Peppy Pup September 13, 2009

Jasmine continues to blossom in our new home. I wonder what it is about this house or this area that has made her happier, more lively and finally coming out of her shell. Perhaps it’s because the period before our move was so chaotic. It took two months of 12-hour days to sort and pack our belongings in preparation for the move. I know that dogs are very sensitive to our moods, and I’m sure I was less than calm, cool and collected when we were in preparation mode.

After we moved here, I was able to unpack, arrange and decorate at my leisure. I relaxed. From day one, Jasmine just seemed to like it here better. The first visit to the back yard was a huge awakening for her. She sniffed her way throughout the yard and explored scents that were new and exciting. She romped through the grass bounding with joy as she discovered her new territory. She seemed to relax here much more than at the California home. It was as if she was really home. Strange.

The past few weeks have marked other changes for Jasmine. While her incontinence problem has subsided a bit, it still continues to be a worry. We’re taking her out more often which has helped, but I still don’t know what the root cause is of her bed-wetting. That she continues to lie in the bed after soiling it…well, I think that could be a hold-over from her puppy mill days.

However, there are significant positive changes in her as well. She’s become a more peppy pup. She initiates play with me–something she hasn’t done much of in the past. She is a much more peppy, waggy dog that demands attention and fun. Every night, she has been expectantly waiting for “training” sessions. We practice her tricks and behaviors (we’re currently working on “stay”), but to her, it’s just a chance to get some Simon & Huey’s Soft Training Treats–woo hooo! If I don’t play with her, she sits in front or behind me and woofs a little (and includes a bunny hop for emphasis).

We can clearly see how much happier she is. Every day, she seems to relax a little bit more. Hubby says she’s becoming more like a dog each day she is here. She’s breaking from her past traumas and enjoying her life here. That’s what we hoped for so very long ago, and we’re so happy we can give her the life she so deserves.

Canine Urinary Incontinence August 24, 2009

Yesterday was not a fun day. It started out fun, but didn’t turn out that way.

In the morning, we took a walk to the little store down the street. It’s a little less than a mile away from the house, and we felt a bit stir crazy. Jasmine hadn’t been out for a good walk in a while, so we decided that a sunny Sunday morning was the perfect time to get a bit of exercise.

We walked to the store, got some beverages and sat for a rest. Jasmine was fine, albeit a bit warm (she wouldn’t drink any water–she’s not a water lover). We sat for a few minutes and then took a leisurely stroll home. We even stopped at the local antiques shop (nice air conditioning) on the return trip.

When we got home, Jasmine and I both took showers. Jasmine was smelling a bit doggy, as was I. I also wanted to cool her down a bit from the warm walk. So we both were showered, towel-dried and cool. We went back downstairs, and Jasmine plunked down into her bed. She went out…coma dog. A few hours later as I was petting her, I noticed that she was wet. And then I noticed that her bed was soaked.

I picked her up and took her into the bathroom to get cleaned up. I then checked her bed–it was really soaked. I tossed it into the washer and put down a clean, dry bed for her. Of course, about 30 minutes later, I found that she soiled that bed too. I cleaned her up again, now very concerned.

We had some errands to run, so I put her in the kitchen. When we got home, everything was dry. So I put a 3rd bed down in the family room and let her on it. A few minutes later, I found that she not only soiled the bed, but she also dripped a bit around it.

Oh, I was beside myself with worry. Did her IVDD come back and her incontinence was due to a back injury? What was going on? I cleaned her up once again and tossed her beds into the wash. I then went right out to the drug store and got her some underpads (used for people with incontinence). I put a pad under her in her 4th clean bed (glad I had a few on hand!) and gently let her rest. She seemed fine. She was bouncy, happy and generally looking normal and healthy. I was puzzled.

She did well overnight. I put another pad down, but she didn’t soil her bed.

This morning, hubby took her to the vet. He detailed what happened, and the vet gave Jasmine a thorough exam. He said that Jasmine showed no signs of a bladder infection, and that incontinence sometimes happens in spayed females. He also said that some dogs are incontinent when they hit a very deep sleep. Jasmine’s fatigue after the long, hot walk could have been a big factor.

There are other causes of incontinence (do a google search or go to this page on the Mar Vista web site)  If it occurs again, we should do further tests, but the vet said that there were no signs of infection. If it wasn’t caused by deep sleep, a weakening urethra sphincter can be controlled with drugs if it continues.

She’s been fine today, thank goodness! She even let hubby pet her. Good doggie!

Coming Home August 20, 2009

Every evening when I come home, Jasmine bolts out of the family room, her rear-end wagging madly and her body jumping with glee. She runs circles around me in joy and makes my arrival a huge occasion.

What I didn’t know is that there’s a routine before I get home. As my husband reports, Jasmine is attuned to the sounds of my arrival.

The garage door goes up. Jasmine jumps up from her bed and leaps out. She whines, cries and/or yips a bit. She runs to the end of the coffee table and sits down on the rug. She waits, her head alert and her ears at attention. The garage door goes down. She stares intently at the hallway to the kitchen. She hears footsteps on the basement stairs. I come through the basement door in the kitchen and place my briefcase and purse on the kitchen table. I call out, “Is there a pup-pup in the house?”

Then, and only then, Jasmine bolts out of the family room and runs to me, wagged rear and all. I never knew of the “wait and pounce” ritual that went before the joy. Apparently, this is a daily occurrence. It’s funny that she waits for the cue before running into the kitchen rather than running and waiting at the door. It’s her routine, and she’s stickin’ to it.

Funny dog.

On My Feet August 17, 2009

Aren’t dogs supposed to sit AT your feet–not ON your feet?

As my official shadow, Jasmine makes sure that I am properly showered, coiffed, dressed and ready for a new day. As I’m drying my hair or brushing my teeth, Jasmine insists on sitting or laying on my feet. I understand that she loves physical contact–she’s very snuggly with me. But this strange practice only occurs in the bathroom in the morning.

I love Jasmine’s little quirks. She never fails to make me smile by just being herself. I’m looking forward to a cold winter’s morning with a puppy on my toes. Then again, she might not like my cold winter feet.

Jasmine and the Grandkids August 10, 2009

Jasmine had quite a weekend. Two of our grandkids came for an overnight visit with us on Saturday. The boys, ages 5 and 3, are…well…5 and 3. They’re boys. They’re wonderful and fun and loud and fast. Jasmine doesn’t like loud and fast. She likes quiet and slow. So the boys ran circles around the house and she cowered in the corner behind the recliner.

Well, until I came and rescued her. Once she was in my lap, the boys could run around and play and she just watched them with a cautious eye. While she didn’t like being on her own with them around, she was okay if she was with me. It’s nice that I can provide her with the feeling of safety and security that she needs.

After they left on Sunday, she sighed and plopped into her bed and zonked out. That is, until the second set of grandkids arrived (ages 9 and 7). Both these kids have grown up with dogs. The eldest came over slowly and quietly and sat down on the couch next to Jasmine. She hunched up like she was ready to bolt if necessary. When he didn’t pounce on her, she went back down in her bed. He then slowly moved a hand over and stroked her neck. She looked uncomfortable, but she didn’t bolt. He continued to stroke her gently, all the time looking away. She finally relaxed, and he continued to pet her as he watched Harry Potter on the TV.

I was so proud of him. I told him so. He said, “Well, I’ve been hunting with Dad and you have to be really slow and quiet around the animals.” Wow. I was thrilled for Jasmine and SO very proud of him. He has done something that almost no one has been able to do…approach her and pet her without her trying to run away. He did it because he respected her and gave her no reason to fear him. I was so happy for them both.

Accidents Will Happen August 2, 2009

Accidents will happen. That’s what hubby says.

We were driving around yesterday morning doing some garage sale hopping. We took Jasmine with us. After the 2nd stop, we were looking for our next turn when I looked at Jasmine in the back seat. There was a bright yellow spot on the fleece bottom of her doggie car seat sling. Uh oh. It was very fresh–I looked underneath the sling and there was a puddle. The fabric hadn’t even  had time to absorb the liquid.

Oy. We pulled the car over so I could sop up the mess with the paper napkins we had on hand. I was mad. She did a stealth pee right there. No warning, no whining or notice. She had just gone not two hours before. She has never soiled the car before. We went back home, deposited the sling into the washer, cleaned and deodorized the car seat (thank goodness for leather), and went back out–Jasmine stayed home.

I guess she’s not a fan of garage sales.

Doggie Dungeon July 23, 2009

Hubby and I are going away for a well-deserved weekend break. We’ll only be gone a couple of days and are flying, so taking Jasmine with us is not an option. Thus, we’re going to board her at a kennel.

Now my first choice of kennels, American K9 Country, was, unfortunately, fully booked when I called 3 weeks ago. Since they are a small kennel with only 12 runs, well, I’m disappointed but not surprised. I’m even less surprised given the alternatives.

The first kennel I found was at a dog training facility. It wasn’t bad. The kennel area was relatively clean. However, the kennels were not segregated; only chain link fencing stood between the kennels, and I think Jasmine would’ve been really spooked to be that exposed. So, I decided to look further.

I found what looked like a great place on the Internet and booked her stay with them. I wanted to go over and view the kennels this past weekend; the person who answered the phone told me that they only did “tours” of the kennel on Wednesdays. Um, okay. Here’s a potential new customer, and they don’t want to show you their facility except on Wednesdays? Hm. I asked again–I only wanted a couple of minutes to see the kennels. Again, the person on the phone just said, “we only do tours on Wednesdays.” Well, it’s a family-run place and the kennel is adjacent to their home. I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

I went for the tour on Wednesday. The “tour” consisted of climbing down a flight of stairs into their basement from their office and walking around a very cramped kennel area. It took all of two minutes. There were very narrow inside/outside dog runs that were wet–it looks like they had just hosed the place down. Wooden pallets were on the ground of the runs. I suppose this was what kept the dogs dry. Most of the dogs did not have beds in the runs; there was only one dog there in the runs that had a soft bed. Not good.

There were stainless steel crates (like those used in vets offices) on both ends of the runs; they had dogs in them. I looked at them and asked if that was where Jasmine would be kept. The “guide” (the son of the owner) said no, those were the “day care” dogs. My dog would get a full run. Oh yippee. This means that this kennel’s “doggie day care” consists of putting a dog in a crate? Sheesh.

Okay, so it’s hard to keep a kennel clean, but this place was way too dark, dingy, smelly and damp. The thought that came into my head was that this was a Doggie Dungeon. I felt so bad for the dogs. Now, it was NOT unclean, it was just dark and dank…dogs were barking, leaping…oh, the Pirates of the Caribbean jail came into my mind. I felt like springing all of the dogs. But I was 2 days away from kenneling Jasmine; I didn’t want to be put on the spot and NOT have a place for her. I kept the reservation and left.

As I drove back to the office, the more I thought about it, the less happy I was of the prospect of Jasmine staying there. I got back to the office and started to search for an alternative. I found another place down the road from Doggie Dungeon and called straight away. They had room, and I could go see the place anytime during business hours. I hopped in my car, drove down there and was pleased to see a fairly clean, straightforward kennel. What struck me was the hundreds of pictures of people and their dogs in front of the kennel’s building all over the lobby area. Okay. I felt much better. After looking at the facility, I knew right away that it was a better environment for Jasmine. So she’s staying there. It’s still not as clean and nice as American K9 Country, but at least I have an alternative.

I called and canceled my reservation at the Doggie Dungeon. They were curt when I told them I was canceling, brusquely said “FINE” and hung up the phone. I shouldn’t have trusted a nice website and claims about being champion breeders. A narrow escape for my pup.  No dungeon for my doggie. *whew*

Stairs or No Stairs? July 20, 2009

Where do you draw the line on overprotective?

One of the comments on my last post about Jasmine taking a header down the stairs was a kind and gentle (thanks!) reminder that Dachshunds shouldn’t go up and down stairs. Which brings me to my dilemma. Should I let her?

We already had Jasmine when we bought this house. One of the considerations I made when we were searching for a house was to try to find one with a first-floor master bedroom. Alas, we didn’t find the right house that had that feature. We sleep upstairs. My art studio will also be upstairs.

The stairs are a standard staircase that is fully carpeted in deep plush carpet. When we first brought Jasmine here, I diligently carried her up and down the stairs. However, she started darting ahead after a little while, and when she had no adverse effects from it, I just let it go and let her climb up and down herself. When I leave the room, she sometimes goes searching for me upstairs. We do have baby gates and we can keep her from going up and down by herself.

Taking her outside to “go” also requires that she go down 5 wide steps off the deck. She zips up and down those as well.

So, I either allow her to do this by herself, or I have to carry her up and down the stairs to go outside, to go to bed, to go up with me every time I go up, etc. This probably means being picked up 20 times per day on average. While I don’t mind doing it (except for MY bad back) except for the inconvenience (laundry + dachshund + baby gate = disaster), I’m wondering how many people with dachshunds NEVER have a problem with back issues AND have stairs.

Now given that Jasmine has already had IVDD, I know that it’s time for me to be much more proactive about her health and stop being lazy about the stairs. But I really want to know the science behind this rather than the “experts” just stating that “stairs are hard on Dachshund backs.” Does anyone have any insight into the cause/effect of stairs on Dachshund IVDD? Do you let your little darlings do the stairs themselves? And have they had any issues? Inquiring minds want to know. Please leave a comment. Also, here’s a poll…let’s see how many people do let their Doxies take the stairs:

Scary Fall July 19, 2009

Jasmine and I were coming down the stairs this morning when she tripped, went sliding down the stairs (about 6 stairs) and across the small tiled landing below.  She hit the baby gate against the wall and scrambled away, narrowly missing the gate that came crashing down. I screamed “Jasmine” as she ran away.

I was SO afraid that she hurt her back again. I followed her into the family room and she was nowhere in sight. She finally emerged from behind the recliner, very reluctant to leave the safety of the small, dark space. I called her several times and she finally came out and went outside with me. After we came inside, she was very skittish and quiet. She went back to her bed in the family room and plopped down. She was sheepish.

I fixed her breakfast and called her. No excitement. She finally came into the kitchen and sat on the rug in front of the sink. She didn’t eat. This was worrying me even more.  She finally ate her breakfast and went back to her bed in the family room. I left and ran some errands, and when I got back, she didn’t run to greet me. Oh, bad sign. I was really getting concerned that she was hurting in some way. I finally coaxed her out of her bed with the usual “Have you been a good girl? Would you like a bone?” routine.  She ran around with a waggy tail as usual. *whew* What a relief.

I’m going to keep an eye on her all day and evening to make sure that she is okay, but I think my screaming made her more skittish than anything. Poor baby.

Happy Anniversary Jasmine July 15, 2009

Today is the two-year anniversary of our welcoming Jasmine into our home. We’ve come a really long way, and we can’t imagine what life would be like without her.

Two years ago, Jasmine:

• Didn’t know what a treat was and didn’t like dog biscuits
• Didn’t know what a leash or collar was (and sure as heck didn’t like them) and hated to go for walks
• Would not play with toys because she didn’t know what they were
• Used to squeeze behind my back as I sat on the floor so she could hide
• Held her tail tucked under almost all the time and never wagged it

Today…

• Jasmine wakes me up every morning at 5:30 a.m. so she can come on the bed and snuggle
• Greets me excitedly when I come from work with a huge waggy tail and prancing pony hops
• Leaps for joy when it’s time for a treat or dinner
• Stands at attention with her cutest face on when we’re eating
• Still hates to go for walks but loves to go outside
• Gives kisses
• Plays with her toys (still loves the screaming monkey the best)
• Romps through the house
• Comes running at full speed when called
• Seriously fluffs her bed before settling down
• Woofs at me when she feels that I’m working too hard and demands that I put down the computer and put her on my lap

She still has challenges with trust and may never be fully socialized, but I am so pleased with how much she’s come out of her shell. I’m glad that whatever life she had before coming to us is over. She’s a sweet, gentle, funny little dog who deserves all the love and kindness that we can give her. Looking at her sleeping on her fluffy little blankets on her puffy bed, she’s exactly where she should be…as an integral member of this family.

Happy Anniversary Jasmine. We’re so glad you’re here.