Mindless Chatter - Wed

Well, the vet appointment of the century is over!  I had to bring a cart (like what people use to move multiple crates around at dog shows) because DH had to work and no way would I carry two cats, a dog, and the poop samples without making three trips.  I love my vets though.  Two cat exams, one dog exam, three cat vaccinations, three dog vaccinations, and two fecal floats for $127.  Three animals, in and out in 20 minutes.  I had the vet watch Coke walk and she said it's likely he is or will be dysplastic.  She said she could prove it either way if she took x-rays, but since it's not giving him pain or slowing him down at this point, there would be no treatment even if he has hip dysplasia.  So, I'll wait on that.  We weren't planning on doing agility with him anyway.  Maybe Phil could try APDT rally with him since I don't think he can ILP for AKC sports.

Bullymom glad you located your sister and she is ok. Hugs! I know this is hard for you. Good Luck! Liesje - I have experience with HD, hopefully you can easily manage it. I have heard great success stories with accupuncture and even laser therapy to strengthen the joint. If it comes to that and you need more information let me know. The laser was done here in MI. Speaking of HD my DH (using term loosely this time) was watching TV yesterday PM and had Teddi out of her crate. He was flanked by Goldens, Teddi on one side Max on the other. I get home from work, I am used to having dogs greet me as I get home but when I opened the door it was TEDDI!!!!! ARGH!!!! He wasn't paying attention and thought it was Max that got up to greet me. She was fine, fortunately if she had slipped the story could be different and I could be being arrested for killing my husband. :-) We went last night and bought a new mattress set. It will be delivered on Saturday. We currently have a soft side water bed. Taking it apart Sat AM will be fun.

Thanks, Ann.  I have no experience with it.  I just suspected it b/c it sounds like the most common problem in dog's of his size and poor breeding (shelter dog).  I should get some good shots and a video of him.  Basically, his topline is very butt-high.  His hips actually poke out on top, two little divets sticking up.  I asked the vet if that looked strange to her, because the only dog breed that I study the structure of is German Shepherds, who of course have a more unique topline and angulation of the rear.  She said it's probably also noticeable to me because he is a thin dog, he is young so he looks very tall and leggy, and his rear was shaved due to matting.  All of that exaggerates his poor rear assembly, lol.  But I also asked her to watch him walk.  His back legs are almost perfectly straight (again, I'm used to GSDs so I'm still not used to watching Coke walk) and he barely bends at the joints in his legs.  To me, his walking always looks poor, but he will run and play just fine.

Yay for the Training Levels - I'm hoping to start a coworker dog training group once my classes are up and running and we'll be using the levels.  Ziva is still on Level 1 because I'm a slacker and Maggie's technically at Level 2 because I wanted to start at the beginning and firm things up with her since Z arrived.  Are you on the tracker site or the yahoogroup?

Boo to HD - glad that it isn't really affecting Coke much though.  Just be sure to keep him in good condition with low impact exercise (swimming is great) so he has good muscling around the hips to support them!

I work too fast - I'm done with my long list of things to do I got at 5:45 last nite (I work from 9am to 6pm) and now I'm waiting to meet on some stuff related to the classes I'll be teaching in January before I can do much else. :(

 I second the boo to HD! Is it only Wednesday??? This week has been nuts...

Overall it wasn't a bad day.. Got a good dent done on the cleaning upstairs. We have a new roommate moving in with his two dogs so that will total 4 dogs and 2 cats living in this house as well as a steady stream of 4 to 5 dogs in the house visiting.. Lol. I really do live in a dog house. The roommate is thinking about buying this house and doing a bunch of fixups on the house and backyard. I'm not holding my breath but it'd be nice if it happened..