Do you understand your dogs bark?

Ever notice that your dogs bark is not always the same? And do you ever wonder what your dog might be saying? 

Well here are a few explanations of what your dogs bark is saying.

Continuous rapid barking in the mid range means; Call the Pack, there could be trouble.

Continuous barking but slower and lower in tone means; The intruder is close.

Barking in rapid strings of 3 or 4 barks with pauses in between with a mid range pitch means; I suspect there may be trouble. the pack should check this out.

Prolonged and incessant  barking with prolonged intervals in between means ; Is there anyone there? I'm lonely.

One or two short barks means; Hello there.

A single short sharp bark in the mid range means; Stop that usually heard from a mother correcting a puppy but could be used by a dog that is annoyed.

So the next time your dog is barking see if you can figure out what they are trying to tell you!

Day Five

We had a bit of a setback on Wednesday. It seems the leg doesn't bother Tipper when she wants to run from window to window barking at whatever might pass by, So she wil, have to be crated when I am not physically with her.

I moved her into the giant crate and being in a false pregnancy she loved it. She has her blanket and a nice sheepskin bed.

I am freezing peanut butter inside a marrow bone to entertain her and she does a great job cleaning it out.

One of her favorite places to lie is on my bed which is a good two feet off the ground, so yesterday I took the bed apart and put the mattress and box spring on the floor. now the bed is about 18 inches off the ground.

Sometimes she comes out of the crate holding the leg up and sometimes she will put a little weight on it. I can't say I've noticed much of an improvement which makes me a little worried.

Tipper is getting the Deramax every other day for pain and inflammation. I wonder if she should get it more often.?

Tipper's torn cruciate ligament

Yesterday was a nightmare of a day,  Tipper my 6 year old dalmatian was diagnosed with a partial tear of her cruciate ligament.

After a few weeks of off and on lameness, mostly when she got up from resting where she would hold up her leg for a few steps I decided it was time to visit the vet.

After only a few minutes my vet was pretty sure it was a partial tear but x rays would be needed to confirm the diagnosis. The X-ray doesn't actually show the ligament but rather the change in the bones around the knee. So until surgery is done there's no way to know how torn it it.

There is a lot of information about these tears. There is no doubt that ruptures require surgery but there is a lot of controversy about partial tears.

My vet clearly explained what happened to the knee, what could happen in the future and my options. 

I went home and spent hours on research and found a lot of information suggesting that restrictive activity for at least 8 weeks could mend the tear. My vet and I had a very frank conversation about waiting before doing surgery and he agreed that it wouldn't hurt. He prescribed, glucosamine and some omega fatty vitamins during the eight week period.

So we  are going to try a less invasive approach for a while.

We will start with some anti inflamitary drugs for a few  days to reduce the swelling? This  will be very

challenging since Tipper will only be allowed in the small fenced area, without other dogs. No running, jumping or any other activity. Basically out to pee and thats it. After 8 weeks if the leg appears less inflamed and swollen and there is no sign of lameness she can have 5 four minute walks  on a leash:-(. This will not be an easy recovery for a very active dog. Whether we do the surgery or not this 8 weeks of restrictive activity is required to  heal the leg.

I thought it might be good information to record since most of the medical research says dogs under 20 pounds can heal a tear but it usually isn't possible for larger dogs. What Tipper might have going for her is a very lean body at just 43 pounds.

I will post as we forge our way through the healing process.

Waiting for Spring

It's amazing how time gets away from you and before you know it, it's been forever since I have posted to the blog.

It's not that I haven't been doing anything but the blog seems to fall to the bottom of the list.

So what's new... The book was finally released with the 15 day old pictures of the Alex x Tipper litter from last spring. The photographs are gorgeous. It is titled "Newborn Puppies" by Traer Scott. It helps to tell about how horrible puppy mills are.

We have also been working on our own book about Apple & Whitney 2 beautiful deaf gives who were given special homes and are showing the world how special deaf dogs can be, rather that being euthanized because they couldn't hear.

We have also been showing Sizzle who is close to her championship,

They daycare dogs have been literally climbing the walls for spring and today is the first day in a long time that there hasn't been any snow in the yard.

We have some new clients including Nacho, Rio, Scout and Willow.

Childhood memories on an almost Spring Day

Despite being February 15th the weather is almost spring like. Granted I am dressed in long silk underwear and two layers of fleece, but no hat, no boots and no gloves. There is not a cloud In the sky and you can almost hear the snow melting.the top layer gives the appearance of cotton candy but be ware there is too much yellow snow to consider taking a bite . The dogs are even enjoying the warmth as they bask in the sun. As I sit here I feel occasional space of cold That emanates from the melting snow. This sensation never fails to bring back a specific memory from my childhood. It was a day in March and I was riding my horse through the woods. I was wearing a short sleeve navy blue shirt and I was more than comfortable as "Mairi" and I galloped along the trails. Then we came across a space that still held the winter cold as we traveled down the trail. I know it was just the air from a melting pocket of snow but it brought a shiver to my spine non the less!