Kallee and Tamara

Kallee and Tamara
A Beautiful Summer Day.

Madam Kallee, CTD, CGC - 1994-2005 - Certified Therapy Dog and a Canine Good Citizen

Madam Kallee, CTD, CGC - 1994-2005 - Certified Therapy Dog and a Canine Good Citizen
I am so pretty!

Kallee, T.D.I., CGC - Certified Therapy Dog and a Canine Good Citizen - 1994-2005

Kallee, T.D.I., CGC - Certified Therapy Dog and a Canine Good Citizen - 1994-2005
I loved to pose for the camera.

Hat Girl.

Hat Girl.
The things I do for my mom!

Happiness.

Happiness.
Bubby knows how to scratch a tummy.

Best of Friends.

Best of Friends.
Mine! No, Mine!, No Mine!!!

Whew !

Whew !
Bubby wears me out!

This is the Life.

This is the Life.
Just relaxing with bubby.

Kallee and Mr. Monkey

Kallee and Mr. Monkey
See Mr. Monkey? Wanna play?

Miss Cool.

Miss Cool.
I loved to wear my shades.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Eli Update

Hey everyone. Just a little update on my favorite new student. Eli is coming along well. Today, my husband, Charles gave Eli a small stuffed football. He took it and immediately ran up on his porch and got in his chair. Then he came back to the fence and tried to get Chance to play with him. Chance could be less bothered by this "whippersnapper." Unfortunately, Chance is extremely jealous, of anything or anyone that takes my attention from him. I have done this by keeping him with me constantly and always having a hand on him, whether I am petting him or just laying my hand on him. I did the same thing with Kallee, but she was more tolerant of people and things. If I leave Chance inside when I go over next door to work Eli, he stands on the love seat and looks out the window and whines. If I leave him outside, he runs the fence and barks. I can give him the signal for "no bark", and he will quit, but will resume shortly thereafter. We are working on this. More to come. Picture coming soon.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Toys

Any toy is great. Although the stuffed toys can be hazardous. When giving a stuffy, as we call them, monitor the dogs reaction with the toy. If your baby starts to pull at a part of the toy, take the toy away and tell the dog "no tear", and give it back. If your dog is persistent with the pulling, he/she is likely to continue to tear it up. Take the toy away and substitute a hard toy or pull toy. Even with the pull toys, if you buy one of the braided ones, you still need to monitor your pet. But, if your dog stops the pulling/tearing, praise the dog and give a small treat. Also, make sure that you sew any part that has a tear. Any tear is tempting to your dog to continue the destruction. A dog that ingests stuffing, will likely have to be taken to the vet and have the stuffing surgically removed. Nasty business. All toys are great. Just choose one that will compliment your pet. If possible, take your dog to the pet stores that allow dogs to visit, and let your dog pick out their own toy. This gives your dog a sense of "finding" a toy on their own. Mental challenges are wonderful for your dog.

March 27, 2007 8:41 AM

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Shelters

We have 2 organizations in our area that deal with the rescue of abused animals. Little Victories and German Shepherd, Etc. Both organizations are great. One, Little Victories is very established and has abundant resources. The other, German Shepherds, Etc., is a new organization that is trying to get started. The lady that is over the German Shepherd Etc., is named Lynn. She is so caring and really, really cares about the animals that she takes in. They have about 100 members worldwide. I know that doesn't sound like many, but everyone of them makes a difference. Sue Brown is over Little Victories in Cabell County. They do very good work, too. German Shepherd Etc., and Timbral Pet Services were involved in the rescue of dogs in Lincoln County January, 2007. This was a horrific case. It was not even shown on the news. Tim Childers, the owner of Timbral Pet Services in Barboursville, WV, a full service boarding, grooming and training facility, took the major part of the dogs and German Shepherd Etc., took the rest. Help for Animals took care of these dogs. They gave help to these poor animals and didn't even ask about payment. Dr. Kelly Pinkston, the vet there, took some of the dogs with her, to her home. Check out this website.....www.germanshepherdetc.com and make a small donation to help them out at this great rescue group.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Eli Update

Hey everyone. Just a little update on Eli, the 4 mo. old Australian Shepherd that I am working with. He is extremely smart. He knows the meaning of "4 on the floor." I can tell him, "Eli, 4 on the floor", and he drops to all 4 feet. He is just so loving. He lives to be touched. More to come.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Bathing Your Dog - This Is For Abused Or Non-Abused Dogs.

If you have a dog that has cropped or ears that stand up, put cotton balls in the ears to prevent water entering the ear canal. If you have a dog with fall ears or drop ears, hold the ear closed by taking your hand and placing it completely over the ear

Thursday, March 15, 2007

What do the annual shots for your dog prevent?

The annual shots that your dog requires each year are very, very important. The combination shot prevents these diseases.

Distemper: An infectious, viral disease occurring in dogs. Characterized by loss of appetite, catarrhal(increase flow of mucus)discharge from eyes and nose, vomiting, fever, lethargy and partial paralysis caused by the destruction of myelinated nerve tissue and sometimes death. Also called Canine Distemper.

Canine Hepatitis: Acute viral disease, especially in dogs and foxes. The causative agent, an adenovirus, is not infectious to humans. Transmission occurs mainly by direct contact with infected animals. Virus can be passed through the urine for up to 1 yr. Dogs of any age are susceptible. Incubation period is 6 to 9 days. Symptoms are fever, loss of appetite, congested mucous membranes and pain in the region of the liver. Mortality is about 10%, and about 25% of the survivors develop a temporary corneal opacity(Hepatitis Blue Eye). Treatment consists of administration of intravenous fluids, antibiotics and vitamins. Annual vaccinations with a modified live virus will give permanent prevention.

Leptospirosis: Infectious disease of domestic animals, especially swine, cattle and dogs, caused by Spirochetes(any of the various slender, spiral, motile bacteria of teh order Spirochaetales) of the genus Leptospira and characterized by jaundice and fever.

Canine Parvo: Virus that attacks the canine digestive system of puppies. It spreads through infected feces. It survives in the environment for 5 mo. or more, clinging to shoes, floors, beds and other surfaces where it can infect the next unprotected puppy to enter the area or house. It is resistant to most household cleaners, but CAN be killed with bleach. The disease can decimate a kennel, litter, shelter or pet store. Kennels that experience the disease often close until they bleach every surface, towel and dog bed. The incubation is 7-14 days. Symptoms include lethargy, loss of appetite and vomiting. Followed within 24 hours by high fever(106) and profuse, often bloody diarrhea. The dogs abdomen is tucked up and the puppy appears to be in extreme pain. Some puppies only show the 1st stage of depression and abdominal pain, then they go into shock and die. This is the disease that the Kanawha-Putnam Animal Shelter is dealing with now.

Parainfluenza: A virus that along with the Hepatitis virus can cause upper respitory infections.

Puppy Vaccination Schedule: 6-8 wks. - 1st combination - DHLPP/c
9 weeks - 2nd combination - DHLPP/c
12 wks. - 3rd combination + possibly a Lyme
Disease innoculation.
16 wks. - last combination - DHLPP + Rabies
vaccine. The rabies vaccine is
given.
The Rabies vaccine can be either a 1 yr. vaccine or a 3 yr. The 3 yr. vaccine is usually given to older dogs.

Special consideration: Many vets believe some breeds such as Rottweilers and Dobermans should have at least 2 Parvo vaccines, with at one being given at 20 wks. of age. Bloggers note: I had a male Rottweiler years ago that contracted Parvo at 6 mo. of age. He came through very well, but it was very, very hard on him. His name was: Cratty's Von Maxwell.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Update on Eli.

Well everyone, I got to work Eli yesterday. Wow, what a bundle of love. He is absolutely cute. That is all I can say. Just cute! We had play time for about 5 minutes and then we started to work on what the word "easy" means. I use this word when a puppy or adult dog gets a bit too rowdy. We are also working on not jumping up on everyone. He is just so happy to see someone. I use the 4 on the floor method. If Eli keeps 4 paws on the floor, he gets love and a small treat. If he jumps up, he is told NO, and I don't touch him. He is doing great with that. I can tell him "Eli, 4 on the floor", and he will immediately drop to 4 feet. We have a long way to go, though. Well, I will be updating Eli's progress as we learn something new.

Standard Poodle - The unsung hero of the Service Dog World.

Many people don't realize that the Standard Poodle has many, many great characteristics other than looking pretty. They are extremely smart, loving, outgoing and so willing to please their people. Recently, on Animal Planet, I watched a show called Dogs with Jobs. This episode dealt with this great Standard named Murray. He is a service dog with a unique ability. His owner has Narcolepsy. This is a sleeping disorder that causes the person to fall asleep without warning. He (Murray), when he was a puppy, showed great aptitude for service work. He was trained to originally help with seizure patients. As he was waiting to be placed, a call came in to the center where he lived and they were looking for a special dog to help this lady with the sleeping disorder. The center decided to try Murray, and after the initial visit, he was placed with her. At the time of the taping of the program, he had saved her life. What happened was that she isn't suppose to use the stove without someone being with her, and she decided that since she had been doing so well, she would fix her some dinner. She started the meat browning on the stove, and went to lay down on the couch. Just as she lay down, she started to have an episode. Murray detected the smoke from the kitchen and tried to wake her by barking. That didn't work, so he started to paw at her arm. Still, that didn't work, so he just took his paw and smacked her really hard in the face, and that woke her. She got up and went to the kitchen and turned the stove off, and she and Murray got out of the house. She said that she would have died had it not been for her Standard Poodle. Murray gets play time with her daughter and son-in-law. They take Murray to the park to play and have an ice cream cone. No matter whether they are a toy, miniature, or standard, poodles are just a fabulous breed of dog.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Training Eli.

Hello everyone. I just wanted to post that I was getting ready to start working a 4 mo. old Australian Shepherd tomorrow, 3/5/07. His name is Eli, and he is so, so cute, it almost a crime. His mom wanted me to work with him to get him calmed down. He is about 14-15 wks. old and that is a good age to start a pup. He seems really intelligent. Well, I will have a new post each time I work him.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Car sickness

Spring is coming, and with warm weather comes vacations. If you have a dog that doesn't travel well, I have a few tips that might help. These tips take consistency in order for them to work. If you have a puppy that hasn't ridden in the car yet, start his/her car experience with a trip to the end of the driveway and back. Do this for several days and then go a little farther, say to the end of your street or road. This needs to be done for about a week. After that, continue to expand the car ride for about 2 more weeks. Toward the last week, take a road that has some curves to it. If your dog gets sick on the curvy road, then, if possible, take your puppy back to that road and only go around one curve and turn around and go back. Do this for three or four days, and then expand the ride again, on the curvy road. Another tip is don't feed or water before your trip. You can tell if your dog isn't doing well because they will act like they have a dry mouth and keep licking the lips and smacking the tongue on the roof of the mouth. Slobbering is another sign. Use the same method on an older dog that hasn't ridden in the car. Also, you can use a crate, Vari-kennel, to kennel the dog in the car. The crate offers a feeling of safety to the dog. A dog loves to have what I call their own little "hidey hole." Well, just a little information to help you and your pet get ready for some fun in the sun this summer.