Welcome Callie: A Poodle Party

Well, I don't have a foster dog to blog about so I'm going to share some pics of Missy with my Fluffy friends.

I loved this girl from the minute I met her and it only continues to grow. I'm afraid she's going to spoil me for all other breeds. She's smart, athletic, gorgeous, sweet and all around wonderful.

We have the appointment with Becker's office in about two weeks. I'll be curious to find out if I'm doing the right things for her eating, exercise and supplement wise. We'll make any modifications the practice recommends. I was concerned at first that the type of care I would give her wouldn't be sufficient but I know now that we've got her on the right track. Blending the traditional with the holistic should be a good mix for keeping her healthy as long as possible. The vet suggested a kidney specialist but cautioned that it would cost $1k-2k for the evaluation. Having had a dog with kidney disease before I didn't think we were going to need the expense of a specialist. But then, I thought that maybe someone else would be willing to give her access to that. But, I do believe what we're doing is best.

Knock on wood, but I think we've got the urine leaking under control. She's on the doggy version of hormone replacement therapy and so far so good. With this I can be a little more free with her water consumption at night. I'm sure she appreciates being able to drink what she needs. One of the kids still had a water resistant bed pad so I put that down for her with layers and layers of blankets just in case. But, we haven't had a night time accident in about two weeks now. My guess is that her prior family had problems with her leaking and just attributed it to them being gone a lot. Sure, she needs to get out frequently but that's just the symptom of the real problem.

I laugh because her paper work says she was hyper and that she bit when at the vet's. She has been nothing but great for us. She's just a normal dog with high intelligence. I'd say she plays rough sometimes but I wouldn't call her hyper. She is very good about respecting Miles' wishes when he tells her she's getting too rough. She got a real poodle cut a few weeks ago and was great for the groomer. She's also been great for the vet and she's been there a number of times since she's been here.

The paper work also said she had pyometra about 2 years ago. That uterine infection is probably what started the kidney disease according to the vet. Poor thing, when they took out her reproductive organs because of the pyometra they also robbed her of hormones and that lack of hormone is probably what makes it difficult for her to control her bladder at times. For most dogs the lack of hormone is not a problem, but for her it is. She got a triple whammy with that one. But, we're doing what we can to make the most of things for her now.

She is very good that the dog park. The place where we go is about 70 acres and really more of a hiking trail than a park. I've always seen a group of Standard Poodles there on the weekends and my girls and I always joked that they were having a "poodle party." Well, today we happened to be at the dog park at the same time and they asked us to join them on their hike. The poodles played and jumped and really looked to be having a great time together. You know what, they do call their group the "Lakewood Poodle Party" and they invited Missy, Miles, Holly and I to join them for their Saturday morning get togethers. I'm looking forward to being able to provide Missy a weekly party with some poodle friends.

Here are some pictures from today.