She slept through Christmas

Well beautiful Winnie slept through Christmas. She did eat a little breakfast and a little lunch but by dinner time was refusing everything except a little canned tripe.
All day she slept in the middle of the kitchen floor. No vomiting. I think she only had 1 or 2 bowel movements in the am and the 2nd was showed slight (very slight) improvement. Ginny took both dogs for a walk which they seemed to enjoy but were both clearly glad to get back home and find us still here. In the morning she ate her pill in a pill pocket.

After dinner I pilled her with her metronidazole and a 1/4 tab of pepcid because she doesn't want the pill pockets. She seemed perkier and played for an a fwe minutes with me before bed.

She woke me up just before 2am and had a bout of 99% liquid diarrhea. I woke up at 6am to her coughing which is what she sounds like when she vomits. She didn't throw up much.... but it did look like the ground up chicken and rice and perhaps that Evo cookie that Deirdre got her to eat.

Now I am losing hope that it is "just" gastroenteritis.

Dr. Stewert said to bring her in if she threw up so I think I will take her by on my way to work.....perhaps after I burst in to tears a few times.

Mollie's hot house flower

So we get home from work on Saturdy and Winnie throws up her breakfast. This is really the first indication I have that something is amiss. It appears that she threw up her entire breakfast .. poor kid. She is laying low and being mellow and I am hoping this is a fluke and her sleeping so much is because she played so much today. They we go out and she is clearly ill (liquid diarrhea).
This goes on through the evening - she threw up 5x and had several episodes of diarrhea. BTW she ate lamb primal for breakfast. She seems letharigic and I can really hear her stomach grumbling....she just lies on the floor.

She slept through the night which really surprised me. Luckily Sunday is a day off for me so I can really keep an eye on her. Seems maybe a tad bit better. I offer her some chicken and rice for breakfast which she scarfed down. She still has the runs though. = (

I check her temp and it is normal at 100.8. She is now refusing ALL full - actively avoiding it infact. I put down a bowl of broth and she actually got up and moved away from it. She seems more lethargic and very uncomfortable so I call SFVS and they recommend that I bring her in.

When we get there Winnie recognize it.... she was very wary and skittish. The Doc on call is an SF/SPCA doc. The lobby is empty but we still wait for about 20 minutes.
When we get in to see teh Vet he seems very concerned - wants to take xrays etc in case she may have ingested something. Tim comes by after work to hang with me but he arrives just as I am cleared to leave. They are going to keep her over night and get her on IV fluids, anti-vomit and anti-diarrhea meds.

I hear nothing all night... I wait until 9am as instructed and call but I am told that the Doctor will have to call me back. A nurse call - the doc is too busy- she says Winnie is better (no vomitting or diarrhea) and the giardia test was negative. She doesn't know about the xrays.
Less t han an hour later I get another call - this is another nurse with an update. My heart sunk until I realized that she was making the same update calls as the first gal and that nothing had changed with Winnie. They wanted to offer her canned I/D at 1pm. I said that she might not tolerate it well so the first gal said that I could bring boiled chicken, rice and cottage cheese by and offer it myself. I was told that they were planning to keep her at least until 5pm.

Deirdre picked me up and we went down there just before 1pm. They put us in a room and we waited for about 20 minutes...they were slammed with emergencies = (

Winnie was finally brought it and she ran straight to D and danced around. She was SO excited to see her Auntie. I offered her the chicken but she did NOT want it, i offered rice and again she refused. I tried the cottage cheese which she like so I let her eat a little. I dunked some chicken in the cottage cheese and she ate that too. We took her out for a little walk and she peed.

We were there for about an hour and they finally released her. Last night I felt "broken down" and didn't tell them they could not shave her leg so she has a huge naked chunk in her right front leg. = ( Oh well......................

We brought her home - she is still clearly not feeling well. She ate a little chicken/rice/coittage cheese for dinner and even managed to harass Dolce a little. She had 1 episode of diarrhea so far........ fingers crossed that this is *just* gastroenteritis and she is NOT partially obstructed.

She seems much more chipper this morning but she did not poop yet. She also hasn't thrown her dinner up yet so there is still hope = )



I hear nothing all night

Day to day life

The freak out post diagnosis

The diagnosis

When fasting feels like starving

Ok so it is Monday morning at 6:17am. Winnie (6 months old) has not been allowed to "eat" anything since Saturday at about 8pm. This is not my idea mind you..... these are the instructions from the SFVS Internist.

Yesterday morning she seemed really hungry so I called the SFVS people and asked if I could give her Nutri-cal. I was (still am) worried aboutr giving her broth as instructed because of the onions. I was told that I could give her 1 tablespoon of Nutrical so at about 8am ish she had 1 T in a Kong which she thoroughly enjoyed. We then hung out for a while, took a nice stroll around the 'hood and waited for Deirdre. D and C came over about 12:30 and we went done to the Seal Point park dog runs in San Mateo. The crowd was kind of lame so we packed up and went over to Foster City dog run. Winnie ran and played for a while but no potty breaks. As we were packing to leave I walked her in some grass and she finally peed.

Winnie rode in her crate in the way back and did very well. We dropped Clancy off at his house and then got a cup of coffee. When we got back to our house Winnie threw-up bile. Poor thing is HUNGRY. We arrived 30 minutes early for our tech appointment. I asked them again if I was really supposed to be withholding food for this long. They ended up putting me in a room with Dr. Stewart. I do quite enjoy him and he loved my Poodle lapel pin. He said that she has a lot of gas in her tummy which probably explains why we could hear it rumble. He said to offer her chicken broth (best w/o onion), apple juice or gateraid. He also said I could offer her plain jello if it seemed really important. In order to get the best results out of these contrast films he really wants her intestines empty. It isn't that I want them to find something but I really hope that I am NOT putting her through this (and paying $1500.00) for no reason.

They gave poor Winnie fluids and a "warm water" enema before we left. She seemed to be find and it certainly did clear out her system. She was really mellow and slept most of last night.

Bummer was when she woke me up at 5:30am this morning. I assumed, wrongly, that she was in a big hurry to get out and pee because of the fluids but no she wanted to eat grass. You are not supposed to offer water the morning of procedures generally... I did offer her a tablespoon of broth but she wasn't interested. When I took her out she was attempting to eat grass. I had to put her on leash so that I could prevent it as that is the type of thing that they are attempting to avoid.

MY POOR WINNIE PUP.

I feel just awful for her........

Lab results

Dr. Stewart called me tonight to say that Winnie's lab results look good. He did say that her BUN level was slightly elevated but that is apparently normal with raw fed dogs. He said that she is concentrating her urine (1030 or 1031) which is good. Apparently these results essentially eliminate the kidneys as the source of the problems.
He feels that the next step is to go ahead and do the contrast films which we have scheduled for Monday.

Poor Winnie. I hate to do this to her.....


Just wanted to add a cute picture of Dolce and Winnie. They certainly are NOT fast friends but we have made some progress.....

Making decisions when you don't have any information

Well I spoke to Tim and he feels that we are commited to Winnie so that makes that decision easy. Now we just need to wait and see what the tests tell us so that we have a better understanding of what we are going to need to do for her. Tomorrow I should get a call from the folks at SFVS with the results of her blood and urinalysis. Monday is the *big* test - the dye contrast.

Ugh. Winnie leaked on herself 2x today. This is also the first time in weeks that she has been able to play with Pepper.

We saw the Internist at SFVS today

Dr Stewart was great - been at this 20 years which is impressive. Unfortunately he didn't have much in the way of good news for me. He did say that she has "nice teeth" and "nice eyes" - that is good I guess. He felt her abdomen a lot and said that either sha had a lot of food on its way into her small intestine or her spleen was "meaty". I have no idea what that means..... I am choosing to go with the food option for now.

Winnie leaked all over the floor and herself while we were there - quite unusual for her to leak while awake but I guess it is good that he saw it. She was also licking herself a lot which he said might indicate that she has another UTI. They drew blood and urine to check for an infection and to check kidney levels. I will hear back from them on Wednesday with the results. According to the tech Winnie "nipped" at them during the blood or urine draw. Ugh. Just after we left Winnie pooped and then about 10 minutes later peed a big puddle which I thought was odd because the tech said they had trouble getting urine due to a small bladdar or small amount of urine.

He examined her for a loooong time. He heard a slight heart murmur which the 2 vets she had seen previously didn't pick up (Dr. Fong and Eva's Vet). He said that there is a chance that it will close up on its own but that she really is at the tail end of that option based on her age. He did recommend chest rads which will be done when she has her contrast dye test next Monday. I feel nauseous. He said that the chest rads will get reviewed and that we might need to see a cardiologist.

Dr. Stewart didn't seem to think that there was any chance of her "growing out" out of this problem he also didn't think that it was her attempting to "hold it" and just having some leakage.

There are soooooooo many things that it could be.... the blood/urine is a great start. He is going to review the dye test with the radiologist because he felt that she would pick up on any minute abnormalities.

I spoke with Eva a few minutes ago. I am not sure which one of us is more upset. She offered to refund the purchase price or replace Winnie with another puppy. She said that either way I would not have to send Winnie back but that I certainly could. She said that she could take care of whatever needed taking care of there too.

Today cost $350 for the consult and blood/urine work.
Next Monday the dye test will cost about $1000

If indeed she does have ectopic ureters that surgery is $3500 There are so many things that it could be though.....

I am pretty sure that I am green in color ......

I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me and like I have been bowled over by a truck

sigh

a few more.....

• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Honey Pie - Tim's suggestion and a Beatles' song

• DreemKlasyk Freedom Bearwithme

• Dreem Klasyk Freedom BearHoney

• Dreem Klasyk Freedom HoneyBear

• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Bear up

	Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:	bear up
Part of Speech:	verb
Definition:	endure
Synonyms:	carry on, persevere, soldier on, suffer, withstand

• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Bear on

Main Entry:	bear on
Part of Speech:	verb
Definition:	concern
Synonyms:	affect, appertain to, apply, bear upon, belong to, involve, pertain to, refer to, relate to, touch upon

The biggest shopping day of the year!!!!

And I have to work......... ugh.
Well yesterday was obviously Thanksgiving! Winnie waas a dream ;-) In the morning we went for a 45 minutes fast walk around teh neighborhood with Dolce. We walked up to Precita Park adn back. Winnie did very well - more confident. We got home and Tim and I did more cleaning around the house while the dogs hung out. Tim made yummy eggs for breakfast! At about 12:30 we took the dogs up for a short walk around the trails on Bernal hill. The view was amazing as it was unusually clear. We drove straight to Jane's house to pick her up and then back home. Winnie just hung out in the kitchen with us most of the time. She did go to the back door and when I took her out she pooped. Good girl Winnie!! I gave her a marrow bone to chew on to keep her busy. All in all she was perfect! She hung out in her pen while we ate and then when we were done she came out and hung out with us.

Still no new registered name. Tim came up with something that I liked yesterday but I didn't write it down and now can't remember what it was. Damn!

We have an appointment with a specialist about her leaking on Monday. I was going to enter her in teh San Mateo Christmas shows but her name isn't set and if the specialist anesthetizes her she will have a big hairless patch on her leg which means we can't show. I am still waiting to see on that one.

How about Dreem Klasyk Freedom Rock or Rocks

Winnie busts out

Last Sunday I took the dogs on a 40 minute leash walk in the neighborhood. Winnie tires more easily then I think she should but that is another thing altogether.

I then left her in her big girl pen with a Kong, some toys, some chew bones and her bed and water. I locked her in and she was playing with her Kong. Dolce went into our bedroom as he always does and I closed the door on him.

I left to go pick D up as we were going up the San Rafael farmers market.

I came back home after about 4 hours and walked in through the back door. The pen was locked but unoccupied. I had to resist the urge to panic. I walked down the hall and let Dolce out of his room but didn't see the pup on my way. A few seconds after Dolce came out of teh room and was greeting me Winnie came charging out of the front room.

Apparently she has figured out how to scale her bigger ex-pen. ARGH!

Keeping your puppy "safe" is something that I can't get right

After we picked the dogs up from Natalie's we wanted to get them out for some exercise. We were originally headed for one of the beaches but it turns out that they were all closed due to the oil spill in the bay. I saw a trail on our way out of her neighborhood so we decided to take a hike in the Montara open space. It was beautiful and clearly used a lot based on the countless piles of dog poo and numerous horse hoof prints. We were alone for probably 20 minutes and wandered up the trail chatting and enjoying the walk. Dolce was off leash mostly and Winnie was on a harness and flexi. Up the hill ahead of us an Ibizan hound saw us, barked and bounded up the hill sounding an alarm. We kept going. I heard a voice and thought the dog's person was up ahead. As we rounded the corner the IH was staring through a tree at us.... we kept going as I could see bodies moving and I was trying not to be a paranoid freak. As we rounded the corner the IH charged us - Winnie started barking up and growling as she was very scared. I was walking towards her to keepp the leash look and trying to jolly her along. Then not a moment behind the IH were at least 5 other dogs....it was like something out of lord of the Rings. Winnie was screaming one of the dogs charged in and picked her up (off of the ground!) by the tail and others moved in to help. I started charging at each of the dogs trying to be as big as possible and screaming "OFF" and "BACK OFF" as loudly and meanly as I could. It felt like a scene from a movie 0- the tourist family surrounded on all sides by wolves of whatever. There was the IH, a Mal, 2 Chowx, a Pit and a Golden that I can remember. The pit wasn't involved at all - I think it was the Golden/Chow and the Mal. I thought that they were going to try and quarter Winnie. The dog walker eventually came around the corner and gathered her dogs. She of course apologized and asked if we were okay. Winnie was slobbered all over her tail, her lower back and her right flank. I was very shaky at the end but tried to "walk it off" and pretend like everything was cool - for Winnie's sake NOT the dogwalkers. I told the dogwalker what I saw as she wasn't there when they actually picked Winnie up. I hate to think what would have happend if Winnie has been off leash.....perhaps it would have been better or perhaps she would have tried to flee. *shudder*

Strangely they didn't go after Dolce.... I don't know what I would have done then.

I am *still* very angry.

Back from Iowa and Nebraska

The Poodles spent a week at Natalie's house because we flew back to see my Grandparents and to attend the funeral for Tim's Grandmother. Dolce was apparently quite growly and difficult. According to Natalie Winnie had fun, slept well in her crate but lost her house-training and her recall. Natalie didn't seem to have too many problems with leaking so I am encouraged by that.

Most of my trip I spent trying to come up with a different registered name for Winnie.

Her original name is Dream Class Freedom Voter. This was given to her and registered by Eva.

The e-mail from Eva:
Kristine and I are in the process of registering kennel names...
I've applied for Dreem and she has applied for Klasyk
We are going to rename Belle to be Dreem Klasyk Freedom Rings.
We would like to rename Winnie to be Dreem Klasyk Freedom Voter (or another name if you prefer something else... than Voter)

The AKC allows 30 letters in a name but includes spaces in that count. After the Dreem Klasyk Freedom part I am left with only 9 letters.

Some of the ideas so far....

Dreem Klasyk Freedom:

• Gone West
• Out West
• To Be
• ToSucceed
  
• Fries
  
• Lover
• to Win
• Long Walk
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Reign
• Dreem Klasyk Free To Be Me
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Ryder
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Within
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom In Art/ Dreem Klasyk Artistic Freedom
• Dreem Klasyk Certain Freedom
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Flight
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Traveller
• Dreem Klasyk Fifth Freedom ("The fifth freedom is freedom from ignorance." Lyndon B. Johnson)
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom In Focus/Focused Freedom
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom's Potential
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom In Action
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom In Motion
• Dreem Klasyk Freedom Bear (The animal on the state flag of California)
• DreemKlasyk FreedomUSSWinifred
  
• DreemKlasyk FreedomOpensDoors (After Winifred Merrill - the first American woman to earn a PhD in math)
  

*Thanks to Deirdre for the brainstorming!

With only 9 letters it is really HARD. I would like her registered name to tie into her call name but I don't know if I can make it work.

I haven't been able to settle on one, or even 2-3

catching up...... from the last week

So Dr. Olin wanted me to monitor Winnie's water intake since he is concerned about the leaking. To this end I put my big 4-c water measuring cup in Winnie'e pen. Sunday the dogs drank about 3 cups.

Now Sunday was a big day. I bathed Winnie - she was pretty good and then spent 30+ minutes blowing her coat dry and trying to brush her hair out straight. I got really tired of it but after 30 minutes she was mostly dry and looked a bit like a gorilla! I haven't attempted to scissor any part of her since my meeting with Florence. Winnie was more calm on the brush out this time but I did have her on the washing machine and did not make her lie on her side. I plan to work towards having her on her side becuase it will be much easier for me!! Winnie was willing/able to eat occasional treats for most of her blowout except at the very end. I did take her out and she really had to go so perhaps that is why. Dolce paced around at my feet but we did not have any grooming related incidents. After Winnie was all fancy then I also bathed/blew out Dolce. He coat is SO much thinner than Winnie's and dries out SO fast - woo hoo!!

After the baths Tim and I loaded up the dogs and went to Mr. Pickles to grab a sub sandwich. The dogs waited in the car. Then we headed over to GG Park and actually found street parking and ate our subs before unloading the dogs and heading over to the ACC Pet Pride Day. Winnie and Dolce got a lot of attention from people on the street which is rather unusual....must be my mad grooming skills = )

Dolce did very well at PP Day. This was a very hectic event. W started off a bit concerned but quickly got more comfortable and seemed to take most of it in stride. We met some friends and got Winnie's license taken care of.

It was VERY hot and sunny. The dogs drank 3c of water at home and about 1/2 while out at the park.

Monday they drank 1.5 ish cups which is what Winnie should drink a day.

We see a veterinary ophthamologost and formal apology to Dolce

So Poor Winnie's right eye is looking much worse today then it has been.....is is much more closed and tearing like crazy. Dolce went out with Brenda today and Winnie and I laid around the house looking rather pathetic. Winnie was wearing her cone and I was still in my bathrobe! I stayed home sick today trying to fight off the nasty cold that Tim had earlier this week. Yuck!!

So I left the house a just before noon to pick Tim up from ACT. Dolce wanted to stay home so I let him knowing that he would NOT enjoy the trip ahead of us. I collected Tim and we headed out into the wild blue yonder.......

The trip was rather uneventful and quite easy - no traffic to speak of and no tricky freeway changes. We arrived into the Stockton area after about 90 minutes of fast freeway driving. We had lunch at Taco Bell because we were both very hungry and on the road we pretty much have 2 choices - Taco Bell or In N' Out.

Winnie was an marvelous traveler.....very quiet and mellow though her eye was really bothering her. = (

We got to the clinic an hour early. So we drove down the street through a pretty neighborhood and found a beautifully manicured sports park. We walked her around but she had very little energy.... it was pretty warm. Back to the clinic and she laid down at our feet while waiting for her appointment.

Dr. Olin brought us in after he reviewed her medical chart. His first question was actually about her leaking... he seemed very concerned which of course got me more concerned again.

He tested her right eye for tear production....and asked if she ever held that one closed of if she sneezed....well she doesn't but apparently that eye was low on tear production. He said it could be due to her immaturity but sounds like it is something that I will need to keep an eye on.

He looked at her eye without gear, then with a scope then he turned off the lights and used a mask with a light on it. He said the eye has a "mechanical problem". I am sure that the look on my face was priceless.....he then explained that the ulcer was caused by and wasn't healing due to an eye lash growing the wrong direction. He told me that he could sedate her and burn it off right then and there.

While Tim and I discussed the idea he drew up an estimate. We decided to have him do it rather than trying to come back or trying to have a vet in SF take care of it. We left poor little Winnie there for 90 -minutes.

Tim tried to keep my mind off the pup so he took me down to Weber's point and we hung out on the grass and people watched. That is a nice, pretty park.

When we arrived back to the clinic she was done and ready to go.....even though we only gave them an hour and 10 minutes. She was happy to see us and very perky. The Doctor said it went well and she shouldn't have any problems with that lash coming back. He said she may have another lash that does the same thing at some point though so I will be on the lookout for that.

I really liked him A LOT and wish that he was closer. He suggested that I measure her water intake for a 24 hour period and that I think about having the contrast study done and perhaps an endoscopy to try and figure out what the bladder deal is......he is concerned about ectopic ureters or perhaps kidney malfunction. EEEEeeeek.

Did you know that a 12lb dog should drink about 1&1/2 cups of water per day?! Tim and I are both sure she drinks more than that....we shall see.

The trip home was longer than the trip there but much lighter ..... it was such a relief to be told that Dolce had *not* caused the scratch on her eye and that it should heal very rapidly now.....

Since we had been gone soooooo long Deirdre picked up Dolce and took him to Holly Park and then let him play in her yard with Clancy. She even managed to get him to hang out semi-peacefully on the couch while watching TV with them. We picked Dolce up at about 7:30 and were home by 8pm. The dogs and I were very tired and in bed by 9pm.

Talk about excellent timing....Winnie needs to see an Opthalmologist

Like I mentioned earlier Dolce guarded a bone from Winnie last week and he ended up scratching her right eye. She has seen her vet 3x and been on antibiotic drops for just over a week now. There has been no change in her eye but luckily her eye doesn't seem worse...to me or to her vet. It still bothers her a lot and she tries to rub at it all of the time. She started off in a flexible cone but now wears a hard plastic one.


Dr Fong referred us to a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in SF and San Carlos. This week happens to be the yearly conference for these guys so all of the ophthalmologists in this area are gone - except 1 in Santa Rosa, 1 in Stockton and 1 in Rocklin (North of Sacramento). The Santa Rosa lady is booked until the 2nd of November. Dr. Olin in Stockon had an opening at 3:30 tomorrow so I will work a 1/2 day and then we will head out there tomorrow.

Del Valle

Winnie's first trip to one of my favorite local dog shows....

Winnie and I picked up Deirdre and Clancy about 6:59am. I was supposed to be there a bit earlier than that and D & C were already sitting on their stoop.... oops! Oh well. We got Clancy's crate loaded into the car and then squeezed Winnie's in beside him and off we went. We arrived in the parking lot at the show at 8:01. We collected all of our crates, bags, dogs etc and lugged them over to the rally ring. Winnie and I wondered around a lot. She was a bit sluggish .... stress? heat?
They started the show off with the National Anthem which was over a loud speaker... Winnie sat right next to me and listened carefully. I don't think that she had heard a PA system before.
There were lots of BIG dogs there - newfies etc..... which cause her to whine and go around me in a big banana shape..... Keeshounds have the same effect on her..... actually any HUGE dog or dog that looks like a chow. We shopped a lot... I bought her some hair bands, another pin brush and some panties. I asked the lady who makes the panties to fit her for some.... Winnie wore them like a champ.... in fact she laid down while I chatted with the lady about VIP and poodlepedigree.com. Turns out that she and her husband are looking to add a poodle to their family. We watched some of the conformation in the big buildings s0 so noisy and hectic it worried Winnie a little..... we went back a number of times and she got more accustomed to it all. I tried to get her to train with me a little but she had almost no interest at all. I crated her a few times and got to watch the toy poodles......
Florence was there so I chatted with her for a brief second but she was busy chatting and the Poodle ring went silent so I didn't stick around for long.

We got home about 2pm. I was at home for a while and then went to run a few errands. Winnie was crashed out. When at home I have been waking her and taking her out regularly. She had been out recently (can't remember exactly but should be timing) and was sound asleep on her dog bed. Tim went over to get her to cuddle and she was wet. Grrrrrrrrr.

Bernal trip # 2

Both dogs and I spend about 45 minutes on Bernal hill. The dogs are doing a good job of riding in their crates in the back of the truck. Tim stayed home sick today so we left him at home to rest. We found parking without a problem and I unloaded them. I had put Winnie's harness on at home so that I could quickly change her to the flexi. I let Dolce off to run around and handed him a ball to carry. I had Winnie's wubba toy and string cheese treats. She is captivated by other dogs. We started off down the hill and both dogs pooped so I cleaned up and walked back up towards the trash cans. We ran into Aishe and her poodle (a chocolate Mini) and her big dog. We walked as a group up the hill. Dolce followed along as I tried to manage Winnie playing with Farfel. We ran into 2 white Minis so had a little Poodle party going at one point. Dolce left his ball somewhere which makes managing him a bit more challenging. To keep Lola and Dolce sucessful we walked back down the hill about halfway. Winnie was really good - and by the end (about 45 minutes) was becoming more responsive to me and to her recall.

After the trip we headed down to Pet Club to look at a new crate for Winnie. Managing these two in a pet store is tricky but we are getting better at it. I found a crate I like - a Midwest crate that is supposed to be for dogs up to 25lbs. It lists Chihuahuas, Pugs and Shih Tzus but the dimensions are 24L x 18W x 21H.....seems awfully big for a Chihuahua!? I didn't buy anything. I also had Dolce try out a few orthopedic dog beds to see if he found one he liked.....of course he liked the biggest one.

We didn't exercise much but both dogs were crashed out after that trip. I let them out for a potty break and left them at home and went to run some more errands. I asked Tim to listen and if Winnie fussed to take her out immediately.

I got home about 3 hours later and she had soaked herself. She was in her pen with her pee pad etc. Tim said she didn't fuss at all.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Our first trip to Stern Grove

Saturday we (Deirdre, Clancy, me, Dolce & Winnie) all went out to the grove. Deirdre picked us up at work and we drove over in her car. Winnie was in the way back with Clancey which she did not really like. She didn't want to play with her toy at the grove but she did do some recalls for chicken. I had her on a harness and flexi because I really don't trust her to stick around of some back. We met several dogs friends and were harassed by a pair of darling beagles. Sometimes when I call she comes right back. Other times I have to stop her with the flexi and still other times she heads back towards me and then veers off when she gets close. Dolce got really jealous - the chicken maybe? Maybe because I was working her so closely ?! I was sharing with him a lot......anyway she got excited and bumped into him and he went after her. I was so angry with him I think I could have exhaled flames. I leashed him and we went and waited on a park bench for Deirdre to be ready to go. It took me a looooong time to mellow out again. Winnie bounced back quickly though. Bless her heart.

Delicate flower and awesome obedience lesson

So Winnie has a scratch on her eye. She acquired this scratch from her older (grumpy) poodle friend Dolce. Her Vet had her on antibiotic eye goo but I took her in again yesterday (we were just there Monday) as I thought it looked worse. He changed her antibiotic to a stronger drop because he said the scratch was still there for sure. She has 1 week to disappear this scratch or we are off to see a veterinary ophthalmologist. I might board her this weekend as I might be off to see my Grandmother who is in the hospital. Things are a bit chaotic here these days. Winnie looks awfully cute in her cone.......

Thursday we had a terrific lesson with Denise.
We worked on:

• heeling right circles
• Right pivot
• left pivot
• front (with sits)
• Find front - sticking 1 foot out and she has to come around it...

Winnie worked really well despite her one itchy eye. She is very independant and does not "need" me which is something that we are working on. At our lesson I threw the toy and she bounded around the training area with it.....she rushes to get the toy but then plays on her own.

She did that in the MPR the other day too! I left and came back a few minutes later and she was still galloping around happy as a clam. I guess anxiety on the out of sight stays will not be too much of an issue ;-)

Back in the saddle

Last night we managed to get over to San Leandro for conformation class. There were only 2 other dogs but that was fine because we have enough to keep us busy. The biggest problem last night was Winnie searching for treats on the floor. I had chicken and string cheese but I think that there was Natural Balance on the floor.....she sure wanted some! Our table stacking is decent. Her free stack is a mess - I suspect that has something to do with the fact that I NEVER work on it ;-)

She was excellent in the car and kept her crate dry. She was stressed outside of the training room - I suspect it was mostly because it was dark but the room is off of a very busy street.

Little Poodle girl has a big day

Today was a day of many firsts:

• First rabies shot
• First bordetella
• First trip to Fort Funston - in the rain no less. I did try to take pictures but I couldn't get any = ( I had her on a harness and longline which I held on to most of the time. We practiced TONS of recall ("here") and some fetching.
  

Let's see on the peeing front:

• Peed on herself last Monday - even though she was in her pen and could have used her pad
• Tuesday/Wednesday dry as far as I know
• Thursday she peed on her self 2x = (
• I took her out when I came down and she had peed on herself - I took her out anyway and she peed a huge puddle in front of Avanzino door
• Friday I honestly can't remember anymore
• Saturday she peed on herself. UGH!

There seems to be a correlation between exercise, water consumption and her peeing problem
She has been dry each night in her crate though most nights I am getting up to take her out in the middle of the night.

Today she peed in her crate between the house and the vets. She peed before we left so not sure why that happened.

She was great at FF. She whimpered a few times just after we arrived but for the most part acted like she had been going to FF all of her life. = ) I was impresssed. We were rushed by a growling chihuahua whose dog walker made excuses for her. Then we were rushed by a 6m old white mini schnauzer (same dog walker) and the excuse there was that he was 6 months old. Do you think I care how old he is? Does it make it alright for him to act like that because he is 6m old. I should have sniped - "Well, this is the time to work on these behaviors!!!" But of course I didn't. We were approached/passed by lots of packs and Winnie took it in stride. Managing 2 dogs is tricky!

I took her Kong wubbie but she was only marginally interested in fetching.

She has a scratch on her eye presumably from Dolce's attack on her during our last grooming session. What a jerk!! She is on antibiotic ointment 2x a day for 7 days. Poor princess!

I asked the Dr today what the likelihood would be of a culture not showing a UTI. He said very, very unlikely and would require lab error. He is sticking to his "wait and see if it is behavioral" opinion. He continues to point out that if it were a serious defect problem that she wouldn't have dry days and wet days....they would all be wet.

Where are we now.....

• The urine culture came back negative - she does not have a UTI. Dr. Fong said that was "good news". It wasn't what I was hoping for ......
• She has only had 1 big self-wetting episode in 3 days which leads Dr. Fong to say that it is behavioral. I am not buying that but none the less am on a house-training rampage
• FREQUENT outings
• fish treats or turkey/cranberry cookies (her favorites) when she pees
• I am not rationing her water but I am interrupting any big binges that she starts on and not letting her drink much an hour before bedd
• She fussed last night in her crate at 3am so I took her out - she has runny butt = ( Nice of her to wait! Thank goodness she woke me up!!) I am guessing that it is from the marrow bone that I gave her yesterday. She had nasty runs this morning first thing too. YUCK!!
• Heeling is coming along and painfully cute too
• Her attention on me is noticeably better - it really stood out to me yesterday.
• She still has her baby canines but not for much longer I am sure.
  

whassap

Let's see:

• Winnie's focus is growing and she did some great heeling in the training room this week. She isn't super foodie so I have been using a tug. (sucks for position change training tho)
• Tonight we were working on (pet dog) recalls in the yard and worked on some fronts
• She has started "nesting" on beds which is darling
• She is getting the routine of going into her crate at night
• No big leaks yesterday or today so far
• She is back on raw
• She seems to care more about me and interacting with me
• She had urine drawn with a needle from her bladder on Friday - we are waiting for the culture. Should heard Monday
• She danced away from Sonja tonight when Sonja attempted to pet her. I had Sonja give her some treats. Need to address that kind of thing quickly and thoroughly.
• Brushing going better - nail clipping is great. Easy to clipper her tail, some challenge on her paws - face is awful. Still jerking away and getting really ramped up.
• She is really, very cute
  
• 
  

Pee journal....

10-4-07

Woke up at 5:30am - thought she may have peed in her crate. Took her out and nothing. Back to her crate until 6:30am. Took her out - nothing.

Put her in her pen

Peed in MPR at 9am ish

Peed in Avanzino at 11am.

Looked like a pee and some spots in the at the end of the day. NO soaking wet poodle to this point. Might have been some leaking in the crate while napping w/ door open

big pee in the office on the way to the door at about 6:16pm

legs wet....dripping just before? pee in back yard about 645pm


On Oct 3, 2007, at 10:12 PM, Mollie Harris Tunks wrote:

She peed in her pen between 2-4pm

She peed a huge puddle at about 6:30pm

Got home about 745 and she drank a bowl of water. At about 9 she peed in the yard. I brought her in and was setting her down in the front room and she leaked on me. Rushed her back outside but she didn't pee

Put her back into her pen and went o get her about 2 hours later probably. (She does have a pee pad in her pen) She was sound asleep - even making dreaming noises and her bed and backside were soaking wet. ARGH

Took her out anyway and she peed immediately. I suspect that when she "binge" drinks is when we see the leaking.
Today she got almost no exercise and yet was quite mellow...napped a lot. She is transitioning from the Eukanuba low-res back to Primal

The to bed about 11pm - in her crate.

A day in the life of a Poodle Puppy

We drove to work today. It was a pretty uneventful day. No wettings or leaks that I noticed. I lined her pen with puppy pads to try and soak up any urine. I took her out as often as possible but between 2-4 when I was in a meeting she used a pad. I dont' know if it was leaking or intentional. Tonight we wen to see Dr. Fong again. Winnie finally got her 3rd DHPP shot!!
Dr. Fong wants to draw urine to culture it so I will take her in at 8am on Friday for that. He said that she can start going out for walks tomorrow afternoon ;-)

She drank nearly a whole bowl of water tonight when we got home. I took her out to pee about an hour later and she went within a few minutes of being outside. We came inside and went to watch Tim hanging curtains in teh front room. I started to set her down and she dribbled on me so I rushed her back outside. She didn't go again so she ended up in her pen.

Falling apart......

So Winnie finished with her 7 days of Clavamox but her urine leaking is not
better. I have another appointment for this evening and will plan to take
another urine sample in for testing/culturing. I was unable to catch her first pee this morning though which is a bummer. Now I fear that they may need to draw one. = (

She is wetting spots where she is lying - not always but frequently. Yesterday at work I think she wet her area 3 times!!! She gets a bath nearly everyday as i am trying to keep her clean and dry and trying to prevent her from becoming a "dirty" dog!

Sunday night she slept through the night and when I woke her up she had wet her
crate.

Later Sunday morning she was napping on her dog bed next to me (and had
recently been out) and I smelled urine so I woke her up and she was indeed
wet.

Monday afternoon we were outside on the patio and she was lying by my side. I
was pretty sure that she needed to pee so I encouraged her to get up and go
into the grassy area. When she got up there was a wet spot where she had been
resting.

Her obsessive drinking seems to be gone which is good.

I am taking her out about every 60-90 minutes and rewarding any outside pees
with YUMMY treats. The reason for the frequency is that I am trying to
accommodate her frequent need to pee. I got up at 2:3o this morning to get her
out to pee and she was dry!! She peed and we went back to bed until 6am. SHe
was dry at 6am too = )

I have calls in to 2 other trainer friends for an outside house-training
perspective.

Whoafully belated

Well it has been 6 days since I posted last where are we.....

• Winnie is almost done with her Clavamox for the UTI. I am phasing her off of that Eukanuba Low-Res puppy food and onto Canidae. My plan is to get her back to Primal in the next couple of weeks.
  
• She is still peeing "inappropriately". Yesterday she peed in her crate. She has been out recently (w/in the hour) but had also consumed a bunch of water. In her pen yesterday she was soaking wet from the end of her ribcage down to her tail. It wasn't water! = ( I cannot figure out why she does that. She was loose in the pen but didn't have a towel or pee pad and yet she is still soaked. I have come back to her pen to find her napping/lounging on a pee soaked towel. This is very disturbing!
• We have worked more on position changes and they are getting faster. We have also done some front work (me kneeling) and a few getting to heel positions.
  
• She loves tug more than treats which will be handy later on but treats are easier for getting started
• Helen's newly adopted poodle has been diagnosed with ringworm. Luckily W has played with her for about 45 min a day/5 days a week for 2-3 weeks now. It is unclear if continued exposure to him means a higher likelihood of her getting it or not. Except for daycare, he is her only play buddy.
• W threw up 3x yesterday so we ditched puppy clas just in case.
• Winnie seems to have outgrown her sleeping crate - new nose and tail touch the ends when she stretches out. I worry that she will hurt herself b/c it is one of the metal cage style and she has stuck her legs out of the bars. I had her sleep in Dolce's collapsible crate last night we seemed to work fine for her.
• She was making odd noises at 2am so I got up to take her out but she didn't want to go. I think that she had been either dreaming or trying to itch her eyes/ears. I did make her go out and she peed then happily went back to bed. I heard odd semi-fussy noises from the crate just before 6 so I got her up and took her out. She pooped 2x almost immediately but didn't pee for about 5 minutes after that.
  
• I think that her UTI is better but now I have to try and clean up with peeing on yourself business.
• We have been taking some walks at night over the last week because she is quite nervous at night. I had taken her out at night several times before but decided to last week and she was so scared we had to just sit on the stoop and watch. The next night she could walk but she is dart-y and carries her tail low (almost tucked). As I imagined with more exposure she is getting better so we need to keep that up.
• We walked to work yesterday and she did well. There was a man leaning over sweeping the gutter which she found worrisome but other than that and a LOUD harley type motorcycle not much to worry about.
• I find it interesting that she doesn't seem to take cues from Dolce about the "danger" level of things outside. If he barks she gets more scared but he can be perfectly calm and unphased by something while she is quite worried.....
• In many ways Dolce is more patient with her than I coule have imagined but he is not "Accepting" her at all. He is never happy to see her and hasn't tried to play with her in about 2 weeks. He steals from her as often as possible. He goes into her pen and eats her food.
  
• If I do any grooming work with W then D gets very "jealous". The biggests blowups that he has had with her have come after I have been grooming her. It helps if he gets groomed too but I have also learned to let him chill a little before letting the pup out and about.
• We went to our 2nd conformation match this past Sunday. W did very well in the first class but was feisty and naughty in the 2nd (jumping up and biting at my pants). The first judge was a very tall African American man who was very sweet and gentle with her. He asked about her breeding and according to Amy seemed to give her more of a look than the other dogs there. I *think* that he is a professional handler. The second judge was an older Caucasian man who did a very long exam on the table which was great socialization. He also asked me to show her bite which was interesting. My hand stacking is getting better but we are sucking at the free stack. I think that I might officially drop out of that puppy class (we have missed class 3 & 4) and start going out to the conformation drop-ins in San Leandro.
• Winnie is great about having her nails trimmed and better about brushing but the rest of it still sucks! She was so nervous and upset in her bath on Sunday I felt badly for her. I am struggling with the "just deal" approach and the "ds/cc" approach. I will keep you posted.

Details, details

So Winnie as I mentioned in the last post W was put on Flagyl, Eukanuba Low-Res Puppy kibble and Pepcid. Her stomach seems better. (This morning she had 2 perfect stools and 1 formed but soft one). The drinking and peeing is not better.

According to her urinalysis her specific gravity was 1.034 (I think) which is apparently in the "grey area" but her white blood cell count was really high - something like 20 per view and it should be closer to 3 the vet said.(from memory so who knows)?!

With the exception of the drinking and inappropriate urination she seems "normal" and looks GREAT! = )

Yesterday we went through 5 towels (she wet them and continued to lie on them). Today I am going to put a towel only in her crate and a pee pad on the floor and see what happens. The pee pad might not work though because she likes to sleep on them and she shredded the last one I gave her at work.

A few more things to add to the Winnie to-do list:

• Have someone take her from me, give her treats and bring her back ( like trip to back for blood draw) (new situation)
  
• Hand her to someone in a new situation and have them treat her

So last night I picked up her Clavamox for the UTI and she had blood drawn. She was apparently very wiggly and NOT coorperative and tried hard to prevent their work. Poor Winnie. The blood is going to be checked for her kidney and liver details.

She slept from about 11pm-5:30am and I tooker her out to thr bathroom - she peed & pooped. Her crate was dry. I put her back in and we slept for another 2 hours...her crate was again dry but I thought I felt some moisture on her legs. licking?

For 1/3 of her breakfast I worked on getting her to lie on her side prompted by gentle pressure from my hand. We also worked on brushing. She did well but we need more work like that.

PTSD

Poor Winnie. Yesterday I didn't have her lunch with me. We were at Shura's so she had some of Monkey's kibble and 2 duck jerky strips. During the night she threw up the kibble. This morning she had minimal appetite. She ate a little and threw that up also. I was/am trying not to freak out.

Since yesterday (post grooming) she had been lethargic and not interested in much. I had planned to work her at Sunday class but she was too tired. She didn't have much appetite. She also might be sore...perhaps from struggling so hard. I am fight off feelings that I had allowed some real damage to be done to my dog.

We had a vet appointment this morning to check for a possible UTI. Luckily I was able to catch a sample this morning so they didn't need to draw one out with a needle. I love my vet BTW. He played with Winnie and loved her up .... so cute. She didn't need to endure any "procedures" beyond a temp today which is excellent. Her temp was 100.8 and last month it was 100.2 so nothing alarming there. She weighs 8.4lbs which the Dr said was good. He will run the urinalysis and call me tomorrow with the results. I am wondering if I should have had him run a parvo test.

Winnie has been put on low-residue eukanuba puppy kibble. She likes it which is good. I hate to feed her that kind of stuff but the Dr said for puppies he prefers not to restrict them to chicken or cottage cheese and rice b/c they need a lot more than that. I am going to trust him on this one and try it for a few days. We shall see.

Winnie interesting grooming adventure

I mentioned a few posts ago that a woman had offered to mentor me on conformation. I knew that it was going to be a difficult situation but I decided to try anyway.

She was nicer to Winnie than I had anticipated. Winnie had a hard time with the grooming and restraint and fought a lot. She had many, many tantrums. The worst part for me was when Winnie got really (honestly) scared by the force dryer. She looked at me and asked me to save her. I wish that I could had but I didn't (the lady wouldn't have allowed me to even if I could have summoned the guts). My homework is to help Winnie become comfortable with and accept the restrain necessary to do show grooming. The good news if I now have a much better idea of what that all looks like. I did learn a lot. Sigh. Winnie was exhausted for the rest for the day really.

Winnie is drop-dead-gorgeous

Today she goes in to see the Dr. again in case she might have a UTI or bladder infection.

Saturday social

Dianne came by with her boys and a boarder to work W on big dogs. W did well and was quickly willing to sniff True

Saturday we went to the opening of Emma's new business. I hadn't planned to take both dogs but the car was so smelly from getting detailed that I felt I couldn't leave one in the car. Both dogs were excellent! There we many other dogs there (an Aussie, an old poodle x, Willie, Clancy, Truman, dachsie and, Farfel and few others). W and D did very well. Winne played hard with the dachsie. She got to say hello to 1 little boy. She wasn't particularly interested in the kids or the adults. She sniffed the foot and behind of a giant stuffed animal coyotoe (probably 4' tall). She is a party animal! W tried to get True to play and he growled at her - she recovered immediately and moved on leaving him alone.

My oh my

Well Winnie now quickly and skillfully scales out of her pen each time she is put in unless you remain in the kitchen with her. If you stay in the kitchen she paces restlessly in her pen. I hope to borrow or buy a taller one because she is NO where near ready to be loose in the kitchen. She jumped out of her pen at some point last night while we were at a TIC meeting. She didn't destroy anything that I noticed but she did pee a huge puddle on the floor.

We had a good lesson with Denise yesterday morning. W was nervous in the new environment at first so we let her off leash to check things out. Then we worked position changes with food - they were a bit slow. I got our her leather tug and she forgot all about the new environment. We played and worked on short bits of heeling.

Everyone keep commenting on how big she is getting.....in the last few days I haven't noticed any of her crazy growth spurts which is kind of nice.

Thursday Kim used W as one of the dogs in a small dog playgroup at worl - W did really well I thought.

Thursday I also had the opportunity to do some big dog work with Akinshe (akita/bloodhound type dog). We started off at about 10' and he was laying down facing away from Winnie. I let her sneak up at her pace while Anissa kept the big boy entertained. Next they heeled around the lobby and we followed them - Winnie sniffed his hocks a lot. We did more set ups and variations and within 10 minutes she was very comfortable - no play solicitation though.

Today (Friday) Winnie spent the entire day at Shura's. SHURA ROCKS!!!!!!!!

catching up

Went to Shirley's puppy class Tuesday night - W did really well. Play was a bit weird. Mostly tiny dogs and most dogs haven't seen other dogs since they left their litter. = (

W drank a ton of water after class and peed in her pen, then in the yard and eventually on me =(

Our walk to and fro was uneventful.

Today (Wednesday) we walked to work. Winnie whimpers and avoids big dogs at this point. MUST help her with that. W played with Helen's foster poodle. She also peed in her pen today. I can't get the house-training thing worked out. She wet my shirt when I carried her back from protrero center. I took her into Avanzino when Marti's dogs were there (Aussie, Lab and Frenchie). Winnie started screaming and darting around but eventually calmed down and sniffed the dogs. She was most worried about the Aussie.

We walked home at 1pm b/c we had to go to the title company for the billionth time. W sat in her crate in the truck and was great. We went straight to handling class in San Leandro. W did really well but was worried about the FCR pup. That pup does come on really strong and trys to drag her owner across the room to see Winnie. At the end of class we tried to let them greet. W did some proper greetings and some odd snarky conflicted king fu maneuvers.

Mollie finds a mentor

Yesterday a prominent poodle breeder in our area chose Winnie as "best puppy" at the poodle club workshop. This doesn't give us any points but we "won" 3 stuffed toys and I got a big ego boost. The breeder also offered to mentor me. This is a great opportunity and something that I hope to take full advantage of. My big concern is keeping W safe - making sure that I don't give up or lose control over how my pup is handled, trained or treated. I have a different approach from many people in the dog show world. I need to find the strength to keep things on a path that I am comfortable with.

Big compliments from an important poodle person:
"Hi Mollie,
I am delighted that you got back to me. I did want to tell you that although you bought Winnie for obedience competition, you can do it all with her. I checked out her pedigree and it is obvious that the reason she is such top quality is that she comes from the very best bloodlines in miniature poodles !
I am so glad you turned up at the match and you were willing to take her into the conformation ring...it was a real treat to "find" her.
You have a good hand on the pup...and you listen...not an easy to find combination.
I would be very happy to mentor you.It is the wisest way to get involved. I could teach you so much. I also used to teach obedience,years ago.
I will check my calender and call you"

Back to the day-to-day details

• W woke up at 6:40 (luxurious!)
• Straight out to the yard
• We hung out in the kitchen for an hour until D woke up.
• I left W in her pen so that Dolce could go out to the bathroom in peace.
• I offered breakfast at about 8am. I hid breakfast for both dogs. Both dogs found their breakfast but only Dolce ate.
• W played fetch with deedle dude
• I gave them both flossies (highly prized) and we only had 1 guarding incident. Not bad!
• The dogs helped me do some gardening - always interesting. W loves to bite the water and try to grab weeds out of my hand.
• I tried to leave W in her pen when I walked out to the yard - I turned around and she was behind me. She must have jumped out b/c the pen was still closed. Great.
  

Best puppy of the workshop!

Today I took Winnie (and Dolce) to a conformation/obedience workshop put on by our local poodle club. I hadn't entered her but rather just planned to socialize her to the environment.

I was chatting with two women that were there to match their toy puppies when the judge (Florance Graham of Graphic Poodles) walked past us and commented on what a gorgeous puppy Winnie was.

We walked over to the ring to watch the conformation matching and the Florance asked me if I was entered. I wasn't. She insisted that I do a day-of and match.

Well Winnie was the only mini pup so we "won" that class but she ended up "winning" best puppy of the match. There were only 4 pups (2 toys, Winnie and a Standard pup) to choose from but still! The feedback that I got on her was very, VERY good. = ) Winnie also came away with 3 squeaky toys and we got to take our picture with the judge.

We have been going to conformation handling class and Winnie seems to take to this "work" very naturally. I am trying hard to learn what I need to know to present her well.

The judge wanted to know where I got Winnie and asked for a copy of her pedigree. She also invited me to her house to give me some help on grooming/handling.

Another Poodle friend of mine saw Winnie for the first time. She said that Winnie is breath-taking and that I had no idea "what I had".

Winnie was initially wary of the other dogs - giving them a wide berth and whining..... we kept walking around and by the end she was almost completely comfortable passing by most dogs crated or walking around.

I was very pleased with (and proud of) my little Winners today.

Reader's choice

I couldn't decide what to title this blog .... you get to choose.

Here are a few options to get you started:

• Mollie, don't panic....
  
• I give up!
• Uncle!
• you are FIRED!

Rather uneventful walk to work. W still stops to observe things which is fine with me. It is clear that I need to get her out more/longer. She was exceptional in the office today - even pooped/peed not in her pen. She is getting too rough with Clipper (Helen's foster poodle) so we are having them play tug instead of wrestling.

My panic moments:

• Winnie say John's dogs through the glass (they were in Avanzino park) and she started to boof (quiet barks) and growl! AAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhh. Then Jean and Janis came down the hall with their dogs and we hid behind the door to the elevator. We looked again on our way to MPR C and again - boofing and growling. (DON'T PANIC)
• We get home tonight and I check my e-mails. I then pack a bag of canidae kibble and set out on a walk. Winne gets concerned here and there but no biggie. She mostloy just stops, stares and drops her tail. We walked to 22nd street then up to Bryant. She gets scared in front of the restaurant so we hung there and ate "cookies" for a while. She gained confidence and on we went. All seemed well. There is a licquor store on 23rd that plays loud music. THere is also a big, imposing bald man who lingers in the doorway (sometimes partially obscured by the door or sort of leaning/swinging on the 1/2 door. Winnie got really scared - boofing, barking and growling. AT one point she bolted. Then 4 teenage boys started barking at her which of course really helped. (NOT!!) We walked on and she settled down. We made a circle back past our house and went around again. This time no problems at the restaurant. She was better at the liquor store but still wary. We hung for a while and she could chase treats but she was scared. (Don't PANIC)

OMG, OMG, OMG...........

Post that should have been published yesterday (Friday)

• Both dogs refused to eat again this morning. I know that they are hungry. Both are interested in the food but neither will eat it. Winnie took a small bit and then licked the salmon oil off but left the nuggets. I decided to replace it. I would take it back to PFE but dont' have the receipt. I did ask them and the lady said she hadn't heard any complaints about the Primal chicken.
• We dropping Tim off at work on TI. The headed for Shura's. I smelled a bad smell and pulled over at the outlook just after the main gates. W had pooped in her crate. Great, just fabulous. UGH. GROSS. She was mess too. I cleaned up as best I could then off to daycare we went.
• At daycare I got her cleaned up and left her for the day.
• Poor Dolce was at work all stressed out all day.
• We ran to PFE at lunch to get a few things - including duck Primal and a small bag of Canidae kibble (all life stages).
• I picked Winnie up from daycare at about 6:30. It took her a minute to notice that I was there but she was quite happy to see me. Apparently today she was barking during play. Uh-oh.....
• I got home about an hour before the interview with possible 4th co-tenant. I pottied the dogs and fed them. They both had canidae with salmon oil and tripe. Both cleaned their dishes.
• We set the dogs up for our departure (Dolce in our room and Winnie in her pen in the kitchen.) Winnie was exhausted so I assumed she would sleep. Dolce was quiet which was excellent!
• We got back after our 2h 45 min meeting and I took Winnie out to meet the new possible coten. He wears a had at has a beard! ;- ) He was very excited to meet her...she wasn't particularly interested in him but she did greet him.
• She peed/pooped before bed but she drank a TON of water. (Likely b/c of the kibble plus I fed her too much of it)
• She fussed at 2AM so I ran her out and she peed immediately.
• We got up at 6:30AM
• I wonder if I should take her in for x-rays. I hear a "click" every once in a while - sounds like my knee or knuckle when they "pop". She plays like mad and doesn't seem to have any pain/problems but she has been accidentally stepped on a few times and I am worried that something could be wrong with her. This raising a puppy stuff is TOUGH.
  

A day off

We had a lazy morning around the house. Dolce went out with Brenda. Winnie went with me to take Jane on 2 errands and then to the ariport. W threw-up in the crate. = (
When we got to the yard she had a little loose stool;

I was worried of course because she also seemed low energy but it was really HOT. This poor little dog just melts in the heat......not a great quality. = (
I hung out in the kitchen with her while she napped - she looks like such a princess with the fan blowing into her pen etc. I went out to run some errands and get to get a thermometer to use so that I can track her temp and stop getting stressed out. The thermometer choices were very odd - Hello kitty digital , a few temple style (not useful for a dog!), or Spongebob Square Pants. The only one that cliamed it would do the task at hand was the SBSP one. If you are at my house and see a Spongebob thermometer don't use it! ;-)

W napped most of the afternoon. I gave her some nutri-cal and got her to eat a cube of chicken primal straight from the fridge (so chilly). She pepped up later on and we went out for a 10 minute walk. We avoided the sunny side of the street. As most walks in teh neighborhood are we had many interesting socialization opportunities. We saw a man with a big shopping cart, people eating at El Metate, a man bending (tying his shoe) half obscured by a doorway, and a playground full of children. The people eating cause W to pause as did the big dog we saw.

I set her up in her pen to nap and took Dolce to the chiropractor - where we waited for 30 minutes b/c they didn't tell the doctor I was coming. She showed and we had a very short (15 min) session. It hurt Dolce more than usual and he actually walked away from her and hid behind me. = (

Then back to the house to drop of Dolce and collect Winnie for conformation class. She was excellent in the car and wonderful in class. I was very proud. The only other dog there was a young FCR. I crated Winnie for the first 15 min of class because the teacher was talking. She was quiet in the crate - good girl Winnie!!

We worked on down & backs, triangles and around the ring. W did very well - I need to c/t for the nice movement + head forward. It is very difficult for me to NOT click her looking at me!!!!
W was excellent on the table and I am getting better at placing her. Practice makes perfect they say. Vicki was able to go over Winnie a few times while she stacked on the table and enjoying some cheese. W was intimidated by the FCR pup who is very enthusiastic and was desperate to play. She hid behind me or stayed close and whimpered. After class she tried to say hi but couldn't work up the courage. Maybe next week.

On our way back in to SF we picked up Tim. W couldn't have been better in the car. I was sure that she was going to pee in her crate b/c she didn't pee before class, at or during class. In fact she waited until we got home.....

Tim and I took the dogs out for a walk at about 9pm. W started off confident but then got worried. We saw all kinds of things from people obscured in the darness to dogs and loud motorcycles. Thus is a BUSY neighborhood! More nighttime walks are a MUST for this pupper!

Angry old man attacks young girl

Denise told me not to let Dolce watch the puppy train or play. She didn't mention anything about grooming.

Dolce did see her get played with a little yesterday and he saw her getting lots of grooming attention. Apparently one should not allow the older dog to watch the younger dog get groomed either. Dolce was very growly and tense all evening with 2 "attacks". Not sure what sparked the first one but it was occurred aroung the dining room table and ended quickly with minimal squealing. The second one occurred in the kitchen when Tim and I were on the floor and both dogs were loose. Winnie approached us and Dolce rished from a few feet behind us and laid into her. Tim pushed him down and I jumped up PISSED OFF at Dolce. I shouted at him and snatched him up intending to throw him into the bathroom for a looooooong time out. Tim stopped me (because I was so angry) and made me put Dolce down (I tossed him out of the kitchen) Tim took Dolce and put him into the bedroom. The puppy was shrieking and sort of spazzing out so I couldnt' tell if anything was wrong with her or not. I was so mad/stressed that I burst into tears! ugh. The pup seemed unhurt and we let Dolce out of the room. Things calmed down a bit so I put W on her bed on a tie down and D sat on Tim's lap while we watched a movie. We watched the Long Goodbye - if you haven't seen it I recommend that you do.

Things seemed to be on the med when we went to bed. The pup whimpered at about 6:30am and I moved to get up and let her out. Dolce growled and bit me on the knee. His reaction was related to the puppy some how and I have done that a zillion times without incident.

Later on when the pup wouldn't pee outside I put her into her crate so that I could take a shower. I gave her a salmon skin bone and gave Dolce a salmon skin bone. The pup was crated in our bedroom and Dolce had his bone in the kitchen. When I got out of the shower Tim told me that he had heard growling and found Dolce lying down on the bed growling at the puppy (who was still in her crate!!!!!). Tim brought Dolce into the dining room with him and let Winnie in her crate. Tim tried to get Dolce to nap on his lap which worked for a while but all of a sudden Dolce growled and threw himself off of the chair to protect his bone......odd thing is there wasn't anyone to guard from!?!? (No dogs on TV, Winnie in her crate). I put the salmon bones away after I got out of the shower. Poor Dolce....Tim thinks that he seem paranoid that Winnie is going to take all of his stuff.

For breakfast I gave the dogs 3 cubes of Primal + plain yogurt + local honey. Winnie LOVED the honey (Winnie the Pooh-dle luvs Hunny) = )

Neither one ate particularly well. Winnie is very interested in her chews these days and has lost a few baby teeth in the front (on top). She did eat both of her Primal nuggets at lunch.

Winnie's Auntie D gave her some frozen turkey hearts. Dolce refused to even investigate his and Winnie played with hers. We will try again later.

A walk on the wildside

Today was a socialization day not to be outdone by conventions such as clothing. D agreed to help me on a poodle social outing. We took both poodles to the castro on a "man hunt". It has been decided that Winnie isn't meeting enough men so we decided to address that head on.

She handled the hub-bub very well. We saw a WIDE variety of people including a nude (except for shoes) man who is apparently running for mayor! Yikes! We saw men and women of a wide variety of back grounds including several people sitting on the street, dogs of various sizes wooden planks, metal grates, old school street cars, baby strollers, and buses.

Winnie was mostly confident for all of it which impressed me. She greeted about a dozen people thanks to D's puppy socialization skills! I tend to just stand around baffled that people aren't flocking to my dogs!

When we got home I gave W a quick bath (her 4th or 5th I think). Por think shivered and struggled to get out. = (

After we let her dry we brushed her out - always an adventure as she would like to eat the brush. Then we clippered her face and tail. We used the big Andis and a #10 blade. D was in charge of treat dispensing and together we managed to keep Winnie pretty cooperative - carefully treating any holding still and not reinforcing her jerk-aways.

She has no problems with her tail getting clipped at all - not sure she even noticed. The face is more challenging and the her muzzle is hard! (getting better though - thanks D!!!!!!!)

Poor little princess was tired and eventually fell asleep on her grooming chair. We had to take lots of breaks to let the blade cool off. I really, really have to remember to get that cooling spray!

Winnie was sooooo tired and slept for a couple hours - I gave her some nutrical b/c she didn't get a full lunch. I gave her some kibble as we were leaving and she ate it up. When we got home about 90 minutes later she has peed on her pad and was ready to go-go-go!.

She is currently on the kitchen rug chewing on a pig's tail!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Winnie and I walked to work yesterday. It was an uneventful & slow walk. I am wondering if she has entered a "fear period". Things seem to worry her that weren't a worry last week. One example was the hige cardboard box that was sitting in the dining room. She saw it and stepped back...it tooker her 30 seconds or so to approach/investigate. After she checked it out all was well. Igot her to practice walking on flat cardboard as yet another surface which was cool. There wasn't too much activity on our walk but she did take notice of the people and dogs. She had to stop walking a few times and observe. A block away from work there was a lady pulling a noisy cart full of bottles and she was quite startled by that. We encountered 2 different sidewalk grates and did a little work on both - she was hesitant so need more work there too.

I played her with Clipper (who really should be called Prince Charming). Helen decided not to adopt him which is a bummer but I can see her reason - 3 dogs is A LOT!. Apparently he is perfect (he sure seems to be).

W stayed in Holly's office all day up off of the adoption desk. She was a bit fussy on & off but did well. She did pee 4x.

• 1x submissive pee when she saw Akinshe (he weighs about 120 and looks like an Akita/Bloodhound)
• 1x by the door - she has been crying but I thought that she was just complaining
• 1x on her pad (which I provided after the 1st real pee)
• 1x just at the end of the day - again she had been fussing which she had been doing intermittently. She took out some frustration on the pad which was interesting.

I took her to MPR to play on breaks & lunch. She played with Clipper for about 20 minutes at lunch - they are SO darling together! We played fetch today with 1 of the squeaky balls that Melody gave Winnie at her puppy shower. She has a great retrieve.

We got a ride home after work. I fed the dogs, pottied them and then Tim and I left to go to a poker diner. I cam home about 3 hours later and W had waited to pee outside! Yippee!!

We went to bed at about 11pm and W work me up at 6:23!. I got her up a few minutes later and she had waited all that time to go to the bathroom! I love to sleep!!!! Thanks Winnie!!

This morning we worked on our table stacking - we both need a lot more practice!

Auntie Dee's Daycare

Well little miss princess is still tired this morning from her big day yesterday.

She slept from about 11pm-6am which, if you have been following her sleeping schedule is an hour+ longer than usual!!!! = )

She is still tired this morning and was just napping on her newly washed dog bed and is now curled up in the middle of the kitchen rug.

WInnie spends the day with Uncle Clancy

We walked to work today. Winnie was great! We saw lots of lone people walking. Her only big spook occurred when we were across from the Starbucks on Bryant and a lab and Dane had words - Dolce started to freak out and then Winnie got very scared. She recovered within a minute or two.

She played with Clipper the SPCA poodle for a while and hung out in the office until D came to collect her.

Here are pictures of her day:







In case that wasn't enough to tire the baby we went to the baseball field near Balboa park to play and practice recalls. When we first got there Dolce tried to play with her -that ended quickly but he tried!

Winnie did lots of running but did stay pretty close and did well on her recalls. I had her drag a leash becuase I felt better.

Understatements

W went up with us for coffee yesterday and I let her walk at the center. She did very well but did want to chase after the birds - uh oh! She met some crazy people and saw a baby stroller that almost ran into her!

She hung out in the office and peed in the MPR a bunch of times which is better than in her pen. She played like a mad woman with a mini poodle named Clipper. She waaaay out played him tho - he jumped up on a table to try and get away from her! Helen said "she is quite energetic!" I KNOW!

W has been getting up at 5 which is lame. We went back to bed Friday morningd slept again from 5-7 which was luxurious! I have been biking with her to work but she just barely fits in the back pack now to this morning we are going to walk. Eeek! Most people around me think that I am being overly protective of her...by not letting her walk around here. I hope that they are right and I am wrong!

Is this embarassing?

Winnie - 3 months old and 7lbs 2oz (last Friday)

Breakfast (between 5:30-7am)
- 2-3 nuggets of Primal
- plus 1 tsp of salmon oil

* I feed her breakfast out of a dog dish but I hide it and let her find it.
** We use chicken, beef, lamb or duck Primal. Our Toy Poodle will not eat the venison or pheasant.

Lunch (between 12-2pm)
- 2 nuggets of Primal
OR
- about a 1/2 cup of Royal Canin Puppy 33 in a tricky treat ball or scattered around her pen.

Dinner (between 6-7:30pm)
- 3 nuggets of primal
OR
- about a 1/2 cup of RC Pup 33 used in training
OR
- Stella & Chewy's dehydrated patties (2)


She also regularly gets:
- canned green tripe (small amounts)
- pet kind tripe chews
- bully sticks
- plain lowfat organic yogurt (on top of a dinner or breakfast)
- bits of white cheese & cooked chicken for training
- Sojo's "Good Dog" apple dumpling dog cookies
- venison jerky training treats (various brands)

No photographic evidence -

Mornings are an exciting time here .... this morning we got up at 5:10am (ugh) for a pee and a play session. (the play was not my idea!) The back into the crate for about an hour - some fussing involved. We got up and went out again this time she pooped. I put her in her pen (and listened to her fuss) until Dolce got up then we went out for a 3rd time. She harasses him a lot these days and he has been really (REALLY) patient with her. I do save him a lot but will also let him tell her when she is out of line.

There was only 1 teeny attempt to play this morning (from Dolce that is) at the very top of the stairs, in front of our back door he did his playbow/growl invitation. I think W is finally recognizing what he is offering and she slammed into him...he of course really growled/huffed at her and that was the end of it.

Although W was playing with her pink & purple stuffed spring toy (well for the $$) and having a ball. I managed to get Dolce to take one end (it is probably 18" when pulled straight) and they PLAYED TUG!!!!!!! She is MUCH stronger than Dolce though so it wasn't a great game. I don't have any pics though which is very sad. I didn't want to leave them b/c I wanted to make sure the game ended well and I wanted to make a big deal about how clever they both were for playing like that. OMG - that was SO cool!

Kim tried to let W hang with her dogs at her desk yesterday but W was irritating the big dogs too much. (jumping, licking, pawing....in your face puppy stuff)

OH! W peed outside in avanzino yesterday. I am probably very foolish for taking her out there but I am afraid that she will eat another puppy pad. = (

Winnie is growing like a weed. She met Jean yesterday who gushed over her for close to 10 minutes. W was initially very scared of Buffy but after a while she seemed to forget about her. Jean gave W lots of chicken treats and even did her famous "take treats from a person's mouth" thing. Jean said that W was sure to go oversize.

Wow

So they played this morning - a real honest-to-God semi-normal play session. Dolce started it. He was play-bowing and growling (not his guarding growl). W wasn't sure how to take this info so she did some appeasing wiggles and a play paw. They are really cure when they play but D isn't too clear so W gets worried and appeases/hides on my foot then it all begins again. Dolce did a lot of whirling, pracning in place and hip-checking. W was pawing at his face (smacked him in the nose once), standing on his head/shoulders and even nibbling on his ears! Then they progressed to chase - there was actually some demeanor shifting on the chase. Unfortunately Dolce really shouts when he plays so I had to end it. I picked him up and calmed him down then set him down again. He ran back up the short stairs (right outside of Frank/Sonja's doors) and crouched again to initial more play. We had to come back inside at it is too early (7:30am) for all of the noise he makes.

3 months old today

• Winnie is 3 months old....we have had her for a month!
• Yesterday she stole his stuffed hamburger and today she stole his tripe chew
• She is scared of Jean's dog Buffy
• She got scared by Sally at work today and peed all over the hallway.
• She walked through the lobby today and met the Maddie statue which was a bit scary at first but then was ok.
• We cruised around MPR for the first time too.
• She peed on a bed at work this morning and her bed in her pen this afternoon. (I switched Poodles at lunch). Clearly need to work on house-training
  
• She was much more confident at puppy class last night. She has started to play a bit roughly and I actually had to time her our and have her take a break from playing with a malti-poo. The Lab in class is still a bit hard forh er to handle but she is getting better. She got rolled by a 17 week old Cocker and bounced back. At least 2 of the pups in class are already over 4 months old!!
• She got very bored of my treats and wanted to play with the pups and work the room. She was still excited about her tug though! She has a very short attention span.
• As of yesterday she has begun to play keep away when I want to come back in from the yard so I have institited random grab/treats in the yard and treats for coming back in the house.
  

I noticed today that

my bathroom is too small. With me and two poodles there simply isn't enough room!

Our day:

• we went to bed last night at 8:30 or 9pm (NO LAUGHING)
• woke up at 5am with Tim. That is the first time that I have felt rested since Winnie came home
• I ran the pup outside (almost literally) since she had last gone out at about 8:30pm last night. She peed/pooped but was not in a panic. I checked and her crate was NOT soiled.
• I gave her breakfast and she ate 2 nuggets. Her appetite has been smaller the past few meals.
• After another trip outside I let her hang out with me in the dining rom
  
• I did some clippering d/s and a tiny bit of clippering of her front paws.
• Then went out to run errands - she was quiet when I left and when I returned
• She ate 2 Stella & Chewy beef (dehydrated raw) patties for lunch and seemed to LOVE them.
• I did some clippering of her face. We could use a little more practice with that. It is very difficult to safely clip your pup while she tried to jerk away!
• Winnie played in the hose.
  

If you were a Mini Poodle pup would you ......

think that the shag rug in the front room was a conveniently located patch of grass?!

Today Winnie, Dolce and I went to the ODTC members match at CSEB. She did very well on the leash and waspretty confident most of the time. She was scared of the 3 Saints, the Huskys and a GSD. (She backed away whining and sort of growling). We did lots of laps and passed the different dogs from 5-15' away. She got better with lots of gentle exposure. She also greeted a very forward young Basenji and a young Papillon. I worked her on a few sits/down/stands and fed her in heel position a few times. My main focus was trying to help her get used to those surroundings and let her walk around on her own. She also got her first free play with her Uncle C. They are very cute together trying to figure out how to communicate. I wasn't sure if she would come back or not so I let her drag her leash. She checked in frequently which was cool. = )

Later when we wandered away from the practice area to check out a few statues I let W off of the leash entirely. As I feared she totally blew me off.... I ended up catching her.....next time she is going on my light long line!

We also got to see a few lone people approaching and hear big booms coming from inside the gym building.

Winnie traveled pretty well though she did pee in her bag at least once. We visited both a PetCo and Petsmart trying to find a new blade for our clipper. Winnie wasn't particularly interested in the stores but she was locked in her bag.

W napped the entire time Deirdre & I groomed Dolce. He looks FABULOUS except for his head = (

Winnie woke up about an hour ago and I took her out to pee. She peed and then we all came back upstairs. She hung out chewing on a bone for a while then was trotting up and down the hall with Dolce. I saw them go into the front room so I scampered up there and saw W sniffing. I tried to get to her but she PEED on the white shag rug. DAMN IT!!!!!!!!

I screamed (which is rare) and she looked at me quite confused. Poor thing. I ran her back to her pen and ran back to clean the HUGE PEE off of the rug. Can a Poodle look confused? I think she thought she was peeing on grass.....

Saturdays suck

For much of the world, Saturday is the long awaited first day of the weekend. For me it is typically a very Disney-riffic day where my work turns into a destination for an amazing number of people.

The poor dogs were down stairs alone for most of the day. I took Dolce out to pee at about 1 (when I had to take lunch b/c I was in such a BAD mood). UGH!

Winnie shredded her pee pad today - it was everywhere! All over her coat, in her nose, in her mouth, in her water dish....it was quite a sight!

I carried her out to the park when I took Dolce out to pee.

We had a pretty uneventful day really.....