Our battle with Bosco's hemangiosarcoma came to an end yesterday. He had been feeling ill with a fever of 106° F over the weekend. Their normal temperature is 101° to 102.5°F. So I went to work and raided the place of every antibiotic you can think of, IV fluids, IV catheter... It NEVER occurred to me to grab the euthanasia solution! He got IV fluids through the weekend and a whole pharmacy of medications. His gums returned to a nice healthy pink rather than the ghastly white that had been. He even started to eat baby food that comes in a jar, some ice cream and played with his squeaky ball. He even got up and was walking around. :-) His improvement was apparently his "last hurrah" which I have seen numerous times in terminal patients thoughtout the years. His gums were white yesterday morning and was not breathing normally. I got him into the car by myself. (Amazing what the body can do in an emergency situation.) We took only one radiograph of his chest ... just to see ... :-( About 95% of his chest cavity was tumors. At least five were larger than the size of my fist! There was so much cancer that his heart could not be seen because of all of the tumours. Maybe some involved his heart too. There was a tiny area of his lungs one inch square that appeared cancer free. Certainly that is not enough for a 100 pound dog! I believe that his cancer also infiltrated the intestines because he had black diarrhea yesterday morning. Black is an indication of severe bleeding and the blood has been digested before exiting the body. His type of cancer stems from the cells of blood vessels and there are blood vessels everywhere. He could have had a rupture of a tumor anywhere in his body. That Bosco's gums turned white again was a sign that his tumors were bleeding. That was another painful thing for him plus it made it even harder for him to breathe. Maybe his back pain was the cancer in the spine? Everything was so nice and normal just 3 weeks ago (radiographs and blood work). We even had a check up with his oncologist in August and he was more than delighted how well Bosco was doing! But ... one needs to have at least one billion cells change before the first change is seen on a radiograph. The hemangiosarcoma is also the fastest growing cancer in a dog. :-( I could not see him suffering any more although he never complained about anything I did for him! I called my Mom and told her what was going on and she too did not want this sweet dog to be in needless pain any longer. He was on a thick soft blanket, I gave him a kiss for every family member, told him I was sorry that it came to this. He got an anesthetic through his IV catheter. He still had the one I placed on the weekend. He didn't even need to get poked again. He went to sleep and then I gave him the injection to stop his heart. The guy I work with asked if I wanted him to put Bosco down. No. I needed to perform this final act of love and mercy for our dearest Bosco. Bosco was so trusting and he let me know through the look in his sweet eyes that it was OK and he was ready to leave his pain. :-( The dose is 1cc per 10 pounds of body weight. He died after he got a dose for someone only weighing 20 pounds. I did give him the full dose but for sure he was ready to go. Bosco will be cremated and we will get his ashes back in a few days. I e mailed Mike/Ima_Celery about what was going on and again yesterday what had happened. I don't think he has had time to check his e mails yet. The Internet situation in S. America can be iffy at times. Mike will be back in early October. Daisy is looking for Bosco. Bruno the cat, Bosco's best friend, knows something bad has happened and is lying on Bosco's bed all day. None of the cats had eaten yesterday either! We got his spleen out last September and while 80% of dogs die within one to two months of diagnosis, we were lucky ... did the 12 weeks of chemo and got to have another 11 months with him! About 6 years ago Bosco fathered a litter of 7 puppies. ALL have his loving friendly personality. We were so delighted with his puppies we put some of his "representatives" into a sperm bank. Perhaps later if we find a nice female GSD, she might have some Bosco puppies and his line will endure. That is far down in the future. We need to cope, somehow, with this totally unexpected turn of events. I gave myself a mega headache from crying yesterday and today. Drugs have dulled it a bit but not totally. My sincerest thanks to Semper, Heather and Bihai for their compassion and care during this ordeal! What wonderful people they are, and the rest of you Pond people, for such concern for someone you have never even met! Time to cry some more. :-( Chickadeedeedee

At our house we say 'Labrador!' like Capt. Jack Sparrow said 'Pirate!' Gotta love 'em. There are laws against killing them when they've chewed that expensive Witch Hazel down to a nubbin. (she types with teeth clenched) My solution isn't pretty but it's working for me. I make wire cages to protect young and or delicious plantings. Anything heavier than chicken wire, works with our two big beast babies. Even three foot wire fencing with some sturdy posts to keep them from hurting our 4 way grafted pear. Sorry to hear about your Anjou branch. Not sure what it is about grapes, my dogs won't leave them alone. Once you get fruit, make sure your little begger doesn't eat too many, grapes are toxic to dogs. There is no shortage of fist sized rocks in our ground so I've filled holes the dogs have made with rocks and recycled concrete from an old patio. They tend to leave them alone afterwards. These are parimeter holes for exit routes. Our escape artist hasn't gone missing in a couple of years. (she has been eating my witch hazel!) Like hald stated previously, the best way to avoid doggie damage is supervision and training. A tired labbie is a good labbie! Exercise is good for all. To give you hope, labs mature at about two years and a great deal of what you've been facing, will stop. You'll notice one day that the things you planted last weekend are still in the ground, un-molested and realize that your little pup has (finally) grown-up! I will admit that while raising my yellow fellow, I didn't spend much on landscaping but focused more on hanging plants he couldn't bother. As for question 'number two'...there is a neat product, an in-ground septic container called a Doggie Dooley. They're simple to install, easy to maintain, well worth investing in. Works well in all types of soil except clay, temperatures above 40 degrees. Drs. Foster and Smith sell them on-line. If you're handy, you could make your own. Wishing you the best of luck with your garden and labrador! Hope this is of some help to you.

I wish they had something like that up here! There is a class offered periodically but its 125 miles away and no way I could make it. DH's friend used to have a very well trained dog, she was amazing. She was a mix breed but large and they said they knew they had to do it because of her size Fetch, sit,stay,quiet,I am not sure what all she knew. He'd throw a frisbee for her, first put her in sit. That dogs eyes glowed when she saw it and knew it was playtime. She also knew she couldn't move til he told her to get it. They would play a game with her. Take the remote to Daddy or Mommie and she would take it ever so gently and give it to whoever they said! My dogs are house trained and that is about it. Our Doxie listens much better than the Chihuahua. He has an attitude problem! LOL I still love them both to pieces, but life could of course be easier!

I LOVE my doggie dog. I've had it for 14 years and it enables me to venture to the "big city" for the day without having to worry about my dog being shut in the house for so long. It is installed in the bottom of a low window and opens onto a covered patio. My dog door story: So many coincidences in this, but it's all true. My son, who lives out of town, came to visit and was out late visiting a friend. First, he had forgotten his key. Second, unknown to me, the phone was out of order as was the doorbell, which I did know about. Third, I had gone to bed and taken a sleeping pill. Since I was in that first deep sleep I did not hear him pounding on the front door or even my bedroom door which opens to the backyard. Nor did my no-so-vigilant Polish Lowland Sheepdog, who sleeps in his crate in my bedroom. Of course my son was quite alarmed when he could not raise me, so my 6' 4" 210 pound son crawled in the dog door anxious to see if I were dead or alive. Probably saved an emergency visit by the police or fire department. Other than my son, I've never had anything else enter via the dog door, except the dog. For those who may be familiar with the PONs, they are known for stealing things, so he has taken various interesting things out and hidden them in the flower beds, like my son's jockey shorts and a 10 pound barbell. (Had to keep the barbell set in the bathtub so he couldn't get to them.)