Another Day in Pupperdise

Esmeralda and Honeybear are complete polar opposites; they compliment each other perfectly.  Ezzie is more of our wild child and Bear is totally mellow.  While Ezzie paces the house, looking for whoknowswhat, Bear is content to just lay around and take in the scenery.  Ezzie is the dog that plays rough, chases the ball, and keeps everyone on their toes.  Bear approaches with caution, snuggles, and is always looking to see approval.  The best part is that in spite of the differences, they love to be with each other.

Snuggling.

Eating a bully stick. (Bear doesn't even seem to mind that Ezzie likes to "trade" sticks when hers is just about gone!  He looks at her like she's the best thing since chopped liver. 

Checking out things in the grass.

Eww!!  Disgusting things in the grass!

They are both so patient with little kids.  They never, ever tire of playing with their girl... They follow M and her friends everywhere!

I can relate; she is pretty cute.

Bear thinks so too. He loves to cuddle with M on the couch. 

  And he even tolerates being asked to pose for a picture!!

And tomorrow.....Next session of Puppy Kindergarten begins.  Yay!

La Vidal Loca

Ezzie has had a busy weekend! A trip to the dog park.







A dip in a friend's swimming pool.










Back to the dog park.








We met met a really big dog named Justice at the dog park. He is really sweet, and so gentle!








I found the most adorable little stuffed animal on Amazon.









Ezzie's heart worm medication came. It's my first experience with online pet medication.






I decided to go with Interceptor rather than Heartguard. Ezzie is potentially a carrier of the MDR1 genetic mutation. It's a gene that is shared by many of the herding breeds, including Australian Shepherds. The long and the short is that a dog with the mutation is susceptible to having severe reactions to certain drugs, including Ivermectin, a drug found in small doses in some heart worm medications.

The amount found in heart worm medications apparently isn't enough to trigger a reaction, but I want to remain aware of the issue and avoid any medications that could even remotely cause problems. More information can be found here: Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute

Ezzie had her weekend bath and she's tired and ready for bed. It's a lot of work herding all those big dogs at the park.

Awesome Aussie book and medical misadventure!

I recently picked up an online copy of the Australian Shepherd Lover's Guide to Australian Shepherd Training and Care. It's my very favorite Aussie book already. The pictures alone are make the book worth it's affordable $17 price. They are reader submitted by Aussie lovers that follow the Australian Shepherd Lover's blog.  The book is thorough, informative, and entertaining. I particularly like the suggested games and activities. We are always looking for something new to keep our girl busy!

http://www.australian-shepherd-lovers.com/

Click Here to purchase

This weekend while grooming Ezzie and giving her a puppy massage, I found a marble sized lump behind her right hind leg. Of course, I immediately went into panic mode. Visions of unmentionable diseases immediately came to mind. Google brought up some scary crazy stuff was initially not very helpful. (User error, no doubt). Fatty lipoma (cancerous!?) seemed to most closely match the mass. I left a message for Ezzie's breeder, Cassie, hoping there was some logical explanation. I'm not very patient when it comes to things like things like this (our pediatrician can attest to the same), so I continued Internet research...And contemplated the possibility of life flighting Ezzie to the canine equivalent of the Mayo Clinic.

Cassie emailed me back a very short time later, ironically, about the same time I had stumbled onto a site about minor reaction to rabies shots. Oh. My. Gosh! Of course!  By the way, have I mentioned lately how cool it is that Ezzie's breeder is also a vet? It's right up there with M's first daycare provider being a nurse married to a physician's assistant. Way better than stumbling around exotic diseases on Google. It seems that it's very common for pups to develop a little reaction around the rabies injection site.  No worries, all is well is Ezzieland.

** I'd like to say I won't jump to conclusions in the future, but if the frequency in which we see the pediatrician is an indicator, I'm not making any promises. Better to be safe than sorry!

In other news, Ezzie loves, loves, loves the dog park! I was a little hesitant to start taking here there because I'm concerned about aggressive dogs (or irresponsible owners), but the excursions have gone well.  Worries aside, all the other dogs, and more importantly, their owners, have been very well behaved. Here's a picture of Ezzie taking a water break (and letting all the pups know that it's HER bowl!)

New snack discovery: Peanut butter bone marrow Popsicle. Yum! Ezzie loves it when we freeze a little peanut butter in the ends!

Puppy Pet Toy Review

1.       Dawn detergent cup – very durable, lightweight and seemingly defies the laws of gravity when being chased, makes a hollow sound as it’s ricocheting off the floor.  Bonus points for putting kitty on high alert.   

2.       Skull candy headphones – nice and rubbery, thin, colorful, easy to grind with teeth.  Bonus points for having two wires, one leading to each ear bud.  Triple points for transforming into two toys with one quick nibble.   Penalty for being a one-time use toy. 

3.       Apple iPhone UBS cord – pleasant texture, adequate length for proper jaw grip, but misleading because although identified as produce, citrus flavor is absent.   

4.       LG cell phone charger cord – not nearly as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as an Apple cord, nor as appealing to the palate.   Discovered and discarded almost immediately. 

5.       All toys with labels that indicate “for dogs” -  Boring, boring, boring. 

6.       All toys with labels that indicate “for cats”  - Moderately amusing.  Interest increases if kitty expresses a desire to play with said toy. 

Wet dog!