The vet was my vet and they recognized Puppy from her flyer.  They called me and we were reunited.  Miracles happen!

Disappeared Sunday, March 21, 2010 from farm in SW Arkansas between 3  -5:30 pm . She is one of  4 dogs that  disappeared at the same time.  3 older dogs returned in bad shape – exhausted early Tuesday morning.   One of the dogs that came home is a 9 year old English Shepherd – the Mom of the puppy.  She hasn’t moved in 24 hours.  Totally exhausted!  Strange circumstances.    Please email me with any information at mccall.lynda@gmail.com Reward!   Also here is a link to missing puppy flyer.

A buncher may get $25 for an animal.  The Class B dealer may get as much as $500 for a dog.

Are you upset yet?

One of the largest Class B dealers was in Willifore, Arkansas  lost  his license after being convicted of 100 counts of animal abuse  and neglect and for stealing of pets for laboratories and forging documentation.  You can google it for all the horrible details.

Here is a link to the people across the United States that hold a Class B dealers license.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/efoia/downloads/reports/B_cert_holders.txt

A Class B license allows the person to buy animals from “random sources” and sell them to  research facilities.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/downloads/manuals/dealer/requirements.pdf

Unfortunately, random sources may also include dogs stolen by bunchers.

We use to hang horse thieves.  We need to prosecute these people to the full extent of the law.

New information on bunchers in Mid-west: http://www.dogster.com/forums/Puppy_and_Puppies_Place/thread/666281

Sheriff in N. Minnesota reports dog thieves: http://www.sctimes.com/article/20100317/NEWS01/103170050/1 009/Dog-disappearances-reported–sheriff-says

One of the ladies that was waiting for a pocket beagle puppies called me over a month ago.  She was worried about her year old Boston Terrier.  He stunk!  Smelled awful.  She took him to the vet and the vet said he was fine.  Just go home and give him a bath.

She bathed him and bathed him and bathed him.  But he still stunk!  And he was not  really fond of eating!

I asked her what she was feeding him (Not a 5 or 6 star dog food).  She agreed to change his food and call me back in about month.    She ordered  food off the internet. (We don’t have good dog food in our rural area).

First report a week later:  her  puppy was eating normally.  2nd report about a month later.  The smell was gone from his coat.   His coat which was coarse and rough was much softer and silkier.

Could the smell have been a release of the toxins that were building up in his body?    How many toxins can a dog take before his liver and other organs quit on him?  I don’t know the answer to that.  But I do know that it takes some time to see the difference when you change the diet.  In most dogs, it takes about a month to see a marked improvement.  The faster the improvement. the less damage that needs to be repair.  The longer it takes for the change to be visible, the more damage needs to be repaired.

The same is true for horses.  Being a horse person, I love the smell of horses.  If a horse smells bad, it is sick.  Even the breathe coming out of their nose.  If the breathe smells good, the horse is fine.  If the odor is rotten,  so goes his gut.

1. Abnormal swellings that persist or continue to grow
2. Sores that do not heal
3. Weight loss
4. Loss of appetite
5. Bleeding or discharge from any body opening
6. Offensive odor
7. Difficulty eating or swallowing
8. Hesitation to exercise or loss of stamina
9. Persistent lameness or stiffness
10. Difficulty breathing, urinating, or defecating

Cancer is easier to prevent than cure.   Keep your dog’s diet as free as possible from toxins.  Read the ingredient label carefully.    There is only so much “crap” a body can handle before the system begins to deteriorate.    We are what we eat and drink.  The same is true for our dogs!

]]> http://blog.englishshepherdcentral.com/2010/01/cancer-signs-in-dogs/feed/ 0 http://blog.englishshepherdcentral.com/2009/11/pet-airline/ http://blog.englishshepherdcentral.com/2009/11/pet-airline/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:27:52 +0000 Lynda http://blog.englishshepherdcentral.com/?p=345 Have you heard about this?   Pet Airways is an airline that is devoted to flying pets in the cabin.  They have a limited number of flights and a limited number of destinations.  But what a good idea!

It costs $200-$350 to fly a pup one way in Cargo on most carrier.  Why can’t we buy a seat for them?  The airfare for a person one way is often less than the price of the pet in cargo.  Airlines who are experiencing problems filling the seats in flights might think outside the box.  Open up those seats to Furry Family Members!

The AKC has cracked opened its door to mixed breed dogs.  For $35, they will register your dog and allow the dog to compete in special mixed-breed classes at stand-alone Agility, Obedience and Rally events.

I believe this is a huge step for this association.  There are some amazing dogs produced from selectively crossing specific breeds. Go dogs!

To learn more about their new program visit the AKC.

Happy Birthday to the Queen Mum

My pug, Opie, usually waits till I get comfortable and then she joins us on the bed.  True to her routine, she jumped on the bed facing my pillow and you would have thought someone shot her.  She fell like a dead weight next to me.  I tried to move her and she acted like she was paralyzed.  I rolled her on her back and she just stayed in that position.

The only thing different.. the lavender.  I moved her to the bottom of the bed.  She barely moved all night and never snored which is a bit different for a pug.

Reading up on Aromatherapy for Dogs, I learned that lavender calms dogs. Imagine that!    There are lots of “recipes” the use of essential oils for dogs.    For example, here is a recipe for a massage oil to use on arthritic dogs or dogs with sore muscles.

Sounds good enough to try on myself

1 ounce of a light carrier oil (sweet almond or sunflower oil)
5 drops Chamomile
4 drops Lavender
3 drops Black Pepper

To use: massage directly into inflamed joints and stiff muscles. Store in a cool dark place or in the refrigerator.

A couple of days ago they started to peak out from under the building. Within a day or two, Gab had moved all nine to the time tested “puppy place” under the steps to the front porch.

I think that there are 9 puppies: 6 girls and 3 boys.

Click on the picture of the Puppy to see the Photo Album of the puppies.   All of the puppies are now with their new families.  We will have another litter of English Shepherds in November.  We are accepting deposits for this litter at this time.

English Shepherd Puppies 2009

These complaints were  reported at the  Consumer Complaints website.  Just like the dogs in China,  these dogs died a very unpleasant death.   Long term users of Nutro Dog Food report health issues with their dogs.

As a rule of  thumb, if your dog doesn’t want to eat a dog food, please don’t force him to eat it  with the philosophy of “if you get hungry enough, you will eat it”.     Listen to your dog.  If he doesn’t like it, maybe it is tainted.

Case in Point: My daughter feeds her 9 year old English Shepherd mostly homemade food but needed a back up kibble during a busy period.  She fed her one feeding of Pedigree.  Within about 6 hours, the dog was letharic and developed diarrhea.  She was crampy and obviously very uncomfortable.  After the symptoms subsided, the dog still absolutely refused to eat the Pedigree.  My daughter purchased another brand of food and her dog ate. 

Listen to your dog.   It may save their lifes.     And, please, don’t feed just one kind of dog dog.  Find a variety  of types of feeds by different manufacters that  appear to work for your dog. Either rotate between them or mix them together and provide the mixture to your dog.  Supplement with  raw hamburger and dog friendly fruits and  veggies.

The trust between dog food manufacters and consumers has been broken.  We can no longer assume all dog food manufacters are interested in the health and well-being of our dogs.   They are interested in money.

If you are not familiar with the brown recluse spider, she is one that should hit your “radar screen”.    The spider is light tan in color and has long legs. It likes dark, quiet spaces like under your bed, in the back of closets, in cupboards that are really used.  Fortunately, they are “RECLUSIVE”, meaning that they don’t like light and activity.

But they do move at night and they need to go to water which is probably why most folks are bitten in their beds as they sleep.

For me, the spider bite woke me up.  Not as intense a wasp sting but quick and sharp.  By morning the area was swelling and itchy.  By Noon, the wound had a small head on it and was feeling bad.  The pain at the site of the bite was beginning to get intense.

Not every is sensitive to the toxin from this spider but if you think you have been bitten by a spider and you start to have this reaction, it is wise to go immediately to the doctor.  Although there is no treatment to counteract the effect of the toxin, antiobiotics mya help keep down the secondary infections that can happen as your skin begins to die off.  Out of control, this toxin can lead to the need for surgery and skin grafts.

The same is true for our dogs.  The wound appears to have the same appearance and the dog gets very depressed. A vet should be in the loop for advise and support about how to help the dog through this “toxic event”

Outside these spiders like dark places like the inside of dog houses that haven’t been used in a while.  Or forgotten corners of the garden..

While there are “zillions” of these creatures out there, it is still a rare event when they bite a dog or a person but when they do, it can be a very dangerous health issue.  Be aware!

History Majors: Remember Romulus and Remus.. The two twin brothers that were nutured by a she-wolf and went on to settle the village that later became Rome.

I WANT  THIS DOG!

Buenos Aires – A female dog found an abandoned newborn baby girl early Thursday and took the child home with her puppies in a poor suburb of the Argentine city of La Plata, local media reported citing police sources.

The owner of the dog reportedly noticed the baby hours later, when he heard her cry. The man immediately called the police, and the newborn was taken to a hospital in La Plata.

The dog, called China, reportedly found the baby in a barren lot in the neighbourhood of Abasto. Guided by her instinct, she took the girl with her puppies and kept her warm in the Argentine winter.

The baby, weighing some four kilogrammes, was naked and showed some bruising, said authorities at the Melchor Romero hospital, where the girl was brought before being transferred to the Children’s Hospital. Doctors said she had been born only a few hours earlier.

Thursday morning, after the case was made public, a 14-year-old girl arrived at the hospital accompanied by a neighbour and said she was the baby’s mother. Medical authorities said she admitted to having abandoned the baby.
The teenager reportedly said she gave birth late Wednesday, alone and in a very precarious setting, and then decided not to keep her baby.

Here are updates on his life in Tenn with Karen and Joe

5-13-08:   Dakota arrived last night around 9 in Cookeville and got home about 9:45.  He has cried some missing you and all the animal friends in Arkansas.  However, we think he is doing great.  He has been to town with Joe and up on the farm visiting with the cows and riding in the farm truck. It was love at first sight for us!  He is great.  Playing and doing well. Our 3 year old grandson came to visit and play tonight and they got along great.  We got him an igloo dog house and he goes right in and looks out when he hears us.  We are so happy to have him.  I think he will be a great retirement buddy for Joe.  He seems very smart.  Thanks for everything and we will let you know how he is doing.  Joe and Karen

5-26-08: This is a Dakota update.  He is doing great and everyone is in love with him.  Our daughter-in-law helped give him a bath Friday night and the kids play with him.  He is a sweetheart.  He has already grown so we must be feeding him well.  The kids bring him treats, which of course, he loves.  He loves to jump in the high weeds or hay field and bring out “stick-tights” in his fur.  He jumps in it like he is jumping in water and rolls around.  We love him very much and thank you for getting him to us.  Hope all his sisters are well. 

6/22/08:  Dakota is doing great and very happy. We love him! He is perfect. He had grown to about 18 pounds at his first vet visit and when he goes back on July 2, we think he will be well over 20. He plays and loves to run. He plays keep away with me chasing him and we go for walks. He loves to play with our grand-dogs, too.

6/24/08: I am working and spend much of my time when I get home playing with Dakota.  He is wonderful.   He is very active and plays.  He is great getting a bath.  At his first vet visit, he had gained about 6 lbs from when you took him right before he left.  His next appt is on July 2 and I am sure he will be well over 20 lbs.  His hair is growing and changing.  He has long white hairs in the black!  He plays with the grandchildren and their dog.    We love him a lot and are very grateful we found you.

 

Lisabeth is a sweetie, a cuddler and very smart. She was fairly easy to house train and had only a few accidents the first week or two but now has found her place. She loves to grab clothes from the laundry basket and sleep on them. Her and my son are best buddies they love to play together and play leap frog. She has made friends with our neighbors dogs and loves to watch all the kids playing on in the neighborhood. She helps me with the yard work by pulling the weeds and picking up the leaves in her mouth. She loves to be outside day or night and watch everything going on and listen to all the sounds. She is really good at not wondering too far and listen well when we call her to come. She has learned to sit, stay, come and working on the jumping up and chewing on people. We love her and she has found a place in our home and family very quickly.

There are approximately 71 million dogs in the United States.  If everyone gave at least $1.00 in the name of their dog to help fund cancer research in dogs, we could make a tremendous impact on the  current projects.  In addition to saving our beloved dogs, much of this research impacts the race for the cancer cure for people.

The amazing statistic is that 1 in 4 of our dogs will die or suffer from cancer.  Warning signs of cancer in dogs include

Abnormal swellings that persist or continue to grow

Sores that do not heal 

 Weight loss

Loss of appetite

Bleeding or discharge from any body opening

Offensive odor

Difficulty eating or swallowing

Hesitance to exercise or loss of stamina

Persistent lameness or stiffness

And just like people, a dog can appear to be absolutely fine, only to be diagnosed with cancer.  To learn more about this project, visit www.curecaninecancer.com

 There is also a link at this site for a free consultation for owners of dogs diagnosed with cancer.

www.curecaninecancer.org/free_screening.html

Change the world! Make a donation today in the name of your beloved dog!  We did in HONOR of our amazing, incredible English Shepherd “Tessa”  and our brave little beagle, Birdy, both of whom suffered from breast cancer. 

    Donate on-line at:  

www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/donate_ccc 

That concept made an impression on me!  It made me realize that I was treating my beagles different from my English Shepherds not because they were different but because of some implied differences.

My pugs however set me staight about where the line between being dogs and a specific breed began.  I brought Wu, my fawn male when he was about 5 months of age.  His early months have been restricted and I set off to let him learn to be a dog. 

After about a week or so at the ranch, I let him outside to go to the bathroom and didn’t go with him.  He took off.  I watched him from the window go down the side of the horse paddock.  After about 300 yards, I was sure he would come back.  Nope.

He went out of sight.  I thought it was time to rethink my plan.  I went out looking for him, calling his name. I looked down the country road, in the horse paddock and circled around the other side of the horse looking down to the barns.

Amazingly, there on a side of a barn was little fawn pug.  I walked down and called his name and he calmly walked over to me and followed me back to the house.

Now you think that I would have learned my lesson but I was sure that Cesar was right.  He has to be a dog.  He has to have dog instincts.  The next day I let him out again.  This time I was more prepared and I kept a more watchful eye on him.  Again he wandered around.  Like he was lost.   Couldn’t related to wide open space.  Again I had to go and get him.

This went on for a few more days.  I began to get frustrated.  Maybe pugs weren’t dogs?  Maybe Wu was mentally challenged?  Maybe I was crazy??

I was just about to throw in the towel.  I uttered some words about “if he is too deranged to find his way home, he needs a different environment.” BINGO! Wu figured it out. 

Now he is the Farm Pug.  He rides the 4 wheeler! Moves freely around the farm.  He can be found in the house sleeping on a vent.  On the back porch capturing the breeze.  Sunning himself beside the edge of the stallion barn.   

Ah, I thought.  Cesar was right.  Pugs are first dogs and then pugs.  I thought I understood till Opie showed me the line where pugs stop being dogs and begin to be pugs…..

The application is 10 pages long. When you finish it, keep a copy so you can take it to your  doctor and your dog’s therapist – should you need a complete lifestyle work-up.

After reading through it, I don’t think that any of my great dogs would make the cut.  I don’t think CBS is looking for dogs that save your life. Protect children.  Or are totally devoted to doing the right thing to making the life of their owner easier.

Maybe a sequel will spin off: America’s Most Amazing Working Dogs.  Casting call: Farm Dogs, Police Dogs, Search and Rescue Dogs, Therapy Dogs, etc

This show premiere will be on July 10, 2008.

The article is written by a journalist with personal experience of dealing with the hard facts about identifying and treating a dog infected with a drug resistant staph. The source of much of her information comes from an interview with Laura Stokking PhD., DVM, DACVD, a dermatalogy specialist. A complete transcript of this interview can found at Pet Connection

In a nutshell, it seems that many of the cases are first diagnosed and treated as spider bites. They do not respond to the medication and quickly evolve into a serious medical condition. The bottom line: Encourage your vet to culture the infection before prescribing antibiotics.

It seems that vet like medical doctors have been giving our pets too many unnecessary antibiotics. I hear this story all the time. A new puppy owner takes her puppy to the vet for its first check-up. If the vet sees anything from a small scrap to a tiny bump – a round of antibiotics is the answer.

Invariably within a week or so I get a message that the puppy is off food or not acting right. So back to the doc they go again. More antibiotics. No diagnosis. Just antibiotics.

Again I encourage you to read that article. I support the concept that antibiotics are wonderful for the right problem. Culture and sensitivities should be done to determine the correct drug of chose. This means that the vet takes a swab of the infected area. The “cells” on the swab are then wiped across an agar plate which is a “growing medium” for bacteria, etc. The plate is then allowed to grow . The growths on the plate are then identified and “disks” of different kinds of antibiotics are placed on the plate to see which one will kill the growth.

Only with that kind of information can the right antibiotic be prescribed! Please encourage your vet (and your medical physician) to obtain this information.

FYI: MRSA has also been identified in horses.

Dakota was the only male English Shepherd pup in Gabby 2008 litter.  Here is an update from his owners at about 12 weeks of age. 

This is a Dakota update.  He is doing great and everyone is in love with him.  Our daughter-in-law helped give him a bath Friday night and the kids play with him.  He is a sweetheart.  He has already grown so we must be feeding him well.  The kids bring him treats, which of course, he loves.  He loves to jump in the high weeds or hay field and bring out “stick-tights” in his fur.  He jumps in it like he is jumping in water and rolls around.  We love him very much and thank you for getting him to us.  Hope all his sisters are well.  Joe and Karen

I have been so “upset” about the “verbage” written about Eight Belles that I haven’t been able to even write a response.  Yesterday, I read this quote on line in a New Zealand newspaper.  I just couldn’t stand it anymore.   So to follow are my thoughts…

“It is possible the horse began to feel pain and would have slowed down but couldn’t because she was being whipped,” said PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo. “We want to know.”

It is hard to believe that anyone who has actually owned a thoroughbred or a horse (or a dog) bred for a high performance event  would utter a statement like this.  It hard to believe that a person who trained for any event or trained anything for a high level performance event would have even had this thought.

A race horse is experiencing such a high level of adrenaline and or endorphins being in the moment of competition that it does not feel pain.   The function of the “whip” is not to inflict pain – it is a communication signal to a horse in the peak of performance.

It is the same sort of state that drives humans and animals in the wild to perform amazing feats after they have been injured; the same state that drives human athletes to amazing peaks of performance

Thoroughbred and other equine athletes are bred to have this drive.  It is one of the traits which makes them great.  It is one of the traits that separates some individuals from the rest of their species:  The desire to achieve the goal at any costs.

Instead of trying to crucify the jockey, we should be hailing him a hero and thanking the powers-that-be that the filly did not break down till after the finish line.  If she had gone down in the stretch, it is likely that there would have been a horrible pile up.  Jocks and horses scattered over the track as they dodged falling horses and riders in front of them.

After the finish line the jock guided this filly toward the outside rail where the dirt was best.  In retrospect, this was the best possible scenario for a bad scene.  The rest of the field was free to come home and easy down slowly from the speed of the race.

It is impossible for a horse running at those speeds to stop in a short distance of space.  They are like a train.  They have to time and distance to slow down.     

While it is unlikely that we will ever know when the filly’s injuries actually occurred, shouldn’t we discussing the heart and courage of this filly who came in second in a field of boys. 

I am in the process of moving my blog from http://www.englishshepherds.blogspot.com to my website. Bear with me! Please! I am computer illiterate!

I am not sure what all these buttons and links are on this software but here I go!

To jump start the process I am going to develop pages for the 6 puppies that I have available. Ringo and Gabby had 7 puppies born March, 2008. I had deposits for the one boy in the litters. Now I have deposits for 2 of the girls.

It has always been hard to identify most of the pups produced by this cross as they look very much alike. I am going to try this blogging format to see if I can easily add photos of each pups and comments about its personality and development.

Please email me with any comments and questions that you might have about each pup.

There are 6 girls and 1 boy. Everyone is doing fine.