This and That

Since I can’t seem to surmise anything to comment upon today, I might as well use this space to share a few things that are going on with my dogs and my writing.

Hmmmm….let’s see, where to start?

A few weeks ago, Leah stood in for Toby at Rally class and did ‘relatively’ well for a senior dog with no formal obedience training. I entertained the idea of continuing to take her to classes while working with her at the Rally novice level; however, upon mulling it over, I have decided to stick with one sport per dog. Between time constraints and financial concerns, to do more would perhaps certify me as insane, and since Leah is enjoying her Nose Work class so much, that is where she will remain.

As for Toby’s health matters, the swelling subsided substantially in his joint, but it never went down completely. Although he is not limping, Nick and I have noticed him licking at it frequently, which raises some concerns. Our vet is running a Lyme test, and while we are waiting on the results, he is also being proactive by treating Toby with an antibiotic. If the issue does not resolve, the vet plans to tap the joint fluid and follow-up with another x-ray. He also ran a culture on Toby’s resilient ear infection and discovered the strain of bacteria that has taken up residence there is resistant to both types of medicine that we have already tried, Mometemax and Tresaderm. Now Toby is on Baytril Otic and only time will tell…

Miss Meadow’s frequent urinary issues have been a puzzle ever since her adoption. She leaks, she has the occasional accident, she has high pH, and she has suffered several bacterial infections. Currently she is doing fairly well, and a recent urinary culture came back negative, so unless she has any more incidents, we are going to tentatively label her as ‘healthy.’ An ultrasound looms on the horizon if any of these problems recur. Behaviorally, as her true personality begins to emerge, we are learning that at times of high arousal Meadow can be a bit ‘bossy’ with our other animals, especially with Toby. We have spoken with her foster mom, Lesli Hyland, who is a highly skilled dog trainer and rehabilitator. With her assistance, we have implemented a plan of action to nip this new issue in the rear.

As far as my writing, I have several finished pieces ‘out there’ that I am working hard to find homes for. I have also been helping the talented Mary K Chelton, who is the editor of my local Vizsla Club’s newsletter, and if you are interested in taking a peak at it, the most recent issue can be found HERE.  There are several heartwarming rescue stories in this issue, which is one of the reasons I have taken such interest in this club. The Vizsla Club of Long Island is heavily immersed in rescue and I commend them for the amount of hard work and dedication involved in finding suitable homes for these energetic dogs, most of which is done solely by their devoted president, Stephanie Fischer.

Between submitting stories, blogging, helping with the newsletter, (and socializing on dog forums), I admittedly set aside my first novel for the past few weeks, however, I have vowed to get back on task and am off to get started on that now…

Thanks for checking in, and I promise to share something of interest soon.