I hope this Blog proves to be both fun and educational for anyone interested in Showing and/or Breeding Dogs. Spend some time with us and you will really understand the time and effort and emotions that goes into this hobby. Join me here for the good times and bad times, the joys and sorrows, the wins and losses. Welcome to life at Vista Dei!

Regis came through with another  Double Q on Memorial day!! yaaaahhhhh That now makes 8 QQs and 592 MACH points!  Way to goooo guys!! Everyone else came away from the weekend with lots of stuff to work on, I have been drilling Darby on the 12 weaves, had to put up some of the guide wires last night to get a good smooth run through.  We will see if he remembers this morning!!  He has 2 days of trials next weekend, and one coming up in July for agility but as soon as this next weekend set is done then 100% of his focus is turning to tracking, with the agility just for fun and stress relief.  I really want to be ready for the tracking test in November, and have started taking him out at 5:15 am to do 3 tracks a morning.  yawnnnnnnn

Posted by: Vistadei at 06:39 | link | comments

This is a long show weekend for the dogs, and we have some good news already!!  Today at Cheswick, Vista Dei Luvme Geneveive RN,NA,NAJ,1/3NJP,CGC,TDI finished her NA Novice Agility title in great style with a clean run and a first place ribbon!!  Way to go Genni and Shawn!!  They also did their first run in Open, and had an absolutely beautiful run, however kicked the very very last bar off, so no Q, but a lovely run none the less!!

Regis also qualified today in Excellent B jumpers, earning a few more MACH points! Way to go Regis and Tim!

Very special today, Sampson and Aslan made their ring debut (this gave us 4 littermates running today!) Both dogs were handled by Mary, sadly Alena was ill and couldn't make it.  Although they didn't Q, both dogs had nice first runs, Mary was a very good handler, keeping her composure and really doing a fantastic job!  Sampson was just a few seconds over time, and Aslan decided against the dog walk, but lovely first attempts!  I want to thank Mary and her mom Sue for giving this a try, I hope you all get your rest and a fresh start tomarrow, and no matter what the weekend holds, it was really great seeing you run!! THANKS!

The rest of the weekend for me personally, just wasn't a good one! Darby had his worst runs ever, don't know why we were "off" but it was a doozy!!  I showed Daisy Thurs and Fri in AKC conformation, and was pleased with a placement over some very nice competition the first day out of the bred by exhibitor class, the second day was not so good, we got the old "thank you very much" hahahahah but it was a very nice entry of really lovely dogs and we will try again another day!

Regis, Genni, Sampson, Aslan and Drifter will all be running additional days this weekend and I wish them all GOOD LUCK!!

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 16:07 | link | comments

Is ME, Dew-oh again.  People keeps emailing to see how I am doin' .....ah be doin' ok.  The last few days I have been able to go outside and walk around the yard wif no help at all.  I did pretty good stayin' on mah feet.  But today.. today I started to RUN around in the yard.  Miz Crystal sez I look just like a famous movie star called Forrest Gump.  Now I dun't watch movies, so I dun't know who Forrest Gump is, but I bet he is a gracefull olympic racer, cause that is how I feel when the air goes through mah fur when I run. Anyhow, mah feet still don't move quite like they should, and I do cry when I have to get picked up, no matter how careful Miz Crystal is, it still hurts me to get picked up. But I like ta run, and I really wanna try to go up the steps or get on the couch, but I can't do that yet.  I wanna play wif the other dogs, but I can't do that yet either, but someday soon if I keep on runnin' I will get there!

Posted by: Vistadei at 14:06 | link | comments (1)

This weekend was the start of our shows for this spring/summer.  Imagine my suprise when I came back from 2 days of shows and trials to find a note from Christy, that Regis has finished TWO more titles this weekend!!! On Saturday he earned his MX title with a standard run of 45.32 (SCT 67) and earning 2nd place. He also got his 7th Double Q with a JWW time of 30.68 (SCT 45) and a 1st place finish. That brings his MACH point total to 545. This weekend he also competed in FAST with two 1st place wins, earning his NF title! On Saturday he had a score of 80 (perfect) in 34.53 sec. On Sunday he had a score of 77 in 37.63 sec.  YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEE!!!!

We had a good weekend with the dogs here too!  First our big suprise - in her very first time in the ring at the Carnation City UKC shows, Vista Dei For Luv or Money "Darlin" took Best Female from the puppy class over some nice adult competition.  This will be the first of the three competition wins she will need towards her UKC Championship, and I am just thrilled with how well she did in the ring!.  "SF" and his daughter Rebekah came by to help me at the second show, and Darlin' went on later in the day with Rebekah and on Rebekah's first time in the ring, she earned a FIRST PLACE in a large Jr. Handling class!!  Rebekah took Darlin back in the ring on the second show of the day and they got another blue ribbon in puppy class.  Way to go Rebekah and Darlin!!! woooo hooooo

At the second UKC show, at 7 years old, grandma Mysty (Millcreek Mystyical Moment) was awarded Best Female for her second Competion Win.. one more to go girl...

Vista Dei Luvme Luvme Not "Daisy" was Reserve Champion at both shows so it was a "family affair" with grandma, mom and baby there competing and we got a picture of the 3 generations, hopefully it turns out well.

Sunday  I had to really drag myself out of bed to go to the CPE agility trial at 4 Seasons, but glad I did as Darby got a qualifying run in Colors with a second place and a third place in Wildcard.  I couldn't stay for the other standard run we had entered as I needed to get to a birthday party for my daughter, but all in all a very nice weekend for the dogs at Vista Dei!!

I did take all the dogs with me to the UKC show, it was ALOT of work to transport 8 dogs, some of the things I had planned in the van worked well, other things need re-worked to make life easier!  Note to self.. there IS a reason they have tie downs on pop up canopies, thanks to SF for chasing down the 10 x 10 as it blew over!!! goodness..

Posted by: Vistadei at 06:48 | link | comments (1)

IT'S PICTURE DAY!!

Here is Hector from our last litter, this was little puppy #1, that I called Weeeeee and I guess he still has the zoomies.. isn't he lovely??  Looks like spun gold in the sunshine!

Hector sez - I sure look like my dad Darby in this picture, least Miz Crystal thinks so!

Contact zone? What contact zone.. we don't need no stinkin' contacts!

Look at my nice yard for learn' agility!!

Well, I have to share the nice agility yard with my sheltie brothers, but they are sure FUN!

THE End (more to come later.. but I'm outta here.. zoommm see ya!)

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:53 | link | comments (1)

We heard that Mary and Alena have been working Sampson and Aslan really really hard practicing for their first agility shows... oh goodness, I believe they MAY have worn the poor dogs out!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:35 | link | comments

Cricket had to get a bath....

Then she had to get a BLOW DRY.. and a Brushing.. Why??

Because she is a CELEBRITY.. she is now featured on a poster ad for an RV Dealership..

Coool beans!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:15 | link | comments (1)

Last night "SF's" daughter Rebekah came with me to handling class, and she did SUCH a nice job!  It was her first time in the conformation ring, she is 9 years old, but she is a real natural!  She handled Darlin' who is also a beginner and they really did a nice job working together.  I hope she had as much fun as we did, and hope she continues to be interested in doing some Jr. Handling, I think she will be phenominal!

Great job Rebekah!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:29 | link | comments

Dew Da hustle.. dew, dew, dew, dew, do da dew - dew, dew, dew, dew, do da dew - DEW DA HUSTLE.. that is what Miz Crystal sings to me when we do's our therapy walks around the yard.  It makes me happy and barkin when she sings to me, and takes my mind off hurtin! I'm makin' LOTS of progress, I have to think and work hard, but you know what I can do NOW? If Miz Crystal puts me down by myself in the living room I can stand up by muh self wif out leaning on nuffin' and I can hobble round the room usin mostly 3 legs, but makin some steppin wif my bad leg too!  I even tried to stand up on muh hind legs to give Miz Crystal a Dew-kiss, but that didn't work so well. Morning hurts, but afternoons feel good.  I'm eating good and pee'n good and life is pretty good, I love the sunshine, it feels good on muh fur.  Thanks for all the well wishes, Cyber Dew-kisses for everyone.. slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:04 | link | comments

YEAHHHH just got a weekend report from Christy and Tim:

 Regis had a great weekend, Friday he qualified in JWW with a time of 29.25 (SCT 41) and a 1st place. He did great on his standard run, but got a table fault! He just slid right off the table - we think he might of thought it was a jump and couldn't stop himself when he realized his mistake. Saturday he ran the fast course with a score of 77 (80 possible) in 27.51 seconds, earning 1st place. Today he got his Double Q! He ran JWW in 37.38 (SCT 50) and earned 3rd place. He placed 1st in standard with a time of 45.54 (SCT 69) - that's 46 MACH points in that one run! SO, now he has 6 QQs and 486 points, and 1 leg in Fast Novice.

Congratulations guys!!!  WAY TO GO! 

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:57 | link | comments (1)

Dew-oh continues to slowly improve.  You can't really put your finger on exact things, but she is stronger, getting more control.  Now when she is walking on her sling, she makes some stepping motions with the bad leg instead of letting it drag totally limp.  When I tell her to "stand" she makes an effort to adjust it under her for support.  She did a poop in the outside x-pen using the sides of the pen for support to walk around in it herself, so that has to make her feel better than pooping while I hold her. She is pulling up more and more in her crate, tho of course she can't stand or walk without some support or use of the sides to balance, but definately moving in the right direction.

Posted by: Vistadei at 06:52 | link | comments (1)

New press release of more recalled food Friday May 11, 2007

"Royal Canin USA is announcing today the voluntary nationwide recall of
eight Sensible Choice dry dog food products and seven Kasco dry dog and cat
food products.

"This announcement is based on the company's ongoing extensive review of its
manufacturing and quality assurance testing procedures, which identified
trace amounts of a melamine derivative from tainted Chinese rice protein
concentrate provided to the company by domestic ingredient supplier Cereal
Byproducts, headquartered in Illinois."

List of products:

SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) (available in pet specialty stores nationwide)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) Chicken and Rice Adult (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) Chicken and Rice Reduced (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) Lamb and Rice Reduced (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) Chicken and Rice Puppy (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) Chicken and Rice Large Breed Puppy (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) NATURAL BLEND Adult (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) NATURAL BLEND Senior (Dry Dog Food)
-- SENSIBLE CHOICE(R) NATURAL BLEND Puppy (Dry Dog Food)

KASCO(R) (available in pet specialty stores nationwide)
-- KASCO(R) Chunks (Dry Dog Food)
-- KASCO(R) Hi Energy (Dry Dog Food)
-- KASCO(R) Maintenance (Dry Dog Food)
-- KASCO(R) Mealettes (Dry Dog Food)
-- KASCO(R) Mini Chunks (Dry Dog Food)
-- KASCO(R) Puppy (Dry Dog Food)
-- KASCO(R) Cat (Dry Cat Food)

Posted by: Vistadei at 06:45 | link | comments
dog food

I have always tried to keep this blog focused on the dogs and not the rest of my life, but I have to have a proud Momma moment.  Last night my daughter graduated from college with a degree in Business Management !! yippppeeee.. Chocolate fountain at the reception was certainly a fun thing too.  My son has also just finished his finals and did well, so he will be finished at Penn State Beaver and moving in a couple months to Penn State Behrend to start his 3rd year of college majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Nuclear Engineering. This concludes our non-doggy brags.. thank you! hahahahha

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 06:59 | link | comments (2)

Dew-oh pushed herself hard yesterday, stood up several times, using the walls of her crate for support to get up.  She also attempted 3 wobbly steps on her own in the middle of the living room, when I was working on her therapy, using 3 legs and dragging the 4th.  This morning she seems like she might have worn herself out, seems to have some pain in her back, she flinches when I pet her, and doesn't seem quite as "good" today, but I think we have at least rounded the bend and are starting in the correct direction now.  Looks like it will be a bit of a road to recovery and not an overnight miracle, but at least now I have hope she will get use of her legs back again eventually.  I put an x-pen outside for her, made it very small so she can't move around and hurt herself, but can sit, lay down or stand still. I put a carpet down for her to get a good fooding, and  I have let her lay out while the other dogs play in the yard around her, and this seems to help her out mentally.  She can sit there and bark if they are barking at squirrels, or just sun herself (tho I put the patio umbrella over her so not toooo much sun) the dogs seem to take turns coming over and laying with her, she seems much happier to be out watching them and the birds and the fresh air than she was being confinded in the house while they were outside. It seems to help that she gets back on her regular routine of getting up, going out, being there while they play and I clean the yard, coming in with them getting treats, etc.

 

---

 

Last night was agility class, and it was a really good and productive session.  Dave was able to see something I was doing when working the weave poles that was triggering Darby to pop out, so when I concentrated on my own actions he started to get the weaves correct.  That is a huge break through, as I was getting frustrated not knowing what was wrong and how to work through it, now that it has been pointed out, I have something to work on and the results were there. THANKS DAVE!  I feel once we get the 12 weaves consistant that Darby and I are ready for the next levels of competition, which is just a few weeks away now.

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:20 | link | comments (1)

I made Miz Crystal cry this morning... She comed in the doggie room to let the dogs out to the bathroom and everyone got to go out but ME... Miz Crystal said " Dew-baby you gots to wait till I get dressed to take you out for your walk" Well when she came back to get me, guess what.. I was standing up!!!  Now it wasn't pretty, and I felled back over again, but I did get up on all four o' my feets and then Miz Crystal's eyes started leaking again.  I thought I would make her happy, don't know why she sprung a leak?  I sure did get lots a kisses tho!  When we went out for our walk I made my bad draggin' leg move a little bit, it still dragged but I moved it sum, and Miz Crystal started leakin' again.  What ever am I gonna do with a leaky owner?  I know - I gived her lots and lots of licks, it is what she always calls "Dew Kisses" I can give lots of Dew kisses it is my specialty, and so I did.  Now I am sitting in the comfy chair given Miz Crystal's boy Dew-kisses too, it is my way of saying a feel a bits better today.. yipppeeeee...

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:18 | link | comments (4)

Food again - FDA announced they expect more recalls as another company apparently imported the contaminated whatever it is now, (they are saying regular wheat flour now?)  In addition it appears that the contamination has also expanded to fish food fed to farm raised fish for human consumption in this country.  Again.. urge you to continue to check out Itchmo.com site (link on the left collum) as of right now, NOT including anything that might be recalled as a result of the announcement today the current list is:

http://www.itchmo.com/recalls.html

Posted by: Vistadei at 19:33 | link | comments
dog food

When I took Dew-oh to the vet today I took Darby along too, Can't waste training time - we stopped at a park on the way home and I laid out a 15 foot track and two 20 foot tracks for him and he did very well indeed.  Took him a minute or so on the first track to remember what we were doing, and that he should head away from me rather than stand looking at me waiting for me to be a treat dispenser, but one he remembered off he went, and right down the path to the glove.  I have been scuffing the track pretty heavy, so I think next time I will try normal steps in the middle.  He found the glove and indicated it very nicely, but I would like him to be MORE excited about it.  I will have to find something he really really likes for a treat to hid in or under it. He is doing them straight and into the wind.  I have to make up a little notebook to keep track of what he is doing, also need new flags, I was using some stakes I had, but they don't pierce the ground as easy and I don't want to fuss with them.  Will make a couple from PVC

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:31 | link | comments (1)

Yesterday was Russian Roulette day, yes we were out of kibble and went to Pet-smart.  I have been feeding one meal raw, and one meal basically some kibble along with homecooked supplements to get the calories up.  I also put Dew-oh back on kibble so I didn't have hard/soft stools based on the variety of the day.  Anyhoooooo... while there, I saw they were wrapping 4 pallets of food they had removed from the shelves and fork lifting other pallets out to the back.  That made me quite uncomfortable buying food, but hey, Pedigree is still seeming to not be affected, must not buy their stuff from China?? I don't know, so anyway I broke down and bought a bag of Pedigree, a bag of Pro-plan Sensitive skin and stomach, and a bag of Pro-plan puppy.  Now we just hope that nothing kills them.. I hope this ends soon.  For those of you not on dog email lists, the recall was expanded quite a bit May 2 and May 3rd, check the Itchmo link I have on the side, I believe 30 more brands were added.  Anyway, Daisy has not gotten in the nice coat she usually does by now, and shows are just weeks away, so I am hoping adding more Pedigree might help.

While there, I also got a new toy for the dogs that they really really love, it is called a Hol-EE Roller ball, and sure is looking like a winner in the toy box, Darlin takes it to the top of the hill and drops it and then they all chase it down the slope.  Dusty loves to catch it in the air and since it is soft and light, I don't worry about throwing it hard.  Darby loves it because he doesn't have to open his mouth so wide to get it, he doesn't care for tennis balls in his mouth so much but this is like a honey comb of rubber and he gets a good grip.  Definitely worth $9.

Also got Darby a new harness for tracking.  Because of Dew-oh problem I never talked about tracking, but we tried it and had a lovely morning, he definitely showed allot of promise, and Gayle was great helping me get started so I could see how to do things right in the beginning.  Now reading the books on tracking make much more sence.  If nothing else goes awry this summer I am hoping to try for the test in November

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:23 | link | comments

If Miz Crystal is so concerned with my quality of life, I do not know why she bought me Doggie slippers??  Would you take a look at me now?  Oily messy hair and wearing slippers with teddy bear heads on the front feet an bear claws on the rear feet?!?! She got them for me to wear on the back feet, cause she was afraid my toes would get ouchey when they curl under and drag, thank doG I don't have to wear the ones on the front feet, she just put em on for the picture.. can you imagine?  Worse still is they sell these in froggy and ducky theames too!  This is my wheel chair, I can lay here and Miz Crystal pushes me around the house so I can stay where she is, we have done the laundry this morning and I am just plum tired and ready to go back to bed.  I like to nibble at the claws on my slippers, I am very gentle with my nibbles.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:25 | link | comments (1)

AAAAAWWWOOOOOOOO aaaahhhhhh wwweeeeee  AAAAAAWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

All of us doggies at Vista Dei are howling a huge THANK YOU to Miz Rose and Cricket who sent us sum cupons and a gift that paid for us to get a big box of beef knuckles from the Butcher!  Miz Crystal ordered them for us already, we can't wait!! That will give all of us many hours of chewin' pleasure to occupy our time while Miz Crystal works with Dew-oh and ignores us! THANK YOU ROSE AND CRICKET (and Ray, we know you were part of this too.. THANK YOU TOO!)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:46 | link | comments (1)

Miz Crystal is Crazy.  Dis be me, Dew-oh again, just wantin to tell you that Miz Crystal dun lost her mind!  I sleeped pretty good last night, I had my medicine pill the Dr. gave for me and an aspirin pill and some drops of funny tastin stuff and I only got up once in the night to fuss,  when I did fuss Miz Crystal let me sleep in the bed wif her and she rubbered me.  Now rubbered rubs are different than pettin' type rubs.  Rubbered rubs make you get all relaxed like rubber.  So I got rubbered until I could stretch out flat on my side and go back to sleep and that felt so good. I slept till them other noisy dogs wanted to go to the potty.  Darby dinna like I got to sleep wif Miz Crystal and  he had to sleep in the crate, he gived me dirty looks this morning but I stuck out my tongue at HIM.  Miz Crystal sez as long as I can sleep all night like dat and not hurt, then we can DO THIS.  This morning I went right outside to the potty wif the other dogs.  When I was goin' out with just Miz Crystal, I just stood there and didn't walk but a few steps, but it is much more excitin' when there are other dogs, so I made my front feet go, and Miz Crystal carried my back end in a sling and we walked all around the yard a couple times till I got real tired, but I did my pee and so when I came inside I got a cookie.

Now, so far, morning sounds pretty normal and you are wondering why I said Miz Crystal lost her mind, right?  Wallllll... we comes in from the potty and I ate my cookie then Miz Crystal said we are gonna do Ther-a-peee.  You would think Ther-a-peee has sumtin to do wif goin outside to the bathroom, and I just was out there and pee'd but NO Ther-a-peee is sumtin different.  I laid on the bed and got rubbered again, and just when I was goin back to sleep Miz Crystal started ticklin the hairs between my toes till I kicked each foot!  Then she rubbed each toe and wiggle each one on that leg five times!  Then she made my ankle joint go back and forth 10 times! Then my elbow joint 10 times, and my hip joint 10 times, and made my leg go to my belly and then out to the back 10 times, then out to the side, then round and round like a bicycle.  Now you know I am never gonna be ridin no bicycle, so what do I have-ta do THAT for.  She got done wif one leg and did the same thing to the next leg, then the next and the next.  I kicked her wif my good legs, donna know why I want to make them move like that, it is silly and not dignified at all.

We got all done movin my legs and Miz Crystal took me out to the living room and stood me on the floor.  Now she been doin that, so I know if I stand real still where she puts my feet, I won't fall over but if I move I fall down.  This time was sumtin different tho, she put my ball on the floor in front of me, and got down on her hands and knees beside me, and rolled the ball a few inches.  I put up my ears and watched it, she got excited and showed it too me and rolled it again.  Walll I forgot that I would fall over and I took a step with both my front feet and when my back started like to fall over Miz Crystal grabbed my foot an made it take a step.  That worked out ok for me, and we did it in a big circle, roll the ball, me take a step, Miz Crystal make my back foots take a step one at a time one at a time.  Now you all know Miz Crystal so you can imagine this was a funny crazy sight wif her big rear end up in the air and on her old cranky knees makin my feet walk one at a time.  She is a nut jobber, and has finally let me sit in the chair here with her an type on the computer, but I am ready to go back to bed and rest, it has been a long morning and she says we are gonna do this three times today!  Anyone got a video camera? Miz Crystal hid her's!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:33 | link | comments (1)

I am frustrated.  Dew-oh had a very bad night, after her treatment she went back into muscle spasms again, she was in allot of pain, and certainly no better.  So far this week I have spent nearly $1,500 in vet bills, which is just fine if we were at least making progress, or at a minimum controlling her pain, but neither vet has given her anything for direct pain relief.  I do understand that if she thinks she feels better she may move the wrong way and make things worse, but I am not sure things can get much worse.  What she has  - seems to be quite a bit different than what I keep reading about with spinal injuries, I read about happy perky dogs that are not in pain, and do not realize their rear ends can't move.  Dew-oh can definitely feel her rear end, she has nerve responses all over her body, she is just being twisted with massive muscle spasms that are causing her a great deal of pain.  The only thing so far this week that has given her any relief has been the physical therapy that I was to do between treatments at home.  The stretching and flexing and deep muscle massage seems to help her the most.  I found on the  Dachshund list a program of physical therapy someone's vet had given them, so I took that to our new vet along with some ideas I had of my own that have seemed to help her, and she gave approval to the therapy program, so I started it with her last night.  I also said to hell with it and gave her buffered baby aspirin  to try to lessen her pain and let her sleep.  She has another treatment scheduled for Monday, but I want to see some positive results from it, no matter how small or that will be it for that program of treatment, because I am thinking she is so upset being at the vet for 4 hours she is getting tighter and tighter and tighter.  I kinda feel I have nothing to loose here, so I am changing a few things.  The medical approach said to crate her as much as possible and keep her away from the other dogs and quiet.  The holistic approach said to get her out every few hours and do some limited exercise. Problem that is occurring is that the muscles in the good legs seem to be getting stiffer and stiffer, and the bad leg still has no improvement and just hangs there, so..... I have decided to try listening to the dog instead and do what seems to help her.  This morning I got her up, she was too tight to go to the bathroom, so I massaged her all over until she relaxed.. then I worked her legs with some of the therapy, then stood her on her feet and let her bear weight for almost 5 mins, by just moving and supporting her legs as she shifted to keep them under her.  Then.. well - I took her outside with the other dogs.  I have made her a sling so I can carry her like a purse to let her feet touch the ground.  It is killing my arm as she is 20 pounds which doesn't seem much till she starts moving around while you hold it with your elbow bent.  Anyway.  I took her out with the dogs in her sling and she was happy to see them, they were all curious about her smell from the oil treatment.  She peed allot faster than when just she and I go out, and she paddled over in the direction of her favorite spot to "go" in the yard, and did it there.  Then I went ahead and threw the ball for the other dogs.  Going after the ball is her favorite thing and she got 3 of her legs moving real fast even though she didn't have weight on them.  I let her hold the ball a couple times when they brought it back and it was the first time in a week there was some sparkle in her eyes rather than dull pain, so I am just going to continue this.  I do not believe it can make anything worse.  In addition I am going to go to the health food store and get some rescue remedy which is a calming substance people use for dogs who are nervous at shows, and I am going to start her regularly on buffered baby aspirin and rescue remedy to try to keep her relaxed and pain free.   

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:01 | link | comments (3)

Dew-oh sez - ohhhhhh I am back from my AKK-u-punctured-me session with the vet, and I gots a new oil massage too and I stink like Ben-Gay, those oils are very smelly.  I did not want to go to the vet this morning, my back is still hurtin' and it makes me feel bad all over.  When I got to the vet, my teeth was chatterin so loud you could hear them all around the waiting room and everyone felt bad for me.  When Miz Crystal picked me up, my teeth was still a chattern' like those wind up halloween teethie.  I was so happy to come home, I was there for 4 hours gettin AKK-u-punctured-me and I think the vet thinks I am a furry pin cushion.  I sure wish I would stop hurtin' so bad.  On the way home Miz Crystal's eyes kept leakin' water and I was afraid that her back hurt too, but the other dogs told me it was cause her heart is hurtin'. I hope her heart feels better, cause don't want her to have to get AKK-u-punctured-me too!

Posted by: Vistadei at 14:05 | link | comments (3)

'Ello.. dis is ME, Dew-oh.  This picture was taken a while ago before I got this darn back ache. Today my hair is stickn' up cause I gots stinkin' oils on my back to make me feel better and I don't want my picture taken on a bad hair day.  Here is something you need to know, never ever ever take a nap all day cause you might just wake up with a bad back ache and not be able to walk!  So you keep that in mind.  I am learning all sorts a new things.  I am learning to "stay"  - before I didn't "stay" so good, but now when Miz Crystal sets me somewhere's and sez "Stay" I do, and she sez I am good and gives me little treats, and I like THAT! You know what else I did today?  I went to the potty in the big white potty in the house, you know the one that Mr. Dusty tries to drink out of?  I had to go and Miz Crystal has to hold me when I go now, so she held me over that potty and I went, and that was handy as all get out.  Now when it rains, I have OPTIONS...  Anyways, I must be pretty special, cause so many people are sending nice emails to Miz Crystal about me, saying to hang in there.  I am hangin in there pretty good.  But here is something else.. when you sez prayers to God and mention me, make sure to tell him that I am a mean and nasty little dog, cause I am afraid if he knew how good and sweet I really am and how good I give kisses he might want me to come be his little dog, and I kinda was planning on staying at Miz Crystal's for another 10 or 12 years, so be sure to tell God that I am mean and nasty so he don't want me there, OK?

THANKS!

Luv,

Vista Dei Luv Me Two Times "Dew-oh"

Posted by: Vistadei at 19:02 | link | comments (2)

We are learning to cope, and because of that, things seems a little better, but in reality there is no significant changes in Dew-oh.  She is learning it is OK to go potty while I hold her, so that is a positive thing because we get the job done without so much fuss,  but....  I am learning how to position her so she doesn't fall, and she is learning to hold still when I do it, so this morning she stood and bore weight on her feet for a minute or two, but I do not think that is a result of any healing, just is a result of me learning how to work with her weakness, she probably could have done that a couple days ago if I had figured out how to help her.  I have gotten on an email list my friend recommended, she had a dog with a similar problem and subscribed to a yahoo list for Dauchsands with spinal problems, and that list is a great recourse helping me understand what is going on, some of the treatments, listening to some of their results, reading through their past files has given me allot of information from real people dealing with this an not just "articles" on the internet.  Of course the doubts are there, did I choose the right course of treatment, would we have done better on "real" medicine like additional cortisone shots, am I putting her only chance to improve in jeopardy by trying non traditional methods, is this going to really help or is this "witch doctor voodoo" with herbs and oils and magnets and acupuncture? I think if this is the way of treatment I choose, then I have to follow with it 100%, but some of the recommendations are completely opposite then traditional care, so doubts nag me... I just feel the choices I make have to be with her quality of life as the first and only focus, and I do not want to make her suffer just to live, rather try to let her have a quality of life without pain or let her go, so hoping for the best, but preparing my heart for the worst.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:19 | link | comments (4)

Blue Buffalo has expanded its recall to include all Blue canned dog food,
all Spa Select canned cat food, and all Blue dog treats. See link for more
info.

http://www.fda. gov/oc/po/ firmrecalls/ bluebuffalo304_ 07.html

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Manna Pro Recalls Young Animal Feed
May 1st, 2007

It's not known if this is related to the melamine recalls, but Manna Pro is
asking their customers to discard their Uni-Milk milk replacement product
for young animals.

This recall was announced March 30 and is not listed on the FDA site

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:27 | link | comments
dog food

Some details on Dew-oh that I just didn't have the energy to type over the last couple days.  On Saturday morning, all the dogs were outside playing, everything was fine, no incidents, no fights, no "yips" nothing at all.  When they came inside, I crated and fed them, Dew was fine, ate her breakfast, moved around the crate fine.  Now my crates are quite large for them, not the little "travel size" they are about 3 foot by 2 foot and about 30" high, giving them plenty of room to walk around, and even jump up a little.  The crates are wire, so there is the possiblity that someone could have been knocking at the door causing the dogs to jump around, get a leg caught in the wire or slipping and falling or something, who knows.  At anyrate, when I got home from work, she was completely down thrashing around and couldn't get up, but she did have movement.  I called the vet and he met me at the office in about 15 mins and started some treatments.  At that point she was stiff all over like a dead animal would be, but it was pain from muscle spasms.  Her front legs were straight and stiff, her head and neck twisted ot one side and the back legs to the other side, like a cork screw, and her spine remains twisted looking today.  She was allowed back home that night and I massaged her muscles to try to get them to relax.  By Sunday morning it appeared that her head and neck relaxed, and that she was fairly "normal" from the waist area forward, she can move her front legs and her head and neck, she will eat and drink.  The rear part of her is mixed, there is resistance in one hind leg, she can move her tail a little, she has not been incontinent, infact the opposite we are having some problem getting her to releave herself at all.  The other back leg on the first day had very limited pain responce, but by Sunday if I pinched her toes she would pull it back in a little kick, so that gives me some hope.  She can not support her weight at all, and if stood up, the back rear feet want to curl rather than let her stand on her pads.  So that is about were we are this morning,  the new vet would like me to continue to massage and move her limbs, she is of the opinion that the longer there is no nerve messages going to the legs the worse it will be for her, so that is one of the goals of the accupuncture to stimulate the nerve centers in the rear that aren't getting messages coming down the spine.  This morning I found a good place on the porch that I could sit, put my leg under her and have her stand over my leg, using the upright of the porch to keep her from falling over and just "show stack" her so she was supported by my leg and the porch but putting her legs and feet under her so they do not curl.  She allowed me to do that, and massage the toes on her feet, we want them to come back to a normal state and not that curling under, and keep up the stimulation to them.  There has been no significant change this morning after yesterdays treatments, I of course was hoping to wake up to a miracle. 

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:52 | link | comments (2)