WAY BEHIND!

I am so sorry it has been so long since my last post. Just been busy and haven't spent much time on front of the computer. Oh well, I'll fill in the gaps.

On Jan. 11th, we were brought foster #7, Be Ending, who goes by Bender. He is a tiny, shy black boy. He has done well. We crated him while we weren't home. He actually seems to like the crate. He feels safe there and I can't blame him, since he is so shy. We've had him a few weeks now and he has improved dramatically since we got him. The last 3 days he has even started to venture into our bed for what verge on snuggles. He will only come in the morning when we are waking up, but it's a step in the right direction. He has not tried to get on any other furniture. He comes up for loves. He is a sweet, sweet boy, just shy. He does get excited, hop and bark when it's time to eat. He's happy, just not confident. He'll do well in a quiet home with a patient owner who does not expect immediate affection. He is starting to bond with me, so it's time to move him. It's hard to say that, but he's getting too attached and he can't stay here. He needs to get a home ASAP. The right one just hasn't come yet. He may be moving to a new foster home this evening, but we are waiting on arrangements to be made. If we do pass Bender on, we are getting Dax's brother Andrew! I'll get into that if it happens. To foster a sibling would be such a cool thing!

Berry White has been doing well. No issues since the last episode and he even played VERY hard Friday night with some friends and his soccer ball and he was just fine the next day.

We, for the most part, solved Anna's eating issues. We switched foods to Beneful Healthy Radiance, which all hounds now approve of and we started giving Anna a little milk with her food. After gaining 10 pounds in a month, we are cutting the milk back. She is eating regualrly, except when schedules get screwy on the weekends. Then she gives us some trouble sometimes.

I talked about everyone else, so I'll say Dax is doing just fine as usual. He's just Dax. My big, blue, snuggle boy.

Yesterday was the LSU Vet School Open house. We went. We brought Bender and Anna. Bender, adn two other greyhounds, were meeting a potential owner there. We think he will adopt one of the girls, but we won't find out until later today probably. Hopefully, someone will get a home out of this. We had a good time though. We participated in the Parade of Breeds, which wasn't much, but we got to show off the hounds to quite a crowd, so that was good.

I think that's all for now. If I forgot anything, I'll post it next time, which will hopefully be sooner rather than so much later. Sorry again for the big delay. I'll try to be better.

Berry's on the up-swing

Berry seems to be feeling better again. No meds since Saturday. Kudos on that. Let's hope it stays this way for a while....

Berry White, the saga continues

Berry White seemed to do well on the Rimadyl yesterday, but by last night, the pain had returned and he woke us up with yelps several times in the night. We gave him another dose of Rimadyl this morning, and that seems to have helped again. If this goes on all week, he'll see the vet next weekend, as she suggested several days of pain in a row prompt further investigation. Some reading and advice from Greytalk leaves me a little more paranoid of other potential problems, but I'd rather know what I should be looking for and worry about it than be blind and have no clue what to look out for.

When I spoke to our Vet she said we would start where we are and just deal with flare-ups and if the flare-ups became consistent, we would do some more investigating and add meds. Yeah, meds. I don't like the idea of a med regiment, but we will do what we have to do. She also mentioned the potential of sending him to LSU for an MRI and more tests, and this is where a big problem would come up. I LOVE my dogs and would do everything I can for any of them, but it will cost over $1000 to have tests done at LSU. I'm not going to have this internal debate outloud and I don't want to think about it.... or the choices we sometimes have to make for them.... not yet....

To end on a good note, he had a nice bow about 15 minutes ago, which usually means he is in less pain, so the Rimadyl must be working at the moment. Yeah for the small victories!

Berry White - Round 2

So Berry White had another neck/pain episode this morning. He seemed fine when I let him out and fed him. T put them all back in the bedroom with me when he left for work (I have one more day off) and then when I got up I noticed Berry seemed to be holding his neck funny like he had before - just outstretched forward. I had trouble getting him to look up at me and he would not jump up on me, which he usually readily does. I sat down with him and he put his head in my lap and I decided to try and turn his head as the vet had done to see if he reacted, and a turn to the right yielded a scream. So, we had some Rimadyl I had gotten from the vet before Christmas for Dax's reoccurring limp on his broken hock leg, so I gave him one and then went and talked to the vet. I was already going there to get more Heartguard, so I just talked to her then. She said just give him the Rimadyl as needed for now and if he has several bad days in a row we may move towards a daily regiment and add other medications as necessary. So, right now he, as well as Anna and Dax, is sleeping on the floor with me in the office. I hope the medication works and that he is fine tomorrow. Everyone keep their fingers crossed for the goof-ball. I know this is something we are likely to continue to face with him, but I just hope that we don't have to put him on a daily medication anytime soon.

I'm waaaaaayyyyy behind!

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. We've just been oh so very busy!

A few quick notes.... back on the 10th of December we got 5 1/2" of snow! In Louisiana! It was amazing!
All the pics can be found here! I have videos too, but have yet to get them off of my camera! I post a link when I upload the videos.

Christmas was greyt! The pups got a ton of toys thanks to us, family members and their Greytalk secret Santa's (thanks again!)

Today is New Year's. Tonight is the LSU game. We are going to watch it with my parents and chill with some close friends and watch movies. They are in the midst of losing one of their dogs, a lab-mix. It's a very sad situation. They just want a quiet evening, so no fireworks, but that's fine by us.

We're getting our first foster of the New Year this weekend. I'll post about him once he arrives.

On a non-grey note, I got a new car on the 20th! It's a 2009 VW Rabbit! I love it! I think we're going to call it Esca, which means lure or bait in Italian. It maybe should be a German name, but all our cars have Italian names, whether they are Italian or not, and German is just not a fun language to speak. The words all sound vulgar :oP

So that's my quick notes. I'll try to get back to posting at least once a week again as soon as things get back to normal, whatever normal is :o)

Another quickie

1-GPA Christmas party was a blast. We came away with a coffee cup and a martingale.

2-We brought Hero to the party and he went home with another family who are fostering with intent. We should know this weekend if their intentions are true.

3-We got Anna to eat consistently with water in her food. Whatever works.

4-Berry White started giving us trouble, turning his nose up at his food. He would eat bread and such we put in his food as well as sour cream and peanut butter mixed in. He got to the point where he would remove the liquid and leave the kibble. At the advice of L, we decided to try Beneful Healthy Radiance. Berry White loves it! This morning he even picked it out and left the Nutro (we are mixing the food for now). Anna likes it too. Dax has not tried it yet, as he gives us no trouble eating and will eat just about anything! I am just glad Berry White is eating normally again.

a quick note on Anna

Well, it is the usual up and down with her. Breakfast was drawn out, but eaten this morning. This evening, she just stood there for a while. When Berry finished, I added water to her food and she ate it all. Kudos to her for that. So, I guess, at least at dinner for now, we will try water. I looked her teeth and everything looked fine. Someone suggested picky-ness could be a sign of a kidney problem. Not sure what to make of that. For now, we will just battle on.... take it a day at a time....