Halifax Pride Parade - 2011

The morning forecast indicated highs of at least 27 degrees celcius, with the humidex feeling like 34 degrees.  Based on this, I decided to leave Brosa home from the parade.

My friends that I participated in the parade with did bring their pups though.  Before the parade even started, the infamous Halifax fog rolled in and the temperature dropped.  It stayed that way the rest of the afternoon, and rained a bit too!

Brosa would have had a blast, but I always say, better safe than sorry!

Here are a couple of doggy photos from the parade.

NINJA, ROCKING THE HOT PINK

MS. DIVA, CHOUPETTE, ROCKING PINK SPARKLY LEOPARD PRINT, MADE BY TINYDOG TAILORS.  CHOUPETTE STOLE THE SHOW - THERE ARE GOING TO BE A BAJILLION PHOTOS OF HER ALL OVER THE INTERNET AFTER TODAY.

HALEY

COLBY

CHOUPETTE

HALEY AND COLBY

NINJA AND CHOUPETTE

Kyleigh's mini-photo shoot

Kyleigh is doing so well, that she may be listed soon, to get the word out there for good applicants.  It will still be some time before she's ready to go, as she'll need a full health assessment as well as her spay, but never to early to get the word out!

So tonight, I took a few minutes with the *good* camera, to snap some shots for her listing.  I think these turned out nice!

I WAS TRYING TO GET HER CLOSER TO THE FLOWERS, BUT THIS STILL TURNED OUT NICE

OOPS!  FORGOT TO WIPE THE EYE BOOGER!

Kyleigh Update

KYLEIGH - JULY 16, 2011

Kyleigh is doing wonderfully!  She is completely transitioned over to a much better food (Taste of the Wild - which is what I feed my crew) and loving it.

The tape worms appear to be a thing of the past.  I didn't see any again the day after I treated her with Drontal.  She'll be retreated again in a month, and then will have a fecal exam to make sure all is done.

She is still quite thin, but the worms have only just left her system a week ago.  The weight needs to come on slowly and safely.

It appears that some fur is beginning to show up on her bald patches - still hard to tell at the moment but again, with the worms gone and her diet improved, we should begin to see a difference.

I also believe she's getting ready to come into season - once that's behind her and she's at a good weight, she'll be spayed.

Kyleigh has gained a lot of confidence in the few short weeks she has been here.  She is a happy, exuberant love bug, and she's learning to play with toys (on her own, and tugging with Brosa).  She sits nicely and waits for her meals (meaning she will sit and wait after I've placed her bowl on the floor, until I give her the "okay").  She's so food motivated, which is going to be great for the training to come, but she'll also have to learn various commands will not always come with a food reward (right now, she sits for meals and treats, but not because I ask her to when empty-handed).  She's a smart girl so I know that will come in time.

KYLEIGH MAKES FRIENDS WITH TULIP ON SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2011

KYLEIGH HAS A SIESTA IN THE SHADE WHILE PLAYING WITH THE GANG ON SUNDAY

FUN IN THE SUN MAKES FOR VERY TIRED PUPPERS WHEN THEY COME INSIDE TO AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM!

Musher's Secret

BROSA AT LAST YEAR'S PRIDE PARADE

The annual Halifax Pride Parade is coming up this weekend, and once again, Brosa and I will attend.  Last year I opted not to march in the parade with him at the last moment simply because it was too darn hot!  In the photo above, we were in the shade on the grass during the parade.

So this year, we're going to attempt it again.  We've had a streak of very cool weather here in Nova Scotia lately, which ended last weekend.  The forecast is looking like mid to high 20s on Saturday, so we'll have to see.

Because of the hot weather, I am concerned about the hot pavement on Brosa's paws.  A little bit of internet research revealed that the same paw-protector wax used in the winter time to protect against snow/ice/salt, is also effective protection against hot pavement.  Never fear though - should Saturday arrive with too hot temperatures, I will likely bow out of the parade again, or at least, leave him at home in the air-conditioning.

I was directed to a local supplier, whose website appeared to carry Musher's Secret (this is the brand which came up most prominently in my research).  Dogs in Gear Canine Sports Supplier's Stephanie returned my message right away and would be able to supply me with a jar.

And small world - Stephanie already is familiar with this blog!  Thanks for coming out to meet us tonight Stephanie, and sorry again for the Turd's exuberant greetings with you and the paw prints he left behind. ;)

February 26, 1993 - July 16, 2011

I had to say goodbye to the beautiful Judah early this morning.

Ever since Oscar's passing on May 24th, Judah has been enjoying the freedom of the house (and even the yard), and in fact, seem to be getting physically stronger from all the walking and climbing he has been doing.  It surprised me that a boy who hasn't been able to jump over a baby gate in almost a year is suddenly clearing them, and jumping up on my very high bed at night.

As you may know, Judah has had a life-long enlarged heart and has been on medication (Enacard) since he was 4 years old.  At age 16, he was diagnosed hyper-thyroid and has also been on medication (Tapazole) to treat this.  And he bounced back from death's door at that time.

This week, around Tuesday, he started to rebel against taking his medication and then on Wednesday I noticed his breath smelled terrible.  It reminded me of the smell of infection.  Thursday I noticed he was getting wobbly again.  Friday morning he had worsened and then I made an appointment for a check up for him, knowing that I may very well be saying goodbye at the same time.  That appointment wasn't available until 9 a.m. this morning.

When I came home from work, he had worsened a lot.  He was meowing loudly, and his walking had deteriorated.  He wanted to be outside and I didn't see the harm in letting him go out one more time.  He tried to race down the stairs as he always does, and his body didn't cooperate - he flattened at the bottom of the steps.  He eventually walked around the deck to a narrow area beside the fence to lay there.  Not "normal" healthy cat behaviour.  I picked him up to cuddle him and brought him back in the house, and downstairs to his bed.

At bedtime around midnight, I couldn't find him in his room.  I could smell the litter though and found him in the crawl space under the stairs where the litter boxes are kept along with the water boiler and the central vac unit.  He had wedged himself into the furthest corner behind the water boiler.  This reminded me of an animal that goes away to die. :(  I had to remove the bottom of the central vac unit to reach him and pull him out.

After 15 minutes of cuddling with him on the bed, I made the decision that he couldn't suffer through the night until 9 this morning.  We drove to the Metro Animal Emergency Hospital - my sister met me there as she was in the area coming home from a night out.  After a quick check over, the decision was made.

Judah died peacefully at approximately 1:30 a.m. early this morning.

Despite the segregation he and Kayzee suffered the last 6.5 years at the paws of Oscar, he lived a long and relatively happy life.  18.5 years is quite extraordinary for this beautiful boy and his health conditions he had!

I can only hope that Kayzee won't suffer from this loss too badly.  She didn't come near us on the bed last night as she would normally do; I think animals are very intuitive that way.

Judah was such a people-cat.  He just wanted to be with everyone, all the time.  If I had a party and someone vacated their chair, he would jump up and claim it as his own, sitting there regally.  He tolerated the foster dogs over the years and didn't hesitate to box them to put them in their place.  He was just simply... awesome.

Rest in peace beautiful boy.  You really were the most wonderful cat that I've had the pleasure of having in my life. 

Introducing Kyleigh - a Foster Boxer

On June 23rd, after several days of discussion, I agreed to take on a foster Boxer (our first in over a year - Roxy, the deaf white Boxer, was our last foster after being adopted May 24, 2010).

Kyleigh is a special case (as most of my fosters have been).  She had been suffering from recurring outbreak of Demodex mange, and presented with a few other issues which point towards a possible permanent immune deficiency situation.  She went from breeder, to adopter, to another rehoming before that family decided they couldn't commit financially to her long term health.  We (Boxer Rescue Atlantic Canada) agreed to take her on and do our own assessment with our own vets to see if we could get her health in better shape.

On July 2nd, she was officially surrendered to me.  At almost 2 years old, she is smaller than Brosa is now, at 43.5 lbs (which is what Brosa's weight was this time last year when he was 1.5 years).  She is a beautiful brindle/black mask girl with docked tail, and dewclaws intact.  She will also need to be spayed once her overall health improves.

Kyleigh is her foster name - it sounded close enough to her original name which she responds well too, and the transition to the new name worked well for her.

Kyleigh is a very sweet little girl!  Her mange (which spreads down her back from her neck) is not as bad as we feared - it's hopefully a thing of the past now.  The tips of the insides of her ears are also affected by the mange and it's crusty, along with a cut of some sort on one tip).  Lots of soaking of those to help heal them.

KYLEIGH'S DEMODEX - FROM THE BACK OF HER NECK TO MID-BACK, SOME PARTS LOWER, AND AT BASE OF BACK AS WELL.  SIGNS OF REGROWTH SHOWING, SO HOPEFULLY SHE'S ON THE MEND.

INSIDE OF KYLEIGH'S RIGHT EAR, WHICH WAS THE WORSE OF THE TWO.  GETTING BETTER NOW.

First, we need to change her diet, which was VERY poor.  I have her on Taste of the Wild grain-free food and she loves it.

Secondly, we have to get rid of the tapeworms she has, which was not disclosed to us.  With the first poop in my yard, the worms stood up and said "HI!" to me.  She immediately was treated with a dose of Sentinel, which will help start to expel the worms.  At this typing, she still has a LOT of them in her morning poop - so many that they fall out of her poop!  I remove it from the grass right away.  It's showing that the Sentinel is working, but holy cow.... what a lot of them she has!! (speaking of Sentinel, I treated Brosa and Delta with it the day I committed to fostering her, so they have prevention on board too from whatever fleas and parasites she might bring with her).

YES, I DARED TO POST A PHOTO OF HER FIRST WORMY POOP, HA HA!  THIS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT COMES OUT NOW, EVEN AFTER A WEEK.  CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE END OF IT.

She will be treated with Drontal in the next day or two, to assassinate what is left of them - and then retreated again a month from now.  Worms will be permanently gone.

Kyleigh's introduction to my crew went very well.  As always, I let her investigate the yard on her own for up to 1/2 hour.  She can smell the other dogs that share the space so there are no surprises when I let them out.  First to meet her was Delta (she's my matriarch and she's the one who needs to let me know if she's okay with the newcomer before things get crazy with Brosa).  That went completely fine - she cared so little that she walked off and laid down in her pool, ha ha!

DELTA MEETS KYLEIGH (YOU'LL NOTICE THE LEASHES ARE LEFT ON, JUST IN CASE OF EMERGENCY)

WITHIN MINUTES, DELTA WALKED AWAY FROM KYLEIGH AND LAID DOWN IN HER POOL.  JUST ANOTHER DAY IN OUR HOME, HA HA!

Then Brosa was introduced (his nickname is now "The Turd", as he's a bit of a loudmouth and in-your-face).  After a lot of noise and posturing from him, Kyleigh told him off and he calmed down around her after that.  In fact, he kept his distance from her for several days afterward.  He first warmed up to her outside in wide open spaces, where they happily chased each other around the yard and mouth-wrestled.  It was only yesterday that they had a good tussle indoors as well.

KYLEIGH MEETS "THE TURD"

EVERYONE HAS A WALKING SNIFF

LEASHES ARE OFF AND WE'RE ALL RELAXED

THIS IS FUN!

FIRST REAL TUSSLE IN THE YARD A FEW DAYS AFTER ARRIVAL

AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY BOTH HAVE FUN!

Kyleigh is a sweet heart - so full of kisses, and has decent house manners.  She gorges on her water and eats too fast, but hopefully that will change as her health improves.  She's good around the cats (although she's attempted to play with them lately and I have to keep watching that she's not tormenting them).  She's quiet at the fence unless she's joining in with Brosa & Delta - so I put a stop to that quickly.

GIVING JUDAH A SNIFF

THIS MORNING, EVERYONE PLAYING

THIS MORNING, PLAYING WITH A SQUEAKY

AFTER HER BATH THIS MORNING (ALL HAD BATHS/NAIL TRIMS) AND FEELING FRISKY

All through the week she has been a wonderful little girl - showing how sweet she is and also beginning to play with toys, which she didn't seem to do much of.

This morning she had her first bath and nail trim with me.  She passed that with flying colours.  Her body language told me she didn't like it very much, but she didn't squirm and carry on, and was perfect for letting me clip her nails.

Her bald spots are showing signs of regrowth now too.  This is great news!  I can't wait to see how this progresses over the next month or two!  I think we'll have a lot of fun with Kyleigh this summer.