Dog cookies, Iditarod and other things

In an effort to ensure our and our dogs' diets are more healthy, we've been pretty busy around here.  So far we have baked up eight dozen dog cookies (frugally, they are half the cost of store bought and we know what is and isn't in them), 40lbs of homecooked dog food, 10lbs of chicken jerky, 5lbs of dried fruits, planted 22 sweatpea plants and have a dozen tomatoes almost ready to plant.  I also have two dozen carrot clusters ready to plant in a week or so.  Of the things, we probably still have about 3lbs chicken jerky, no fruit, two dozen cookies because we baked more last night, and 10lbs of homecooked dog food.  The plants are doing well, and my orchard is beginning to bud.  Of the 9 fruit trees I've planted, 7 are still looking good, so I'm hoping we might actually get a couple of fruits this year.  Spreading diatomaceous earth and planting natural deterrants around the orchard for wild animals, so hopefully the fruit will last long enough to harvest.

Been trying to get the dogs out at least every other day for walks, and spending at least an hour a day in the dog yard playing and running with them besides them being able to spend the rest of the days and nights in the house if they so please.  My bond with the pack is stronger than ever and it is fun and amazing to be a part of their social interaction.  They never cease to amaze me with their devotion and loving natures.

Ghost is growing by the day and his adult coat is almost in.  He has the most beautiful pattern, and it accents his lines well.  He is going to be one striking boy!

Bandit has been doing well, and we hope he will continue to do well now that we know exactly what level of medication he has to be at.  So though we are busy with spring planting, cleaning and repairs, at least we are not in a state of emergency.

On the mushing front, I have been very happy to follow the Iditarod with an insider package.  Just wish I had more time to use it.  However, today has been very riviting, and I hope to watch the live finish in just a few hours.  Aliy has given Dallas Seavy a run for his money, but unless he has a mishap, it looks like Dallas will take the win.  It is still a running game between Aliy and Ramey Smythe for second though, but she's staying a constant mileage ahead of him.  This has been one of the most exciting races in years!

Puppy Love

Ghost has been doing very well with us, and has quickly become a beloved member of the pack.  Each of the dogs have taken turns playing with him and making him feel welcome.  He has two surrogate moms, Moony and Ace.  Both girls dote on him as if he were their own. 

Lately he and Princess have become playmates, and she plays with him quite a bit.  I even caught him playing with Samantha and even Demon.  Yukon will play by running at him with his roar then jump over him as he cowers.  He'll also let Ghost chase him around.  Bandit and Ghost play constantly, and we have to keep an eye on them as Bandit sometimes doesn't know when to stop (meds impair his judgement).  Bucky too will get a little rough, but generally backs off when Ghost whines.

This morning (March 9) Ghost outgrew his puppy pen, he learned how to jump out of it.  Since he was big enough to get out on his own, we figured it was time he was allowed to go in and out on his own.  This morning I took down the pen. 

He is growing so fast!  He is becoming a beautiful dark gray along his back, but his neck is light white still with a line of gray on either side of it up to the top of his head around his mask.  He is getting to be one gorgeous boy!

Bandit and Ghost

Monday night the 20th, Bandit seemed to be clingy and have 'auras' where he would appear to be in ictal with no noticed seizure.  I began to worry and watch him very carefully.

Tuesday evening the 21st Bandit began having a cluster seizure event.  It started around 6:30pm.  He experienced head shaking, progressing in to stiffness and paddling and loss of bladder control.  The whole episode lasted about 30 seconds and his post ictal was a little less than a minute.  We gave him an extra 60mg pheno, and some Ice Cream to help cool his core temperature and give him back some calories (each GM is like running a marathon).  He came out of ictal, but was exhibiting strong 'auras' like being in half ictal much like the first cluster event, and I knew we were going to be in for a long night, but hoped we could keep it under control.

He had another seizure at 9:40, so we gave him the 2ml of valium we had on hand, some ice cream, and he made it another 4 hours before he had another seizure. 

At 1:30 am he started the head shaking and chomping.  I administered what is referred to as Occular Compression (the idea is to press lightly inward on the eyes which have a very direct connection to the brain in order to spark perhaps an instinctive avoidance reaction enough to bring a dog out of the nerve storm caused by the seizure).  This seemed to work and stopped his progression from head shaking (normally he goes stiff then starts paddling, loses bladder, then reverts in to post ictal) and brought him directly back instead of ictal.  We gave him ice cream again, and 1cc of the 250mg Kbr.

At 2:45 he had a GM while standing!  This was very unusual, as Bandit normally has them from sleeping.  Administered Occular Compression, but this time did not seem to help although he came out of the GM and post ictal very quickly.  We decided to wait and see if the 250mg Kbr would make a difference so decided we wouldn't take him to emergency unless he had another GM.
 
At 4:10am he had another GM while standing.  I administered Occular Compression, and he came out of the stiffness and did not go in to paddling.  There was no post ictal.  We decided to rush him to the emergency vet, so packed him up, and I held on to him and held his attention for the hour trip down.

We arrived shortly after 5am at BVS, and thankfully the Dr that watched over Bandit last time and knew his history was there.  He's an internal med specialist, so was very knowledgeable and very interested in Bandit's condition.  They put in a catheter and administered 10mg of valium.

At 6am Bandit had another GM while standing, I was unable to bring him out of it using OC, and the Dr seemed interested in my effort to try to bring him out of it.  The GM progressed from head shaking, chomping, stiffness, paddling and loss of bladder.  I held him down while the Vet tech administered 10mg valium into the catheter they had put in his left foreleg.

Bandit was back on his feet in less than 10 mins, and acted as if he needed to go out, so I took him for a walk outside, and at 6:49 he began seizing in the parking lot!  I administered OC while pulling him desperately towards the clinic and pleading with him to come out of it and not seize in the parking lot!  He came out of it, and I rushed him back inside.

At 7:05 he had another full GM where OC did not work.  During ictal he pood out some very nasty smelling poo, not his normal smell.  They administered another 10mg of valium, and we packed him up to go to our normal vet.

At 1030 Bandit had another GM at the normal vet's office, but they did not observe any other incidents, and told us we could pick him up in the afternoon.  At 16:30 we picked him up and brought him home, though he was still exhibiting strong auras

At 1908 he had another seizure, OC did not help, but GM was mild and ictal was very short.  We gave him the Valium we had on hand (10mg), but he was still exhibiting auras.

Sure enough at 2109 he had another GM, so we rushed him back to the ER vet and left him in their care (we were both exhausted and needed sleep)

Bandit had another seizure at 2am according to the ER vet, but that was apparently the last one they witnessed.  We picked him up around 10am, but he was still exhibiting auras, and I was afraid we would have to take him back again.  By 2pm he appeared to have a petit mal, lots of suspicious eye activity and appeared to be ictal, but I called his name and scratched his ears and he came out of it.  By 4pm his auras began to fade and I started hoping we had seen the last of the S monster for now.  I fed him 1.5 cups of moistened kibble, waited 4 hours and fed him another 1.5 cups of moistened kibble to help re-hydrate him and get some calories in to him.  He had a minor spit up around 11am, and still had the shakes, but they gradually faded.

By Friday morning he was back to his cheeful self and was full of play.

Due to the expense and worry over Bandit, we decided not to attend the Kalkaska Winterfest.

Happenings

Thursday night the 2nd, I took several pics of G'kar, knowing it was the last night we would have with him.

Poor old man tried to turn around and couldn't stay standing.  I remember him as a young pup, so full of life with laughing eyes.  So much has passed since then.  The twelve years we lived in North Carolina, he grew up a southern husky.  We used to call him 'Iron Gut' to honor the day he stole a whole pan of brownies off the counter and ate them all with no noticeable side effects besides a slightly softer stool than normal.  G'kar loved bread, and we always had to hide it in the fridge or inside cupboards, because if we left it out, he would eat it, even a whole loaf still unopened in the wrapper.  Still, he was a very healthy and fit dog, agile as a cat, and could jump like nobody's business.  To his credit, though he could jump the 6' fence, he never did.  He much rather stay by us at our home, and accompany me on many walks rather than take excursions on his own.  But no fence or barrier would ever come between him and me. 

He jumped boxes, tore up crates, soared over baby gates, tore down wood doors to be at my side.  He was my shadow in more ways than one.  He was always at my side even though he was supposed to be my husband's dog.  He slept by my bed, followed me anytime I left the room, and pined for me while I was away at work.  When I would come home he would greet me at the door with "herrrrooow!"  If he could talk, he would have, and tried to on many occasions.  He was my buddy through thick and thin, and I miss him terribly.

Jim went out and bought him a 12oz sirloin, and I heated it in the toaster oven to 180 degrees, chopped it in to bite size pieces and fed him.  He happily gobbled down the gormet offering, and let me hug him and pet him for a while.  When I let him go, he resumed his awful pain-filled pacing, his eyes glazing over again.  We gave him a full dog-aspirin, and got him to lay down after it began to take effect.  He fell immediately asleep.

At 10am I carried a distressed G'kar out to the truck.  A cranky and fussy old man to the last, not happy with the undignified means of transport, but he was in so much pain all he could do was fuss.  When I got in beside him, he did not want to sit still, but as he tried to move around in the back of our expedition, he was unable to keep to his feet.  Each time he lost control of his back legs, he screamed in agony, and I couldn't help the tears.  It tore at my very soul to feel his agony.  I managed to get him to kind of stay on the seat beside me so I could hold up his back end and relieve some of his pain.  But the corners were unkind to him, and each time he lost his footing he would scream, not a howl or yip, but a true scream.  If there was any way I could have spared him the agony kindly, I would have.  I longed for the vet we had in NC who would have come to the house, but we have no such luxury here.  Our vet here has been wonderful, don't get me wrong, and they have been very good with our pack, but they are daytime only and too many clients for housecalls.  At least they were able to fit us in with their busy schedule, and for that I was grateful.

The girls at the office were kind and sympathetic, they've known G'kar for the three years we have been here and they remarked how much he changed over the last six months since they'd seen him.  It was apparent he didn't recognize any of them, or even where he was.  The journey had taken the last out of him.  We said our goodbyes, and I lifted him on to the waiting blanket.  I stroked his head as I cried and let him know I loved him as he quickly and peacefully succumbed to the euthanizing drug.  Just as we had the responsibility to care for him in his life, we had the responsibility to ensure a peaceful ending to his suffering. 

I do believe that animals have souls, and maybe it was my imagination, or maybe it was real, but on my way home, I felt a cold touch on the side of my face.  The touch of an ethereal husky tongue, and a warm feeling came over me as if his spirit came to me and thanked me for letting him go.  At that moment, I was at peace, and began to remember the good times.  He was a wonderful dog, companion, shadow, fuzzy kid, and I had no regrets except that his life was shorter than mine.

As if the stress I was feeling was contagious, during the night at about 1:30am Sunday night/Monday morning, Bandit had his first seizure in 7 months. It was a full grand mal. It was mild, considering the GM's he had in July, with only minor head shaking progressing in to stiff arching, paddling, and teeth chomping for less than 30 seconds. Ictal was a short 2 minutes. Ice cream administered and rescue remedy after I found it. We immediately gave him an extra 60mg Pheno pill and watched him carefully. At least this ...answered the question regarding the cause of his seizures. Though the jerky treats may have been reponsible for the onset of the seizures, it is now obvious they are not responsible for his continued condition. This also answers the question of whether or not exercise has been a trigger. I had been sick the past week so had not taken them out running.

Bandit may have had another seizure Tuesday morning, but unfortunately he was outside and I found him near a wet spot that looked like it might have been his saliva.  Other than that, there were no signs and I could not be sure he actually had one, but with his medication level back up, he hasn't had a problem since.  Though we may never get all of the old Bandit back, I am thankful we have a small bit of him back.  He has become more loving and less of the drunk and disorderly overgrown 4 month old puppy.  He and the new puppy Ghost are becoming pals.

Sunday the 12th, I finally felt well enough to take the team back out for some much needed exercise.  Princess did not want to turn around when I asked Freya to come around.  This resulted in a bit of a battle of wills and a lot of untangling, but I finally managed to get her to realize that she wouldn't get any fish unless she went back to the house.  When she got it, we were hell bent for leather back towards the house. 

Bandit's Meds and New Additions

For a while now we have been holding our breath and praying that Bandit will never again experience the horrible cluster episode that took his memory from us.  Seven months he was seizure free, and in our happiness and need to have answers, we thought to test the theory that his epilepsy was a result of the much vilified chicken jerky treats.  Each seizure he had ever experienced has been 12 hours following eating more than one of the things, so we were almost certain the onset of his condition was caused by these vile poisonous things. (See FDA warnings regarding chicken jerky treats for pets)

So we began to reduce his meds cautiously and watch for changes.  Ever since his July cluster episode and subsequent increase of meds, Bandit has acted like a drunk and disorderly dog after his morning meds.  He jumps on and plays with all the dogs in the house regardless of whether or not they want to play.  It is hard to say no to the biggest dog in the house, and at 80 pounds, Bandit normally gets his way or the victim finds someplace to hide.

Starting in the first week of January, I reduced his Kbr from 2cc to 1.5 cc and left his pb dosage at 90mg in the morning and at night.  After only two weeks Bandit began to act more normal, and some of his old self came back.  For the first time in seven months, he crawled in to my lap for a cuddle, and I almost cried I was so happy.  Before the cluster episode he used to do this at least once a day.  So, as the third week in January rolled around, a nasty bout of the Flu went through our house, but I had to take Bandit to the vet to get his bloodwork done.  I had also finally managed to convince Jim to purchase a show line husky pup!  Despite the raging fever, I was eager to talk to Bandit's vet about further reducing his meds and to pick up our new addition to Team Wyrd!

The vet was enthusiastic that we wanted to try to reduce his meds and gave us the go ahead after Bandit's bloodwork came back in good standing.  Instead of reducing by 30mg a day, though, I was encouraged to take him down by 60 mg a day, so he would have 60mg pb in the morning and evening, and 1.5cc of kbr in the morning.  Happy and optimistic I headed over to Shadetree Siberians to pick up Shadetree's Ghost in the Machine "Ghost", a very beautiful boy with incredible conformation, engaging bi-eyes and gorgeous markings with the pedigree to match his great looks.  Ghost will be training up and showing this coming spring.

It took all of 30 minutes to integrate him in to the pack, all of our dogs were thrilled to have a new puppy around, especially Moony.  From the moment she saw Ghost, she decided that he would be her puppy.

Ghost quickly made his way into our hearts, and is a very fast learner.  From the first day he was good about going potty outside as long as he was taken outside when he first began to sniff for a place to go.  As the week passed, he became good at pawing at the back gate to go outside when he needed to relieve himself.  He also was quick to learn how to work the dog door and how to navigate the porch stairs.

Life in team Wyrd was good except that G'kar was very visibly aging, especially since the beginning of January.  By Wednesday his arthritis was hurting him so bad, he began falling and losing control.  He would scream pitifully for help, and I would lift him up on his four legs.  Wednesday night he slept only a coupld of hours, pacing most of the time.  Thursday our vet office was closed, and we watched G'kar's condition deteriorate rapidly and debated whether or not to take him to the emergency vet.  By afternoon it was plain that there wouldn't be much they could do to relieve his suffering, only prolong it.  His arthritis had progressed too far, an unfortunate side effect of aging.  By Thursday evening we had made the decision to let him pass, so Jim picked him out a steak and I heated it enough to kill the bacteria and fed him his last supper.

Run Free Old Man! Be Old No Longer!

It is never easy to say goodbye, even when you see it coming. Friday Feb 3rd 2012 we bid a member of our family goodbye and I held him as he sighed in relief and slowly lowered his head. 15 years he has been a member of our family, from being the 'slayer puppy' to the sled dog, to the stately elder, to the fragile old man. It was a very difficult goodbye and with much love.

Snow Fun!

Friday it finally snowed enough that I could actually slide the sled runners over the ground with one hand on the handlebar, so I was over-excited to get a chance to hook up the dogs for some real sled-dog action!  Discretion being the greater part of valor, though, I decided that three dogs would be enough to pull the sled, but not too much to get out of hand.  Freya would be great in single lead with Bandit (powerhouse) and Yukon (all around great wheeldog) in wheel.  Little did I realize that I was planning my very own snow bath. 

Remember that I train on the mountain roads normally?  Well my dogs didn't care that I was now hooked to a sled that was hooked to them, and meant to go down the meadow of my sideyard in a big loop, around the back in a big loop and back to the house.  Simple?  You would think that was a simple plan, however, Freya wasn't in on this plan.  For her, harnesses mean go down the road! 

As soon as I released the snub, Freya made a beeline for the road even though we were pointed down the hill.  This yanked the brushbow sharply left, put the sled and I on a sharp right leaning incline, and this is where I realized that the handlebar would not hold me upright.  To do all those e-mentors proud, I did not for once let go of the handlebar!  Despite the snow in my face and packing in around the collar of my coat, I held on as if my life depended on it, and it very well might have if Freya managed to drag all of us up onto the road.  Fortunately my deadweight and the weight of a sled on its side and the friction produced thereof was enough to stop 3 dogs, but not until after a lot of frantic 'Whoa's!' and 'Gee Freya!  Gee!  GeeeEEEEE!'

Showered and cleaned up from Friday, I was ready Saturday, or so I thought.  I'll put Freya and Moony together, they need some run time as a team.  No one told Freya, and she decided to play hard to get.  Princess on the otherhand was whining and jumping, touching her nose to mine (quite a feat considering she barely touches my nose with hers while I'm standing straight up) to let me know that she didn't get to go Friday and absolutely would hate me if she didn't get to go Saturday morning.  Bucky too was rather insistant, telling me he was not happy being left out Friday. 

Knowing I was going to regret it, but visions of my success running Princess and Freya on the bike trails bolstered my confidence.  Princess had done very well listening to commands and did great on turns, so I hoped she would be able to show Moony the right way to go.  So with Princess and Moony in lead and Bucky and Yukon in wheel, we... took a sharp left and headed for the road!....

Same incline, same patch of snow scrubbed from the ground, only this time, I had a line running from me to the snubline, so even though the handlebar twisted from my grip, I still had the dogs pulling on me.  I dug my heels into the tufts of grass sticking out of the snow and strained to keep from being dragged onto the pavement long enough to have James come and lead the dogs back down the hill.  Unfortunately, James didn't know to keep the gangline taught and walk the dogs in a circle.  Instead, he turned them back on eachother so by the time he got the dogs facing downhill they were in a hopeless tangled ball.  Quite a feat for just 4 dogs.

So I had James stand on the brake and drag while I untangled the tugs and ganglines, but as soon as I turned back to the sled, they turned for the road.  "GEE Princess!  GEE!"  Oh why do I bother?

Another twenty minutes and Jim stood on the brake while I turned the dogs downhill and started to lead them through the field with Jim on the runners.  When Princess finally got it that we wanted to run on the grass, she took off with JIM on the runners!  "Hang on to the handlebar no matter what!" I yelled after him.  He made it about 200 yards, the best run yet!  A low-hanging branch was his undoing.  I'll give him credit, though, he didn't let go!  I ran after him and grabbed the sled, righted it and stood on the brake while I made sure he was still alive.  Princess was screaming to go now that she got it, and I couldn't hold them for long.  I let them go and they made it the rest of the way to the bridge when I tried to get her to turn left. 

Now that the road was in front of her, she didn't want to go left.  It took a lot of coaxing and James to finally get her to turn around back on the meadow where we finally got going all the way back.... to the house... 'Haw!  Princess, Haw!"  I might as well have been yelling to myself, either that or Princess only heard 'Fish!  Princess, Fish!'

With a bruised and battered crew of humans, but a happy crew of dogs, we trundled back in to the house to feed the dogs their fish snacks and unharness them.

A short time later I caught Bandit in Jim's new chair: