their evident total fairness - no hedging. So I'd like to keep that going!

If you have friends who might be interested in reading the story and leaving a comment, maybe you could tell them about it!

Thanks to you - and Hank - for voting!

I guess they've put things away for the night, as some people say they've voted, but their comments haven't shown up yet.

Going back to bed - old hip injury got me up!

Love ya,
Tue, 4 Oct 2011 23:18:52 (PDT)

[Shellie]

No worries Carol! I'll go poke friends to read and vote! I'm sure they'll think your story is as wonderful as I do! Hugs and sleep well!

[diggydog]

Left my reply..... spelling mistakes and all :o

Best of luck Carol

Hugs
Allison xx

[CarolW]

Shell - thanks for understanding! Mary - I guess you signed as "Evelyn," is that right? I thought I recognized the content of what you said.

The web people apparently will have quite a few comments to check out a bit later today.

I can see that one of the entries is located in a really major city, with a big hospital, and that one has tons of entries - not surprising - so it'll be a job for me to win this one!

So if you people have friends who might like to read the story, and comment, please give them the link. Repeating the link for your convenience:

http://blog.trupanion.com/2011/10/tru-hero-finalist-kumbi/

I so very much appreciate all of you who have left comments so far - Allison - so good to hear from you again; how is Alfie doing? I think of you often!

Meantime, it's Camellia's breakfast-time - but - wouldn't you know; she is now DELAYING eating her breakfast. Yesterday - one p.m.! Maybe it's the season. I'm so lucky she isn't diabetic! All the same, I'd prefer she eat 12 hours apart, and we'll see how it goes, if I can encourage her to eat nearer 6:30 a.m.!

Love, hugs, licks and wags,
Wed, 5 Oct 2011 06:36:13 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Aha; Camellia is making a liar out of me; YAY! Eating breakfast now, quite enthusiastically!

Peggy - I'm honored that you were able to take the time to comment on Kumbi's entry. You and MaryLea were the first to get in.

The Bev who is there helped with the breeding that produced Camellia. An associate breeder, Gail, collected Camellia from where she was whelped, chose her as pick of the litter. She lived with Gail. Bev hosted Camellia for a week before, at age 3, she was spayed - and after the spay, she returned to Gail. But - SOMETHING went wrong at spay-time.

From all Gail tells me, Camellia bit coming out of anaesthesia, and the vet tech punished her for that - result - Camellia (at the time, known as TJ, for Tijuana Mi Amor) - trauma.

Bev went over this history with me last night, and I learned a bit more about Camellia's background that way.

So, Camellia actually polished off her breakfast today - relief!

I surely hope all your diabetic dogs typically do the same - most days, anyway! I never had a problem with Kumbi wanting to eat! I was spared that.

(ramble, ramble!)

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 06:47:28 (PDT)

[MaryLea]

Carol, Just left another comment under my work email. Hope that's not cheating!!! :D Comment last night was left under another name and email address. (yes, under Evelyn.)

You really have great vets. :) Wish they had an office in South Texas!

Mary

[CarolW]

Well, I think it IS cheating - I just asked Shellie not to do that. On the OTHER hand, your one from work can be on Leah's behalf, so there ARE two of you. Now I wouldn't ask Leah to vote. Thanks.

Maybe lots of people do that, but I don't want to win that way.

I love you so dearly, anyway! Not to mention, Ruffles and Izzy!
Wed, 5 Oct 2011 11:38:20 (PDT)

[Judi]

Carol I hope your vets win and I loved your story but this is one of those contests where there really is no loser! Several exceptional teams are being recognized and appreciated whether they win or not. How nice is that?

Fingers crossed though for you and yours!

Judi

[MaryLea]

Well, I think it IS cheating - I just asked Shellie not to do that. On the OTHER hand, your one from work can be on Leah's behalf, so there ARE two of you. Now I wouldn't ask Leah to vote. Thanks.

Maybe lots of people do that, but I don't want to win that way.

I love you so dearly, anyway! Not to mention, Ruffles and Izzy!
Wed, 5 Oct 2011 11:38:20 (PDT)

Yes, there ARE two of us. I have not mentioned it to Leah (but she is quite aware of who you are because she reads here)--or Izzy, for that matter! :D I'm sure she (Izzy) would vote on your behalf, but that's not fair if paw prints don't count. I'm like you, and want you to win, "fair and square" as we used to say.

I hope I haven't compromised your position. :(

Mary

[diggydog]

My friend just left a comment from my dog Skye, thats not cheating...... Skye would do it on her own if she could ........:rolleyes:

Hugs xx

[CarolW]

Allison - if it was your friend, that's another person, even if the comment is from Skye, so I think that's okay.

And, MaryLea, glad Leah wouldn't disapprove!

And, Judi - you are SO RIGHT! i've read the other finalist entries, and they are very impressive. It's wonderful that there are vets who are so caring and help so much. I'm glad not to be alone in having great vets!

As you say, Judi, there are no losers, and even if there's only one finalist grand prize winner, I think the others are winners too. I REALLY enjoyed reading the other entries.

At times, the site crawls - in effect, times out on me, probably because I'm on dial-up - so they must be very busy! I think that's a good thing.

If I MUST enter a contest, this is the kind I'd choose (ha - I did!)
Wed, 5 Oct 2011 16:51:11 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I omitted to thank you all who have submitted comments to my contest thread - right now, I have about one nostril above water, so will be slow to respond for a time!

But I thank you MOST HEARTILY! And the quality of your comments is wonderful!
Wed, 5 Oct 2011 16:57:00

[CarolW]

I'm trying to complete evening chores, and then shut down for the night. But.

It seems one of the five finalist entries has disappeared! I've checked into the contest page a few times today - just LOVE your comments. But in the list of finalists, one seems to be missing!

I can't remember what it was. At first I thought maybe it was a fluke, but now, I don't think it is, so perhaps the finalist withdrew the entry for personal reasons.

Does anybody remember the animal, its name, and vets?

Maybe it will show up again tomorrow. Who knows!

Guess I'll have a quick look around the forum, and then do my evening chores.

My dear buddies - YOU are my Tru heroes, right along with my vets. I find this forum indispensable to my life.

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 18:57:41 (PDT)

[Patty]

There were 5 of them, correct?
Zedd
Kumbi
Dinglehopper
Johnny
Scooter

I think they are all still there Carol.

[CarolW]

Ah, it was Scooter I couldn't find. We have our own Scooter here on the forum, too!

I'll go look again.

It's apparently been bumped off the menu on the left side of the page, but I found it by going to another entry and using the next/previous button (which has the name of the entry). I'll drop Stacy a note and remark on the missing item on the left-side menu.

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 21:19:27 (PDT)

[Shellie]

Well, I think it IS cheating - I just asked Shellie not to do that. On the OTHER hand, your one from work can be on Leah's behalf, so there ARE two of you. Now I wouldn't ask Leah to vote. Thanks.

Maybe lots of people do that, but I don't want to win that way.

I love you so dearly, anyway! Not to mention, Ruffles and Izzy!
Wed, 5 Oct 2011 11:38:20 (PDT)

But there ARE two of us here too...me AND Hank! :)

[CarolW]

Really, Shellie, of course you are right. Some people say dogs are people too. I don't believe THAT, as they have elements we cannot begin to match, such as being able to be total PickyPants in very special ways - not to mention, taking over our human hearts.

Really, I think they should let dogs, cats, and other animals vote in the contest. THOSE are the ones who can REALLY assess the vets.

Thu, 6 Oct 2011 06:58:57 (PDT)

[MaryLea]

I'm trying to complete evening chores, and then shut down for the night. But.

It seems one of the five finalist entries has disappeared! I've checked into the contest page a few times today - just LOVE your comments. But in the list of finalists, one seems to be missing!

I can't remember what it was. At first I thought maybe it was a fluke, but now, I don't think it is, so perhaps the finalist withdrew the entry for personal reasons.

Does anybody remember the animal, its name, and vets?

Maybe it will show up again tomorrow. Who knows!

Guess I'll have a quick look around the forum, and then do my evening chores.

My dear buddies - YOU are my Tru heroes, right along with my vets. I find this forum indispensable to my life.

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 18:57:41 (PDT)

I noticed that last night, too, because I was reading their entries. Wondered why there were four instead of five.

I agree, Carol. These folks here are also my TruHeroes. :)

Mary

[Judi]

When I looked yesterday it looks like 2 of the nominations were for the same vet, I wonder if they combined them? (I haven't looked today)

[CarolW]

Wow, Judi - I hadn't noticed two of the nominations might be for the same vet! Next chance, I should go look! Wouldn't that be interesting!

Last night I wrote to the contest manager, Stacy. I asked her to see to it that Scooter's entry got put back on the menu on the left side of the page.

She replied to my question this morning (she must be incredibly swamped). And pointed out that it was not a list of the finalist entries that's on that menu, but a list of recent comments! And she said that after a time, all the finalist-links will be pushed off that menu, because of recent comments on other areas of the site!

Which makes me wonder how people will find the entries if none remain on that menu, and they haven't come in from a previously-saved link.

I guess they'll find a way, and/or SOMEthing will show on the left-side menu.

I have a fun story to tell about today. Next post.
Thu, 6 Oct 2011 20:55:19 (PDT)

[CarolW]

I'm often REALLY slow on the uptake, but I don't worry about it, because lots of other people say they are, too!

Anyway, late yesterday, it occurred to me that today is my Hunt Day (weekly errands in town) - and that just as likely, the vet clinic would like to have some votes too! So I wrote up a short notice about the entry, put the link there, and asked DogDaddy George, who, unlike me, has a printer, to print up a few sheets of business-card-sized notices that contain the basic information and the link. I phoned the clinic, to make sure to get permission before George went to all that work, and they liked the idea.

George stays with Camellia here during my Hunt Days. She totally adores him, and is all over him! He adores her, too, so that works out well; haha!

Anyway, he brought the notices, and I took them with me when I left to do errands.

I went to the clinic first. There were lots of children around, accompanied by their teachers. The clinic was holding a field-trip tour day!

When I went inside, Dr. Amanda was there; I hadn't seen her for a time. She was all smiles - really thrilled that we made the finals. I don't think she'd ever seen that picture of herself and Kwali, though she'd given her permission for me to put it on Coherent Dog. She hadn't had time to go look!

She said they were having a day of field trips for the children. The group there at the time were kindergarteners. Two of the techs were helping with the tour - Nancy, and Nyla. Nancy has been with the clinic for lots and lots of years; Nyla, for quite a few now.

Receptionists Debbie and Sharise were covering the front desk, and Debbie was helping me with the notices - but suddenly, I wanted to play hooky, and asked Dr. Amanda if I could trail along on the tour. She smiled, and said yes. Debbie said the notices could wait.

So, off I went, into the back room, with a bunch of well-behaved children and their teachers.

A woman had a ferret in a cage on the floor. Another had a Persian cat, grey female, on her lap and in her arms. It turned out they were part of the show! Two more Persians were in an upper cage, and in the cage below was a one-year-old four-pound Chihuahua - Sharise's dog. She lives with a few Pit Bulls, also Sharise's dogs! She was just darling. She came up to the front of her cage to greet a couple of the children. After a time, it became too much, so she curled up in her little bed, tucked her head in, and slept.

The grey Persian began to twitch her tail rather wildly - and to fake-bite her owner - who is a breeder. These cats are accustomed to being shown in cat shows, so, in effect, they took it all in their stride.

Dr. Amanda took the children into the operating room and showed them some of the instruments. I stayed back, so couldn't see much. Then Nyla showed them a model of a dog's mouth-with-teeth, talking about dentistry. Nyla is a dental specialist.

Dr. Amanda then showed them tapeworms in a vial. Also, a shed snake-skin. Also, a pig's tusk that had grown up and almost into the pig's eye, so they'd had to cut it off! Also, a fish-hook, carefully enclosed in a vial too, so as not to bite anybody! It was a hook that had gone through a dog's upper lip when the dog ate a fish. They had to anaesthetize the dog, of course, and then they cut the hook in half, so they could pull it out without doing further damage.

That was about all I took in of the tour - thought I'd better go back to the front desk and do the notices-thing.

Debbie used a holder in which they usually have a notice that says something like, we are good at entertaining children, but sometimes we have to leave the room. Any child found wandering will be given a cup of coffee and a free puppy. (I LOVE THAT SIGN!) Anyway, Debbie sacrificed it for the duration of the voting (through 19 October). She put it on the back-side, so it was still available.

I got a large charge out of watching the kids. They behaved very well. The teachers were nice. Nancy, Nyla and Dr. Amanda were great with the kids, too. I love kids, though I'm not around them as much as I once was, so this was a treat for me, too! Had such a lovely hour there!

Whew, long story! Haha!
Thu, 6 Oct 2011 21:33:28 (PDT)

[Patty]

but suddenly, I wanted to play hooky

Your descriptions crack me up sometimes, Carol. Glad you had a great day! Sounds like fun :)

[jesse girl]

have you ever decided to wright a book you perceive the world around you with such clarity and i enjoy reading your posts it reads like a story but its real life

its refreshing to here the honesty and the events in your daily life sounds wonderful

[CarolW]

Oh, Jesse girl - thanks so much for your thoughts and comments!

I'd once thought of writing a book, but it's far more work than I could possibly commit to. You write it, find a publisher (or publish it yourself) - there's a couple of years gone there - with time taken away from animal companions.

And THEN - you are stuck with doing a lot of promotion - book-launch parties, traveling, giving talks - I don't mind giving talks (I'm a big talker, and have done so in the past, but not over a book). But FORGET the traveling! I've traveled some in my long lifetime, and really enjoyed it, but in recent years, I've become a HomeBody, and LOVE it. Of course, I live in a lovely area, and that helps.

SO! Instead of writing a book, I'm FAR more self-indulgent - and, when I have the energy, I can make web-pages on my web site - and THAT's how I indulge my self-indulgence! (hehe)

My only editors are my dogs - and me. She who acts as her own editor is like s/he who acts as her own doctor. A fool, to say the least!

Often enough, I do have something to say that I really care about; it's important to me, and I do take real care in putting up web pages that deal with tht kind of topic. And sometimes, I lace those pages with really bad puns and jokes. My feeling is that there are occasions when keeping heavy topics on the light side is helpful.

I'm so glad to have a web site where I can play. I play with pictures, too. Never in my life had I drawn a cartoon - till the day I decided to try to include some information on canine diabetes. Then, I needed a narrator/teacher - and VeKToria TwinkelMaus was born.

LOTS of sweat drawing those cartoons, but they came out at least useful. I use Paint Shop Pro - the poor woman's Photoshop. I don't know which made me sweat more - learning to make a web page, or learning to use Paint Shop Pro. Both were INCREDIBLE sweat for me. And now, it's been a while, and I've forgotten much of what I learned. I suppose I could get it back, with practice. It took me about four YEARS to learn this stuff so I could really use it.

VekToria (Vekkie) TwinkelMaus got her name because she's made entirely of Vector drawings. That is, the Paint Shop Pro version of vector drawings.

If you'd like to look around, you're most welcome. The site is so big I've forgotten a lot of details, but I was looking at some older pages this morning, and laughing:

http://www.coherentdog.org/arc2006/stingmantra.htm

http://www.coherentdog.org/arc2006/debunk.htm

Anyway, thanks so much for your remarks - and large greetings to you and Jesse.
Fri, 7 Oct 2011 09:50:30 (PDT)

[CarolW]

One more thought here - one of my very self-indulgent pictures is on my home page, here:

http://www.coherentdog.org/

That one took a LOT of work.

That's a real meter reading of Kumbi's, on the OneTouch Ultra meter, and I think, though the picture isn't really big, that you can actually read the display.

The hat is one I wear a great deal, except that, for that picture, I distorted it a bit [deadpan].

You might need to scroll down the page a bit to see the full picture; depends on how much space you have allotted in your browser.

Fri, 7 Oct 2011 10:19:58 (PDT)

Mummy! It's walk-time!

So it is, Camellia - I'm COMING!

[buddingartist]

Carol
You are such a sweet lady and I always look forward to your posts.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU

Louise

[CarolW]

Louise - you too are a very sweet lady. As is just about every member here, except that some are very sweet gentlemen!

I wonder how many in the U.S. are aware that here in Canada, our Thanksgiving is approximately their Columbus Day! THEIR Thanksgiving is, I believe, the third or last Thursday in November. Brrrrr. In some places, anyway!

I think the entire atmosphere here on the k9diabetes site is very conducive to sweetness and sharing. It's good for all of us, and very, very good for our dogs.

But watch out for Craig and Annie - Craig might come along and stick you when you're not looking! [smirk!]

Fri, 7 Oct 2011 16:26:57 (PDT)

[CraigM]

But watch out for Craig and Annie - Craig might come along and stick you when you're not looking! [smirk!]


Yep, was just about think about doing a test! Annie is in her doggy bed, so I'll delay until she moves around, but wanted to do a spot test today around 5-6pm.

[CarolW]

I asked Stacy Kowalchuk, the manager of the Trupanion contest, if the webmaster might put links to the FIVE (there ARE five) finalist entries in the contest.

Hey! She or she and they - came up with this today:

http://blog.trupanion.com/2011/10/tru-hero-veterinarian-sweepstakes/

That entry, too, will surely be pushed down as more articles are added. But at least it should be there for a little while, and will help people find the entries.

I was very pleased to see them accommodate us in such a way!

I didn't know there were that many entries (over 100). Since I DID know that Trupanion covers the U.S. and Canada, that part didn't surprise me.

Fri, 7 Oct 2011 16:35:41 (PDT)

[MaryLea]

Louise - you too are a very sweet lady. As is just about every member here, except that some are very sweet gentlemen!

I wonder how many in the U.S. are aware that here in Canada, our Thanksgiving is approximately their Columbus Day! THEIR Thanksgiving is, I believe, the third or last Thursday in November. Brrrrr. In some places, anyway!

I think the entire atmosphere here on the k9diabetes site is very conducive to sweetness and sharing. It's good for all of us, and very, very good for our dogs.

But watch out for Craig and Annie - Craig might come along and stick you when you're not looking! [smirk!]

Fri, 7 Oct 2011 16:26:57 (PDT)

Yes, I knew your Thanksgiving dates were different than ours, but had forgotten.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO OUR CANADIAN FRIENDS! (human and furry ones, too :D)

Mary

[CarolW]

Thanks so much, Mary! We will certainly have a happy Thanksgiving. More because of this forum than anything else! Well, actually, it's all because of our fabulous animal companions!

We're about to fall into bed, but I'm going to try to get Camellia outside first. She can be awfully lazy about going out - also, she can hold everything longer than is really good for her, so if I can get her out, so much the better!

By the way, I also want to thank everyone who has left comments on Kumbi's entry - some of them are truly stunning, but others, even the thought is enough - because I know you quite well from the forum, and feel the great vibes underlying them.

Rushing to finish up before I fall asleeeeeeeeeeep at the keyboard zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

love and hugs,
Fri, 7 Oct 2011 22:05:01 (PDT)

[buddingartist]

Tks Mary

Preparing the feast for Thanksgiving dinner:D

Avocado stuffed with crab and green onions
Spiral cut ham, scalloped potatoes and brocoli
Mango cheese cake topped with whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate and pecans.

PS: I won the <battle< with hubby. No turkey:cool:

Louise

[MaryLea]

Tks Mary

Preparing the feast for Thanksgiving dinner:D

Avocado stuffed with crab and green onions
Spiral cut ham, scalloped potatoes and brocoli
Mango cheese cake topped with whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate and pecans.

PS: I won the <battle< with hubby. No turkey:cool:

Louise

Louise, it really sounds like a feast. Enjoy!

Mary

[CraigM]

Tks Mary

Preparing the feast for Thanksgiving dinner:D

Avocado stuffed with crab and green onions
Spiral cut ham, scalloped potatoes and brocoli
Mango cheese cake topped with whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate and pecans.

PS: I won the <battle< with hubby. No turkey:cool:

Louise

No moose on the menu?

Enjoy your holiday!

[CarolW]

Craig - you and Annie seem off the beaten track! LOUISE, TOO! Thanksgiving - and no turkey? HAHAHA I love it.

Louise, I'm drooling. Welllll, except, I don't like crab! nor onions, except new ones boiled!

I'm not doing Thanksgiving dinner at all, BUT - I AM doing - giving thanks - lots and lots and lots of thanks- for having Camellia in my life, and for having had Kwali and Kumbi. And for having this forum, with the many friends here.

I'm pie-eyed with fatigue; went to the one photography forum I subscribe to, posted a picture taken the day Kumbi died - he was in my car, outside the clinic, on a totally-gorgeous June morning. And i asked for comments for his entry.

A few have obliged.

Then I was stunned and pleased to see a comment from a neighboring clinic! That's heart for you. Goes along with the spirit of this forum.

We're WAY behind, but I don't mind. Well, would like to win, but I am SO pleased with so many of the comments!

Also, I'm tired! Must plan an early bedtime tonight. Always thinking of all of you. This gives me sweet dreams.

Sat, 8 Oct 2011 17:31:22 (PDT)

[CarolW]

There's a little apparent glitch in the contest entries - that is it seems NO comments have been approved since sometime early Thursday morning (13 October) - not for any of the entries.

So I inquired of the contest manager, Stacy, only to learn, via out-of-office message, that she's left - probably for a well-deserved holiday - and won't return till Thursday 20 October.

Well, the voting closes at 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday 19 October. Hmmm. So we may not see any of the comments until Stacy gets back. Or, if we're lucky, somebody will substitute, to approve comments, after this weekend.

We surely would love to have your comments! - if the cat is away, the mice will play, right? uh-oh, here come the Terriers! Wow - and the Havanese!

Hey, look out! Here come Kitty Gus and James!

Rats! (I mean, Mice!) RUN!

So don't get discouraged - keep your comments coming - they should show up eventually! Thanks!

Love and hugs,
Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:41:47 (PDT)

[Shellie]

What happened with this, Carol? Did I miss the results? *crossing fingers for good news*

[CarolW]

Hey, Shellie! Sorry to be slow getting back to you with the contest results.

I got embroiled in at least three different projects, and was also still working to drum up replies - and never a hand to keep my computer properly maintained - this left me with a 2.5-week maintenance catch-up. That one took two days, and still isn't completely done. It'll do for now, though.

So here are the results:

I'm taking some of this from the email sent to the five finalists by Stacy, who cooked this thing up and managed it - apart from her week away, where Heather took over.

Dinglehopper (Toronto, ON), Downtown Animal Hospital - 340
Johnny (Lake Worth, FL), Dr. Butan, Canal Animal Hospital - 224
Kumbi (Sooke, BC), Saseenos Veterinary Services - 111
Scooter (Raleigh, NC), NC State College of Veterinary Medicine - 51
Zedd (Okotoks, AB), Dr. Borque, Foothills Animal Hospital - 29

So, we came in a strong third. Certainly we worked hard to achieve that.

Not every entrant identified the hospitals, but Stacy did, in her email to us finalists. I did have to check with her on Canal and Foothills, though the geographical locations seemed to me to suggest Foothills for Okotoks, AB, and Canal for Lake Worth, FL. (Glad to see I was right.)

I think all the entries are still up on the Trupanion web site - I wrote to Stacy to ask if they will remain there. If so, I won't bother to post them on Coherent Dog, as that would be a lot of work for me, and take up a lot of space (on an already huge web site!) I don't expect to hear back till tomorrow, earliest.

For now at least, Kumbi's entry remains here:

http://blog.trupanion.com/2011/10/tru-hero-finalist-kumbi/

The other day I dropped contest organizer Stacy a note, to ask if the entries would remain in place, because if they will, I probably won't bother to put Kumbi's entry on Coherent Dog (my web site). Too much work and too much space required. I'd thought that except for the winner, they'd be taken down after the contest closed.

We did really well to take third, as the two winners are in half-million-population areas, and the Toronto hospital (Downtown Animal Hospital) is part of a network of five hospitals.

What I suspect is that we took third because I do a lot of mail on lists and groups - possibly the Raleigh woman just doesn't do a lot, and same for the Okotoks woman.

But it was great to walk into the Saseenos clinic and see the smiles on the faces of vets and staff.

And thanks to all of you who left comments; you really helped!

Love, hugs, licks and wags,
Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:35:17 (PDT)

[Shellie]

Ah well...was worth the try! And certainly fun to hear your story! You did really well tho with that many votes! Hooray! So congrats for third and a lot of votes at least! :) Hugs!

And you sound like me on the computer...I hate maintenance and will put it off forever if I can! lol

Hugs!

[CarolW]

I'd far rather maintain my dog than my computer. Diabetic or not. The dog, I mean!

Yesterday, Camellia had her annual exam, with Dr. Amanda Booth. Oh, HOW I love my vets! (Dr. Ute Mannhardt was in yesterday too; Dr. Carla had the day off. I managed to snatch a picture of Dr. Ute, but am not permitted to put it online anywhere - glad to have it, though; she is actually very photogenic.)

If I'm getting off-topic, that's because Camellia just sailed through the exam. She was quite stressed, naturally enough, but did extremely well, likely because those vets and staff are all so good at handling dogs, stressed or not.

We discussed Camellia's "shuffing" (stress-huffing), and Dr. Amanda reviewed my video clip of it. She thinks it's reverse sneezing, after all, related to some difficulties with environmental allergies.

Dr. Amanda would like me to try some different antihistamines. She's been on generic Reactine (Cetirizine Hydrochloride, 10 mg, once daily) for some months - it's okay for her to be on antihistamines forever, I gather! We'll probably try Benadryl (diphenhyrdamine) and maybe Chlorphenaramine. Not both at once, and not along with the Reactine, either, of course!

I'll be putting Camellia on a daily dose of salmon oil and Vitamin E. Dr. Amanda gave me a fascinating handout! Apparently dermatologists are working with new discoveries. A brief quote from the handout:

"....dermatologists showed that both dogs and people with Atopy have a deficiency in a normal lipid (fatty) layer that we all have on our skin called Phytosphingosine. This layer, in a normal dog, has 2 functions. It traps moisture in the skin cells, preventing dry skin, and it also acts as a barrier protecting the immune system beneath the skin from explosure to the allergens on the surface, and thus decreasing allergic reaction.

"We now have available a spray made up of Phytosphingosines which, if applied to the skin, help to seal in moisture, and replace the missing barrier...."

Weekly baths are required, with special shampoos, and the spray gets applied once between baths as well.

NOW I wish we had a bathtub - only a shower in my new place. I'll have to consider what I can possibly do, as my back won't stand up to bathing/drying Camellia either!

But I'll be working on logistics for doing something about this! I had no IDEA about this barrier business!

Attention, Patty and Ali, and others with dogs with Atopy!

This looks as though Dr. Amanda prepared (wrote) the article. But she also attached an article from VeterinaryPartner.com:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=PRINT&A=1535

dated 6/15/2010.
Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:05:38 (PDT)

[Patty]

Glad they are rotating antihistamines, Carol. That's a good idea.

I have Ali on fish oil and vit E as well. The spray sounds like something similar to the Allerderm Spot on I tried this year. It did help protect her skin.

[CarolW]

I'll have to look up that Allerderm Spot on, Patty.

I gather that for Ali, all this stuff was only partly successful.

My vets really are great! I am so lucky!
Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:52:17 (PDT)

[Shellie]

I'd like to do the fish oil but can't get the pills into Hank. And we all know the food problem. Any ideas?

[CarolW]

Shellie - I'll reply in your thread!

Hugs,
Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:12:31 (PDT)

[Judi]

I'm glad Camellia tolerated her check up ok Carol. Got any teenagers in the area you could bribe to help bathe Camellia or would that freak her out?

When I had my 60 pound shar pei, the walk in shower and a bucket was the easiest way to bathe him (but I was much younger then!)

Judi

[Patty]

I'll have to look up that Allerderm Spot on, Patty.

I gather that for Ali, all this stuff was only partly successful.

Here's the Allerderm for reference: http://www.virbacvet.com/products/dermatology/allergicdermatitis/allerdermspotonskinlipidcomplex.aspx (http://www.virbacvet.com/products/dermatology/allergicdermatitis/allerdermspotonskinlipidcomplex.aspx)

All the little things we've tried have helped to some degree, but allergies are tough and we move often. So Ali is exposed to new allergens or re-exposed to allergens again when we move someplace new.

I'm becoming more convinced that during her worst time of the year (Aug-Sept) that ragweed is the culprit.

[CarolW]

Help! Save Me! I think Mummy has evil designs!

She went on Hunt Day today, and I had such a lovely time with DogDaddy George. Then Mummy came home. DogDaddy George unloaded this huge box-like thing from the car. I do believe it's a laundry tub!

He put it in the shower stall (we don't have a tub), put the legs on it (it wouldn't go in with all the legs on, but it went in with TWO legs on, and then Daddy put the other two on).

I really don't think Mummy is planning to sit in that tub for her showers. Could it be she has designs on me?

But she also came home with stuff she says is very, very special. And I'm to have the really special stuff!

The shampoo and spray:

http://www.douxo.us/dermatology/douxo-dermatology-dogs-allergies-shampoo.html

If you click on the data-sheet links on the pictures of the shampoo and the spray you get more information, including how to use the stuff.

And, the link my vet pointed out to me that covers (very briefly) this failed skin-barrier problem:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=PRINT&A=1535

This all started a week ago Tuesday, when I had my annual exam, with Dr. Amanda. She said I have Atopy. And she said, we could replace my failed skin-barrier!

So I guess Mummy is planning to give me my skin back! I should itch a lot less! And maybe not have to take so much antihistamine! Right now, I'm taking 10 mg of generic Reactine (cetirizine hydrochloride) once daily.

The other day, Mum tried Chlorpheneramine (2 mg, 2 or 3 times daily) - that's Chlortripolon - on me. Well, she only gave it to me twice, but by 2:30 in the morning, I was going CRAZY itching, so she gave me a third dose. Whew! It helped a lot. I don't think it's any better than the Reactine, though. We'll see.

I suppose I'll be approximately the cleanest dog on Earth! Except for others who get this very special stuff!

Camellia, you're a really good sport, and a trooper; I know you are. I'll make you feel really good. Just think, all that lovely finger-massage, and all that lovely lukewarm water, and all those suds! All tucked in with me in that tiny shower stall!

I have this funny feeling I'll get pretty wet myself!
Thu, 3 Nov 2011 17:25:59 (PDT)

[Judi]

Camellia is one smart pup! I hope the dog bathing goes well Carol! And if you feel the urge to share a picture we'd love it!! Judi

[CarolW]

Judi - maybe I could get Parrot Lady (Camellia's doGMother) to come and take pictures. Pretty tough to get an angle where Camellia would be visible, in that tub! But if anybody could figure it out, Marg (Parrot Lady) could.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/parrotlady.php

I did take some pictures this afternoon - but they're not very good. Still, I might try to find a place to put them where people can see them. Or one or two, maybe. No Camellia in THOSE pictures - she won't be in that tub without hands HOLDING her there! (haha!)

Hope this works! It SHOULD improve things, anyway!

Thanks so much for your good wishes!
Thu, 3 Nov 2011 18:08:15 (PDT)

[Patty]

Sure hope it works Carol!
Itching sure is the pits :(

[Shellie]

And how come I'm not believing that SHE"LL think the bath is so great? Probably the same reason I tried with Hank and HE was mad at me. I still have not been able to figure out why they don't like baths! Like you said...warm water...massage..no more itchies...what's not to like? Shoot...I'd happily let someone do that to me! LOL

[buddingartist]

Carol
Your post is so amusing and I can't wait to see pics.

I was very fortunate with both Cleo and Buddy. They love their bath (done monthly in the laundry tub). Cleo was a little more reticent at first but now highly cooperative.

I would just put the spray of warm water on Buddy's tummy and he would just stand there enjoying it, then put the shampoo on and massage him. If I wanted to relax him or bring his numbers down, a bath was the answer. Right after, he would become very playful with Cleo and then lay down and rest.

Even the groomers always found them to be very good and cooperative.

Louise

[CarolW]

Okay, my beloved forum buddies - here's a picture of Camellia's laundry tub in my shower. The shampoo and spray are on the shelf in the background.

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/album.php?albumid=168&pictureid=1417

I'm still working out details, such as, how the spray works, how I keep Camellia from breathing it in when I spray (will probably spray in the tub, but after she's fully dry - maybe the next day, as Debbie, receptionist at Saseenos Vet's does with her Shih-Tzu.

How long the spray takes to dry, and how oily it is, and whether I need to keep her from rolling on the furniture after I spray. And so forth!

It's like studying injecting insulin and doing BG tests, all over again - you know me, I HAVE to go into excruciating detail before I'm satisfied!

Hope you can view the picture okay. If ever I can get Parrot Lady Marg, or somebody else, in here to take pictures of Camellia in the tub, I will - but don't count on it! Probably my body would be in the way, and that's all you'd see! Unless I pick Camellia up and hold her in my arms. Squiggly, wet Camellia? I don't know; haha!

Louise, you are giving me some hope. Maybe Camellia would actually ENJOY a bath. She didn't enjoy the one my fabulous groomer Kate gave her, a year or more ago, when Kate was showing me how to wash her.

But I gather you don't have to wash the head and face, and that makes a BIG difference. Anyway, Debbie says she doesn't wash her dog's face, ever. Whew! I guess as long as the spray is on the body, it does its job.

Patty - what do you do about such things with Ali? She's so much bigger than Camellia - must be in some ways, more - well, at least, energetic - to bathe Ali!

Anybody else wash their own dogs? Some of you must! Shellie, you could wash Hank - if you found exactly the right treats! (haha!) (Come to think of it, I should cook up a really special treat for Camellia for baths - and for sprays - that she gets ONLY for those - it's a very useful principle in dog-training.)

Fri, 4 Nov 2011 09:32:58 (PDT)

[Abby's Mom]

Okay, my beloved forum buddies - here's a picture of Camellia's laundry tub in my shower. The shampoo and spray are on the shelf in the background.

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/album.php?albumid=168&pictureid=1417

I'm still working out details, such as, how the spray works, how I keep Camellia from breathing it in when I spray (will probably spray in the tub, but after she's fully dry - maybe the next day, as Debbie, receptionist at Saseenos Vet's does with her Shih-Tzu.

How long the spray takes to dry, and how oily it is, and whether I need to keep her from rolling on the furniture after I spray. And so forth!

It's like studying injecting insulin and doing BG tests, all over again - you know me, I HAVE to go into excruciating detail before I'm satisfied!

Hope you can view the picture okay. If ever I can get Parrot Lady Marg, or somebody else, in here to take pictures of Camellia in the tub, I will - but don't count on it! Probably my body would be in the way, and that's all you'd see! Unless I pick Camellia up and hold her in my arms. Squiggly, wet Camellia? I don't know; haha!

Louise, you are giving me some hope. Maybe Camellia would actually ENJOY a bath. She didn't enjoy the one my fabulous groomer Kate gave her, a year or more ago, when Kate was showing me how to wash her.

But I gather you don't have to wash the head and face, and that makes a BIG difference. Anyway, Debbie says she doesn't wash her dog's face, ever. Whew! I guess as long as the spray is on the body, it does its job.

Patty - what do you do about such things with Ali? She's so much bigger than Camellia - must be in some ways, more - well, at least, energetic - to bathe Ali!

Anybody else wash their own dogs? Some of you must! Shellie, you could wash Hank - if you found exactly the right treats! (haha!) (Come to think of it, I should cook up a really special treat for Camellia for baths - and for sprays - that she gets ONLY for those - it's a very useful principle in dog-training.)

Fri, 4 Nov 2011 09:32:58 (PDT)

Carol,

I wash Abby, as well as groom her as well, toe clipping... the whole bit. Have been for quite sometime, as when I use to take her to the groomer, I would be laughing all the way home, because they would make her look so funny.

I use the bathtub ( but did have a tub like yours at one house we lived in, and it was wonderful). Once the bathing is done, Abby takes her collar, runs into the kitchen and throws the collar in the air, and she gets a treat.

Prior to her having diabetes, if I did not pick up her collar after the first treat, she would carry the collar around till she found me, and laid it on my feet, so I would giver he another.

Now she gets one treat, ( sweet potatoe... no BG impact) and I make sure I pick up the collar.

There is a wonderful video on how to bathe your dog, which may help at the following link;

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/videos.aspx

[Patty]

Patty - what do you do about such things with Ali? She's so much bigger than Camellia - must be in some ways, more - well, at least, energetic - to bathe Ali!

Baths aren't her favorite thing in the world, but she is used to the routine now. She gets really playful afterward like Buddy and Abby.

She used to walk away when she heard the water running in the tub and now she comes without me saying a word and stands at the side of the tub until I'm ready for her.

As a pup, we had a tub/shower and I'd put her in and let her nose the water and sniff my cup (didn't have a hand held shower then). I started by just pouring the warm water on her paws/legs to get her used to it and worked my way up.

I did get her head wet but always tipped it back a bit and protected her eyes. Sometimes I'll just use a wet washcloth though on her face. I also divide a cotton ball and put it in her ears to protect from water running in.

The hand held shower is so much easier now. I also close the shower curtain more as a visual cue to stay in than anything else.

Here's some early pics of her first bath for fun :D Pardon the quality. I just took these pictures with my camera from her photo book...didn't have a digital camera back then.
http://images.photo1.walgreens.com/232323232%7Ffp43374%3Enu%3D3248%3E538%3E49%3A%3EWS NRCG%3D358993%3A%3B%3A9327nu0mrj http://images.photo1.walgreens.com/232323232%7Ffp43373%3Enu%3D3248%3E538%3E49%3A%3EWS NRCG%3D358993%3A%3B%3B4327nu0mrj

I've seen the link Barb provided. It's a good one too. A great tip on putting a towel down for traction.

I think your raised tub will be really nice. Are you going to use a cup to pour water or have a hand held sprayer?

Patty

[Shellie]

Hank gets baths quite regularly actually. He's such a patient, tolerant guy that he puts up with most everything I do to him. He gets rather growly when I take him in and will escape if possible so door gets closed. I keep the bath mat in so he has traction and we use a cup (hopefully the sprayer I just go will be going in soon!). I do get his face wet but try to use a washcloth to scrub it more than just slopping on soap and water. I am never sure whether to put his face up or down when rinsing tho...he doesn't like either direction!

But I do take him to the groomer every third or fourth time for a full grooming since I'm not that great at the trimming part. I like to do it but can never seem to get it just the way I like it. I like how he smells when I do it rather than after the groomers even tho they use my shampoo! Lol

But he goes bananas after...MUST RUB OFF EXCESS WATER ON EVERYTHING! LOL Is reealy rather funny! lol This time he was mad at me tho! lol

[peggy0]

I do Carol! Great picture; what a spoiled pup she is. I use a sprayer that I attach to a tub and start at the neck and work down. One of my yorkies does not like the face. I hold her head up and get at least the head and ears. I use a wash cloth on her face so she doesn't fear the spray. Everytime she hears the bath water running, she comes running! Mine love a bath

[Shellie]

Where did you get that tub, Carol? Is it easy to move around/take apart?

[CarolW]

Hi Shell,

Got the tub at my local Home Hardware store (Canada). DogDaddy George investigated prices in other stores, but prices were the same. I've always had great service from Home Hardware, so I got it there.

Yes; easy to put together; should be as easy to pull apart - the legs just push in, and probably by using my feet to assist me, I could pull them out quite easily. guess I'll find out, unless I just move the tub, in the stall so I can shower myself behind it (hanging the shower wand on its hook on the wall, which doesn't show in the picture).

Somebody suggested costco.ca (sorry, forgot who) - costco.us might have something similar, or any of the big buy-anything stores.

I took a screen shot of their ad, and sent it to George, so he could shop more easily, and I've just posted that, here:

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/album.php?albumid=168&pictureid=1418

Falling asleep at the keyboard again, but will have a report on shampooing and spraying, I hope, by this evening. (success!)
Sat, 5 Nov 2011 14:51:15 (PDT)

[buddingartist]

Carol, that's the kind of tub I use for bathing. As for washing the face, I tried a facecloth and they didn't like it. I guess it was a little too rough on their face. Being that Westies are white, I have to wash their (her:() face so I use one of those sponge thing and use Baby Shampoo on their (her:() face (look mommy no tears).

Here is a link of what I mean by the sponge
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=11056491

It is the pouff thing in the middle. I just put a little dab of shampoo on it and and it is nice and soft. I also use that shower thing that Patti uses and it is connected directly to my faucet. When I rinse, I block one ear and do that side and move to the other side and do the same thing. I tried using cotton pads in their ears and they kept falling off.

Of course, there's a lot of sweet talking while we are bathing and we started when they were just puppies (10+ weeks old).

I also bought the Norwex Dog Kit. It is a mitt and a towel that really absorbs the water. Because Buddy lost his first coat with the untreated mange, it took hours for him to dry up compared to Cleo. Needless to say, that is another game that we play while drying them (her:() up, playing pickaboo etc.

Yep, 2 seniors doing all these crazy things:o The laundry tub is great for seniors because they are at waist level. At our age, easy to go down on the floor, not so easy to get back up:D

Louise

[Shellie]

That's what I was thinking...waist level. I really do hate to have to bend over in the tub to wash Hank. I get in there with him since it's much easier than trying to lean over the edge. But a tub like that...might work. I'll have to check it out. Thanks ladies!

[CarolW]

and use Baby Shampoo on their (her:() face (look mommy no tears).
....
Yep, 2 seniors doing all these crazy things:o The laundry tub is great for seniors because they are at waist level. At our age, easy to go down on the floor, not so easy to get back up:D

Louise

I'm supposed to be sleeping, but of course, look where I am! Yes, Camellia; I'm coming - just ONE more message!

[Yeah, riiiight; I know you, Mummy.]

Louise - I avoid any human shampoo, having read that the pH of human shampoo isn't right for dogs. But hey, if that works for you - well, I learn stuff here on the forum!

As in - do what works!

You're SO right about being able to go down (sometimes, unexpectedly). But that getting back up again - YIKES!

I wonder if we could sort of climb the tub-legs. Maybe the tub is a bit flimsy for that! I suppose even if it weighed a ton and we tried to climb the near legs, we'd probably pull it over on ourselves, with perhaps Quite Serious consequences! (hehe - funny now, but wouldn't be funny if it happened!)

Back later to try to catch up - so many wonderful posts here, for which I thank you all! Really, our forum members are just fabulous! I think of that now because of the fiasco with the Leonardo thread. (Gosh, that posting behavior looked quite familiar.)

Always the rambler, love you all!
Sat, 5 Nov 2011 16:14:54 (PDT - last day of it!)

[buddingartist]

Carol
You're right about the human shampoo and I think it has something to do with the PH level.

With that sponge that I am referring to, you only need a small drop and you would be amazed how much sud you can create and it was just enough to wash their little white face (blackened by digging in the dirt and sand) and from eating wet food. Because I was using medicated shampoo, I was a tad concerned about their eyes.

Good luck with the bathing experience.

Louise

[CarolW]

I can tell when something is up. Mummy holds out treats - for no reason, and off-schedule. So she thinks I don't KNOW there's something up? (oo)

Yeah, Camellia; there's no fooling you. You're like Kumbi in a way - you Hate Procedures. Are you sure you didn't study with KUmbi? ;-*

Well, I did. How did you know? I guess I use similar evasion strategies. On the OTHER paw, it all depends on just WHICH procedure it is that I detect might be coming up. You put your GUM BOOTS on late yesterday afternoon. That's supposed to mean a walk, but - it was really far too late for a walk. So I wasn't sure what to think, and thought it best to evade anything strange. (oo)

Yeah; it took me well over half an hour to calm you into quietness in your favorite place on the sofa. Whereupon, I sat down beside you, which usually means I'm going to stroke you gently and maybe rub behind your ears some. Then, because you seemed quite relaxed, I simply picked you up and carried you, and put you in the new Camellia-Tub ;-*

So you did, Mummy. Then you put that loosey-Goosey noose on me. What kind of noose was that! Really loose. An old, very stiff leash. (oo)

Well, Kate taught you to wear a noose. I'm grateful for that. It was more symbolic than anything else. So then we began. You got as far away from the shower-wand part of the stall as you could, right up against the outer wall of the stall. Stall-wall. Yeah. ;-*

Yeah; and then you took down the shower-wand, and turned the water on, and adjusted the temperature. Playing the water onto your wrist. THEN you wet me down. I was hugging the outer end of My Tub - I shivered some. Nervous, you know. YOU had never bathed me before; it was always Kate who did. And kate always washes my head and face and ears, playing water over them, too. (oo)

You didn't know I wasn't going to wash your head, face, and ears! Don't need it in-between Kate-grooming sessions, every eight weeks or so. The spray doesn't go there, either. ;-*

That's lucky, because I wouldn't like any spray on my HEAD - not anywhere near my eyes. (oo)

So, I spread shampoo over you - as somebody here said, starting at your neck, and working down your body. We did a fairly thorough lather, and you started out by shivering and shaking - but I was glad you calmed down some as I did a lot of massaging. But you still hugged the outer edge of your Tub, which made it a bit awkward to wash your right side; you were facing me. ;-*

But i was good and moved over when you guided me with your hands. (oo)

You WERE good, Camellia. Really VERY good. You are such a trooper! Also, to my total delight, I didn't get wet myself - the gum boots were an important part of that - and the rolled-up sleeves - but - best of all, my BACK didn't bother me at all, because the position was good for me. ;-*

That's good, because I know when you're uncomfortable, or hurting it can make you try to rush, and tenses you up, too, so you don't do as well with me. (oo)

Right on, Camellia. I couldn't believe how comfortable I was. My next goal - I hope - is to get YOU as comfortable as I am! I think it was warm enough so you weren't cold during the bath. Waiting five minutes for the shampoo to do its job, you COULD start feeling chilly, but I hope the massaging helps with that. And the noose didn't bother you at all. ;-*

Loosey-Goosey Noosey Noosey; of course it didn't bother me; it wasn't DOING anything. (oo)

Right. except encouraging you, maybe, to stay in the Tub. Of course, at one stage, you DID put your front paws up on the front edge of your Tub. That was actually helpful, though! ;-*

Well that's why I did it, Mummy! To give you a helping paw. (oo)

I was a bit slow on the uptake. Then I had to adjust the water temp again, so I did - turned it up very slightly warmer, to get rid of any chill you might be having. Then i rinsed and rinsed, but still had a bit of trouble with your right side, as you tended to hug that side of your Tub. ;-*

But you DID get me rinsed off - then you shut the water off, grabbed that lovely towel, wrapped me in it, and carried me out to the Day Bed in the Great Room - and started drying me. Of course, I helped, as most all dogs do after a bath. I don't know any dog who doesn't get the Zoomies after a bath. Thanks for letting me do my Zoomies - I helped dry myself too - rolling on the Day Bed, the sofa, and running around in a nice warm room. (oo)

That was good, Camellia. You were fairly dry in an hour. And Quite Dry in two hours. Good job! ;-*

Yeah - and THEN you started all over again - picked me up and put me back in My Tub. This, I did not understand, Mummy! NOT another bath? I just HAD one! (oo)

No, not another bath. This time, it was the spray. I put the LooseyGooseyNoosey on you, and then laid a washcloth over your head - just loosely. And GOOD YOU! You didn't try to shake it off! I just couldn't BELIEVE how good you were. ;-*

More self-preservation than anything else, Mummy. But you surely aren't very good with that spray. Let's say, awkward and uncertain. (oo)

You are so observant, Camellia. I promise, I'll learn with practice. I was glad I only had to spray your back, hind-end to neck, and sort of the center of your back. Didn't do very well, though; I was supposed to hold the spray at 12 inches, but it was more like 6 inches. And I used a little more spray than perhaps I should have, but I don't think it does any harm. ;-*

Mum - just keep practising; you'll get better at it that way. WHAT AM I SAYING! (oo)

Hehe; you're encouraging me, Camellia. ;-*

Yeah; I just noticed that. But it felt okay. It took about an hour to dry. (oo)

And when it was dry, you really felt great under my hands. ;-*

I felt pretty good myself, Mum. I THINK I'm glad you can bathe me at home now, if need be. (Wonderful to avoid that head-and-face-wash!) (oo)

Camellia - do you think we were successful? ;-*

For a first try, Mum, it was really good; congratulations. Let's see what happens next time. WHAT AM I SAYING! (oo)

I think you don't really hate a bath all that much, Camellia. Maybe we'll go places together ;-*

Hey! maybe we will! Now, Mum, it's not far from bedtime, and also, it's change-the-clocks evening. (oo)

Why, so it is, Camellia. Next question is, do we get an extra hour of sleep, or do we get an extra hour of play? Or, do we split the difference? ;-*

Who knows, Mum. Depends on our mood! Me, Im going to Our Bed for a little while. You can finish typing while I snuggle and dream. (oo)

Okay, Camellia; i'll be along before too long - REALLY getting sleepy! And thanks for being SO GOOD in the Tub and out of it! ;-*

I'm not Out of It, Mum. You might be. (oo)

Not really, Camellia - anyway, not for long. It would be difficult to be TOO far Out of It on this forum. If we were, we might end up as Former Members. Let's not do that; okay? ;-*

OKAY! See you shortly, on/in Our Bed! (oo)

Good night, Camellia; I'll join you in time. Uhhh - Daylight Time, which will shortly turn into Standard Time.
[Crowing - SUCCESS!] ;-*

Sat, 5 Nov 2011 20:50:31 (PDT)

[Shellie]

Carol
You're right about the human shampoo and I think it has something to do with the PH level.

With that sponge that I am referring to, you only need a small drop and you would be amazed how much sud you can create and it was just enough to wash their little white face (blackened by digging in the dirt and sand) and from eating wet food. Because I was using medicated shampoo, I was a tad concerned about their eyes.

Good luck with the bathing experience.

Louise

Westies digging in the dirt?! Say it isn't so! LOL My Henry had one hole he was allowed to dig and by god that thing was getting enormous! I swear I could see China in it! But he loved it and what a dirty face! Figures a white dog would love to dig so much!!!! :eek: Gotta love them tho!

[Shellie]

Yay Carol!!! Way to go Camellia! Good girls! *pats both on the head* That totally rocks!

[Judi]

love your writing Carol! hooray for success, backs that don't hurt and Camellia!!

[buddingartist]

Carol, that was so much fun reading about your bathing adventure. You should write children books (what am I talking about, I'm an ol bitty and I enjoyed the writing:D).

I forgot to mention that I don't wear boots, but I do wear one of those disposable plastic raincoats when it's bathing time. I even have a small bar stool (which Ron cut the legs off to match the height of the tub) and that makes things even easier.

Hopefully, this treatment will at least alleviate the itching.

Louise

[CarolW]

My beloved forum buddies - it's SO nice for me that you like my stories. Well, I love humans as much (at least, almost as much; haha!) as I love dogs. And I love kids.

I'm not really sure those are exactly children's stories, though kids should enjoy them at a certain level, but I think it takes adult sophistication and knowledge to get the fullness from the stories!

Just in case you want more of the same sort of stuff, there's lots of it on Coherent Dog.

For example:

http://www.coherentdog.org/arc2006/debunk.htm

And another, in a similar vein:

http://www.coherentdog.org/arc2006/stingmantra.htm

And some later ones on the main site area, where, after finding this forum, and realizing I no longer needed to provide much info on canine diabetes - because the best info is here - I degenerated into the utmost of nonsense - very self-indulgent of me! I do LOVE to tell stories! Are you sure you should be encouraging me?

For instance, there's a long and involved series that starts on Vekkie's Diabetes Playground:

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/index.php

If you keep using the NEXT buttons above the main pictures, those will take you through, first, explanations of some of the oddball characters, such as SkyHook, Skylight Outside, Skylight Inside, and eventually, I think, the CarSisters - descendants of Carlotta, whose web has protected many. (I think Carlotta appears in the "OldHome" area.)

After the introduction of SkyHook et. al., you get into the Merry Measure area, which was originally intended to allow users of Vetsulin (or Caninsulin) to use the 'wrong syringes" (U-100 instead of U-40), so as to get the thinner, shorter needles - to keep especially smaller dogs and cats more comfortable with injections - and to do it safely - my effort there was to provide a kind of intuitive perception of measurements, so people might sit up and pay attention, in case they were about to inject far too much (or far too little) insulin. A kind of Alert-Alarm, if you like.

But there are lots of nonsense stories in there. It's a very long sequence, so if anybody goes there, I suggest bookmarking the last page you read, and later returning there to continue when you have time again.

And after all that, I got into even wilder nonsense, some of it in the main area - such as,

http://www.coherentdog.org/canodyne.php

To understand that one fully, you need to read through the Merry Measure pages first.

And eventually, I got into the necessity of picking the right syringes, which means, of course, you have to examine the Syringe Bushes with care, and make sure to get the right one for the right insulin - so you get good pickings from the bushes.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/journeysyr.php

By the time you read through a few of these pages, it will have shown your mettle for the most outrageous puns and nonsense. (hehe)

Fair warning - the pages should load pretty fast, but the reading of them will be time-consuming. I suggest this stuff for people who share my delight in puns and nonsense.

I DID try to keep the information about canine diabetes as accurate as I could!

Oh, and there are some more debunk articles, too, for instance:

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/vkkdebunk.php

Explanation of the Boogie Brush:

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/boogiebrush.php

And illustration of some of the work of the CarSisters (descendants of Carlotta)

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/bugaboogie.php

Sorry I don't have those all quite in the right order. You could say, I'm a bit disordered this morning.

Lots of love to all of you - this is absolutely my favorite online forum! Actually, I only very rarely go to others.

Because THIS forum is so good, I can safely indulge myself telling stories.
Sun, 6 Nov 2011 08:12:42 (PST)

[Patty]

So glad it went well, Carol :)

[MaryLea]

Carol, your stories are humerous and entertaining. You really should consider writing and seeking to be published. We can say, "We know her when . . ."! :D

Mary ;)

[CarolW]

Patty - thanks! Oddly (not!) I too am glad it went well. I'm even hoping one day Camellia will actually enjoy her baths!

Mary - I'm far too Olde and Tired and HomeBody to take on the promoting and traveling that would be required for a published author.

I AM published - self-published - on Coherent Dog - and I don't have to travel for that; haha! But thanks for the thought!

Anybody is welcome to save my stuff to your own computer.

Love you all! This forum engenders additional love and bonding.
Sun, 6 Nov 2011 15:48:26 (PST) - going for a nap!

[CarolW]

I'm over here on the sofa, in my favorite place - Mummy - why are you crying? (00) [purposeful new signature]

Well, Camellia - it's Audrey. You didn't meet Audrey in caton, and neither did I, but though my own last cat, Prancy, died late in 2005 at 19.5 years, I always loved cats. ;-& [accidental new signature]

I could live with a cat, Mummy. Why don't you get one? (00)

I can't afford another animal, dear Camellia. Nor do I have the energy to care for two these days. Instead, we can borrow Hobo, the black cat who looks in our window sometimes. ;-&

When he does that, if I see him, I bark at him. (00)

That's because you don't think he's family. He IS; just not OUR family directly. ;-&

Lucky I already had my bath today, and even my spray, too, about 2.5 hours later. Otherwise, your tears would be wetting me down. (00)

Yeah; Camellia. They're wetting me down a bit. But - you were SO good in the bath again - even better than last time. ;-&

I was, wasn't I! I didn't even get nervous this time - pretty much knew what to expect - that is, you were NOT going to wash my head and face. (00)

Right! You didn't even shiver or shake. You DID still hug the side of your Tub nearest the outer wall of the shower stall, but you moved over when I guided you gently with my hands. ;-&

And this time, Mummy, you got smart. Hung a clock on the wall where you could see it from the shower stall. (00)

Yeah, so I made sure that special shampoo stayed on for at least five minutes before rinsing it off. Then we did a LONG, long rinse. ;-&

It was long, all right. I hugged the outer wall again, but you guided me to let you rinse my right side. (00)

And you moved over nicely; thanks so much, Camellia. I tell ya, it was nice - and I got one foot out of the stall to reach for your Towel Number One, to wrap you in before lifting you out of your Camellia's Tub. ;-&

And you set me down on the floor in the Great Room - office, kitchen, living room, all rolled into One. (00)

And you got the Zoomies. ;-&

Of course! EveryDog is entitled to get the Zoomies after a bath. (00)

It really helps you get dried off some. Then when finally you got back up on the low daybed, I dried you a lot with Towel Number One. It was enough to take some of the water off. ;-&

But not all of it, by any means! And even though I'd rolled a lot on the Low DayBed and the Sofa during my Zoomies, I was still fairly wet. (00)

You were, so I got Towel Number Two, and worked on you with that. I felt really good that first, you seemed ALMOST to enjoy the bath, and now, to enjoy the drying as well. ;-&

You're pretty good with your hands, Mummy. Anyway, I give you a passing grade. (00)

Thanks, Camellia. Let's hope the baths continue to go this well. I'm sure both of us need practice, to make them truly great. ;-&

I suppose we do need practice, and I don't mind, as long is it isn't TOO often. (00)

Once a week, Sweetie-Pyzie-Byzie-Wyzie. Saturdays should be good days for baths for you. ;-&

So then, Mummy, you came over and picked me up again, a little more than two hours after we finished the bath. Wasn't I good! I didn't even try to escape! (00)

Camellia - you were truly great. I appreciate that so much. I also REALLY hope it will help you with the shuffing. It might. We're replacing your failed skin barrier. Little by little. ;-&

With Phytosphingosines, Mummy. (00)

Right on, Camellia. I keep wanting to call it FidoSphinxoScenes. ;-&

That would be a good name for it, except I don't know what it has to do with Sphinxes. Maybe Fixes. PhytoFix-o-Scenes? (00)

You're going to get me all-mixed-up, Camellia. ;-&

No worries, Mum; you're all-mixed-up anyway. (00)

Haha, Camellia! I suppose I am. Does it show all that much? ;-&

I don't think I'll answer that, Mummy. I love you anyway. (00)

Thanks, Camellia. I love you too. With a total passion. ;-&

Okay, Mum; let's sign off; I think I want a nap now. (00)

Good idea, Camellia - I need a nap, too. ;-&

Love and hugs, licks and wags, and lots of Magic-Wand waving, to all our buddies here - humans and dogs - and cats - alike. ;-& (00) ~~~ ~~~
Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:15:24 (PST)

[HarrysMom]

Thanks Carol. Your post brought a smile to my face.

[CarolW]

I'm glad if we brought a smile to your face on this difficult day, dear Yunhee.

http://www.coherentdog.org/canodyne.php

Camellia is very observant. As most dogs - and cats - are!

Lots of love and hugs,
Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:06:43 (PST)