Delaware 19
May, 2015: 12/12/02 – 5/19/15
you were loved, you are missed…………………………….
April 1, 2015: So… 3 weeks ago I started the Spring groom on the dirty little dog and for the first time ever, I actually got hair off her when I brushed her. So much hair that I created a major bald spot that completely freaked me out. There was still snow on the ground and the warm weather nowhere in sight so I stopped and called the vet for an appointment.
After many tests it was determined that 1) she has 2 types of skin infections (not contagious) and 2) because she’s lost 5 lbs I’ve been giving her too high a dosage of her thyroid meds. I also had them retest for the Neospora because she was positive way back when, tested Kitty too just because and both were negative. She’s been on antibiotics for 2 weeks, is on a lower thyroid med and has been completely brushed out then given a medicated bath.
She’s bald as can be around her neck and shoulder which means no lengthy time in the sun for quite awhile and we’ll recheck her thyroid levels in a few weeks. I’ve also upped her food to put a pound or 2 back on her, she’s not too thin but methinks it’s better for an older dog to have a little cushion.
Aside from looking a little like a Chinese Crested she’s doing great. Still growly w/the other dogs, especially Kitty, am guessing that’s how she’ll always be.
June 20, 2014: When Zoey first came into rescue one of the less discussed health issues was the eye irritation caused by eyelashes that were growing inward towards her eyeball. A few weeks ago her left eye started tearing and she was squinting a little. This had happened before, putting BNP ointment in it for a few days got rid of the problems.
BNP didn’t help this time so I finally took her to the vet on Saturday to pluck the lashes again. Turns out she has an abrasion/scratch covering 1/3 of her eyeball. They gave me some new meds, an antibiotic liquid and made some serum using her blood (something they’ve been doing more and more often for humans w/dry eye). The vet also said that Zoey should wear an E-collar but our little princess would have none of that nonsense!!
It’s been 5 days since we started her new meds and serum, the improvement is amazing, hubby can’t call her ‘Blinky’ anymore. I’ve also noticed that she seems to get the most relief from the serum in spite of it being cold when it goes in. I should have taken her for a recheck today but we didn’t make it, will try for Saturday.
In other news Zoey is right, I haven’t been feeding her enough, she lost 5 lbs so for now she’s getting 3/4 cups twice daily instead of 1/2. She’s happier in that dept too!!
April 26, 2014: Today the weather was fabulous and it being ‘my’ day of rest, I decided to hang out in the yard and hunt dandelions with the dogs. I also decided that they’ve been so wonderful this week that they should each get a marrow bone. Needless to say we were all happy…..
… And then a visitor came… within 10 minutes of those marrow bones being disbursed, amazing the sense of smell those nasty things have. Dogs didn’t notice the visitor right away so it got really close, then Percy reacted, gave a half hearted chase which only sent Mr.Bird up and not ‘away’. It wasn’t until my killer black dog, Riggs, went after Mr. Bird that it actually left and that was after it hovered over where Kitty (Pa28) was chewing her bone. The white dogs were hilarious, they looked up at Mr. Bird but nothing more.
Zoey (DE19) has been doing well for the most part, I still call her Nasty Mc Nasty when she decides she’s going to be aggressive towards one of the other dogs. Lately she’s only been picking on Kitty because last time she pulled her moves on Riggs he nailed her good, leaving a couple holes in her head. It hurt but the vet said the damage was minimal and she has fully healed from it, even the hair is almost all grown back. Zoey was quite unhappy w/me last weekend as I decided the little brown thing needed to be white again. I took her to visit Marlene at the kennel and a few hours later……bootiful Zoey emerged again. Amazingly she’s still clean and white 1 week later. Zoey still isn’t fully house trained, she’s fine crated and fine in the kitchen but if unattended in the rest of the house she will mark/pee.. Watching her poop still makes me laugh but is also sad when I think of why she does what she does. She’ll find that perfect spot up against something and make 100 little circles before she poops, sometimes she’ll do her 100 circles and then move to another spot and start all over. One thing is for sure, I never step in Zoey poop cause it’s never in the middle of the yard ha ha!!
9/3/13: Zoey became a ‘pothead’ today. Pictures below.
8/28: Since Zoey is Percy’s chew toy and totally freaks out when Percy goes somewhere w/o her…..we took her and Percy to the Belgian Sheepdog Club meeting yesterday.
When we first got there she attacked a gorgeous Terv that was going a little crazy sniffing her butt and I thought…..oh God….what have I done? I kept her leashed for awhile and did my best to keep Titan away from her and then crated her for a few.
Even crated, Titan was uber interested in her. Typical doopid boy dog….. She mellowed out while crated so I decided to give it another try. Zoey came out of her crate and play bowed at him. 10 minutes later they were loose with the other 20 Belgians and for the next 4 hours….were inseparable even when Percy tried to put himself between them.
Titan’s mom took a few pics w/her phone and was supposed to email them to me. If they ever come we’ll all see Zoey and her beautiful new boyfriend:)
8/15/13: Zoey has been doing fantastic although she hates when I try to brush her. Am thinking I’m going to stick a groomer w/making her purdy. I did make her VERY happy today, I allowed her to meet the puppies that have been here a month. They’re 5 weeks old today. She was in 7th heaven, so so happy to meet them and was attentive. Every time one of them went off on their own, realized they were alone and started screaming she would be there to bring them back to the group.
Where did the puppies come from? Remember Rosie and Lily? There was a 3rd girl, Daisey Mae and her 1 week old puppies. They looked like Samoyed puppies until last week, I didn’t think they were ‘poofy’ enough and nobody’s ears were coming up. Thanks to help from a breeder on the left coast we have decided that Daisey Mae slept w/that pesky Lab!! Ron has put up a page for the puppy pics and the link is on the Dog Index page (or you can click here).
3/28/13: Is it possible Zoey is getting cuter? New pics below.
2/10/13: Zoey
2/9/13: Zoey in the snow.
1/29/13: Zoey and her boyfriend Percy.
1/26/13: Zoey is LOVING the snow, we haven’t gotten much but she is making the best of it. She loves to eat it mostly and just to be outside in it. She also loves chewing on ice cubes when hubby makes a drink.
Her new meds are kinda of a pain in the butt, they interfere w/absorption of her thyroid meds so must be given no sooner than 2 hrs after thyroid is given and sometimes i’m not here to do it….. or i forget….. bad mama. It’s a matter of me figuring out a schedule that works.
She’s still doing her silly tight circles prior to laying down or going potty and her favorite time of day is bedtime, it seems that the nighttime crate is her favorite place to be….. kinda strange, huh?
1/17/13: Zoey has had diarrhea for awhile, she’s a poop eater so I suspected that was the cause which caused her and I to race for the turds in the yard! She’s also been pretty difficult to housetrain, pees on the kitchen rugs pretty regularly but not daily. She started drinking a bunch of water and peeing all the time, she’d pee outside 10 times and again inside 5 minutes later. OK, one of the De boys has become diabetic, maybe she is too? Went to the vets on Saturday or all kinds of tests and found out that too much thyroid medication can cause excessive drinking and peeing, I didn’t know that.
Turns out her thyroid meds are right on target, no diabetes, she does have Giardia (probably from eating Jake’s turds as had it) so is being treated for that and her turds are already firming up. Urinalysis didn’t show a whole lot but that might be because I’ve been giving her Metronidazole to firm up her poop, they suggested I give her a course of antibiotics so will do that after her worming is finished. Bloodwork showed that she is anemic and they think it’s via her GI system somewhere. There’s a med for that too so will start that tomorrow and then recheck in a month. Her right eye has also been tearing and squinting on occasion, turns out she has some eyelashes growing in the wrong direction. Apparently they can be lazered off by an opthomologist??? Won’t worry about that now, they’re not scratching her eye and I have BNP ointment if needed. Lastly, while she was at the vets they did another ear cleaning as she still had some gunk in there and we’ll be doing another 2 weeks of ear meds.
Since I am a lousy mom re; grooming I took her and my 14 yr old sammy Deena to the groomers on Tuesday. She hated it but was a perfect lady and now looks amazing. I asked Astrid to put those silly bows in her hair….. sooooooooooooo cute….. and not to worry, Percy removed one about an hour after we got home and the other 10 mins. before we went to bed. They were cute while they lasted. Zoey still has a bunch of yucky skin crud that needs to come out, Astrid bathed her w/medicated shampoo and suggests coming back in a month for a good scrubbing this time to get the rest of the yuck out.
Best thing about Zoey and Deena going to the groomers together was they kind of bonded a little and are no longer growling at each other, Sally-May-Cuddle-Bunny-Bitchface has also learned to tolerate Zoey….. slowly but surely they’ll become a cohesive pack.
1/16/13: Zoey’s Grooming
12/15/12: Danielle admitted she is there to stay.
11/26/12: Nineteen continues to do well at Danielle’s bed and barkfest. New picture below.
11/19/12: Nineteen is doing much better. Update in Danielle’s Diary (Nov. 19).
11/15/12: Nineteen isn’t doing well. Prayers needed.
11/12/12: Video posted on YouTube (click here) and new pictures added below.
10/31/12: Nineteen is a spunky little thing, she went to the vets monday and will be going again tomorrow for a spay. She looks like a senior to me but dr gray thinks she’s less than 7 yrs old so we’re calling her 6. Her skin is pretty gross but it’s topical and now that I have given her a bath I think she’s a thyroid dog. We did bloodwork so I’ll know for sure tomorrow. She shows aggression towards other females which kind of seals the thyroid stuff for me. Her ears were uber filled w/goo so she got a smear, cleaning and meds.