Well, I guess itÂs a week of birthdaysÂwow! Trying to remember if Babs has been here since I arrived but drawing a blank. Maybe sheÂll drop in to say hi on her birthday. I do not have that much spring color yet; hoping the shrubs pop after this rain to brighten things up. Cyn, I canÂt believe youÂre going to reach 90 today! My neighborÂs violets are spreading into our yard. ItÂs not that I hate them, itÂs more that I hate not having a choice about getting them, lol. Trip to one nursery was a bit disappointing. They have a display of plants they grow in their greenhouse so everything is still young. More variety will be offered when shipments come in and I realize itÂs still very early in the season. Thought youÂd want to know that I bought a new pair of rockers in honor of all your birthdays! (snicker) They are sooo comfortable, Drema, that toe knuckle doesnÂt even have to bend! Supposed to help tone your calves and bum, too, but they just feel great. DD loves hers and suggested I might like them. No problem getting used to the curved sole either, I put them on and wore them home. Just noticed I was so anxious to start walking I forgot to lace the top eyelet! HereÂs a pic standing in the garage doing a contortion act so you can see the side sole. Must start thinking about dinnerÂpossibly meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. DH wonÂt get home until later this evening so itÂs my turn to cook. Anything I donÂt have to stand at the stove gets my vote. Hey, Chelone!...waving you back here :-)

mazer, I will be happy to expound. First, I have had dogs, cats, and horses for half my life or more. Snakes, lizards, rats, and a couple birds for shorter times. I worked for a vet for three years(early 60's) while in high school. I even performed the spaying operation on one of my most favorite dogs under the watchful eye and guidance of the vet. I have extensive experience in treating horses/dogs for various injuries. My current dogs are a GSD/chow mix and a whippet mix. I am not able to walk either dog. So, I have to invent ways of exercising them. On bad weather days, when walking or exercising would be near impossible, it is a fact they do not need as much food. In fact, Molly(the whippet mix) often does not finish her food on days like that. Max, the GSD mix) has a much lower metabolism and does not need as much food, since his activity level is much lower. When we got Molly from the pound, she was about 20 pounds underweight. It was actually painful to pet her, much less look at her condition. The pound was feeding her Pedigree, which is my dry choice. She has terrible issues with elimination. I wondered if the problem was just the instability of her circumstance, she had been difficult to catch, was afraid of literally everything and everyone. Turns out the problem may have been some of that, but was mainly her inability to process beef/chicken products. We had her on twice a day feedings to put the necessary weight back on her, which very slowly occurred for about two weeks. I finally recognized her distress was digestive in nature(the only time in my experience with my dogs I had seen this) and put her on a two a day diet of lamb and rice. In five days, she had put on too much weight! So, I cut the amount in half. The two a days had Max causing a problem when he did not get fed(he is the Alpha dog) and Molly was reluctant to eat when he did not. I started feeding Max along with Molly---halving his amount. Both started gaining excess weight on a diet of Pedigree dry/canned mix. So, I went back to once a day(evenings) feeding schedules and they have no more anxieties or weight problems. They both have lots of energy in the mornings, both vets I use feel they are at optimum weights and are in prime condition. I run the house as a pack. I am pack leader, Max is second, Molly bottom. Nolly will not start eating until Max is almost finished, which is normal pack behavior. If Max were to attempt to take her food, she would( and did early on until Max accepted) fight for it. Again normal pack behavior. Molly devils Max constantly when playing/exercising. H3e takes most of it, maintaining the Alpha position, but joining in for running/chasing/fun stuff. I have found Molly can do the running/prey drive activities by chasing soccer balls I am able to kick for her. There is enough room in out yard for her to reach full speed for short distances. She can 'catch' the balls, and pick them up to fulfil her instinctive drives. Shew ultimately destroys them and can play even more with the pieces. Max is first a guard dog, and second a member of the pack. He needs Molly(he actually picked her out from several that were auditioned at the pound) to keep his protective edge. He was also a rescue, before the local police could get a warrant to seize and euthanize him as a danger to society. I rehabilitated him as a guard dog. The area in which I lived at the time made it advantageous to have a guard dog. My previous guard dog had finally made it to the end of his 15 year life. I know what I am doing, Over 50 years of raising/training dogs proves that, at least to me and the vets I use. I raised a Malamute, a poodle, and a handful of mixed breeds of all types and sizes. Shorty, a chihuahua mix my wife fell in love with when he was a puppy made it to 20 on the same diet and feeding schedule I use now. Might have lasted longer, but cancer of the back end made it necessary to put him down. There are many ways to train/keep/use/love dogs. I have never had free feed dogs. My DIL does. I never crated a dog until I got Molly. She no longer needs crating, but often sleeps by choice in hers(with the door always open now. I have had two a day feeding dogs. I always see if that is the best option. For the last several, it has not been necessary.

Ugghh.. it's a given that my Mocha will have a seizure the day after a rabies vaccine. In our state, it is law that it has to be done every year. In fact, the dog registration in TN is tied to the rabies vaccine -- your rabies tag is your dog registration. I reeeeeeally hate that. Even worse, most (if not all) groomers require vaccines for all pets they groom. They require proof of vaccinations. That means I can't get Mocha shaved or bathed in the summer without that proof. I've tried to go the route of titers and tried to get him "ommited" due to his epilespy from a vaccination requirement from the state to no avail. I think it sucks but we're stuck. We've come to the conclusion that he'll have a seizure whether we give the vaccine or not at least every 4 months. Thus, we time it so we're "home" right after he gets his yearly vaccine. We also try to time his grooming at *11 months*. That way we can go almost 2 years without having to get him rabies vaccinated. I should add that I DO understand why its required. In TN I vividly recall when someone dropped off a litter of kittens outside a school in our town a few years ago when I worked at the shelter (actually 5 yrs ago). Those kittens DID have rabies. Every child that handled those kittens at the grade school had to undergo a series a of rabies shots. Rabies is very alive and active to this day.

Hello all, I thought I would post an update. Casey is doing remarkably well. He is calm and happy. There still has been no sign whatsoever of aggression toward the other dogs. Today they even got chewies and spent a few hours in bliss with them. Bina and Toby came and went out of the same space that Casey and I were in while they were chewing, and there was not even a sideways glance! Three weeks ago, if I had given chewies, Casey would have been locked in his cage and still would have growled if either of the other two came into the same room. He has been on the Phenobarbital since New Years Eve. At first I did not notice anything. Now I have noticed his back end swaying on three occasions. It is hard to describe, other than that, just an unsteadiness on his feet. Casey and Bina both went to their primary care vet on Saturday. He got his thyroid panel done. They are sending it to Michigan State University Vet School and it will be back in a couple of weeks. Casey will receive no more vaccination shots anymore, due to his neurological disorder. So we did not even run a Rabies titer on him. Bina had the basic blood panel done, CBC and such. I had a titer done for her Rabies immunity. I don't want to vaccinate a dog whose immune system is already causing autoimmune rhinitis. The vet agreed and said she could write a letter for Bina so that the kennel where we take them on our rare vacations might still let them board there. Both will need Bordetella nasal spray vaccines, though, she expects. I may try to get someone to dog sit at home so we don't have to do that, either. Bina was started on Deramaxx for pain. She clenched in pain when the doc simply touched her spine. She has been limping in the evening and when she has been lying for an extended time lately. I have brought in an assortment of dog beds, but she does not seem interested in lying on a cushy bed in the evening in the family room. Tonight I have more dog beds than floor space, but she appears to either prefer the carpeted floor or she is convinced that she is not worthy of a bed. What do you do when your dog has low self-esteem? So things go on here like normal. I hope we have a significant amount of "normal" here for at least a while. My DF-in-L was seen at the cancer center today for follow-up, and his cancer is back. We are kind of hoping that he decides not to treat it this time, the only treatment left is chemo, and he is not even well enough to sit up anymore. He is 93. We use the hoyer lift anytime we have to move him. We are hoping he decides on palliative care, because we believe he will have a better quality for his remaining days. In a few days he will be rested enough to decide about that. The dogs may be suffering a big loss soon. They love their grandpa and his caregivers very much.