Veterinary double talk

I'm so frustrated and upset right now, I just need to vent, so here goes.

Before I left for NY, I took Moxie up to work with me because she had been having intermittant diarrhea and started drinking more water than usual. I just wanted to make sure she was okay before I left town. We saw Dr. S. I like Dr. S because she is very thorough, but she sometimes looks for zebras when its just horses if you know what I mean. Anyway, we ran labwork and a urinalysis, and found out she was Azotemic, had signs of a urinary tract infection, and a low urine specific gravity which along with the azotemia, indicate kidney disease. Dr. S went on VIN (Veterinary Information Network, basically a mecca for all vets to collaborate on cases with a huge searchable database) and printed me out all this info on a disease called Pyelonephritis, which is a chronic kidney infection that leads to damage of the kidneys. This was Moxie's second UTI in as many months, and with the elevated Creatinine levels in her blood, this really seemd like a plausible diagnosis. We sent a sterile sample of her urine to the lab for a bacterial culture and sensitivity.

The next day we saw Dr. W, my regular vet. Just to consult about the bloodwork and see what she thought was going on. She was not as concerned about the azotemia as Dr. S was, and in general was much calmer about all the test results. She wanted a re-check urine specific gravity with a first morning sample and wait on the C&S. So the next morning we rechecked a urine specific gravity and it came back 1.020, which is too low, meaning the kidneys are not concentrating her urine very well. She also wanted me to measure how much water she was drinking in a day, and I did and it averaged 3.5 cups per day, which Dr.W asserted was a normal amount to be drinking.

And so I waited for the results of the C&S.

Results came back on a Saturday, and we saw Dr. J. The results came back "no growth". Dr. J felt like this meant that the bacteria in the urine sample had died before it got to the lab, so she started Moxie on a two week round of Clavamox for a UTI.

I go off to NY for a week and she does great while I'm gone. When I got back I scheduled an ultrasound of Moxie's kidneys and bladder per Dr. W's instructions, and a recheck urinalysis per Dr. S's instructions. The appointment was with Dr. W. The ultrasound was unremarkable. Dr. W feels like her kindeys MAY be polycystic, but she isn't sure so she sent the images out for another opinion from Dr. X, a specialist of some sort. The re-check Urinalysis came back normal, except again for a low specific gravity. The shocker this time was Dr. W didn't want to even look at the rest of the UA, besided the specific gravity, because there was "no growth" on the C&S so there was no infection in the first place.

Huh? This is not what I was told by Dr. J. And if there was no infection, how do you explain all the red and white bloodcells in her urine sediment that Dr. S had found and gone over in detail with me. Dr. W went ahead and checked anyway and said there was nothing in the sediment that made her think infection. I think she was more than a little put out by my questioning her not checking the whole UA, but who do I believe here? Who is right? How am I supposed to know?

So I'm confused. Does she have pyelonephritis? Does she have polycystic kidneys? Does she have kidney disease at all? Why is she still having diarrhea and why is she suddenly drinking at least two to three times as much as she has ever drank before in her ten years of life??? It may be a normal amount of water, but its not normal for her!!! Nothing adds up here. I'm so confused and I don't know who to turn to for answers. I feel like the more I ask people what they think, the more confused I become, and the more I annoy the vets I am working with because I keep questioning things instead of just taking what they say at face value.

So on the one hand I think I need to stick to one vet and one vet only. I've known Dr. W my whole life, she loves Moxie and I know she has her best interest at heart. I also know that Dr. W utilizes VIN and consults with other doctors, so its not like I would be isolating my options to just one doctors opinion. Dr. S is great, but kind of an alarmist. I still don't know if I should be as upset and scared and she made me feel that first night. I think Dr. J just blew me off, because frankly she's a bitch. I won't be consultiing her again thats for sure.

Meanwhile, I'm reading and reading about diet, as thats really the only way to manage kidney disease. Everything I read tells me that the K/D diet she is on is for dogs who are far sicker than she is. The protein is too restricted for a dog in early stages of kidney disease. I found a lot of research to support a home made diet, and found a great list with tools to calculate how much of what to put into her meals each day. Things like protein, phosphorus, calcium, calories, fat, sodium, and potassium are tracked in a fancy spreadsheet. The studies I've read to support that low phosphorus diet with moderate amounts of protein for a dog at this stage of kidney disease are all quite clear and back each other up. For a sampling of what I've read check out Dogaware.com These are scientific studies by vet schools and animal nutritionalists.

Anyway I forwarded those links on to Dr.W and she just ignored my email. I think she thinks I'm just some nut. All I really want is what is best for my dog, thats going to give her the best quality of life for as long as possible. Is that really asking so much? I don't feel like I CAN just lay down and accept everything everyone tells me as the gospel truth and absolute best care scenario, because I'm getting so much conflicting information. Its just frustrating. I just needed to rant. Thanks for reading.

Summer Time and the livin is easy....

A brief update, and then we will get to the pictures.

Moxie turned ten years old on July 26th. We celebrated with snacks and play time and cuddles. The past nine years have been tumultuous, but with Moxie by my side, I have come out in a better place. She is my best friend. I will never love another dog like i love Moxie, there will never be another Moxie. I hope I have ten more years to spend with her, but realistically, I know that isn't likely. :(

In an effort to immortalize my precious pup, I asked a friend of mine from the UK to do a clay figurine, a mini moxie if you will. I even sent her some fur clippings which she used to complete the model. Its a piece of Moxie that I will treasure always.



In other news, Moxie has learned to feed herself. For the past three weeks or so I've had moxie on the pumpkin diet (replacing her canned food with canned pumpkin, mixed with her kibble). Thursday morning, I woke up to find a can of her old dog food on the floor of my bedroom. Apparently Moxie was hinting at something. When I didn't take the hint, she took matters into her own paws. When I left for my birthday dinner with the girls at work, she dug a can of food out from under the hutch, brought it into the living room, and proceded to work at it until she opened it, and ate the contents. I have a hard time opening those pop top cans, but she had little trouble apparently. Next thing you know she will be stealing my credit cards and ordering take out when she doesn't approve of my menu. Darn dog is too smart for her own good!

Moxie has had more than one great accomplishment this summer, she (and I by proxy) won our obedience clubs annual obedience award for achieving the top three scores in a row for the year. We submitted our scores from the ASCA trial last August where Moxie got her CD.

A pic of the gorgeous girl with her prize.



Checking that her name is spelled properly....



And finally the best of that photoshoot I told you about in May. I think I will treasure these pictures always as well. Thanks Jamie!














As for the cats, Kobie has decided that eating is a good thing, I hope that lasts. Sully is currently hiding from the big mylar butterfly balloon my friends at work gave me for my bday. Thurston is leaving Kobie alone these days, mostly, in favor of rough housing with Sully. I'll take that!

Next week, I'm off to NYC with Shawnbear for a week. The kids are staying with Mom, with a backup pet sitter in the wings. Something always goes wrong when I leave town. I hope this time will be the exception.

Back online

Hello everyone! Well I'm back online after my lenten hiatus. That went a bit easier than I expected, although now I have an iphone and never have to go without the internet ever again.

So an update on my critters. First Kobie has made a complete and miraculous recovery from whatever the heck it was that was making him so sick. I round of antacids and he's right as rain now, and back up to over 11 pounds. He cleans his plate at every meal. I don't know what was wrong with him, I'm just glad its over and I have my Kobie back.

Sully had a birthday April 1st. He turned two whole years old. If he was my test on how I would raise a human child, I failed miserably. He is positively rotten to the core! He's on the counter, he's in the trash, he's picking on the other cats, he's stealing food from the dog, he's stealing food off my plate, he's a little monster. But I love him and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Moxie has had some medical problems. First her eyes have gotten much worse. Dr. Cathy is sure she is completely blind from a cataract in her right eye. Also, her kidney values are continuing to rise so we've put her on the K/D diet to counteract the kidney damage. All of this makes me sad because I hate to think of anything wrong with my baby, that could possibly take her from me. I consulted with an animal opthamologist about Moxie's eye, and decided against the surgery. Ultimately, its just too costly to repair a condition that is not life threatening or painful or effecting her quality of life. I just worry that something life threatening, painful, or detrimental to her quality of life WOULD come up, and I wouldn't have the money to fix it if I did the surgery. Besides, there are complications and no guarantees involved.

Moxie and I are going for a photo shoot on Thursday to get some new pics of us together for my Mom for Mothers day. I can't wait. I'll post up the good ones.

Now I'm off to catch up with all of you!

Less than a month since my last post!

I'm getting better at this.

So really the only news since my last post is Kobie. He's lost another half a pound. Re check bloodwork was COMPLETELY normal except for high cholesterol (how does a cat that doesn't eat have high cholesterol?) Even his kidney values are normal now. So why won't he eat.

Dr. Cathy thinks it is just him being picky. SO I switched foods and he ate well for a few days then stopped again, so I switched back to the kidney diet and he wouldn't eat that either. Tonight I fed him a new food entirely and he ate that. But he's started throwing up now.

So what is wrong with this cat? Who knows? We did an ultrasound of his abdomen that was beautiful. Completely normal. So my next step is to go get a bag of dry k/d and see if he will eat dry food any better, though I am loathe to do it, the cat has GOT to start eating! He's wasting away to nothing.

Our last ditch though is that maybe he has a subclinical tooth abscess or something that makes it painful to eat. Just looking at his mouth everything looks great, but I think if this continues I will have him sedated for dental xrays and a cleaning.

As for Moxie, not much going on. I've been sick, working, and studying, so she's been at home alot lately. I did renew my committment to excercise so hopefully we will be getting out on long walks more frequently.

I had to stop going to training classes because I had to switch off my monday night shift at work so I could start attending bible study again. Its really important to me right now that I start to grow as a Christian, and bible study is key to that. Plus I really need a network of good Christian friends. So I've been trying for months to get someone to switch monday for friday, since Friday is my one night I'm normally not doing anything. No dice. No one would switch. Until it finally dawned on me, maybe I am going to have to sacrifice something important to me, to get closer to God. So my two choices were Tuesday night and Thursday night. Tuesday night is GTDOG, and Thursday nights we volunteer at UBH with Therapy pals. Well, I wasn't willing to give up volunteering, so I gave up GTDOG. No more training nights at the club for the foreseeable future. So far, I'm okay with that. Moxie and I will just have to make more time to work together.

Speaking of Sacrifice, I finally decided what I am giving up for Lent this year. (And yes, I know I'm late.) It took me a while to figure out what to do. Actually, thats not true, it took me a while to convince myself what I knew I had to do all along. I thought of all the usual suspects, chocolate, caffeine, fast food, etc. But those are all things I NEED to give up anyway to be healthy, but I don't really NEED them in my life to begin with. It doesn't really put me out to give any of that up. The whole point of Lent is sacrifice. God has been teaching me alot about sacrifice lately. So the first thing that crosses my mind to give up as a sacrifice to God, is the Internet.

At first I dismissed the idea as crazy. It would be far too difficult to give up the internet. But then I started thinking. God gave his only son to die on a cross for my salvation, and I can't give up the internet for forty days for God? What is wrong with this picture?

So the internet it is. No email, no facebook, no forums, no google, for forty days starting at midnight tonight. So, if you need to get in touch with me you will have to call me at 940-391-5106. And please call, because as most of you know, I do most of my socializing via internet, so I will be pretty lonely without it. In return I PROMISE to be better about keeping my phone, charged, on and with me to take your calls, I know I'm bad about that.

So thats it. If you are the praying sort, pray for me, because this isn't going to be easy.

Acupuncture, sticks and grass

Hi again. I promise, I will be better about updating this thing. I just forget about it!

Kobie update, he's doing okay considering. I still struggle to get him to eat most days. He's lost about a pound since his last vet visit. He goes in on Friday to get his labwork updated to check his kidney function. I'll let you know how that goes. He started acupuncture and chiropractic treatments for his pain issues last week. We have another session this week. Dr. Ave was super nice and knowledgeable. She was great with Kobie, he seemed to take to her right away. For the most part he really seemed to enjoy the treatments, he just laid there and purred. He only protested a couple of times. Dr Ave says thats when she was stimulating his hot points, or where he was experiencing the most pain. He seemed to be doing well the first day or two after the treatment, but no noticeable progress since then. He has another session on Monday. I don't know if this is going to work, but I am desperate and will try anything. This is costing me an arm and a leg so I hope it works. Dr. Ave thinks he may be a candidate for surgery on that left hip. She gave me a surgeon's name to contact. Then I found out we have a boarded surgeon on staff at our Carrollton location that would do the surgery and I would get a discount. But there has been so much drama at work lately, I'm not even sure I would get the discount. So I'm conflicted and haven't made an appointment with anyone. I think I'll take the xrays to Dr. Cathy on Friday and let her look and get her opinion. One things for sure, the vet that originally did his surgery effed it up royally. He wouldn't be in this pain today had that vet been conscienscious about his treatment of my cat, but since it was just an employees pet, he got assembly lined and a shoddy job done. Typical. I'm so glad I don't work there anymore.

Well, that was a ramble. Moxie is doing well. She had her annual physical a few weeks ago and got a clean bill of health apart from her eyes. She is going blind. Very little if any light is passing through the lenses now to the back of the eye, so Dr. Cathy doesn't know how well she is actually seeing. So far Moxie seems to be coping well to her disability. Like every other animal in this house, you would never know anything was wrong with her. She also has underproductive lacrimal glands (she doesn't produce enough tears) so her eyes are chronically dry. I put drops in them several times a day. She hates this, but its for her own good. Like baths, and nail trims. I've changed her diet again. For the past year or two, her labwork has come back with an elevated BUN, which by itself really means nothing. I've done some reading and a diet high in protein can cause this. So soon after Kobie's diagnosis, I don't want to take any chances with Moxie's kidneys, so I put her on Wellness' Senior formula. She gets canned Merricks mixed in for variety. I don't know if it really matters to her if she eats the same thing every day or not, but it makes me feel better. Some of those foods look good enough for people to eat.

I'll leave you with some pictures of Moxie.

Moxie giving Shawn some loving, this was in October sometime.


Moxie and Shawn posing.


Moxie romping at the dog park.

I really need to be better about updating this thing.

Sorry it's been a while. I've been busy with school and work lately.

Well, Kobie has been diagnosed with renal insufficiency. Once again I'm trying to change his food to something better for him and he isn't cooperating. He's losing weight at an alarming rate and refuses to eat about half the time. I have a feeling the decline into renal failure isn't going to take very long. I'm very sad about this. Kobie is only 8 years old. In my adult life, I have yet to have a cat live into the double digits, despite my every best effort. Yet, my childhood cat lived to her twenties, and ate nothing but science diet and had millions of health problems her whole life. It just doesn't make any sense. I've been in denial about Kobie's diagnosis for the past few weeks, but I'm finally coming to accept it. Poor Dr. Cathy has had to put up with my millions of questions. Its not as if this is the first cat I've ever seen with kidney failure. But its the first of MY cats to ever have the disease. It's so much harder to understand and accept when its one of your own. If any of you have gone through renal failure with your cats, any advice is welcome.

Moxie is fine. She's bored mostly. Outside of therapy visits we haven't done anything all semester. No classes because I had to go to class on Tuesday nights. But thats all done now and we can start going back to GTDOG when the sessions begin again after the new year. Now that the semester is over and I have more free time, I'm going to try to take her out and do things with her more often. A nice trip to the park, a good long walk, all the things she deserves but doesn't always get. But she never complains. I really don't deserve such a wonderful companion.

I'll bring my camera and get some good pics of her. Its been a while since I've gotten decent pics of the mutt.

You've been blessed

Moxie has had a packed social calender this week.

We met up with the gang at the dog park last friday. My friends dogs stuck nearby, frequently returning to their moms to check in. Now Moxie. She was off and about being a social butterfly. Any dog that wanted to chase, or any human that wanted to throw a ball was fair game. She had a wonderful time. She ran around for two solid hours, and still wanted to play when we got home.

This week we've had two therapy visits. Thursday morning it was cooler than it has been (but still in the 80's) so I got up early and took Moxie to the park to play ball and have a walk. She played fetch with her usual exuberance for about 20 minutes before running off with the ball and laying down next to the car. Game over? She has NEVER voluntarily ended a game of fetch before, so I was a bit worried. I walked her around and made sure she wasn't hurt or sore. We got a drink and rested in the shade, but she was done.

That night we had a visit at UBH. I was afraid she would be drained. I need not have worried. She was in fine form. She was the favorite for the kids to run the agility course. She must have run that course a dozen times in half an hour. She was barely winded. Then she played with the next group for another 30 minutes, doing her tricks, demonstrating obedience skills, loves and cuddles of course and a couple more rounds on the agility equipment kept the adults entertained for another half hour. As that group left, another group of adults showed up. We were only supposed to be there for an hour and the other dogs were exhausted, but Moxie is the energizer dog. She doesn't get tired. We got out her holee roller ball (which in her opinion, is the best toy ever) and she played catch and fetch with the men for another fifteen minutes. She spread a lot of joy that night.

Today we had a visit at the senior care center, a nursing home in Denton. Its a huge facility, it took us nearly two hours to get through it with five dogs. Everyone loves seeing the dogs (well almost everyone) Moxie seems to know she's making people happy and joyfully goes up to each resident for pets and cuddles. She minds her manners and refrains from giving kisses (her favorite thing to do, I call her the stealth smoocher because you never see it coming)

After the nursing home, we headed over to the St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Denton for their annual "Blessing of the Animals." I figured we could use all the blessings we could get. It was nice ceremony, with lovely prayers and bible readings punctuated by the ocassional bark. A few ill mannered pooches caused a couple of ruckuses but for the most part the dogs (and one cat) were all well behaved. The priest seemed quite taken with Moxie and took a moment to rub her belly after he blessed her.

Mom says I brought the wrong animal to be blessed. I told her that perhaps the Annual "Casting out of Demons" mass would be more appropriate for the cats.

Little heathens.

Kobie is doing okay. He's still in pain. He is eating again. *sigh* I just don't know what to do with him.

Midterms this week. Off to study!

Kobie's day

Monday I took Kobie in to my regular vet for an exam and x-rays for a referral to the animal chiropractor/acupuncturist. It was supposed to be a straight forward, easy, pleasant experience.

Kobie was his usual charming self. He was a real gentleman as Dr. Williamson prodded his back and hips, but she could tell he was in pain, so it was off for some quick x-rays.

When Dr. Williamson came back into the room I knew something was wrong. "I don't want to show you this" she said as she put the xray up on the view box and pointed out the quarter of Kobie's pelvis that was just gone, obliterated, poof! Odd, I thought, what could cause that? "I don't want to tell you this" Dr. Williamson said with a sigh, but I think we have a bone tumor.

Shock. Disbelief. Sadness. Anger. All wash over me. Cancer? My cat has Cancer? This was just a routine visit, and you're telling me he has cancer? As I search for answers on my vets face through tear filled eyes I know that she would not have used the "C" work with me unless she was pretty sure. We have a long history, she knows how I am about my cats. And she knows I've been down that cancer road more than once.

She said she would send the films off to the veterinary radiologist for review to confirm the diagnosis. She gave Kobie a shot of Buprinex and sent us home. On the drive home the reality of the situation set in. Bone cancer is super painful, and incurable. I had only one real option here, and that was to give my little kitty back to God.

Back at home I sent the other cats back to the bedroom for the day so Kobie could have the house to himself. We shut off the AC and opened up the windows in the kitchen so Kobie could sit in them and look out, his favorite activity. He got more treats than he could eat and all the cuddles and love he wanted. We wanted his last few hours to be special and happy.

Monday night I couldn't sleep at all, I just laid in bed next to Kobie and cried and cried. Tuesday afternoon Dr. Williamson calls. She had just gotten off the phone with the radiologist who said she didn't think the bone loss was due to cancer at all! It was likely a result of his injury 7 years ago when he was hit by that car.
We were filled with joy! Our Kobie was going to be with us for many more years to come. It was a good day.

Mom reading the Funnies to Kobie



A tearful cuddle.



Looking out the window

Cat about town

A few new snaps of the kitty crew.

First Kobie enjoying our new Sofa.






I love how my new camera captures every little detail.
We also caught some scandalous action on the dog bed.



Who can blame Thurston. After all, who could resist those sultry blue eyes. Sully is such a sexy siamese.

Weekend Disapointment

Well, I didn't go to the agility trial this weekend. Thankfully, Moxie has no clue what she missed out on. I didn't tell her about it beforehand to save on the incessant pestering. Thank goodness she didn't know, or you know I would have never heard the end of it.

In other news, I'm worried about Kobie. He's becoming increasingly neurotic. (I know, I know, how can I tell, right?) He's so clingy and very wary of the other cats. He can't stand the other cats to molest him in any way. When I pet him, he can't tolerate me petting him beyond his shoulders. When he's laying asleep he's violently thrashing his tail. He's unhappy. I'm beginning to think its all pain related.

I got him after he'd been hit by a car. The vet that fixed him up did a piss poor job of it. He did a shitty job on the hip and didn't even try to fix his pelvic fracture. He's been gimpy his whole life, but increasingly so lately. He doesn't run, leap or play anymore. He can't tolerate another cat even sleeping with him. I think the other cats perceive his weakness and pick on him even more.

The limits of traditional medicine are many. There is just no effective way to manage chronic pain in cats. Pharmacology has failed us. So I'm looking into alternative treatment methods. Perhaps a chiropractor could make some adjustments. Or regular acupuncture could give him some relief. The trouble is finding a practitioner that I can trust. I know some of you readers take your pets to chiropractors, if you have a recommendation let me know.

Agility Weekend coming up

Moxie and I are entered in the TWANG ASCOT ASCA Agility trial in Fort Worth this weekend. This will be our first agility show in something like six years. We also haven't trained on any contact obstacles in over a year. We haven't trained any agility period in more than a month due to the heat. This should be interesting.

I knew better than to Sign up for both days, but I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say? We are only doing two runs each day, so Moxie will be fully rested. But I have also volunteered to be a ring slave, I mean, steward, both days. I want to join the club that is hosting the show, and I have to work two shows to do that. I wonder if Saturday and Sunday are considered separate shows, or if I'll have to put in another full weekend before I can be considered for membership?

Still haven't heard anything about my job, but I'm hopefull that I will hear something this week. Wish me luck!


A much younger Moxie takes a hurdle at the PAWS NADAC trial in Rhome Texas, this was the last trial we went to. 3/1/03

Reminiscing

I was cleaning my room today and came across an old notebook with a bunch of random stuff in it. Most of it is scribbles and to do lists pertaining to my work in Mexico and my job at UNT. But a few pages in the middle there is a scribbled out journal entry. I read it, I remembered it, and I wanted to preserve it somewhere safe, for posterity.

Written on 3/21/2005 upon returning from a spring break trip to Mexico.

I feel the chill of the departing day sweep over me and shiver. At this moment, I wish I could sink with the setting sun into blackness. Just when I begin to feel enlightened, like I finally understand everything, I realize I don't understand anything. I don't know if the key to understanding my life lies in understanding my past or understanding my future. Maybe I should just try to understand the moment. This moment. This sunset. This first spring breeze. This song. This breath. This thought. What is right now all about?

Each time I return from Mexico a bigger mess than the last time, but a better person just the same. Settling back into the U.S. American way of life after any amount of time away from it is a process much like unpacking. Taking those crumpled, damp or dusty thoughts; haphazardly packed, pushed, crammed and zipped up in my head, pulling them out, and deciding what is to be done with them. How to make those vestiges of Mazamitla fit for exhibition in U.S. American culture, in this life, this place, this moment. Cleaned, folded, tucked neatly, softer and milder than Mazamitla. How to make myself palatable to my culture? What to do with those things that don't seem to fit here, no matter how cleaned or pressed. Toss them back? Zip them up, pack them away until my next trip? Hide those things so no one can see? Hide the things that don't fit, and walk around with huge voids in my heart and mind where the best of Mazamitla would be? The bright colors, the bold flavors, the laughter, the depth, the raw power, the beauty, the emotion. I cannot be without those things. I have become those things. I am Mexico. I am wild, raw, vibrant, and intense. Pressed to the heavens from between the rocks and the earth. I am not something many people here in my culture can tolerate. I am too extreme for America, yet too mild for Mexico.

I walk through my day, interacting with different people, knowing that not one of them understands my heart. Not a single person I meet in the hall, talk to on the phone, drive with on the freeway; not Brandon, Not Syl. They know my mind, my body, but no one yet knows my heart. I sit by the waters edge in the grey early night holding those damp, dusty, bold, vibrant pieces of me, washed in the earth, dried in the moonlight, while the lights from the city twinkle in the distance. I sit by the waters edge, whole. Every piece and part unpacked, exposed and unashamed, my heart on display for anyone to discover. But there is no one. I am alone tonight.

Oh Mexico. Oh how ALIVE I felt in those days. I sometimes wonder if I will ever feel vibrant, bold or excited about life ever again. I truly hope so. I hope someday to find my passion again.

On another note, Brandon? I haven't thought about him in AGES? I wonder what he's up to these days?

Now back to your regularly scheduled dog blog.

A brand new title!

Moxie and I were entered in two grueling days of Obedience trials this weekend and we've come away with a couple of ribbons and a brand new Title. She now has a CD from both the UKC and ASCA! In watching the open and utility dogs, I'm itching to try something a bit more challenging, so we will be working that dumbbell! I hope to be showing in Open classes this time next year.

We got lots of great feedback from judges and other experienced dog people who were all very kind and, I think, glad to see some younger blood interested in the sport. I've got some good things to be working on to improve our scores and our work as a team. So enough training to keep us busy for a while.

It was SO HOT this weekend. Even in the Indoor with the AC on it was like an oven by the afternoon. On Saturday, Moxie and I were practicing in the parking lot, and I asked her for a stand stay, and I knew it was hot because while remaining completely in place she would gingerly lift one paw then the other as if to say, "Ouch Mommy! The cement is burning my feet!" We moved over into the grass after that.

I should have some video of the trial to upload and share with you soon.

Moxie on Mutts Day

Today is Mutts day. In honor of this prestigious occasion, my dear friend Labcablady held a photo contest on the best dog forum in the world, Ruffdogs! It was an open call to all mutts on board and my own dear Moxie mutt won the contest.

This is the winning pic.


She is well pleased with herself. She is getting a gift certificate to petsmart so we get to go shopping for a present for her. I promise to get her something fun, after initially threatening to get something practical like cat litter. I tried to explain to her what my being unemployed meant in regards to her lavish lifestyle, but she just kept throwing her squeaky toy in my lap and looking at me adoringly. Thats the wonderful thing about dogs, they don't care if you are working or not. They just love you.

So go on over and visit Moxie at It's the Dogs life.

Happy Birthday Moxie

Today is Moxie's 9th birthday.

8 years ago today, I made the best snap decision of my life, and brought a skinny, mangy, sickly dog home with me. I've never looked back.

Moxie is my best friend, my constant companion, my confidant, my partner, my love. I have never been so richly blessed in life before Moxie, and will never know a love like this again. She is my soul dog.

So I raise my glass in a toast to Moxie. The best dog ever. May we have many more happy years together.

So far we have celebrated with Birthday cookies (from me and her grandmama) and a pup cup ice cream treat. Lots of pets and cuddles of course, and some indoor romping and playing (its 104 degrees outside today) I'll probably take her to the lake to play on Monday when its less crowded. Then a bath, then a therapy visit Tuesday morning.

I do plan on getting Moxie her Swamp cooler and a custom made new collar for her birthday. Those may have to wait though, until I start getting regular paychecks again.

Dog Days of Summer

It's hot. Too hot to hang outside for very long. As a result, Moxie is very bored. GTDOG is on summer hiatus, so no obedience classes and it's been far too hot for agility. I tried some tunnel to weave pole entry the other day and Moxie did it, but would run to the shade up by the garage with her toy at the end. It was just too hot.So other than doggy daycare on Thursdays and the odd therapy visit, poor Mox just has nothing to do.

I'm thinking of investing in a Swamp Cooler from Ruffwear. Maybe with something like that, we could at least go hiking during the summer instead of staying inside and training in the living room.

Moxie's birthday is coming up. I'm thinking of having another party for her. I was hoping we could rent out the doggy daycare for the evening to let the dogs play in the air conditioning, but I'm not sure how that will work out. The backup plan is the Denton Dog Park. Last year was fun. I'll bring a cooler full of ice to help keep the pups cool. I don't know what to get her for a present though. What do you get the dog that has everything? Maybe her swamp cooler could be her birthday present.

Can you believe my baby girl is nine years old! I hope to have at least another nine years with her. I hate to think of my puppy getting older. But to look at her, you'd never know she was nine. She acts like a puppy, people are always surprised when I tell them her age.

This week, Kobie is getting his teeth cleaned (More teeth pictures!) and Moxie is getting her second Lepto vaccine. I've never vaccinated for Lepto, and in fact, had only seen one or two cases ever in my years in veterinary medicine. There's more controversy over that vaccine than most others. But my vet said she's seen near a dozen cases of lepto this year, in city dogs too. I take Moxie to lakes and other water sources all the time so I figure I can't be too careful. So I started the vaccine series. I trust my vet to recommend whats best for my dog. This is a good practice too vaccine wise. They have actually adjusted their vaccine protocols to match the AVMA and AAHA three year protocol that came out several years ago. A lesser practice will still insist on yearly boosters despite the fact that its been proven unnecessary. Sad fact really. You really have to be your own dogs advocate.

Anyway, happy summer.

Auditions

Well auditions yesterday were fun. Sully did pretty well I think under the circumstances. It must have been pretty strange for him and he must have been pretty weirded out about the whole thing. He was scared. Not completely freaked out, but not his normal confident outgoing self that he usually is.

For this reason, I don't think we'll be selected. But if we are, we probably won't go. I don't want to risk stressing him out so bad his IBD flares up again. We would be talking 4 days of non-stop stress for him, I think thats too much to ask. Besides, I wanted this to be something fun we could do together. If he isn't enjoying himself, then it defeats the purpose.

Dawn's kitty Kiki did really well. He was very relaxed and composed, I think he stands a good chance. Also Hali's kitty Cassiopea auditioned today and also did well. I hope one of my team mates gets selected. How wonderful would that be! They are picking 1 team from each city where they audition, plus two back ups from each city. There were only maybe a hundred people there yesterday, maybe, if that many, so odds are pretty decent!

Good luck everyone!

Big Day for Moxie

This morning Moxie and I and a friend went hiking at the clear creek nature preserve in Denton.

Camo dog.




Happy dog. Look at those pearly whites. I've been brushing her teeth. They look fabulous!




Moxie looking longingly at the not so clear creek waters I wouldn't let her swim in.


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Moxie in the shade




Silly dog


The many faces of Moxie. The preserve was beautiful, but the trails were a bit overgrown in the north part of the park. Moxie and I were covered in burrs.

I realized she would need a bath, so I decided to let her have a bit of fun first so we headed out to the lake and spent an hour swimming. I didn't take any pictures.

After the lake I decided to try out this new place in Flower Mound called the "Blissful Bark" Dog wash. It was great! The tubs were clean with no slip matts and drains that didn't clog up with hair. The water was temperature control and the wash nozzle had different settings. They provided everything, the shampoo, conditioner, ear cleaner, towels, everything. The best part was the forced air dryer. Moxie really NEEDS to be blown out after a bath or she mats up really badly. The whole process took about an hour and only cost $15. Well worth it for me to bath my dog in air conditioned comfort with no mess to clean up afterward.

So now I'm off to try to get some AKC worthy shots of her before we lose the light of the day.

Some parting shots of Kobie






EDITED TO ADD: Moxie's AKC pics

Front:


Right Side:


Left Side:


SO what do you think. I'm thinking Border collie. Any suggestions?

Game Show n' Go

Well tonight was the last class at GTDOG before we break for the summer. So we went out with a bang. Moxie was fabulous. The more I work with this dog the more I realize just how incredible and special she really is. She is so smart and this dance that we do trying to communicate with each other is so intricate and beautiful.

Tonight, we had a breakthrough in agility class. Moxie loves agility. She likes to tell me how much fun she's having while we work, which is fine with me. I'm all for the dog expressing her joy. Doesn't bother me a bit. Now what does bother me, and it another thing all together, is the herding barking that she also does.

The difference between her gleeful yapping and her demanding yodeling are subtle, but I can tell. One minute she is listening to me and watching my signals and following my lead, the next she's trying the call the shots herself. Finally, my instructor offered a simple solution. "She's trying to control you, remind her that you are in control. Tell her to down" So when she starting the herding, I firmly told her to down. She did, and that was the end of it for the night. No more herding the rest of the evening. Brilliant! A communication breakthrough. Now whether or not it will last to the next session remains to be seen, but at least I've found an affective way of communicating with when she goes into herding dog mode.

I've started the process of joining this new club, TWANG. I'll start by stewarding at the Labor Day Trial. I think I'll just enter Moxie in jumpers that weekend, and spend the rest of the time just soaking it all in and learning the ropes.

I've also decided to bite the bullet and try to get Moxie her ILP (or rather PAL as they are now calling it) for AKC. I'll take some photos tomorrow and post them up here and let YOU decide which ones to send in, and whether I should try to pass her off as a Border Collie, or a Sheltie. I got one vote for each tonight. I need a tie breaker. I'm personally leaning towards Border Collie. I have never seen a sheltie Moxie's color, but I HAVE seen border collies overly speckled and frosted like Moxie. So I'm leaning towards Border Collie. I'll post the pics and let you weigh in.

In other news, I'm trying out for a game show this weekend. Fun, yes! Its a show sponsored by Meow Mix called "Think Like a Cat" and it pits 8 teams of cats and their owners against each other in a series of games, everything from a jeopardy style quiz game to a "how well do you know your cat" challenge. It sounds like tons of fun and the grand prize is a million dollars! And who couldn't use a million dollars! So anyway, tryouts in Dallas are this weekend and I'll be taking my sweet Sully and giving it a go. I figure, the worst thing that could happen is Sully freaks out, and we have to leave. But if he keeps his cool, we have a hollywood style screen test, a multiple choice cat quiz, and a taped interview to complete. I'm excited. Full details about the Game show and auditions can be found here.

Wish us luck!

Back in the saddle

Moxie and I have joined a new agility group. I'm even planning to go to a show on Labor day. I'm also entering an obedience trial in August. So after a hiatus from trialing that has spanned most of Moxie's life, we are going to get back into competition, just in time for her 9th birthday.

I'm nervous. She's happy. I'm thinking ASCA is my new favorite venue. She has GOT to learn to work away from me though. Any help with that? Anyone? The dog is fast. She was impressing some hard core agility folk last week with her speed and enthusiasm. Also, she WILL work distance for someone else, not me though. Too much of a mommas girl. I know she can do it. She would be kicking butt and taking names if she had a better handler. The lesson I am quickly learning is that agility is just as much a test of the handlers skill as it is of the dogs agility. I'm just better at a slower pace. Thats why we clean up in obedience.

I'd love to go to a rally trial this summer while I'm off. I'm starting grad school in the fall. I registered for classes today, so this is my last free summer for a while. I'd love to finish her Rally 1 title. Thing is so few people offer APDT Rally. Its all AKC and AKC has this RIDICULOUS policy about no crossbreeds in their sporting events.

Sorry about the ramble. Maybe some pictures of her working tonight. Or a video? I don't have a class buddy to do these things for me.