CollieTag Archives

Sasha and the Pack in the Snow

Well, we are having a snow storm. Finally! We’ve needed it. We had one a while back but this is supposed to be a biggie. It’s my flyball team’s Holiday Party tonight too, which is kinda funny because last year we had a big storm on party day, too. So now if I had some talking watches I’d be able to remember what time the party is!

Sasha and Tatum

So of course I had to drag the camera outside because it was pretty when the snow was just starting to accumulate on the grass, and you could see some of the grass peaking through. Tatum and Sasha are becomming good friends. But then, Tatum befriends everyone. Tatum is such a good girl. Sasha even chased Tatum around a little bit outside this morning. Zoom Zoom!

Sasha is doing really well. She is not coughing as much as she was. She is letting me comb her out just a little bit now and again. Her skin seems very sensitive but that could be due to whatever is on her nose, too. I was able to get some of those tiny pre-mat things out of her right side last night, and her right rear flank.

Running!

My husband was feeding her treats at the same time I combed to keep her calm and reward her. She stopped taking the treats though, so we stopped the combing too. I think her skin and her coat are really bothering her. Though I think she was groomed fairly recently, because her underbelly is trimmed straight and so are her legs. Her feet are too fluffy though!

This picture of Tatum and Sasha running is a bit blurred but it’s pretty darn cute. Tatum so loves it when someone will chase her!

Sasha’s blood work came back fine, so that’s good. And my husband says that means there’s less chance of her having the really nasty thing wrong. It seems like all three options, below, are really autoimmune things.

Sasha is eating really well and I’m glad she is starting to play. I think she’s more of a people dog than a dog dog. She loves to be with me and my Husband. He even thinks she likes him better! Which is just kinda odd becuase it’s more common for rescue dogs to trust women more than men, unfortunately. I know a lot of wonderful men who would never even dream of hurting a dog.

So she settles in. We did even get an offer of a foster home for her! But now that we have her, it’s hard to put her someplace else, especially with her condition. Because we have an emotional investment now, as well as financial and, also, we just want to know what is going on with her darn nose! And another tidbit of good news… Sasha was bringing toys to my husband last night to play! That’s an excellent sign.

Collies and Border Collie

Cynthia

December 13, 2008

Daily Posts, Rescue

5 comments

Collie, Play, Rescue, Sasha, Snow

Vet Update about Sasha

Sasha the Rough Collie

Well, we love our vet, they are amazing. First off they say no way Sasha’s nose became the way it is because she rubbed it against a fence. She has something going on that we need to figure out.

She has kennel cough, so that will be treated first and she’s on antibiotics for a week. She also has infection in her mouth that hopefully that will help.

She’s going to have her teeth cleaned on the 23rd, and at that time our vet will do a biopsy of the skin on her nose, around her eyes, and on her ears, as she has crusting and scabbing in all those areas. The vet said it could be one of three things. The first two are not too bad, the third thing is nasty. I’m going to read about each as I post this so I’m learning as we go.

Dermatomyositis

The first thing she could have, and the vet thinks this is the most likely thing, is Dermatomyositis. I found three informational websites about this…

University Link
Icon Collies
Dog Patch

From the University Link:

This condition is one of inflammation (itis) of the skin (dermato) and muscle (myo) that is seen in young collies and Shetland sheepdogs. There appears to be a defect in the immune system that predisposes dogs to this disorder. The skin lesions typically develop first with variable muscle problems occurring later. There are many similarities to dermatomyositis in people.

Ulcerative dermatosis may be a variant of this condition. It is a rare disorder that occurs in middle-aged to older dogs of the same breeds, and is manifest by skin lesions (blisters, crusting) that are seen primarily in the groin and underarm regions. Occasionally there are muscle abnormalities.

So, I guess this is treatable and can make her more comfortable, but there is no cure for it. And since others can write about these things better than me, I’ll leave it at that!

The second thing it could be is

Lupus

From Pet-Medicine.com:

Discoid lupus in dogs is an autoimmune condition that results in discoloration of the nose. In rare cases, it can also affect other areas of the skin. Professionals have yet to find a specific cause for this problem, but genetics may play a role due to the fact that certain breeds as more affected than others. Some of these breeds include Siberian Husky, German Shepherd, and Collie.

Symptoms

As you already know, this condition begins as loss of pigment around the nose. As the disease gets worse, your dog may develop scaling of nasal tissue and sores. The nose’s surface may also become smooth instead of having it’s normal cobblestoned texture. These sores aren’t bothersome to some dogs, but others are very bothered by them.

So, I guess Lupus is manageable too.. I am not really familiar with Lupus in humans or in dogs, so I’ll probably read up a bit more on it too. Though actually, until we know what it really is, there’s no sense worrying myself eh?

The third thing, which the vet says is very nasty, is:

Pemphigus

Autoimmune Disease Suite 101 has some interesting, easy to read information.

I also found information on this in the following sources… and I’ll quote the Akita Club, since it’s easiest to understand. This is from the middle of the page. If you read starting at the beginning it kinda describes how the skin works.

Symptoms of Pemphigus Complex

Pemphigus is a disease that results when the body’s immune defenses attack its own skin. Something interferes with the recognition process and treats the skin as if it were a foreign substance. Actually, Pemphigus is a complex of diseases differentiated by the skin layer which is attacked. It is found across many species, including humans, cats, dogs, and horses.

The most severe form is Pemphigus Vulgaris. The attachment of the basal and prickle cell layers is attacked. Fluid filled blisters called vesicles form and eventually break open, resulting in painful ulcerated sore. These are most common in areas where normal skin meets specialized skin, like the skin of the lips, nose, eyes, pads, nails, as well as the mucosal skin of the mouth.

Pemphigus Erythematosus is similar but involves the outer skin layer or stratum corneum. It looks like a mild case of Pemphigus Foliaceus and may be more prevalent in collies. The ulcerated sores are usually restricted to the facial area and are very similar to those found in discoid lupus. Indeed, some researchers feel they are related in some fashion.

So… these are all diseases that collies can be prone too. Bleh. Treatment might include steroids. And I don’t know, really, if she has any of these, what her quality of life might be, or length of life. If she has something that makes her unadoptable, then we will, of course, just keep her. I think we need to name her Seven of Six.

Hopefully we will be able to place her. Maybe with an understanding family who will love her no matter what she has. We would, of course. She is very lovable, her face melted my heart the first time I saw her… scabby nose or not!

Collie, Fosters, Health, Rescue, Sasha

Sweet Rough Collie Sasha

Sasha

Well, I was grumpy as heck last night, went to physical therapy and that helped a little bit. I was dreading having to go to the Humane Society of Utah to pick up another rescue dog, almost sick to my stomach… seven dogs in the house is really too many and tends to put me over my limit.

Sweet Sasha

However, as soon as I saw Sasha my heart melted and I fell in love with her. she is absolutely gorgeous. She doesn’t have a very heavy coat, which is nice and makes the rough collies easier to care for. I think she was recently groomed (recently within the last couple of months anyway) because her underside is trimmed straight and so is her tail. But she has some wispies on her feet that will need to be trimmed off (I hate those, they are always the first things I trim off a rescue collie!)

Sleeping Sasha

Her teeth are in absolutely horrid shape. I think some may need to be pulled. she didn’t want to eat even canned food last night so she could be in a lot of pain. There’s a lot of tarter on her teeth and some of them look like they are poking too far out of her gums.

Of course the most prominent feature is the scabbing on her nose. The people who dumped her said that she would rub her nose against a chain link fence and that’s how it happened.. about a year ago. But the scabs are fresh and there’s no way it happened a year ago. I wonder what could cause such scabbing on a dog’s muzzle like this? We are going to take her to the vet today and ask. My husband, he’s such a great guy, is going to take her in when I’m at work. The scabs are cracked and her nose is even pink..I wonder if she’s rubbed the dark pigment off her nose and the pink underskin is showing. I wonder if we can put something on the scabs to soften them up so maybe they don’t hurt so much… it’s really got to hurt or itch. I’ll ask Fuzzy Logic she always is a good source of natural remedies for me!

She might be couging a little but it seems, rather, she’s kinda trying to hack things up but nothing comes. Her health isn’t too bad, and her personality is amazing. I think she’s the first foster ever who we haven’t crated at least for the first night. She has settled in just fine already… though she seems like she may just be a typical collie girl and she might have some nice fun attitude when she gets more confident! I hope so!

She slept all night, she didn’t potty in the house, and she’s very loving. The people said they couldn’t afford to keep her anymore… well, sure, whatever. Personally, I would starve to death before I gave up any of my pack.

Sasha is one sweet wonderful rescue rough sable and white collie girl!

Collie, Rescue, Sasha

Two Kinds of People…

Just a quick post… we are getting a foster collie tonight, pulling her out of the Utah Humane Society. Yeah, Collie Rescue is still around, though we have so many dogs of our own now that really we have a hard time taking in more.

I’ve managed to ignore the rescue problem for a while, not having the fosters. However now it rears it’s uglly head again. And to me, buried in the dog world and enshrouded in the rescue sub-world, it seems like there are two kinds of people. Those who understand the problem of dog over population and are working to find homes for the dogs… and then there’s those other people who let their dogs breed willy nillly and ‘they’ are the reason we have such a problem.

Good breeders can be part of the solution. However, I’m sorry and I might piss some people off, but I think we need mandatory spay and neuter laws. Get the dang dogs fixed, strike at the source, the dogs’ lives are in danger, dangit! This is serious! After a law is passed, then we can work out the details. Sorry breeders… but really, the problem is so bad it really is going to take something serious and extreme to fix it.

Ugh. I hate rescue.

Collie, Rescue, Sasha

When Tatum Came A Year Ago

Well, it’s been a year. Can you believe it? It’s been a year since Tatum joined our home. Of course at first I didn’t think she’d stay. I was going to place her in a loving home. But I couldn’t let her go. And still, even a year later, I’m overjoyed that she is still with us and she is doing so well!

Looking at my pictures from when I went to pick them up, I see that I didn’t get any of Tatum! You can see her butt in the first picture, towards the top left, peeking out from behind my friend Marsha who came and helped me pick them all up from the airport. These pictures are from September 1, 2007.

I remember the first time I saw her.. I came home from dog camp (everyone was so awesome taking care of these collies while I was gone!) and I walked in the door and she barked at me like mad! But she settled in quickly and at home was comfortable and confident. Though when I took her out, for a few months after, her tail would tuck and she would be very afraid.

Houston Collies 3This is the Tatum I met when i got home from camp. Spunky and full of spit and vinegar.. at home at least. And now when I take her out, she’s very confident, her tail is up, and she is a spitfire! I adore that girl. I have not been working with her on agility and obedience as much as I should… as much as I want to. It’s time to start. She should be much farther along than she is. I do wish I lived down in Richfield with my friend Marie, then I’d have someone to push me and equipment to train on!

Tatum flew in on September 1, 2007, she was boarded for a couple days, then my husband picked her up. I met her on September 8, 2007, and fell in love with her.

Collie, Rescue, Tatum

Sweet Boy Tony

I adore Tony. I just do. He is so sweet and loving. A goofy collie boy. It’s fun to have him back. He’s settling in just fine, almost like he was never gone. He hasn’t changed a bit. When we got him last September he was so needy and desperate for attention. I’m very happy to say he’s not like that now, so he’s gotten some good lovin’s at the home that tried to keep him.

I brushed him out a bit today. I actually feel kinda bad for the family who tried their best to keep him. When I brush him I keep a hand on his collar, and he just does not like to be brushed. He’ll snark and growl and threaten to bite me. He does sound really mean, looks really mean. But I don’t let him get away with it. When he does it I stop what I’m doing and give him a sharp “uh uh!” and we make eye contact and he huffs at me. If he was going to bite me he had ample opportunity and he didn’t do it. He’s all bark but no bite.

But many people who are new to dogs or just don’t understand them don’t know what he’s doing. I am more careful when he does it, too, because I probably am hurting him a bit. He’s got a really thick nice coat. We’ll get him all brushed out over the next few days. And I just love my Mars Coat King Stripper! It’s awesome. I like it way better than a Furminator. It hooks and pulls out the undercoat and does a great job.

So here is Tony with much of his coat brushed out. We probably have at least that much more to come out, maybe twice that. We’ll get it all! We do it in short sessions so he doesn’t get too grumpy about it! After I am done he runs around the yard like a goof ball, he sooo hates being brushed!

With all that running we won’t need to read a Fenphedra review, we have enough calories burned off!

Tony is Coming Back

*sigh*… overwhelmed. Can you say “Overwhelmed?” We are getting our old foster boy, Tony, back. Big smooth sable collie boy. I think something else might be mixed in there.. I need to find a picture of him and post it up. As much as I love Tony, he’s a handfull. Mainly because of Lucy’s Megaesophagus that she has been diagnosed with. Plus, I’m having PMS which always makes me feel like my life is falling apart. And we already have six dogs. Sure we can handle Tony okay… but it’ll be a stretch until he settles back in or until CAWS can find another foster home for him.

Tony is a big love but… though he likes to bark. I’m going to have to get serious with him and not put up with his barking anymore. Even a little bit. Not sure what I’ll do, but he has got to learn that barking is just not acceptable. He’s a big smart boy, he should be able to figure it out.

My Husband is going to go pick him up today, so he’ll be at our house when I get home. I think he was too much of a handful for his adoptive family. He has a pretty strong will, and I’ve had to make sure he knew who was boss a couple of times. Which makes me wonder if he has another breed in there because collie boys are usually just love bugs and people pleasers. I guess he’s been marking, and that will not fly at our house. Even if we have to crate him. And he’s trying to be dominant, which will also not fly at our house. So we’ll see how it goes when he comes back, and hopefully we’ll keep Chase from attacking him every half hour.

I need a break.

Collie, Fosters, Rescue

Training Makes Tired

Yesterday was a busy day. I got maybe three hours of work done in the morning… then the dog things started. And, of course, dog things are more fun that work so work got the back seat.

I met my friend for a split private lesson with our obedience instructor. She got to work her sheltie, and I got to work Levi. We went over a lot of the little things that I haven’t yet taught Levi about obedience. The ins in turns so he’ll stay close. The sit at the halts. And we also worked the dumbbell a bit since now that he has his CD he can go into open, and we have to get that dumbbell polished up! He did really well. We have a box that I stand in so when he comes to do a front, he hops in the box so he knows exactly where he should position himself. He did really well. He’s a good boy, he learns fast, and he knows how to learn so I just have to work these things with him at home on a regular basis and he’ll catch on quick.

Then after the lesson we grabbed a quick sandwich from Subway then we went to watch Penny get filmed for a commercial! I have never watched that before and it was fun! The thing that struck me as most important is dogs that act really have to have distance work. The person has to stay way out of camera shot, so the dog has to be able to do her behaviors far away. Which isn’t something the average dogs knows how to do. Even my dogs don’t know it well, but the obedience training comes in handy here as there is a lot of distance work in the advanced levels of obedience. Penny did great! She is such a cutie and it was really fun to watch!

After that I went home and sat on the couch for about an hour… which went by too fast. Then I got my nails done, then came home and then went to agility practice.

Levi was pooped but he did really well. We were watching him weave and when we put the guides on the first polls, Levi drops his head better and has more speed to get into the weaves. So we are thinking that maybe he just needs that little guide on the first poll. Not even the whole guide, but just a clasp on the poll so he knows where to drop his head and focus. Interesting… I’m getting a full set of competition weaves this weekend so I’m going to practice this and hope it helps! Gotta get my collie boy weaving!

Chase got to do agility practice too, and boy I have to say he is so good. He just flows, he pays attention, and I have really a lot of fun running him. I need more vidoes of him to put up. Hopefully I’ll get some from the next USDAA trial in a couple of weeks.

This weekend is flyball! We are excited except that it’s supposed to be 105 degrees in St. George, Utah. Ugh! I just hope the building is air conditioned!

Cynthia

June 12, 2008

Agility, Daily Posts, Obedience

19 comments

Chase, Collie, Levi, Obedience, Training