Thursday, June 2, 2011

Happy Happy Pups!

Hello, Val here. We haven't had the 2 dogs interact too much since Showlow is being treated for Roundworms and Coccidia. But today we decided to let them play a little bit. We first took them in the backyard and let Showlow sniff around and then John sat in a chair and held baby because we noticed that if we let her go she tends to forget how big she is and accidentally tramples little Showlow. Showlow continued to run up to baby and bark and play. You can tell that Baby wanted to play too, but we just couldn't risk her stepping on Showlow. Once Showlow is a little bigger that won't be a problem. After they played out back, we brought them in and let them play together on our bed. This way they were mostly laying down and we wouldn't risk Baby stepping on Showlow. This for me was just the happiest time. Since we got Showlow I have been a little worried about how Baby would react to her.  Baby has been the only dog in the house and I was worried she'd be territorial. I should have known better though, she is truly one of the smartest and sweetest dogs in the world. She did great with Showlow and at the end of the play date in the bed she was relaxed & HAPPY. I've seen baby get excited to see us when we get home and excited for a bone or treat. But today I felt that she was truly happy that she had a playmate. This in turn made me extremely joyful and all my previous worries went away. Dogs naturally run in packs, and it brings them contentment and peace to have other pups in the pack. It broke my heart to leave Baby every time John and I left to work. But now I know that once Showlow is a little bigger she won't be alone all day, she'll have someone to run and play with and nap with. Can't wait to watch those 2 grow up together. Until next time, PUNISH THE DEED NOT THE BREED and please help us promote responsible pet ownership and help us fight Breed-specific legislation.


here are some pics from our play time today, enjoy! 








Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Quick Update

Alright so I dropped off ShowLow at my work before I went to school and went straight there after school to find some news regarding her diarrhea of late. I just realized that I didn't mention before that she had diarrhea, well she did and I was already under the assumption that she had some kind of worms, as many puppies do, especially neglected, abused ones.... So a Fecal Smear, Float and Giardia Test were done at my work. The Giardia was negative but the Fecal tested positive for Roundworms and Coccidia. Both quite common in puppies, as the Roundworm larvae passes down through the mothers milk. So after a small dose of Ponazuril (for the coccidia) and an Iverhart Max... Which is a heartworm preventative but most importantly it treats Roundworms, Hookworms, and Tapeworms, so it is commonly used as a dewormer especially in puppies due to the very high safety level on these compounds. So little ShowLow got her medicine today as well as her first vaccine just as a precaution, If the mother wasn't vaccinated which I assume she wasn't its a little added protection. So Dr. B. thinks she is about 6 weeks, so she will need to be booster in the coming weeks. In two weeks I will also have to pick up some Panacur  and deworm her with that as an added precaution. Little Showlow is doing great currently, has only had four bowel movements as opposed to yesterday when she went nearly every 30min to an hour because the food she ate went right to the worms and passed through her. Her latest BM actually is part solid and has improved drastically since yesterday. Shes on the road to full health! Oh and in case people didn't know Coccidia is a protozoan parasite that causes Diarrhea in dogs. It is usually found as part of the dogs Normal Flora, but during times of stress/immune system compromise.... It can lead to an overgrowth.. which is what happened in our ShowLow.

 Pictures to follow soon.

Till next time.....