Trixie

[Shamas mom]

74.5lbs today

That's up from 72.3 late last month, when I took her to ER for eating foreign objects. I'm not sure at this point if she's getting physically bigger, or if she's filling out now. But she's blown right off the female GSD growth chart. I checked the King shepherd chart- she's underweight. But for her breed composition, she's dead on, and still has a good 5-10lb to go?

Now I'm not concerned with comparisons to other dogs...more with getting an idea of how big of a dog I'm dealing with. That King shepherd puts in a twist. I went to that farm for a shephard. She was advertised as Shepherd/retreiver. I was expecting a pretty girl, who'd top out at 70lbs

LOL

I keep getting asked how old he is, because she's male-sized People peg her at her age, but wrong gender.

Today's visit had her Microchipped, Lyme vacc, Interceptor, and general checkup. She's still got dry skin...vet wants to check for parasites again. She's always had dry skin.

 

[Shamas mom]

Today had another $600 in tests. Thursday's bloodwork showed Trixie has Lyme desease. Wish I'd known that before spending $75 on the Vaccination!

WE're now checking for certain proteins, to decide on next move.

Since she's asymtomattic, we're not jumping right to antibiotics...

I put in two invoices today to Trupanion...totalling $1,211.39. In three days this dog cost me my mortgage.....

I am hoping to get back about $150. And 90% of anything I spend on this condition from here on out.

 

[Shamas mom]

well, we got approved for $488.

This essentially covers the deductible. This means that the testing from here on out, and further treatment is covered.

Good news- no proteins were found in blood or urine. So we retest in 6 months. As long as she's asymptomatic, we will continue to retest every 6m, and watch for lameness or other signs of arthritis onset

 

[Shamas mom]

Well, due to Trixie's growing fear of the vets....we got her switched to Dr Firth. He's wonderful with animals. He was Shamas' vet for years, until I moved him to a closer vet. My only problem with Dr Firth is the distance. It costs me $30 in cab fare each way, as he's right on the outskirts of the city. As in just leaving the city limits.

He says Trixie's problem is confidence. I need to work on her confidence. Which means continued exposure to new things, and plenty of re-enforcement as we teach her how we WANT her to react. I had to pause classes due to this round being run during my work hours. Hoping that soon they will run another Sunday class

 

[JES72]

Today had another $600 in tests. Thursday's bloodwork showed Trixie has Lyme desease. Wish I'd known that before spending $75 on the Vaccination!

WE're now checking for certain proteins, to decide on next move.

Since she's asymtomattic, we're not jumping right to antibiotics...

I put in two invoices today to Trupanion...totalling $1,211.39. In three days this dog cost me my mortgage.....

I am hoping to get back about $150. And 90% of anything I spend on this condition from here on out.

So sorry to hear about the Lyme disease.

 

[Shamas mom]

Just got back from our first "camping trip"

I put it in quotation because it was only one night, and it rained the whole time lol. But it was a good training experience! Shamas could never be taken camping...it'd stress him out too much. He stayed with my dad for the weekend, and enjoyed bossing him around. He just sort of pushes in and makes it clear what he wants, and my dad lets him have it....he's a softy for old dogs


Meanwhile, Trixie was taught how to ignore the dog in the site next door even though she wants to go play with it. How to sleep in a tent. How to behave around fire. How to walk on a harness. How to respond to wildlife. Gophers are fun, but we are only allowed to watch, no chase! She got a special treat of sausage that fell off the fire too soon.

We did lunge at a couple of people after dark....need to work on some late night defensive behavior. Will chat with the trainer this afternoon on that one. I think the flashlights set her off on a one. Direct approach on another, and cane on the third. It's harder to read body language in the dark. And the city is never dark.

 

[Shamas mom]

Trixie has UTI with struvite

I don't think it was bothering her yet. I saw no symptoms. It was found during routine urinalysis. She's on Clavyseptim 1.5 pills twice/day. Because she's not a pig like Shamas(I say this in the fondest possible way-you should see him snuffle in my rug for leftover crumbs!), I have to give her 6 treats in quick succession to get her to take the pills...3 have 1/2 pills in, 3 don't. They come so fast she's got no time to chew.

The vet wants her on Hills C/D

On the dog front, we still can't walk past without a fuss. She just wants to go play! She can sit and watch....but is prone to fixating still. The trainer is giving us all sorts of management options...but they all require distraction, and she's not going for it. I'm working from a distance, as I did with Shamas.

We're putting a hold on obedience training and working instead on her temperament...trying to steady her a bit. She's friendly, but cautious with a low confidence. So we need lots of exposure at a distance to things that can make her flinch or get over-excited.

She's at her ideal weight of 70lbs

 

[Cath]

I hope Trixie is soon on the mend poor girl

 

[Stacia]

Sorry to read Trixie has a UTI with Struvite, is she predisposed to having crystals or just bad luck?

 

[JES72]

Well done and good luck with the training. I hope the UTI clears quickly, good that it was caught early.

 

[Shamas mom]

Sorry to read Trixie has a UTI with Struvite, is she predisposed to having crystals or just bad luck?

Honestly, this particular dog seems to have bad luck. Though I've not got much back from Trupanion so far, I'm VERY glad I started her on it right away...because I feel that Trixie is a dog that warrants pet insurance.

Some people have dogs that go through their whole lives and barely see the vet. Other dogs are in every other month. Trixie is the latter.

I'm not sure if we'll be able to afford to spay her soon, with all of the other medical bills she's incurring...that's being put off for now. She's run us more than the cost of the spay in the last few months. Not to mention training, at $135/session

 

[Shamas mom]

Second camping trip saw great socializaion progress.

Over the course of the weekend, though she didn't stop watching with interest, Trixie stopped trying to get to the other dogs. She did quit with the intense stare, reducing to a soft, interested look.

It became very clear to her that greetings are limited to when dogs come on our site, or we go on their site...so the only time she got over excited was at those times.

There was a high energy, super friendly little one named Penny who came on our site to visit, and I have such trouble maintaining Trixie that the walking leash and collar went on. That tie out cable and harness weren't cutting it to hold back a 70lb dog intent on greeting. Her good walking collar is the one by KONG with a handle at the throat. It's handy to put her at my hip if she gets unruly. I didn't want her pawing at, or stepping on, a dog half her size.
There was also a toy breed, who came to say hello. We were very cautious with that one, because I feared than Trixie could hurt it by pawing. she was allowed to sniff, but when she dropped to a play boy in response to it's yips we left.
We did a potluck with another campsite...there were 5dogs there. I kept Tixie close, as one is a bit like Shamas(sociable but with rules and no problem telling off the dog who broke them)

By the end of the weekend, over two seperate campgrounds, Trixie was probably exposed to a good 150 dogs at a distance...almost all acceptably behaved. The exceptions were mostly young hunting breed dogs, still clearly in training at the second grounds. And three intact males at the first one who marked and declared their site each time someone passed within 100 feet. (Glad we didn't have Shamas he'd have taken up the challenge issued by the young males)

We got to the second grounds early, so we went to the river, and let the dogs in. Trixie took to the water like a fish! I remember Shamas being nervous, and having to be taught to go in. But Trixie, we had to swap leashed with Toby and put her on the long line to give her room. She moves clean through the water, almost no splashing and ears dry

 

[Lisa]

Sounds like a good weekend! She’s making progress, well done!

 

[Shamas mom]

Now if we can just get her to calm down around the vets. She's so high strung there...any vet office. I had her tag along this morning on Shamas appointment. He had his second Librella shot, and we discussed his declining moblity, cognitive function, and eyesight.

Trixie likes his vet. She does NOT like his vet taking him away.

Then we swung over to her vet, to pick up the food for her UTI, and grab a sample for urinalysis. She did NOT appreciate the tech's attempts to get close, and in the end she had to go inside while I got the sample. No aggression or anything like that...just a hop-jump and everything about her said "AHHH! NO TOUCHY!" She's adorable in her refusal to be handled...but it's becoming clear we have separation anxiety.

Normally the vet staff goes ahead and takes the leash and does what they need to do....but today she dug in and refused to go to the back rooms.

I'd hate to have to go back to the old vet, who lets me in the room......his handling is the reason for her vet fear. Not that he's bad or mean... just forward, and not considerate of her concerns. Firth are force-free and I believe that given time she can settle with them

 

[Shamas mom]

Urine recheck showed the infection nearly gone. YAY!


Oh, and Shamas's second Librella shot turned a corner for sure! He's coming on walks, and walking like a normal dog(not with the wide hipped pain walk, but straight and tall) However, he's been wide stanced for a couple of years now, so he keeps losing his balance.

We all went for a pack walk this morning. I'm hoping to help him rebuild muscle with controlled exercise. We found a piece of architecture that is sort of a fountain...it's a metal cone, with gravel at bottom, and a fine mist spray. We got the dogs into the mist to cool off and Shamas decided he'd just chill for 5 minutes, happy as could be!

Then we hung out at the garden market for a bit, and the pack got lots of attention from people passing by. Plenty of comments on how well behaved they are.

And on the way back to the car, we were charged by a dog....I think he was intimidated by the pack approaching his people as they relaxed in the park....once he got up to us, he stood very stiff, surrounded by our dogs as they greeted him. We did not intervene...it was on a knife edge, ready to go either way. Better to let the dogs sort it out in this kind of situation......and hope not to HAVE to intervene. The three older dogs were sociable, but definitely a pack. This other dog was nervous, and playing it like he wasn't. Trixie went down submissive, then came up friendly....she was the first dog he reached, so she did the right thing there I think.
Thank goodness I was using the retractable lead and not a standard 6 foot...I can hardly imagine the tension I'd have sent down that line, being charged by a mastiff yelling "back away" and no sign of restraint on him! Much better that she reacted in her own way, without my moment of fear running down the line to send mixed messages.

 

[Shamas mom]

every once in a while I leave something tempting on a table, and settle in a nearby room where I can see if Trixie goes for it. Just to remind her that I can spot mischief lol.

Angel was such a fastsneak thief, and Trixie hasn't learned how fast dogs can steal yet. She's still at that cautious....maybe I can get this without getting caught......slow sneaky phase. It's a perfect time to convince her that I can see even from other rooms :0)

The other day, I caught her just as she dropped her haunches, in preparation to try for the kitchen counter. Today it was a box on the table

I just say "AH" and she spins like the kids with thei hand in the cookie jar. "Wha,,! Oh hi mom!"

 

[Shamas mom]

Seems the best commodity when swapping for stolen goods is Croutons.

Trixie will happily turn over even her prized shoes for a crouton. Finally! something of high enough value to bring her in for a trade, rather than having to engage her in a game of "Heeyyyy! Look what I got........BET YOU CAN'T GET IT BACK!"

Which usually ends in my shoes in two pieces......

She likes to steal soles. Specifically the rights.

So many jokes around here about the dog who steals our rights and our soles LOL

 

[Shamas mom]

Boy, this one REALLY likes her routines.

When I started the close shifts, she started screaming when I came home. Which I put down to me being late by about 4 hours. Took her a good month to settle down. That was my warning, there.

We settled into a morning routine where hubby gets up for work, lets Shamas out but leaves Trixie in with me for Cuddle Time until I'm ready to get up. Then I feed them, walk them, and get ready for work.

This morning I woke up at 7:17am(2h early), interrupting cuddle time. She cried at me and took me back to bed to fulfill my end of the routine. When I got up and showered, she paced back and forth to the door waiting for her walk, and hollering at me because I'd not picked up leashes. I had an appointment so I had to put it off till almost 11, when I got back. By the time I took her out, she was like a Thoroughbred! I actually had to use the Halti on her so she literally resembled a spirited horse!

 

[Shamas mom]

YEah, she's kind of a brat. This is what happens when one person in the house does training, and the others won't get on board. This is low-level what I was concerned about when they turned down the Retreiver I was looking at and we got the shepherd instead. This is why I insisted on training from Day 1.

She's not as bad as she could be. But she's definitely showing behaviors that I'd expect to be gone by now...and I'm gone 8hours/day 5 days/week. SO I have to rely on them to step up.....

 

[edzbird]

SO I have to rely on them to step up.....

Harder work than the pupper. I hope they are not undoing your work