Need to canvas my readers

How many people know who/what "Little Dogs on the Prairie" is?

There is a reason for this question which shall be revealed shortly.

Stanley's wheelchair fitting

Stanley went to the Canine Wellness Centre to be measured for his cart/wheelchair. It took the 2 of us to handle him for the measuring, so I was unable to take pictures of the process. When we stood Stanley up on all fours and supported his rear weight, he tried to take off on us!!! His front feet started pedalling for all he was worth. FREEDOM!! So I am hopeful that he will take to his cart. Some dogs get spooked by the equipment and just stand there when you put them in the cart.

A big THANK YOU to the Rehab for Rescue Fund and Wienerfest for providing Stanley with his Eddie's Wheels. Eddie, himself, will be presenting Stanley with his new cart at Wienerfest, so I will certainly get pictures of that.

More Stanley news

I have been in contact with Stanley's past. Apparently, he is 15 or 16, than the 13 yrs old the shelter told me. I would not have guessed he is that old. It is a tribute to the care he has received with his family before me. I received a lovely email from Stanley's family. He was well loved with them, and I am glad to be able to provide them with some reassurance that I will cherish him as much as they have. I also have some more insights into his likes and dislikes.

Stanley was almost "lively" tonight. He has spent the entire evening outside his "room". He tracks where I go and he is starting, very tentatively, to engage Valentin and Pogo. They are the two most active ones, who are around Stanley the most. He and Heidi have been checking each other out as well. Foster Daisy Mae, well, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Our girl does like her power naps. With her heart murmur, who can blame her.

Stanley is now eating 100% kibble. I get a L@@K as if to say, "what happened to the good stuff?", but he slowly plods through his plain old kibble. It is so strange to have a dachshund take his time eating. Everyone else dives into their bowls.

I am making arrangements now to have Stanley measured for a cart. He is being sponsored by Wienerfest (http://www.wienerfest.ca/) and the Rehab for Rescues program at the Canine Wellness Centre. So, very soon, Stanley will be much more mobile. We will be able to run our own cart division wienerdog races pretty soon (If we can wake up Miss Daisy Mae that is)

Surf's Up !!!

I came home tonight to find Valenin on the kitchen counter yet again. I know that I said "one more time and to the basement", but I think I found his "step stool". There is a covered canister about knee height in the kitchen. I thought it was pulled far enough away from the counter, but Valentin might have done a "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" from it to the counter. I have taken the covered can away completely; so, one more chance, but only one.

Enough already !!!

I had a meeting on Saturday morning and came home to find Valentin on the kitchen countertop AGAIN!!! I have pulled everything away from the cupboards that I think he may be using as a step ladder. This is the third time he has gotten up there.

One more time and he and Pogo will be spending their days in the basement when I am out.

Well, excuse me please!

My cold is back again, and I was having a terrible night last night with the coughing. I was up most of the night coughing. I guess I must have been keeping the kids up with my "noise", because Pogo, Daisy and Valentin left the bedroom and went to sleep in the dog beds in the kitchen. Stanley could not get out of Dodge, as he was in his basket. Heidi was in the big bed with me, so she just headed for the bottom of the covers to block out mom's "noise".

Well, excuse me please, for keeping the furkids awake with my cough. How inconsiderate of me!!!

Stanley is improving

Stanley's skin has almost all healed up. No fur growing back yet, but we now have nice, healthy pink skin, not red and sore.

Picking him up tonight, I think he may have gained back a bit of weight. He seemed a bit heavier to lift tonight. I shall have to pass by the vet's office next week to weigh Stanley. His belly band seems a bit tighter to fasten up as well. All that good hamburger and rice are working their magic. Now for my next trick ...... weaning Stanley off home-cooked meals and back onto dog food.

His blood test results came back and everything is within normal results for a 13 year old dog. I think he may have just been missing his old family and sad/confused about his time at the shelter. At least the worry of kidney or liver issues is behind us and we can focus now on helping Stanley to settle into our little family.

He has perked up enough to enjoy some sunshine and a couple of "bathing beauties".

Brotherly Love

The "unoffical" start to summer

The Victoria Day weekend is the unoffical start to summer here. It was a very rare treat for me to have an entire day completely to myself!!! The malls were closed, so I did not have to work at my part time job, I had visited my mom at the nursing home the day before, there weren't any rescue transports or home visits to be done; a day all to myself !!!! It was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one.



I slept in (until 8 am), and lounged over morning coffee. It was a bit cool, but a lovely, sunny day; so I opened all the curtains, rolled up the blinds and opened the inside front doors to let in all that sunshine and fresh air. While I was cleaning house and (finally) getting the last of my bedroom furniture built, the kids were doing one of the favourite dachshund things; lounging in the sun.








I thought I was lucky enough to manage a photo of the entire gang, having everyone looking at the camera at the same time was asking too much, lol.

Introducing (drum roll, please) Valentin The Great and his Tightrope act

I came home from work on Friday to see Valentin on the kitchen counter top, walking across the narrow space of counter in front of the sink!! All he was missing was a spandex suit (which he has, don't ask) and a cape. One paw in front of the other, walking an invisible tightrope.

I don't know if he was the counter-culprit on Thursday, or if he learned from his brother's example. I suspect the latter, as it is quite evident (ewww, don't ask for details, please) that Valentin had been stuck up there for quite some time and was too afraid to jump down (thank goodness). It had to be the one day that I did not get home for lunch. He was there from sometime after 8 am until 5pm!!!

I swear those two are trying to kill me - death by dachshund induced heart attack.

I have made very sure that there isn't anything anywhere near the cupboards that these two could conceivably use as a stepping stone to greater heights. Now if I could just get my heart started again :-)

Pogo is well named

Pogo is well named (it is the name he came with). The other possible name would be Jumpin' Jack Flash!

I went home at lunch today to care for Stanley and what greeted my eyes when I walked into the kitchen??? Garbage everywhere!!!

Pogo had gotten up on the kitchen counter top. YES, you read that right. A little short-*ssed dachshund, with 3 inch front legs somehow got himself up onto the kitchen counter top. The garbage bag that was hanging from the upper cabinet handle was in shreds. A full can of dog food had been knocked off the counter into Stanley's pen. Thank goodness it did not hit him on the head! A cookbook loaned to me by a co-worker was on the floor but not chewed. We won't talk about the rest of the eeeewww that scattered from h*ll to breakfast, nor the last 3 tea biscuits that no longer exist.

I know that Pogo is guilty party as he had the handle of a plastic grocery bag around his neck. Valentin is a garbage picker too, but he limits himself to what he can reach on his hind legs. Don't forget that Pogo has 3 loaves of bread to his "credit" (from the kitchen counter top).

The guilty party is now contemplating his sins in a crate in the middle of the kitchen floor for the afternoon. I am not taking bets that he will be inside the crate when I get home.

I really don't want to ex-pen them in the basement during the work day, but I am hard pressed to come up with another solution. I don't want to crate him on an ongoing basis, because if I can't get home at lunch for any reason, he will have to go 8 hours without access to pee pads or water.

Oh yeah, I got a locking garbage can. I came home to find the bag shredded in the middle of the kitchen floor and the can still locked !!!

Maybe his new name should be Pogo-stick-Jumpin'-Jack-Houdini.

More Stanley photos

Now that Stanley is not coming to work with me, he spends his day with the others in the kitchen. He is in the expen so that the others won't pester him and so that he doesn't spread poop all over the kitchen. Poor little guy just can't get his tummy to settle down, still battling the diarrhea

Blessedly, Stanley does not mind a bath. He gets one every night, to try to keep his skin clean and help to heal his urine burns.

Here is Stanley's portable bed. It is so much easier to move him from room to room and take him to the vet this way. I wrap his blankies in a pee pad to help keep him dry. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see Valentin in the left corner, checking out Stanley's "digs". Since this photo, I have "upgraded" Stanley's bed by putting a nice soft blankie over the pee pad to rest his head on at night.

Stanley says "good night now, it's my bed time".

Stanley update

Tonight was Stanley's check up at the vet. Well he hasn't lost any more weight, but hasn't gained any either.

God Bless Dr. B, all he charged me for tonight was the prescription a/d canned food.

The vet is becoming as concerned as I about Stanley. His urine burns and skin are healing, but our boy is not well.

I am now trying a/d prescription food, canned tuna and grocery store kibble in order to get him to eat. He was fed grocery store kibble by his original owner, so maybe that is what he is missing. Grasping at straws to help this little boy.

If he does not show some improvement within the next 48 hours, we will do some more testing. The vet is concerned about possible kidney or liver issues. Stanley has been with me for 10 days now. I am praying that he will be with us for some time to come, but it is starting to look like we will need a miracle. For now, plans to order a cart for him are on hold.

I have a couple more photos that I will post later tonight, after I feed the pack, me and put Stanley's laundry in the dryer. (He was a dark poopy mess when I came home at lunchtime today :-( not a good sign)

We have a long weekend coming up. I am afraid. If we get into more trouble, the ER will not know his history, and may make an irreversible recommendation before Stanley's time.

Stanley

Poor Stanley is still not feeling well. He had started to eat for me, the hamburger and rice were the winner, then threw up Sunday morning and has not been interested in food or water since. He did eat a tiny bit this morning and drink some water.

The laundry basket is a great bed for him. I can move him from room to room and not disturb him. With a fluffy blankie in the bottom, wrapped in a pee pad, he is nice and comfy and dry (along with his belly band).

The one photo is rather yellow, as I turned off the camera flash. It seemed to be bothering his cataracts.

The best Mother's Day Present from Heidi

I received the best present in the world from Heidi today.

I was sitting with my morning coffee, watching the weather channel and not paying much attention to the dogs. The boys were doing "zoomies" around the living room/dining room, and then had a little tussle together. I glanced over to watch them wrestling when I realized that I could still hear little feet doing zoomies. I looked over to see Heidi rounding the dining room table, coming as hard as she could with her "bunny hop".

Heidi doing the bunny hop is not new, but Heidi playing with the boys is HUGE !!!

Before now, the best she had done was to watch them doing zoomies and sit at the narrowest point in their race track, to pounce on them. I was thrilled that she was engaging in play that much. To have her join in the "festivities" is just awesome. She also joined in the wrestling match with the boys. Poor Valentin, Pogo "chewing" on his hind leg and Heidi attacking a front paw. (all noise, no teeth). Of course, my camera was nowhere at hand to capture our "Kodac moment" :-( .

We are guessing her age to be between 10 and 12, so for her to start playing is such a wonderful gift. She must be feeling pretty good to want to play after almost 3 years of living with us. I would say that this break through is a result of the combination of chiropractic and acupuncture treatments combined with her supplements (primarily Ester-C and Sasha's Blend).

(Zoomies - for those unfamiliar with the term, it is when doxies get a build up of energy and can only release it by madly running in huge circles, until they burn out. It is actually where my screen name, Maddoxies, came from. I had golden retrievers before Valentin. When Valentin came to us and started the "zoomies", I would IM my golden friend that we had a "mad dachshund alert". Hence, Maddoxies)

Pogo eye update

Pogo's eye looks almost 100% normal again. You have to look closely to see the tiniest bit of the abcess left. He is still on BNPH for a couple more weeks and one more recall appointment, but he is practically healed. Still no idea though about what caused this to happen.

And Stanley makes 3 (cart kids)

Through the rescue grapevine, I heard about a senior boy at a HS who appeared to be down in the back.

Stanley is a sweet, senior gentleman. He is 13, has had back issues for some time, and his larger fur companion died the day before he was surrendered to the shelter. He has been well loved, but his family could no longer afford to look after him properly. They had contemplated euthanasia, but surrendered him to the Humane Society instead, in hopes that someone else could take up his care. He is a frosty faced, chocolate standard (small standard - 20 pounds with his atrophied hind end). Besides having almost no use of his hind legs, he is also incontinent. Girls and diapers are easy to handle, this is my first venture into belly bands and diapers combined (Stanley is both urine and fecal incontinent). There will be a learning curve for both Stanley and me. Being a standard, I am not sure about diaper sizes for Stanley. I found a part package of human Depends (size small) at our local Value Village. We started with the belly band last night, so I will try the Depends tomorrow night on Stanley and see how he reacts to them (and how the sizing fits him).

Stanley will be the third cart kid in the house (wear your steel toed shoes if you come to visit us, lol. Someone is bound to run over your feet with their wheels). Once he settles in, we will see about getting him a cart. He has minimal movement in his back legs, but his tail does wag a little and he has deep pain sensation. I am hoping a walking cart may help him to regain some strength in those back legs.

The poor boy is rather sad and depressed right now; but who can blame him. In the last two weeks, his buddy had died, he lost his family and has been living in a shelter. Now he has this strange lady putting funny things on him and a bunch of barky dachshunds running around. I do get little kisses from Stanley as I am cleaning him up, putting cream on his urine burns, etc. It is so strange to have a dachshund who does not wolf down his food. Stanley picks at his kibble during the day and just lays on his blanket. I am hoping as time passes (and his urine burns heal) that he will start to perk up a bit and his appetite will improve.


I am also having to adjust to the size of a standard. Stanley is small for a standard, only 20 pounds, but man he feels like a ton of bricks to handle after the minis. I expect he would go about 25 pounds or so if his hind end was not atrophied. Although it is preferable to keep the handicap kids particularly lean, he could stand about a pound or so of "meat" on his ribs.


I will post a picture of our newest boy in a couple of days. Right now, we are just letting him rest and get used to his new surroundings. My gang have pleasantly surprised me. They are curious about Stanley, but aren't their usual rambunctious selves. They approach Stanley's expen quietly and sniff him out. I took Heidi with me to meet Stanley at the Humane Society and he gave a little wag of the end of his tail when he met her. Our frosty face seems to be something of a "ladies man" :-)


The Humane Society did their best by Stanley. Before I came to see him, they were about to start looking for a palliative care foster home for him. In the 10 days that Stanley had been there, no one had expressed an interest in him; or as soon as they saw him, they moved on. It is sad to see how many animals they have there and especially the large number of seniors. It was about 10 minutes before closing when we were leaving, and I was surprised at the number of staff and volunteers who came out to say good-bye to him as we left the shelter. Apparently, one of the volunteer dog walkers was making a walking sling for Stanley, so he could enjoy his time in the exercise yard.

I have to haul my butt out of bed about 15 minutes earlier now to have time for Stanley's needs, but it is a small adjustment, indeed, to give this sweetheart a happy retirement.

UPDATE - next morning

Stanley is not doing well at all. We went to the vet last night to get something to help heal Stanley's raw bum. Stanley has lost 4 pounds since his admission to the shelter, and he is not eating for me. Picking at his kibble has dropped off to ignoring kibble, canned food and people food. Yes, a dachshund who does not want people food. He reluctantly ate one small piece of my chicken breast last night. He also refused the canned Gastro prescription food the vet sent home with us last night. We have a call into the vet now (who did not like Stanley's colour last night), so if you can spare a prayer or two for Stanley, he sure could use them. I am sufficiently concerned about Stanley, that I have brought him to work with me. They will just have to lump the doggie smell. Right now, he his laying too quietly in his laundry basket, under my desk at the office. I got a few ounces of diluted milk into him a little while ago and will try again in an hour.

Getting old sucks.

Pogo's turn

Pogo's turn at the vet this weekend.

He was fine when I got home from work at 10pm Friday, but by bedtime, his bottom right eye lid was swollen with a huge abcess. Cue mom's heart attack!!

After my initial shock, I took stock of the situation. It did not seem to be bothering him, nothing was bleeding, he seemed otherwise fine; so cancel the dash to the ER. It is $250 to walk in the door and see a vet who does not know Pogo - and may not know much about dapple dachshunds either. My extra concern was that this is his "dapple" eye.

We saw our own vet the next morning. Dr. B is not sure what caused the abcess; we could not find a scratch, a bite mark nor a foreign object in the eye lid or bottom socket. Dr. B. flushed the eye well and gave us BNPH ointment for the eye.

Pogo is my study in constant motion; getting him to sit still enough for eye ointment is quite the challenge. We will have to work on his "stay" commands. I must admit, having is "brother" trying to see what is going on and why Pogo is getting the attention does not help matters any. I am sure I got some of the ointment on Valentin's nose somewhere along the way, lol.

I am happy to say that the swelling is going down considerably and we have a recall appointment for tomorrow.

Mom's heart, on the other hand, is almost back to a normal beat as well.

Those wascally wabbits !!!

For those of you who don't believe in the Easter Bunny, well Heidi would like to correct you.


We were at All About Pets, working at the rescue booth on the Easter weekend. Of all the booths in the show, guess who they had to put our booth beside??? Rabbit Rescue!!!! Great

My girl was so frustrated at not being able to get to that wascally wabbit!! I took her for a walk around the show to distract her. No dice, she remembered where they were, the moment we got back to our booth.

At one point, I was holding the back of her cart and her front feet were running in place. I swear smoke was about to come of the wheels of her cart. Her frustration level was so high, she put her head back and treated us all to a hound dog howl of frustration. Great, right smack in front of Dr. Stanley Corin!! Thanks Heidi.