Bonkers for Sadie: August 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

Another trip the vet...

Poor Sadie had to pay a visit to the vet again this weekend. I had noticed that for the past week she's been doing some scooting and paying quite a bit of attention to her rear end. At first I was trying to wait it out to see if the problem resolved itself since she had just seen the vet to have her a/g expressed about a month ago (she usually gets this done about every three months). Something was bothering me though, about the way that the area looked. It looked quite red and raw. After much consideration, my gut (and DH) told me to just take her in and have it looked at before things got any worse. I'd hate for her to have to deal with another abscess like she did a few years ago.

Sunday morning I made the call and got her an appointment for 3pm. We arrived about 15minutes early. It happened to be a "bully party" in the lobby because there were two other pretty Pit Bulls waiting for their turn to be seen as well. Of course all three behaved very nicely, it was the Jack Russel mix who caused a ruckus with the barking.

Anyway, we were finally called back for our turn. After a quick weigh in (60.5lbs) we were ushered into a waiting room. It wasn't long before the vet came in; not our usual vet but I'd seen this lady once before and she was very nice. I gave her a brief history on Sadie's reoccurring problems with this same issue. She suggested that I give the plain canned pumpkin a try to add some fiber to her diet. (I know this has been suggested before but I don't think I'd ever gotten around to trying it, I definitely will this time.) She decided to take Sadie the back for a closer look. It turns out that I was right, my girl was well on her way to an abscess, it was a good thing that I listened to my gut (and DH) and took her in. Fortunately they were able to get the area cleaned up and flushed the infection out. $120 later we were sent home with some pain/anti inflammatory meds and antibiotics.

Sadie seems like she feels better already. I'm sure the cleaning was painful at the time but it probably relieved some pressure and irritation. She smiled the whole way home.

I will try the canned pumpkin and also I may try an herbal supplement to help her digestion. I also think that I may start taking her to this vet for her regular a/g expressing even though they are a bit more expensive; I don't think the one I've been using has done a very good job the past few times.

Novice Obedience Exercise Descriptions

Heel on Leash: Dog and Handler work as a team, the leash must be loose and held in a natural position. Orders for this exercise are: "Forward", "Halt", "Right turn", "Left turn", "About turn", "Slow" "Normal" and "Fast".

Stand for Examination: The dog stands in position before and during the examination without displaying resentment. Handler is instructed to "stand your dog and leave when you are ready", after positioning the dog the handler stands with dog in heel position, give the command/signal to stay and walk straight forward approximately 6 feet and then turn and face the dog. The judge will approach the dog from the front, using the fingers and palm of one hand, the judge will touch the dogs head, body and hindquarters. Judge will then give the command "back to your dog", handler returns to heel position. The dog must remain still until judge has said "exercise finished".

Recall: The dog must stay where left unitl called by handler and then must respond promptly when the handler commands or signals them to come. On order from the judge the handler will give the command/signal for the dog to stay in the sit position. Handler will then wakl forward to the other side of the ring with arms hanging naturally. On the judges order handler will command or signal the dog to come. Dog must come at brisk pace and sit stright, centered directly in front of handler. On judges order handler will give the dog the command/signal to finish. Dog must move quickly to heel position and sit.

Finish: Dog is directed to "swing" it's hind end around to the left to come to the heel position and then sit, or "heel" around to the right and behind the handler and come to the heel position and then sit.

Sit/Stay & Down/Stay (Group Exercises): The dog must remain in either the seated position or the down position, whichever is required by the particular exercise. The dogs will line up in catalog order along one side of the ring. The leash is removed and placed with the handlers armband behind the dog. Handlers are instructed to "sit your dog" or "down your dog", and then "leave your dog". The handler will walk across to the other side of the ring and stand in a natural position across from the dog until the judge orders them to "return to your dog". Any dog that leaves the place where it was left during the first group exercise will be given an "NQ" and excused from the remaining group exercise.