The Dog Watch

Sadie in a bad patch

Few things are sadder than a sad dog. All of my empathy cells vibrate to the sight and sound of a dog in pain. 

Sadie, my girl's dog who lives with me when she is out of town, has been having issues since mid-March. The tiny little thing is doing much better now than she was, probably no longer in pain, but not back to her vigorous self.  She has been having some kind of muscular-skeletal issue, probably caused by pinched nerves in her neck. At her worst, she could barely walk, and the pain caused non-stop shaking. There was a fairly quick onset of initial symptoms, followed by progressively more aggressive interventions with steriods and other medications. After each intervention, she got a bit better, then got even worse as soon as she started to feel better and moved around again. The one bright spot is that I was referred to a relatively new and close emergency-and-specialist vet practice that I really like. I have twice left there with a bill under $100!

Sadie in her living room cell (I mean kennel)

Now, we're on a long, slow, taper of steroids (and other meds) and her activity is strictly limited by me. She literally has a kennel in the middle of my living room, and another pen in the backyard. She gets time snuggling with me, often outdoors so her little nose gets stimulated, and a little leash walk each day. In an effort to keep her from jumping (and inevitably falling) I can't leave her loose in a room where she is used to jumping on the furniture. Blocking her in the kitchen while I'm there works as a change of pace from the living room kennel. She is used to being fed in her little spot in the living room, and the steroids are driving a big increase in appetite, so she willingly returns to it when she gets a chance. I have food puzzles for her, to give her a bit more
stimulation.

My two assistant cooks, drugged

Meanwhile, Bixby, my dog of roughly the same size, has been anxious since he first came to live with me. He is afraid of intruders at the house, and afraid of any people or dogs seen while out. Often times, his fear turns into barking fiercely and non-stop. At its worst he goes into what I call "Rumpelstiltskin mode" where I think he will burst out of his own skin, turning circles and unable to stop himself, showing the whites of his eyes and trembling. Other times, he goes into "autobark" where he just keeps barking, without any outside stimulus to keep him going - not so frantic, but again, in a loop, unable to stop himself. We've been working with a trainer on counter conditioning for over a year. Sadly, his "trigger point" where he gets hyper-activated has been very high, and so my alternative positive association (ie, physical comfort and/or treats) fails to catch his attention. While of course I find the barking annoying and sometimes embarrassing, I have been more concerned about his quality of life - it can't be comfortable to feel under threat all the time, to feel that hyper-vigilance is your only possible mode of survival. 

So now I've got Bixby on anti-anxiety meds. The plan is to lower his trigger points and overall anxiety level, during which time I'll intensively work on counter-conditioning (trying to change his response to a stimulus.) After two weeks, he is sleeping more, (peering anxiously out the window less) and has only had a couple of melt-downs into full Rumpelstiltskin mode in the house. I can usually calm him quickly by touching him. On walks, I'm still avoiding as best I can other dogs. Sadly, the drugs seem to have put him off his appetite, and so treats are less effective on walks. I've taken away his food bowl, and he has to work for all his food, which helps. But sometimes, he doesn't even get excited about a kong filled with frozen canned dog food. I will probably seek more advice, and consult with the vet on the meds.

Daily med administration

I've got a full blown dog-medication station in my kitchen, for the twice-a-day administration to each dog. Multiple pills have to be sliced into tiny pieces for tiny dogs, and stuffed into a soft pill pocket. Sadie gets five different meds, different morning and night, with a quarter of a tylenol tablet added if she is having a bad patch. Bixby gets two meds, at least they are the same morning and night. I have a routine turned into almost autopilot, designed to minimize the possibility of getting these multiple drugs for each dog wrong. I'm hoping this is temporary for both dogs, but each of them is having a better time now than a month or so ago, at least.

Five Things for 2023

Snapped right after a new color in the hair.
Also shows the hips, as big as ever!

The month is nearly over, but I'm finally getting around to sharing some of my notions for 2023. I like to use milestones to take stock and think about changes, whether or not they fit the mold of "resolutions", and whether or not you are doing it at year end. So here I am. New hair and all.

I am very influenced in how I'm doing these things by Gretchen Rubin and her podcast, "Happier". For several years, she and her sister have been promoting ways to think about what you want to accomplish and tools to get that done. So some of this is borrowed.

There is not a word about weight here. I've tied with the highest weight of my life. I can't say I don't truly care, but it is not my focus right now. What is my focus is getting stronger and getting out there and doing things.

1. Word of the year
   Funny, this word just came to me yesterday. I'd been mulling it over, various iterations of how to describe being more active in a single word that would resonate. Maybe because it's movie season, it finally clicked: "ACTION!". Less sitting on the couch planning to do things, more actually doing them.
   
   
2. Outside 23 for 23
   This is pure Happier podcast. For several years, they have been promoting a specific action to be done for a certain amount of time every day for the year. They did things like "walk 20 minutes in 2020". This year, it's be outside for 23 minutes every day in 2023.  There are so many benefits to being outside, proven often. And, one is more likely to do things outside if you are trying to be outside anyway.
   
   The only rule to participate is there are no rules - just do something that is meaningful to you. So passing between house, car and stores can count if you want it to. I had a very low energy day where I sat in the sunshine in back wrapped in blankets watching Bixby. Definitely counts.
   
   I have to confess that despite the lax rules, by any construction I have failed at this three times already this year. Each of these was a nasty cold day with solid rain and wind. Still, I think I can do better. I do have a covered front porch - I could swaddle in blankets and sit out there. Even better, I have rain gear, and it works.
   
   
3. Minimum Baseline
   This is an idea I got from a running coach. She used in the context of "every run feels like crap as you start". And so the idea is to get out there and tell yourself there is an absolute minimum you can do no matter what - even if it's just put on the running clothes and jog 100 yards. In my case, it's not about running goals, but overall activity for the day. I've tracked my daily steps for more than a decade. For the past several years, in addition to looking at monthly average steps,  I've looked at the metric of how many days had fewer than 5,000 steps. If you look at my previous report card post, you will see that December had 15 days where I walked fewer than 5,000 steps! That is an all time high! An all time low for sluglike days! Without an office to go to, and with fewer and shorter dog walks in the works (see below) I do have to work at 5,000 steps. But it is ridiculous to be that inactive. I do need to walk my feisty little dog. In addition, while I did succeed in getting rid of my treadmill (yay!) I still have my little trampoline. That gives me about 1,000 steps for every 10 minutes of bouncing. Bouncing is definitely a workout - generally gets the heart rate up higher than just strolling. That is my backup if it's a nasty day where neither the dog nor I want to go out.
   
   So I've only had one day so far this year where I fell below 5,000 steps in a day. I think what happened is that it was a nasty day, I was thinking I'd get a chance to bounce my way to the finish line, but then I discovered I had to be on the phone or zoom from 5 pm to 9 pm. When I finished with talking to people, I was 2,000 steps short of the goal and not prepared to work that hard for at least 20 minutes instead of going to bed.
   
   But having been caught up once, now I'm alert to this. I can manage my time better and make sure this particular trap doesn't catch me again.
   
   
4. Bixby Training
   Bixby is the snuggliest dog in the world, for me. But he is very barky. He lives in a high state of arousal, which is not good for him nor for me. He can get into a barking frenzy, and he moves into Rumpelstiltskin mode where I think he will simply explode if he doesn't stop.  (He appears to have a very solid bite inhibition so I don't think there is any danger, but it's a lot of barking and lunging.) I am working on training him out of this. I have known general approaches to this for years, but I've decided to really buckle down and work on this right now. Very specifically right now, I'm working on the leash reactivity, rather than a big focus on the home barking. My trainer recommended to pick one where I can be consistent and focused. I decided that right now, it's more important to me to be able to take him on walks than to calm him down in the house.  During this time, it's better to avoid ever getting him over the reactivity threshold when we're out on the leash, so it's close to home, with a full pouch of very high value treats, and a close eye on what is going on around us. I believe I'm making progress with him. Today, I took him down into the park (at 7 am!) for the first time in a while. I was able to keep him calm the whole time despite seeing some dogs from a bit of distance, but he was very near the threshold when we got home. But, progress!
   
   So I also am striving for a Bixby minimum baseline, on leash and off our property for at least ten minutes every day. More short sessions is better than long ones like today's more than 30 minute walk.
   
   
5. Have Adventures!
   I love staying home and reading about other people's adventures. But when I get out there and do something different than usual, I love it. My threshold for "adventure" is very low. A trip I took to a resort/shopping development in January for a couple of hours counts. Hiking in new places count. Participating with a bunch of strangers in an usual performance art activity will count, too, if it comes together. Actual objective adventure also counts!
   

Social Media

I'm posting less and less on Facebook, in a trend that started quite a while ago, though I check it usually twice a day. The bulk of my posts are re-posts of someone else's stuff. Some friends are on Facebook often, some more distant friends are there often enough for me to want to scan and see what's up. I belong to many interest groups and I am entertained and informed by what I see there. For example, I've got some Aerogarden hydroponic systems for growing lettuce and herbs, and I've found helpful tips and always someone to answer questions in a dedicated group there.

Whatever happened to Tumblr? I know my girl still has a couple of blogs she occasionally will post on, but with no where near the tempo she used to. I set up several Tumblr blogs, because they were so easy to post from the phone. The usual format was always at least one picture, and not very many words. I had done one for Rocky, the Very Hungry Labrador. After he was gone this summer, I sent the whole blog into an actual book. It's an amazing account recorded as it happened of all he ate during the eight years I had him, and I'm glad to have it. Because I had a blog dedicated to him, it was very easy to get into book format. I was thinking I wanted something similar for Bixby, but decided to go with a dedicated Instagram account.

I love this moody photo! I think this is why
I decided Bixby needed his own account.

I actually post much more often on Instagram and fewer of them are cross-posted to Facebook. What I post on the 'gram are photos I have taken with a very short caption - re-posting someone else's stuff is actually difficult, not like Facebook. I follow mostly different people on Instagram than Facebook - including celebrities, which I don't follow or like on Facebook. I like fashion and lifestyle posts. The company recently have made it easier to set up multiple accounts. It used to be you needed a separate email for each Instagram account, but now it can be on one email, and switching between them is just a couple of taps on the phone. Commentary says Instagram has also redefined itself subtly as an app for content consumption rather than creation. The multiple accounts feature is pushed in app as a way to separate and organize who you follow, not how you post. For example, have one to follow your closest friends and another for celebrities. 

The way I have the 'gram set up right now is one account for me, and one for Bixby (@bixby.sato). I switched my account to "private" (I have to approve anyone who wants to follow) and blocked anyone I didn't actually know who had opted to follow me. Bixby's account is "public". I switched the many dogs I follow to Bixby's account, which has cleared my feed up a little. Most posts from Bixby get tagged with something like "rescuedogsofinstagram" so others may see those posts. I'm allowing anyone to follow - we're up to seven followers!  One of my main motivations for Bixby's separate account is because it will be possible to pull from a single Instagram account into the layout software to do an actual book someday. But I was amused, about a week after I set up Bixby's account and was really into the dog-related hashtags, to get a message telling me I could set up a deal to be an influencer. (Or for Bixby to be an influencer!) Not my cup of tea, not why I'm doing this, but amusing none-the-less.

Still not a daily twitter user. I go there when something is happening, and when I've exhausted other social media and for some reason need to keep scrolling. I follow different people there, and it's sometimes fun to see their take on things.

Not a Fan

From left: Captain Hook, Tinkerbelle, Peter Pan,
The Crocodile, and Wendy

I am not a fan of Halloween. I'm not opposed to it, of course. I liked seeing my kids and their friends dressed up when they were little. I've been known to hold a plastic hook and brandish a cutlass when pirates are needed. Pumpkin decorating can be fun. I'm glad the current state of pandemic caution says trick-or-treating is likely safe and so the kids who have missed so much can enjoy it. 

But I'm not a fan of horror books or movies or zombies or what looks like dead people all over people's lawns. Pumpkins left outside get smashed or eaten by deer or squirrels. Most of the candy is poor quality, but I've been known to eat it anyway. Bah humbug!

Now, I'm holed up in my basement bunker with all of the outside and upstairs lights turned off. It's very quiet; I'm just reading. I have a dog that goes berserk - like Rumpelstiltskin about to explode with fury - when someone comes to the door. I figured it was better to hide both of us than to leave him furious and scared all night. I did leave a bowl of M&M packets on the front porch, if anyone ventures up in the dark. It'll be interesting to see if any of it is there in the morning.

EEEK! Imagine how I jumped (and the dog too) when the door to the next room here in the basement started moving with something knocking against it just now! Turns out the robot vacuum cleaner is on its appointed rounds. Hopefully we can settle back in to the book for a while.

Homemade Dog Toy

 I heard about this from someone in our (zoom) dog training class. I dropped treats down through the tubes (with Bixby watching) and set it down. It took seconds for him to get the idea. We did it repeatedly. 

Watch Bixby:

Link if can’t see:

https://youtu.be/giLDWYbsclw

Imagine Rocky with this! He had the drive, but no finesse. He would have just eaten the whole thing, box and tubes and all! Only one go-round before having to replace it all!

Dog Walks

After I retired, and continuing through the pandemic, I got in the habit of driving downtown on Sundays for a sunrise walk. I don't do it often, and until this last week I hadn't done it since acquiring Bixby. In fact, my last time was the morning of the day I acquired Bixby, in December of last year.

Having a dog to walk with was one of my main goals in getting another dog, but Bixby has been challenging to get to the point where I was comfortable walking with him far from home, or far at all. The problem is he is a scaredy-dog, afraid of all people and dogs he doesn't know. This turns into barking and lunging at potential dangers. I've worked hard with him, under the guidance of a trainer, to counter-condition him. Instead of "stranger-danger" I'm trying to condition him to "strangers=treats!".  Now, most days, around the neighborhood, we can walk around people, and with a sufficient physical distance, can even pass other dogs. It seems like after some time, or after a surprise close encounter, his anxiety tank is full to overflowing, and he's like a two year old having a temper tantrum, unable to control himself at all. The trick is to prevent his tank from filling up. When I see him approaching the limit, the only solution to prevent a melt-down is to pick him up and hold him, oriented so he can't see the approaching danger, and move away from it. I've acquired a shoulder bag that can act like a baby sling, holding him close while still having at least one hand free. I use that also for rest breaks - he is, after all, a very small dog.

So last Sunday we did a sunrise tour of the monuments. It was perfect weather, and I (at least) had a great time. We parked literally at sunrise by the Smithsonian, and spent about an hour and a half total walking and sniffing, accumulating 3.5 miles. At first, there were very few people and no dogs. By the time we were done, after nine o'clock, the mall was getting crowded. But in the whole time, he never had a meltdown. I'm not sure Bixby had a great time, because he was on high alert so much. But he has serious FOMO so I'm sure it was better than leaving him behind.

In the sling - my arms aren't long enough for a good view

Rocky

Rocky, Rockyrockyrocky, Rachmaninoff. My sweet Hufflepuff of a dog, true of heart, even of temper, focused on his objective. You will be missed. 

He came to me with heartworm disease, and spent 30 long days confined to his crate during treatment. But he beat it, and became my constant companion.

I believe dogs have a strong work ethic and need to know they have a job. Rocky actually found two jobs: being with me, and foraging for food. His misspent youth as a stray had apparently led to a vow of never going hungry again, and he had a very broad definition of what could be food. A full stomach was what he wanted, and his foraging led to not only constant attacks on my kitchen garbage, but several near-death experiences involving socks, his own food supply, a knit hat swallowed whole (retrieved by the vet the way it went in, and I still wear it), and a mango pit that wedged into his intestine, requiring surgical removal. I won't add up the cumulative cost of his medical bills, but it was not trivial. He was christened "The Very Hungry Labrador" by my girl, and he had his very own tumblr blog celebrating his exploits. As his adventures in eating became more and more life threatening, I found them less amusing and the blog tapered off.

Being my companion was also a very strong motivator. He didn't need constant attention, he just wanted to be within reach. Just in case I wanted to pet him, or maybe give him a treat. When he could get on the couch, we would snuggle and share the space. Whatever room I was in, he wanted to be there, following and getting as close as he could. But for the last year, he couldn't manage the hop off the floor to the couch. 

In the garbage

He also loved walks together, so he could forage in the wild while keeping me company. After several incidents involving socks and dishcloths (how do those end up on the road?) I bought a cage muzzle for him, to save him from himself. I said to all the neighbors, "he's not vicious, he's voracious!". When the pandemic hit, I realized he was a pioneer in outdoor mask wearing, and he was cited as an example for several children.

The pandemic was good for Rocky. He loved having me around all the time. But over the last year, walks got shorter and shorter, and for the last three months, he didn't leave the yard. Rocky lost eyesight, hearing, and control over his back legs. He had a syndrome that affects old Labradors, that led to respiratory distress. Still, last month, I left the kitchen gate open and he was in the garbage in minutes. But when I got back from vacation this week, he was gasping. I quickly decided it was time.

I had gotten contact information for a couple of at-home veterinary services (that do euthanasia) a few months ago, when I saw the writing on the wall. They had a very quick response - they would have come the same day I called, but instead I scheduled it for the following (Friday) morning. I invited my girl and BIL to join me, and they came over early in the morning to be with us. In fact, my BIL made a special trip over the last evening to have more time to say goodbye. I was touched. 

We assembled on the dog bed outside in the back patio, site of many a long nap. Bixby, the little drama queen, was confined to his crate at the far end of the house because Bixby thinks everything is about him. Rocky's last meal was watermelon, peanut butter, and a can of cat food my girl brought him. He was hugged and petted as he went to sleep. My tears mostly waited until I was alone. That afternoon I had to explain to the eye doctor why my eyes were so red.

I'm so glad I have Bixby, because the house seems almost empty without my good big boy. They were not friends, but they tolerated each other and were company for each other. Now Bixby gets to follow me from room to room, and get pets with both hands, instead of one hand for each dog.

I miss him and I loved him. But there is an element of relief in what I feel now, and guilt for feeling the relief. He had lost control of his sphincter muscle and I've been cleaning dog poop constantly. (Big dogs, big poops, even when they start to lose appetite.) I have gates everywhere, and each trash basket is behind a fortress to protect it. The walls will start to come down. I've taken the huge crate out of my TV room, cleaned the rug, and rearranged the furniture. And, for the first time in years, I've put toilet paper in my bathroom on the spindle in the holder, rather than up and out of his reach. He loved to eat the paper like it was corn on the cob off the roll. So I had to hide it from him. The things we do for our beloved animals!

I'm sad, but I have no doubts I did the right thing.

Happy Easter! and, What I Did Saturday

 So much more hopeful than last year. And a beautiful day, for much of the country. I have Jordan almonds for my celebration.

Yesterday, colder than today, but severe clear sunny. And I took advantage:

 Bixby's first sail! He wasn't seasick, hooray! He mostly wanted to be on my lap, and both he and I got cold. Because while there are moments of activity, a lot of sailing can be sitting around, and when the sail hid the sun and the wind was blowing dusty, it was cold!  But both my boat partner and I are fully vaccinated, so no masks needed! 

This was actually our second sail of the season, the first was on the equinox. No wind, but all the work of un-winterizing done. Didn't bring any dogs for that, too much hauling heavy stuff around to be avoiding little guys underfoot.

More adventures to come.

New Buddy!

Meet Bixby, newest family member!

I had been going back and forth on whether to add a dog to my household. Rocky is old and failing. He is my guy, and I love him. But I wanted a more portable and vigorous dog, to come with me on my adventures. A dog that could hike and sail and maybe even kayak. But one that would fit with Rocky, not replace him.

All three of my dogs in my adult life have been from shelters and rescues. Rosie, sweet and sad, from Chicago Humane Society. Abbey, fierce and funny, from Washington Animal Rescue League. And Rocky, The Very Hungry Labrador, from Lab Rescue. I seriously considered going to a breeder this time, because each of these dogs had issues and I wanted an easy dog. One who could come with me places, that didn't require reorganizing my house and worrying about visitors. But late night browsing on Pet Finder (perhaps inspired a bit by friends and family members who have recently acquired cats) made me want to go ahead now.

I heard about a local small rescue that brings up a half-dozen or so dogs a month from Puerto Rico. I browsed their website, and they seemed to have mostly smaller dogs that would fit my criteria. While they had interesting dogs on their website, I went ahead and filled out a general application and paid the $15 fee. The very next morning I got a reply, and had a conversation with Moira, the one-woman show. She got what I was looking for. Just a few days later, she suggested this tiny but beautiful dog, two years old, an owner surrender instead of a street dog. She brought him by the next afternoon (we met in my fenced yard, masked up) and I decided to go for it. She had a spare crate in the car (I didn't buy anything in advance, wanted the right sizes) and just left him with me! Suddenly, I had a new member of the family, just like that!

So three days in, we're settling down. He is not fully house-trained yet, so I have to be hyper-vigilant about taking him outside. And it's been cold, and he is really not used to it (and smaller dogs have a worse time in the cold anyway). He's great on the leash, but even with a coat he starts shivering after a block. It'll warm up some this week, and I hope to venture further. 

Rocky ignores him, but is asking for extra pets, and of course he is hyper-aware of treats going in another direction. Later today we're going to introduce Bixby to Sadie, my girl's fierce little dog. They are roughly the same size, and Sadie and Rocky ignore each other. I'm hoping Sadie and Bixby will be friends, because they both could use a place to work off some energy. 

So the adventure continues!