SheltieTales

A Word About Buffy

SheltieJim — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:46:43 +0000

No, not the vampire slayer! The Collie-sized Sheltie!

Buffy came to us a few days ago and almost immediately went in to be neutered. When he got home the next day, he was a little dazed, but did very well. Unfortunately, he’s been coughing a lot lately and Barbara decided (with Dr. Cox at Cottonwood) just today that he’s probably got — yup, kennel cough. So he’s now on doxicycline.

He is such a sweet, gentle guy. He loves to be petted and have his face rubbed. Sadly, his joints hurt him a lot. He’s almost as arthritic (and about the same age) as Shelly. Plus, it seems like they might have slightly nicked one of his rear paws when they were shaving it to insert a catheter for the anesthesia for the neuter, and it’s gotten infected. His poor paw is swolen up about 50% too big!

Worst of all is how other dogs pick on poor Buffy. Little Justice wants to boss him around (apparently, Justice’s hormones aren’t going down as rapidly as we might like) and even new boy Marley is asserting his dominance over Buffy. And gentle Buffy just tries to stay out of everybody’s way, never pushes back, never asserts himself. He’s such a love! I hope that we can find him a really great home, because he deserves it…and needs it more than many others! We just want him to live out his remaining few years in comfort and love.

Two New Guys

SheltieJim — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:37:53 +0000

Today was a pretty sad day. Early this afternoon, Ellen brought her two Shelties to us to relinquish them to rescue. Ellen didn’t do this enthusiastically, not even willingly. Ellen is the victim of a vengeful neighbor who couldn’t create legal problems for Ellen over what really bothered the neighbor, so she called the police because Ellen had four dogs instead of the "legal" maximum of two. (I’m thinking somebody lost a lot of karma and is going to come back as a cockroach…upon which I will step so they can come back again as a cockroach!)

Ellen was heartbroken, but she had done everything possible to take full responsibility for her two wonderful boys. Marley (as in Bob!) and Stewie (Steward Little) are littermates, six years old, whom Ellen has had since they were very small puppies. They are incredibly well behaved, very sweet, and will be so nice to have here. Marley is very intuitive, but is a bit of a worrier, while Stewie is a real cuddler (with the worst underbite I’ve ever seen in a Sheltie). Ellen went so far as to take the boys in to be groomed and have dentals done before she brought them over, and she brought with them crates, dog beds, food, medications, paperwork and records, leashes, and everything else.

And she cried.

It is heartbreaking to lose one’s kids, and these Shelties are her kids just as much as her 12 year old son. Damn it, it’s simply not fair. The ordinances that limit a person to owning only two (or three or four or ten!) dogs are stupid and could be someday determined to be unconstitutional. After all, would we sit still for a law that said that a family is only allowed to own three bicycles, or to only have four quarts of milk in the fridge? How about being allowed to have only two children (cf China’s one-child policy)? Then why the hell is it OK to limit somebody to two dogs?

Of course, the people who really cause the problems that lead to such ordinances don’t care. They’ll shuttle dogs around, giving them away and getting new ones with great regularity, let them run loose in the streets, poop on other peoples’ yards, bark all night, etc. But a responsible dog owner suffers if some neighbor decides to punish him or her for some imagined problem.

We, the collective we, have got to start taking positive action against the animal rights crowd who are so enthusiastic about legislation that limits the number of dogs, cats, whatever we can have, educate our city council folks and our legislators, and fight at every turn against unfair laws that limit our ability to own and live with our precious pets.

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest! Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog…

These two boys are really lovely. We want to place them together, as they’ve been together since birth. If we think they will do OK separated, then we may have to go that way — it’s not always possible to find good adoptive homes able to take two at the same time. We’ll post photos soon. Promise!

One Out, One In

SheltieJim — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:46:34 +0000

Well, this morning, Angel went off with her new family, a really great couple with another rescued dog (not a Sheltie, but seemingly a mixed breed). They interviewed both Angel and Lollypop yesterday evening, but thought that Angel bonded better with the woman (their dog, Cody, is bonded more with the man) and that Angel needed them more than Lolly did. Very happy news. Pictures will be posted.

Unfortunately, just as the couple arrived this morning, I had a call from a woman near Cedar City (in south central Utah) who runs a very informal small-dog rescue. They have a Sheltie whom they found wandering loose in their part of the state and had spent a couple of weeks trying hard to find the dog’s owners without success. This dog is very shy, they told us, and they aren’t really experienced enough in Shelties to know how to deal with the situation. Naturally, we said that we’d take the dog. All we need now is to arrange transportation. It might be possible for our own Marie, who lives just a couple of hours away, to get the dog and bring him up to us. We’ll see.

So, we’re temporarily down to 16, but 17, 18, and 19 are on their way. Happily, a potential adopter for Jackson-the-Sheltie will be here late tomorrow afternoon, so there’s a good chance that we’ll actually peak at 18 (for now). Sigh…

Vibrating Collars

MandaBear — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:59 +0000

Ian and I were talking last night about the stuff we need so we can bring Tanner into out home. I brought up something that I have come across a few times in pet product catologs and online…a vibrating collar. I don’t know how well this would work so I thought I would ask and see if any of you have used it or have an oppinion on it. There are many articles online about using them to train deaf dogs but I still would like to get as much information as possible from all sources. Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much!
Amanda

They Just Keep On Coming!

SheltieJim — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:54:09 +0000

Yesterday, Barbara drove up to the Ogden shelter to pick up a 10 year old "neutered" male, Buffy, whose owner had died. Big boy, about 20", but not overweight. Lovely, lovely personality, blond sable coat, sweet expression, sway-backed, and very tender on his left elbow. Justice, not yet neutered, won’t leave him alone; today, Barbara discovered that Buffy isn’t neutered after all. Justice was in for neutering today (turns out that his undescended testicle was partly descended, so the surgery wasn’t major; therefore, he got neutered and gets to have 14 teeth removed!). Barbara’s leaving in a few minutes to take Buffy in for neutering.

Yesterday, while Barbara was out getting Buffy, the phone rings. It’s a woman who lives in SLC, but has "too many dogs" and her neighbors have called the police. She tearfully says that she has to downsize and she has two Sheltie males, six years old, littermates whom she’s had since puppyhood, that she must turn over right away. The poor woman is on vacation, no less! When Barbara gets back, she negotiates that the woman will bring the two boys (Marley, "as in Bob", and Stewart Little, called "Stewie") over on Tuesday of the coming week.

Today, I got email from Dorothy Christiansen (National Sheltie Rescue Network coordinator), forwarding a message from somebody who lives "about 20 miles from Salt Lake City" who wants to dump a Sheltie at the pound, but wants Dorothy to "come pick it up". Dorothy lives in Illinois, so unreasonably suggests that the man contact us, as we’re "a little closer". I get email from the man shortly thereafter saying "If you want him, pick him up by Friday or we’re taking him to the pound". When Barbara gets home from taking Justice to the vet, she calls the man and negotiates that the guy will drop the Sheltie here. Un-spayed, of course.

Ummm, I’m sure that Barbara told me last night that there’s yet another female waiting to be brought over here, too.

Unless I’ve lost count, that will make 20. TWENTY! And they all need spaying or neutering, plus (mostly) dentals. That’s another $500, $700, or $800 in just under a week. Don’t nobody try to convince me that the economy’s improving. Mine ain’t! OK, so Buffy’s a special case, but all these others…jeez…what’s going on?

It didn’t help that large Buffy had pretty bad diarrhea most of last night (probably anxiety at losing his dad and his home in short order, plus a change in diet – and having Justice bothering him constantly couldn’t have helped). We didn’t get much sleep and Barbara’s spent most of today using the carpet shampooer.

Anybody want to buy a non-profit corporation cheap? How about a slightly used house?

On the other hand, I’m supposed to call a woman in California right this minute who’s interested in Jackson (the new Sheltie, not the Corgi mix). Maybe she’ll drive to Sandy this weekend to adopt. Fingers crossed (along with toes, eyes, arms, legs, and whatever else I can move).

Oh, one more thing: Ballet’s mom called today; she’d just seen on the blog that Ballet had died. We hadn’t called her to tell her yet, because we wanted to wait until she was feeling physically better (we got Ballet and Tap because their mom was very ill). She was, of course, heartbroken about Ballet, but was comforted that she didn’t suffer, and was delighted that Tap has found such a fabulous new home. She asked if she could at least share Ballet’s ashes with us, which we’re sure we’ll do, we just haven’t worked out the details yet.

Summer’s Here: Heat Problems!

SheltieJim — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:42:01 +0000

Summer has arrived and it’s hot in most of the USA and awfully humid in large parts of the country as well. Dogs die all the time from heat-related problems, and not just from being left in cars when it’s 100° outside. We have to understand how dogs get heat-stressed and how to handle the problems. I just received the following from the RecycledShelties Yahoo group mailing list, and permission to repost was granted.

Avoiding Heat Related Injuries in Dogs

Nate Baxter DVM

The first thing that needs to be understood is that dogs and people are different enough that most of the info cannot cross lines. I do not profess to know what the appropriate procedures for people other than what I learned in first aid.

Dogs do not lose enough electrolytes thru exercise to make a difference, but if the dog gets truly into heat stroke , the physiology changes will make them necessary. But oral replacement at that point is futile — they need intravenous fluids and electrolytes and lots of it .

Cooling: Evaporative cooling is the most efficient mean of cooling.

However, in a muggy environment, the moisture will not evaporate, so cooling does not happen well. I cool with the coldest water I can find and will use ice depending on the situation. The best way is to run water over the dog, so there is always fresh water in contact with the skin. When you immerse a dog in a tub, the water trapped in the hair coat will get warm next to the dog, and act as an insulator against the cool water and cooling stops. If you can run water over the dog and place it in front of a fan, that is the best. Misting the dog with water will only help if you are in a dry environment or in front of a fan. Just getting the dog wet is not the point, you want the water to be cool itself, or to evaporate.

For most situations, all you will need to do is get the dog in a cooler environment, i.e., shade, or in the cab of the truck with the air conditioning on (driving around so the truck does not overheat and the AC is more efficient). Up to a couple of years ago, I was very concerned about my dogs getting too hot in the back of my black pickup with a black cap. New white truck fixed a lot of that problem. When I had one dog, I just pulled the wire crate out of the car and put it in some shade and hopefully a breeze. But having 2 dogs and running from one stake to another, that was not feasible. So I built a platform to put the wire crates on; this raises the dog up in the truck box where the air flow is better. Then I placed a 3 speed box fan in front blowing on the dogs with a foot of space to allow better airflow. I purchased a power inverter that connects to the battery and allows the 3 speed fan to run from the truck power. It has an automatic feature that prevents it from draining the battery. When I turned that fan on medium, I would find that the dogs were asleep, breathing slowly, and appeared very relaxed and comfortable in a matter of 20 minutes or less, even on very hot muggy days.

Alcohol: I do carry it for emergiencies. It is very effective at cooling due to the rapid evaporation. It should be used when other methods are not working. You should be on your way to the veterinarian before you get to this point. We recommend using rubbing alcohol , which is propylene alcohol, not ethyl, for those of you not aware. (So do not try to drink it!) Alcohol should be used on the pads and lower feet area where there is little more than skin and blood vessels over the bones. Use a little bit and let it evaporate; you can use too much, as some is absorbed through the skin. There are concerns about toxicity, but you have to get the temperature down.

I purchased those cooling pads that you soak in cold water, but found that the dogs would not lay on them. I would hold them on the back of a dog that just worked to get a quick cool, but have not used them for years. I also bought a pair of battery operated fans but found them pretty useless. Spend your money on the power inverter and get a real fan.

Watching temperature: If you feel your dog is in danger of heat injury, check its temp and write it down.

Keep checking the temp every 3 minutes. I recommend to get a "rectal glass thermometer. The digital ones for the drug store I have found to be very unreliable, Don’t forget to shake it down completely each time, sounds silly, but when are worried about your companion, things tend to get mixed up. This is VERY IMPORTANT: once the temp STARTS to drop, STOP ALL COOLING EFFORTS. The cooling process will continue even though you have stopped. If the temp starts at 106.5, and then next time it drops to 105.5, stop cooling the dog, dry it off, and continue monitoring. You will be amazed how it continues to go down. If you do not stop until the temp is 102, the temp will drop way too low. I cannot emphasis this point enough.

When the dog is so heated that it is panting severely, only let it have a few laps of water. Water in the stomach does not cool the dog! You just need to keep the mouth wet so the panting is more effective.

Do not worry about hydration until the temp has started down. A dog panting heavily taking in large amounts of water is a risk of bloat. Due to the heavy panting, they will swallow air mixed with a large amount of water, and they can bloat. Once the temp is going down and panting has slowed to more normal panting, then allow water. The dog will rehydrate itself after temp is normal. If the dog has a serious problem and even though you have gotten the temp normal, get the dog to a vet, as it can still need IV fluids and some medication. Also, a case of heat stroke can induce a case of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (not parvo), with a ton of very bloody diarrhea and a lot of fluid and electrolyte loss. These cases need aggressive treatment.

The best method of treatment is prevention. Learn to watch your dog, and see the changes in the size of the tongue, and how quickly it goes down. Learn your dog’s response to the different environments, and be careful when you head south for an early season hunt test or trial. I have been to Nashville at the end of May, only 5 hours away, but the difference in temp and humidity did effect the dogs as they were used to more spring weather in Ohio. Try different things in training to help the dog cool and learn what works better. Another very important point => Do not swim your hot dog to cool it then put in put in a box/ tight crate. Remember, evaporation can not take place in a tight space, and the box will turn into a sauna and you will cook your dog .

Carry a stake out chain, and let the dog cool and dry before putting it up. I demonstrated this lesson this spring with my 10 month old pup. After doing a 15 minute session in yard drill on a warm 70+ degree day, she was panting pretty hard and was pretty hot. She was OK but it was time to stop. Just for the heck of it I took her temp. She was 103.6, above normal but too bad for a dog that had just finished working. In my back yard I have a 300 gallon Rubbermaid tub filled with water. I took her to it and she jumped in and out 3-4 times. She appeared totally improved, tongue was much smaller, and eyes brighter and her full spring was back into her step. So I re-took her temp and it was 104.2, so even though she looked better she was hotter.

This is a perfect lesson to show not get a hot dog wet and then put them in a box. The water on her skin caused the blood vessels to constrict, decreasing blood flow to the skin. Therefore the hot blood was shunted back to the dog’s core and retained the heat. You may have felt the same thing, after exercising but still being very warm, take a shower and get cooled off but as soon as you turn the shower off you start sweating again.

I know this is s bit long, but hopefully this is easy to understand and helps provide some useful information.

Remember: Prevention, learn your dog. It is worth the time and effort.
____________ ______
Nate Baxter, DVM
Lebanon, OH
blacklab@iac. net

Stranger In A Strange Land

SheltieJim — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:33:48 +0000

I’m back from Korea. Got in mid-afternoon on Saturday after a long, but uneventful trip involving a taxi, three planes, and a train. Don’t ask… Barbara picked me up at the airport with Abby and Star in the car, which was really, really nice. The girls (all three of them ) were happy to see me, and I them.

Actually walking into the house was a slightly different story, though. There are FOUR new dogs and one no-longer-here-dog to deal with. The no-longer-here dog is, of course, Tap, who went off to his forever home just a few days ago. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to say goodbye to him, but I’m delighted that he’s found such a perfect home. Still, it meant that the house felt different than it did when I left.

The four new dogs really made it seem strange, though. There are two puppies: 7 month old Brando (the world’s first Smooth Sheltie) and not-quite-a-year-old Jackson, a tri-color. There’s a 4-year-old tri girl, Gracie, with the absolutely ugliest front teeth I’ve ever seen on a Sheltie — I see braces (more likely, just tooth pulling) in her future. And there’s a youngish (three? four?) male whom Barbara named Justice (’cause he needed some).

Brando had never lived in a house before he got here from the shelter in Elko, NV, where he was picked up off the streets with his biological mother. She was, as far as I know, really a Sheltie. We’re not as certain about dad, about whom we know nothing. Brando has an adorable, sweet, cuddly personality and looks largely Sheltie-ish, except that he is as smooth as the proverbial puppy’s bottom (not hairless, though). At present, he’s just about in-size, and might grow to as much as 15". He’s already figured out that being cute is viewed very favorably around here, so he’s working his magic constantly. And he’s picking up the house-breaking bit very quickly (thank goodness).

Jackson came to us as an owner turn-in. He’s slightly large (perhaps 15" to 16"?), but a little thin. He’s a little bit spooky, especially with men, but I’ve already been earning his trust and he will sometimes come when I call him, and even hop up on the couch for a cuddle uninvited. He’s got a very sweet personality, but obviously had been punished harshly after coming when called, so he’s got to relearn how to trust. I really like him and think he’ll be very easy to place.

Gracie is sweet, small (13"?), and a bit chunky, but that’s fixable. It’s those front teeth that will make her harder to adopt. I don’t know what we can, or will, do about it, especially given our new financial realities. But she is really calm and asks very politely for attention. Her personality is less dramatic than the other three new guys, but she definitely is her own girl. She’s going to make somebody a superb constant companion.

Justice is also small and very, very cute. He appears to have a serious hearing deficiency, but we’re not 100% sure how bad it might be. He clearly responds to some sounds, but it doesn’t quite seem like selective hearing disorder He is not yet neutered, because it turned out that he is unilaterally chryptorchidis (meaning that he has one undescended testicle). The surgery is more significant than an ordinary neutering, just about the same as a spay, so we wanted to get his blood work back before making the decision. He is an absolute delight! Very charming, loves to play with a ball, loves to cuddle, and is as happy as anybody we’ve ever had, including the late, very lamented Chewy. His bad habit? He think it should be normal behavior to hop up on the coffee table and take a nap!

But there is more to my feeling so strange in my own home. Chewy and Ballet (and Tap) are very recently gone, and others preceded them in the last very few months, both placements and deaths. The "regular crew" is down to Abby, Star, Tommy, Alex, Tanner, and Olivia. Well, it also includes Shelly, but she still feels pretty new to me, as she’s been here only a few months. And it includes Sienna and Jett, but they’re almost always in their room and don’t really socialize with us all that much. Rogue and Angel are both very new, as is Nash (whom we are now convinced is almost totally deaf).

So, how many is that? Sixteen. And seven of them are new. It’s kinda crazy around here, and I suddenly miss Sly a lot. I also started really missing my first Sheltie (Merlin) and his "sister" Ellie, as well as our own Annie, all of whom have been dead for years.

Yeah, I know. I should be putting pictures of the new kids into this post. The problem is that my camera doesn’t easily link to my computer, so I have to remove the chip and put it into a special chip reader, then upload the pictures, then edit them for size (and quality), etc. Barbara’s much better at that than I am, so I’m sure she’ll be putting pictures up soon.

Sounds of Silence

SheltieJim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:57:55 +0000

No, nothing bad to report. But I thought I’d explicitly note the absence of new blog entries recently. I’m still in Korea (yes, the meeting is going very well, thanks for asking!) and the weather is good again, after a couple of days of pretty hard rain. But I’m really looking forward to being home with my "kids" and Barbara on this Saturday.

Barbara has been very, very busy at home with (at least!) two major activities. Foremost is the constant stream of new Shelties arriving every week — last night, she responded to my question of "How many are there in the house right now?" with a surprised "I’m not sure!" The other is the on-going organization of SRU’s files, materiel, inventory, and the like. Argh! I feel awful about leaving her to take care of that stuff alone, but somebody’s got to bring home the kibble

Oh! One more thing. The gentleman from Idaho who adopted Strawberry many months back called us recently to let us know that Strawberry had died rather suddenly, but with the best efforts of their veterinarian to make her last days as comfortable as possible. He asked if we would be willing to allow him and his wife to adopt another senior Sheltie who needs special care. He was interested in Tap (who is slowly recovering from Ballet’s absence). Barbara invited him down and Tap took to him right away, and we have another happy ending! Hooray for Tap!

A Note From Jeju

SheltieJim — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:17:21 +0000

I know this has nothing to do with Sheltie rescue, but some of you have expressed interest in knowing what happens on our trips to various places. Well, I’m currently on the island of Jeju (also spelled Cheju) off the southern tip of South Korea. Let me tell you, this place is mostly one gigantic tourist trap. Most of the "sights" are actually human-created things designed solely to extract money from tourists’ pockets. Mind you, the tourists in question are at least 98% Korean. There are simply not many foreigners here, even at peak season (which, thankfully, this is not).

After a couple of days of meetings and being more or less trapped in our hotel (which is something like 30km from the closest town!), one of our meeting participants rented a car and thus gave us a bit of freedom. On Sunday night, a few of us ate at the in-hotel Korean restaurant, which was expensive (30,000 Korean won per person, roughly US$25), very limited menu, and not really all that good. On Monday, we at at the in-hotel "Western" restaurant, which had the same problems, although the food was marginally better. On Tuesday, there was a shuttle bus that would "take us to town" at 6:00 PM and return starting at 9:00 PM. Well, it didn’t take us to town at all, but to a tourist trap/sight (a rather nice waterfall so carefully prepared for tourists that all the rocks were cemented in place so they couldn’t be disturbed!) where we were "invited" to eat at a small restaurant (which, for all I know, was owned by the bus driver’s bother-in-law). Again, not very good, but at least not very expensive.

Well, on Wednesday, with the rental car, we really went into town, where I found us a restaurant that served kalbi, a Korean dish that roughly translates as "short ribs". In this restaurant, the kalbi came in the form of a sort of meat-only stew, with a rich, very flavorful, delightful sauce and delicious meat. Naturally, we also had the normal Korean "side dishes" including the famous kimchi (a very spicy-hot fermented cabbage dish…better than it sounds) and plenty of beer. The restaurant was really a little hole-in-the-wall kind of place owned by the woman who cooks and serves and cleans, too. Between my very limited Korean and her not-quite-as-limited English, we had a delightful conversation with her about this and that, learning (among other things) that she had never previously had a foreigner eat in her restaurant. We were her first!

On Thursday (yesterday, as of when I write this), we worked unti labout 3:00 PM and then took off for several hours of sightseeing. We did hit a couple of tourist traps, simply because the sights offered there were interesting enough that we put up with it. Because it’s off-season, the crowds weren’t bad in the least, except for one place where several busloads of high school students joined us, but only for about 1/2 hour. We had an incredible time, just going wherever the wind took us, seeing things that weren’t even on the map (literally, as we found a coast "road" that we followed for several km that wasn’t on any map we had, not even on the GPS the rental car company provided).

At about 8:00 PM, when the sun had set, we headed back towards our hotel, stopping in that town I mentioned earlier, to find a place to eat. The guy who rented the car (Jörn Bartels, from Germany and my Oracle colleague) and I are going scuba diving on Saturday, so we managed to find the scuba shop to check it out. The owner of the shop gave us a suggestion for a restaurant which we took. It was very close by, and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful — and even spoke a little English! We had a dish very close to one of my favorite Korean meals: bulgogi.

The word literally means "beef", but it is used specifically to describe a meal where you’re given a plate of raw meat in small pieces and you have a very, very hot "grille" set into the table in front of you. You cook the meat yourself (which has typically been marinated in great flavors), then eat it directly or roll it — along with some of the aforementioned side dishes — in a lettuce leaf and eat it like a burrito or soft taco. Our meal wasn’t technically bulgogi because it was mostly pork, with some kalbi-style beef thrown in for good measure. Again, we had a wonderful meal after a fantastic day of sightseeing, after we got back to the hotel at about 11:00 or 11:30 PM, tired, but satisfied.

More as it develops (hopefully, with pictures)…

In Memory of Ballet

BluvsJ — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:55:37 +0000