The American Kennel Club Government Relations group tracks activity by the US Congress in matters of importance to dog owners. One of the bills being considered during the current lame duck session is:
H.R.5434 – This legislation, known as the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act, would require all breeders who breed and sell more than 50 puppies in a 12-month period to be regulated under USDA dog dealer regulations. Requirements would include obtaining an annual USDA license, maintaining minimum federal standards of care, and regular inspections at least biennially. It also would require that breeding dogs receive daily access to exercise that is sufficient to maintain normal muscle tone and mass, the ability to achieve a running stride, and is not a forced activity. The AKC has expressed a number of concerns with the measure and will keep owners and breeders up to date on any changes in the bill’s status. S.3424 has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry. H.R. 5434 is assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture. No hearings have been scheduled for either bill.
---
This bill is in response to the "puppy mills" that have gained notoriety through assorted media sources. It is surely a well meaning attempt to save unfortunate puppies that suffer through the shocking neglect by a minority of large scale breeders.
As is usually the case in adding federal standards and regulations, this will put many kind and honest smaller scale breeders out of business due to the extra expenses to comply. Consider: How much does this license cost? And who do you think pays for the inspection? The breeder. Then the breeder must charge more for his puppies. And if he can't sell the overpriced puppies?
Government is micromanaging banks, motor vehicles, insurance, food, medicines and now dog breeding?! How many industries are going to stagger at the brink of extinction before we realize that just because a law appears to do good doesn't make it a good idea?
for more information: http://www.akc.org/enewsletter/taking_command/2010/november/nation.cfm
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Tail of Two Surgeries, Part 3
Two years later, everything is just peachy. Then one morning Lester is acting worried. Was this just that quirky Chihuahua behavior we have come to expect from him? No, this was different and brought on a horrible case of deja vu. Yes, sometimes you just know something bad is going to happen- again. A little while later Lester is arching his back like he is in pain. Then his front legs got that jerky out of control look. His legs and body went out of sync.
Off we go to Commerce and the Animal Neurology and MRI Center. Dr. Galle is on duty. As he shakes my hand he remarks that I look familiar. Then it dawns on him and he says, sorry this happened to you again. Some ten percent of disc cases reoccur. The luck of Lester!
The MRI confirms that it's a disc herniation. This time it's at C3-4, right next door to the last disc misadventure.
Lester's recovery was quicker this time. Old dogs and new tricks? Dr Galle said Lester was trying to get up on his front legs as he was coming out of his anesthetic stupor. A few days later, Lester walked out of there.
*****
Heartfelt Thanks to Dr. Galle and the wonderful staff at Animal Neurology.
http://www.animalneurology.com/
Off we go to Commerce and the Animal Neurology and MRI Center. Dr. Galle is on duty. As he shakes my hand he remarks that I look familiar. Then it dawns on him and he says, sorry this happened to you again. Some ten percent of disc cases reoccur. The luck of Lester!
The MRI confirms that it's a disc herniation. This time it's at C3-4, right next door to the last disc misadventure.
Lester's recovery was quicker this time. Old dogs and new tricks? Dr Galle said Lester was trying to get up on his front legs as he was coming out of his anesthetic stupor. A few days later, Lester walked out of there.
*****
Heartfelt Thanks to Dr. Galle and the wonderful staff at Animal Neurology.
http://www.animalneurology.com/
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tail of Two Surgeries, Part 2
Turns out, Lester had a pain in the neck. All those times, when he flinched upon being touched on his neck or shoulder, we put it down to nervous Chihuahua behavior. Maybe the poor guy has had a sore neck for years. Under that fur coat was a bulging disc laying against, agitating delicate nerve endings. That would make just about anybody act like a nervous Chihuahua.
Here's the thing about spinal discs- they are like jelly doughnuts. The outside of the doughnut is attached to the disc bones. Running along side of the row of doughnut stuffed discs is the spinal cord. Sometimes the jelly oozes out of a doughnut and bumps up against the spinal cord. Pain occurs. Infringement of motion occurs. This is what happened to Lester.
The surgeon goes in and removes the disc material (doughnut jelly) taking the pressure off of the spinal cord. The cushion (outside of the doughnut) is still there. Now the discs aren't clanging against each other, there is just less buoyancy in the material between the discs then before the insides of the doughnut squirted out.
The incision was, interestingly, on the front of Lester's neck. With his hair shaved and that long scar running down his neck he would have looked pretty bad ass if he wasn't wearing a diaper.
Lester was treated at Animal Neurology & MRI Center in Commerce, MI.
http://www.animalneurology.com/
Here's the thing about spinal discs- they are like jelly doughnuts. The outside of the doughnut is attached to the disc bones. Running along side of the row of doughnut stuffed discs is the spinal cord. Sometimes the jelly oozes out of a doughnut and bumps up against the spinal cord. Pain occurs. Infringement of motion occurs. This is what happened to Lester.
The surgeon goes in and removes the disc material (doughnut jelly) taking the pressure off of the spinal cord. The cushion (outside of the doughnut) is still there. Now the discs aren't clanging against each other, there is just less buoyancy in the material between the discs then before the insides of the doughnut squirted out.
The incision was, interestingly, on the front of Lester's neck. With his hair shaved and that long scar running down his neck he would have looked pretty bad ass if he wasn't wearing a diaper.
The first two weeks post op, Lester was on bed rest. For a dog, this means confined to his crate. Lester was allowed out of his crate only to relieve himself. For that event, he needed help standing up. So he wore his seat belt harness. The loop on top of the harness, designed to attach to a vehicle's seat belt, worked dandy for Lester's toilette. A pretty pink scarf looped through the harness loop for the human helper to hold on to and Lester had stability to stand and "go".
Trouble is, Lester didn't always go while in this rig. Thus the diaper.
At our vet visit two weeks after surgery, Lester's staples were removed. What ever happened to stitches? No matter. Though one envisions an office claw style staple remover, the vet tech whipped out what looked more like heavy duty cuticle scissors.
The vet examined Lester and said because he has feeling in his limbs and is able to stand, albeit with a precarious sway, most likely he would in time return to full motion. We were to simply allow Lester to practice walking and get his balance back. "It's OK if he falls," Dr. Galle told me. That's when I knew Lester would be fine. That one sentence broke through my protective maternal mind, that Lester is not so fragile and oh so not helpless. I had to let him walk and let him fall.
Indeed, as soon as we got home, Lester staggered around our backyard, his muscles waking with each jerky step.
Lester was treated at Animal Neurology & MRI Center in Commerce, MI.
http://www.animalneurology.com/
Monday, November 1, 2010
A Tail of Two Surgeries, Part 1
Lester is probably a Chihuahua. He's not one of those four pound apple heads you see at the Dog Show though. Lester is more of the street smart Taco Bell style of Chihuahua. You might say he picked me out. Some years ago, my husband and I set out to add to our pack. Dennis envisioned a goofy fun loving lab mix. He found one. But she grew up to be a terrier mix.
Anyway, while Dennis and his faux lab mix were eyeing each other, a small tan green-eyed little hoodlum stared me down. Thus we added to our pack with two puppies rather than one. (Our older dog gave us dirty looks for months.)
After eleven years of joyful togetherness we discovered, darn the luck, Lester has what you might call wimpy discs. It was an ordinary weekday. Dennis and I were dressing for work and noticed that Lester was walking funny. He was wobbling, having trouble keeping his balance. He yelped. Then his legs didn't work at all.
Off to the vet we go. She referred us to a veterinary neurology specialist. The availability of specialists is relatively new to small animal veterinary medicine. When I was a kid we had a Snoodle named Marsha. One morning her hind legs didn't work anymore. The vet said maybe she'll get better but probably not. We kept her quiet and hoped she'd heal. Every time we had to move her she bit us because of the pain she was in. Marsha's story does not end well. But in the thirty-five or so years since Marsha's disc tragedy, veterinarians have brought the MRI and surgery to the mainstream.
Thus, Lester is alive and walking today.
Anyway, while Dennis and his faux lab mix were eyeing each other, a small tan green-eyed little hoodlum stared me down. Thus we added to our pack with two puppies rather than one. (Our older dog gave us dirty looks for months.)
After eleven years of joyful togetherness we discovered, darn the luck, Lester has what you might call wimpy discs. It was an ordinary weekday. Dennis and I were dressing for work and noticed that Lester was walking funny. He was wobbling, having trouble keeping his balance. He yelped. Then his legs didn't work at all.
Off to the vet we go. She referred us to a veterinary neurology specialist. The availability of specialists is relatively new to small animal veterinary medicine. When I was a kid we had a Snoodle named Marsha. One morning her hind legs didn't work anymore. The vet said maybe she'll get better but probably not. We kept her quiet and hoped she'd heal. Every time we had to move her she bit us because of the pain she was in. Marsha's story does not end well. But in the thirty-five or so years since Marsha's disc tragedy, veterinarians have brought the MRI and surgery to the mainstream.
Thus, Lester is alive and walking today.
October was Surgery Month
At least it seemed that way to me. My dog, Lester underwent ruptured disc repair two weeks ago and just last week, my mother underwent heart surgery.
So, yesterday I'm visiting Mom in the Intensive Care Unit. As hospital rooms go, this one was pretty nice. The TV was on but happily, the sound was off. The beep beep of the heart monitor is enough ambient sound for any one room.
A man wearing a lab coat appears saying he is Dr. So and so and was referred here but doesn't know why. Talk about confidence inspiring. He's a "stomach doctor" he says and opens a binder with about four inches of paper in it. He flips some pages and says again that he doesn't know why he is there.
He looks at my mother and says, "so you've had surgery? Heart surgery?"
Now, my mother is lying there with the incision on her chest partially showing above her gown. She is clutching a red valentine heart shaped pillow with a picture of a human heart on it. I almost laughed but the horror of it all smothered that impulse pretty quickly.
Then stomach doctor asks my mother if she has nausea. She says yes. Well, stomach doctor says, you have had surgery so nausea is quite likely. How old are you? My mother tells him. The woman is so doped up, I'm impressed she can remember her age. Then I glance at her arm which bears a hospital bracelet. Her age is listed right under her name. You gotta believe that somewhere in that four inches of referral information stomach doctor is looking at, the patent's age is mentioned.
Dr Stomach asks what surgery did you have? My mother says they repaired a valve and did a bi pass. What valve? Mom doesn't know. Stomach doctor chides her- you should know these things! His eyes meet mine accusingly. I shrug. The kindly nurse who has been hovering all the while says she doesn't know which valve it was either! One assumes the surgeon was savvy to which valve a couple days ago when he opened up my mother's chest.
Meanwhile my mother is fighting to stay awake to undergo further questioning by the hapless stomach doctor. The helpful nurse flitters in waving a piece of paper and exclaims, it was the Mitral valve! OK says Dr. Stomach, you'll be nauseated for a while, that's normal. He leaves.
I say to my mother, "nice bedside manner, eh?"
"I don't know," says Mom, "I thought he was kind of cute."
This was my cue to leave and let the patient sleep.
So, yesterday I'm visiting Mom in the Intensive Care Unit. As hospital rooms go, this one was pretty nice. The TV was on but happily, the sound was off. The beep beep of the heart monitor is enough ambient sound for any one room.
A man wearing a lab coat appears saying he is Dr. So and so and was referred here but doesn't know why. Talk about confidence inspiring. He's a "stomach doctor" he says and opens a binder with about four inches of paper in it. He flips some pages and says again that he doesn't know why he is there.
He looks at my mother and says, "so you've had surgery? Heart surgery?"
Now, my mother is lying there with the incision on her chest partially showing above her gown. She is clutching a red valentine heart shaped pillow with a picture of a human heart on it. I almost laughed but the horror of it all smothered that impulse pretty quickly.
Then stomach doctor asks my mother if she has nausea. She says yes. Well, stomach doctor says, you have had surgery so nausea is quite likely. How old are you? My mother tells him. The woman is so doped up, I'm impressed she can remember her age. Then I glance at her arm which bears a hospital bracelet. Her age is listed right under her name. You gotta believe that somewhere in that four inches of referral information stomach doctor is looking at, the patent's age is mentioned.
Dr Stomach asks what surgery did you have? My mother says they repaired a valve and did a bi pass. What valve? Mom doesn't know. Stomach doctor chides her- you should know these things! His eyes meet mine accusingly. I shrug. The kindly nurse who has been hovering all the while says she doesn't know which valve it was either! One assumes the surgeon was savvy to which valve a couple days ago when he opened up my mother's chest.
Meanwhile my mother is fighting to stay awake to undergo further questioning by the hapless stomach doctor. The helpful nurse flitters in waving a piece of paper and exclaims, it was the Mitral valve! OK says Dr. Stomach, you'll be nauseated for a while, that's normal. He leaves.
I say to my mother, "nice bedside manner, eh?"
"I don't know," says Mom, "I thought he was kind of cute."
This was my cue to leave and let the patient sleep.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Book Review
Dialogues with Dogs by Bruce Fogle
copyright 2006
The book feels like a condensed version of some of his other books. There is very little new information and it comes across as a half hearted effort. The illustrations are OK but are more distracting than entertaining.
Skip this book and read Fogle's "The Dog's Mind". (1990) The dog's brain is discussed including explanations of hormones, early learning and maturity.
Dr. Fogle combines his years as a veterinarian with scientific studies to help the reader understand the goings on in the dog's mind. Behaviors such as aggression and phobias are explained . The information is presented fully yet is easily understood by even the least scientifically inclined.
copyright 2006
The book feels like a condensed version of some of his other books. There is very little new information and it comes across as a half hearted effort. The illustrations are OK but are more distracting than entertaining.
Skip this book and read Fogle's "The Dog's Mind". (1990) The dog's brain is discussed including explanations of hormones, early learning and maturity.
Dr. Fogle combines his years as a veterinarian with scientific studies to help the reader understand the goings on in the dog's mind. Behaviors such as aggression and phobias are explained . The information is presented fully yet is easily understood by even the least scientifically inclined.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Bo, lead us!
American Thinker article : Obama fails as 'pack leader' says dog expert
by David Paulin
President Obama's approval rating is at a record-low among Americans - yet he remains popular abroad and at the United Nations. What accounts for this perception gap? Obama is popular abroad because he is weak -- and so is America under his leadership, noted the London Telegraph.
More evidence that Obama is a pushover is now being provided from an unlikely source -- the first family's dog "Bo." Recently, dog expert Cesar Millan of the "Dog Whisperer" TV show observed that Obama has failed to assert himself as a "pack leader" with Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog. Millan pointed out that when Obama walks Bo on a leash, it's obvious that Bo is in charge because the dog walks in front of the president and leads him along. In other words, Bo is taking Obama for a walk - not the other way around.
The British press, no fan of Obama since the president removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the White House, is having a good time with this revelation. A headline in The Independent chortled: "Leader of a superpower, led by a dog called Bo."
Dogs, of course, have an uncanny ability to sense weakness, as anybody knows who owns a dog or grew up with dogs. Generally, dogs respect those who are firm yet fair. Dogs behave badly with family members -- children in particular -- who fail to assert themselves as pack leaders
--------------
An interesting article, but I'm not taking sides here. Wait, yes I am. I'm on Bo's side. I usually do side with the dog. Alright then, Cesar Millan has noticed that President Obama walks behind Bo when they are walking.
Millan is right about many things regarding training/handling dogs. For instance, give a dog lots of exercise he is likely to stay out of mischief. The old "tired dog is a good dog" theory has a leg to stand on, if you will forgive the phrase.
Dogs are designed to move, much like people, squirrels and small mouth bass. When deprived of activity they become antsy. Whether the antsiness expresses itself with a bouncing leg while seated or pacing across the floor, it's a body that wants to, has to, move. Thus, walking is beneficial for man and beast and presumably for assorted creatures inhabiting air and water.
Returning to the matter of Bo on the leash. Millan asserts that in order to maintain order in the man/dog relationship, man must lead, dog must follow. True. Someone must be in charge and it ought not be the dog. (Coming soon to this blog: When We let Dogs Lead We invite Anarchy!).
So according to Millan, while walking with your dog on a leash the dog must remain behind you, or at least not in front of you. That's fine when you are walking in the dog show ring at the confirmation competition. Or when walking down a crowded street, it is courteous and safer to keep the dog at heel. But in real life; most of the time walking your dog, such uptight restraint is unnecessary and so not fun.
The average leash is six feet long. Normal people let their dog have that room to walk comfortably beside them with slack to stop and sniff interesting stuff or to lift a leg. After all, it's a walk, not a parade.
Whether Barack Obama is a good leader is not something I will comment on at this time, other than to say that our President's relationship with his dog Bo is not a significant factor.
by David Paulin
President Obama's approval rating is at a record-low among Americans - yet he remains popular abroad and at the United Nations. What accounts for this perception gap? Obama is popular abroad because he is weak -- and so is America under his leadership, noted the London Telegraph.
More evidence that Obama is a pushover is now being provided from an unlikely source -- the first family's dog "Bo." Recently, dog expert Cesar Millan of the "Dog Whisperer" TV show observed that Obama has failed to assert himself as a "pack leader" with Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog. Millan pointed out that when Obama walks Bo on a leash, it's obvious that Bo is in charge because the dog walks in front of the president and leads him along. In other words, Bo is taking Obama for a walk - not the other way around.
The British press, no fan of Obama since the president removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the White House, is having a good time with this revelation. A headline in The Independent chortled: "Leader of a superpower, led by a dog called Bo."
Dogs, of course, have an uncanny ability to sense weakness, as anybody knows who owns a dog or grew up with dogs. Generally, dogs respect those who are firm yet fair. Dogs behave badly with family members -- children in particular -- who fail to assert themselves as pack leaders
--------------
An interesting article, but I'm not taking sides here. Wait, yes I am. I'm on Bo's side. I usually do side with the dog. Alright then, Cesar Millan has noticed that President Obama walks behind Bo when they are walking.
Millan is right about many things regarding training/handling dogs. For instance, give a dog lots of exercise he is likely to stay out of mischief. The old "tired dog is a good dog" theory has a leg to stand on, if you will forgive the phrase.
Dogs are designed to move, much like people, squirrels and small mouth bass. When deprived of activity they become antsy. Whether the antsiness expresses itself with a bouncing leg while seated or pacing across the floor, it's a body that wants to, has to, move. Thus, walking is beneficial for man and beast and presumably for assorted creatures inhabiting air and water.
Returning to the matter of Bo on the leash. Millan asserts that in order to maintain order in the man/dog relationship, man must lead, dog must follow. True. Someone must be in charge and it ought not be the dog. (Coming soon to this blog: When We let Dogs Lead We invite Anarchy!).
So according to Millan, while walking with your dog on a leash the dog must remain behind you, or at least not in front of you. That's fine when you are walking in the dog show ring at the confirmation competition. Or when walking down a crowded street, it is courteous and safer to keep the dog at heel. But in real life; most of the time walking your dog, such uptight restraint is unnecessary and so not fun.
The average leash is six feet long. Normal people let their dog have that room to walk comfortably beside them with slack to stop and sniff interesting stuff or to lift a leg. After all, it's a walk, not a parade.
Whether Barack Obama is a good leader is not something I will comment on at this time, other than to say that our President's relationship with his dog Bo is not a significant factor.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
recipe: doggie pan cookies
This recipe is so easy and sensible you will ask yourself why the heck you would ever buy dog cookies!
Ingredients
-a couple tablespoons of fat (drain it off the ground beef or chicken or whatever you made for your own main course)
- 1 egg
-2 cups whole wheat flour
-1 cup all purpose flour
-handful of left over or shredded vegetables
-enough water to mix to brownie consistency
mix thoroughly
spray some Pam on two 8 or 9 inch cake pans, fill each pan about half way with batter
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
for crisper cookies- leave the pans in the oven after turning it off
once cooled, cut or break into bite size pieces
refrigerate for optimal freshness
Ingredients
-a couple tablespoons of fat (drain it off the ground beef or chicken or whatever you made for your own main course)
- 1 egg
-2 cups whole wheat flour
-1 cup all purpose flour
-handful of left over or shredded vegetables
-enough water to mix to brownie consistency
mix thoroughly
spray some Pam on two 8 or 9 inch cake pans, fill each pan about half way with batter
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
for crisper cookies- leave the pans in the oven after turning it off
once cooled, cut or break into bite size pieces
refrigerate for optimal freshness
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)