Gryffenne

Guessing it's prolly along the lines of how I can confirm how Bitter Apple tastes? besides socks (I use the ones my son outgrew 2 years ago. Toddler tube socks fit Sammi's feet perfectly! ) I also am well stocked in Vet Wrap Works awesome, and is pretty cheap at a farm store. In fact, I use the same stuff on myself where medical tape/wrap is needed. (Farm store is cheaper than a petstore or a pharmacy and is the same thing... 'cept it comes in a wide variety of colors and is 4" wide, vs the 2" in most pharmacies)

The not eating much I would watch for signs of pain (blockage) and the vomiting would actually worry me more (dehydration) in the immediate time-frame. How are the other 2 dogs acting? Anyone in the house been sick? Wouldnt hurt to at least call the vet and run things past them. They have more accurate questions and things to look for to help decide when to come in.

Have you tried the denta-bones? I know you said Rudy will not eay a bone, but not sure if you meant ANY bone or just "real" ones associalted w/ Raw feeding? As for toothpaste, can't really say which would be the best. Sammi doesnt appreciate her teeth being brushed, so I have used a dentabone a week for her and with as much as she yawns in my face , her breath hasnt burned my retenas yet.

The vet I used in TC when i had the ferrets years ago was awsome with scripts. If it was something that humans took as well, he flat out told you AND which pharmacy he recommended calling it in to for a better price. (I checked the first few times and he was always correct at who had the better price). If it was something only for animals, he would run through the list of things you could do cost wise. (a few times, just a few sample packs were enough and no charge) This was when 800 pet meds and the like were just starting to get really well known, and he was leery of them with anything requiring refrigeration. (Made sense) And the few times I did decide for online scripts, he always cautioned to check the packages thuroughly. Check exp dates, and who actually manufactured them. If I had any concern, he would gladly check them over when they arrived for me. He also cut deals with owners that brought multiple pets in at the same time for their check ups and vacc's. When I first went to him with my first ferret, he knew a little about them, but wasn't what you would call "savvy". That all changed. he's the type that if he doesnt know, he WILL find out. Anya's first visit, he asked ME a lot of questions. For her next round of boosters, as i was walking past his office door, on his desk were multiple ferret manuals. By time I moved away years later, he was the most ferret savvy vet in TC All in all a great vet. If I ever move back to the TC area, I know exactly who I am taking Sammi to.

I remember asking this as a child in CCD and almost getting kicked out of class. Add to the pile of reasons why I love Dogma, by Kevin Smith so much

This was always an ongoing debate between my mom & I and my dad. He says NO, we say YES. I think his "no" tho is based on what he was taught. (Catholic school, a Brother in a Monestary for 6 years, etc...) I'm eager to mention the Pope's stance to him He's funny about these things, tho. While he will hold firm on the no animals in heaven bit, he did give Sammi a medallion of St Francis for her tag collar. And he's asked me if I 'd like ot bring her to the blessing of the pets every year. Unfortuantely, as much as i would love to, not sure it would go over well having Ms Prey Drive there. While I was raised Catholic, I am not a practicing one, as in, I don't go to church weekly. My thoughts seem to be very similar to that of Kevin Smith's and someday i will have the guts to sit my Dad down and watch Dogma with him.

What the OP is describing, could very easily be a UTI. Better safe than sorry because left unattended, it can cause pain. Since the artic circle decided to relocate, all i can do is watch her atm. From what I could see on my comforter, the towel and the pristine white snow, all colors have been normal, no blood or any exotic coloring. (i've definately had enough specimens to study ) . No strong odors from the inside accidents. Since the accidents, she's been taken out whether she wants to or not, every hour. (No long walks w/ the windchill. We can only stay out fora few minutes) There has been 1 pee and 1 poo. No more accidents. No more signs or distress. All colors and eating habits are normal. Her shaking and panting may have been from holding it. (I sure would be in some pain) The solo panting in the middle of the night may have just been from being too hot. Once it's safe to travel/be outside, if there is anything that raises a flag, we'll be at the vet's. if conditions nosedive to where I think it's dire, we'll attempt the nearest vet.

That is what is so confusing. She was panting around 4am, I assumed from being over warm in her PJs. I also had the covers kicked off me, so it was logical to think she was overhot (someone around 4 feet tall that will remain nameless messed with the thermostat). Once I took off her PJ's, after a few moments, the panting stopped and she stretched out and prompty zonked out. This morning, I awoke to panting and shaking. Concerned, I ran my hands over her and talked to her. She stopped. (ETA~ This was the last occurance of the panting and shaking) I immediately get dressed and take her outside thinkng she is about to explode from holding it so long. (I did ask her throughout the late evening and at 4am if she had to go potty, realizing she hadnt gone in a while.) There was no shaking, panting, whining, crying or anything to indicate pain or distress after she woke me this morning. Not even while pottying. The only signs now that something was/is wrong is the fact of the accidents and full bladders in the house and the guilty expression she's having. She's cuddled very close to me atm, so I have been reaching over and checking for shaking or pain pretty often. As for the Vet... with this weather there is no going anywhere atm. Unless there is blood or GSOD's, I am not going to endanger her or my son by being on the roads right now.

Yesterday, Sammi started out normal. Morning pee, had breakfast, mornign poop. Off to my dad's for the morning/afternoon. Pooped there. Came home, pee'd around 230pm and came indoors. As I was going to bed late last night, it dawned on me that she didnt ask to go outside since we got home. We're under a storm atm, so usually when the weather is this bad, we don't take walks. She's is a prissy girl that I usually have to drag outside in bad weather when she has to go potty. Around 4am I wake up feeling like I am on a rocking boat. She's on the bed panting. Ok, maybe the house is a lil too warm. So I take off her PJ's. Lay back down. She gets herself comfy and zonks out. I wake up in the morning and she's panting/rocking the bed again. I nudge her with my foot and that is when I realize she's shaking slightly while panting. I sit straight up and run my hand along her. She stops shaking. We go outside (I'm thinking she has to be holding a LOT of pee since she never curbed her water intake. It was normal) Sure enough, she goes.... a lot. Come inside and there is no panting or shaking. in fact, since i took her out this mornign she hasnt done either. But here's the kicker... 2 hours later, I take her out again. More pee (full bladder style). Make french toast for DS and I, and make her breakfast. 30 min later, I go to check my email and DS notices a wet spot on my bed. Just as I turn around and look, Sammi dives off the bed into the livingroom and pees right there on the floor. A LOT of pee. My guess from the amount on the bed, my coming into the room stopped her. Because there wasnt a full bladder there (thank god) but there was on the floor in the LR! So in the span of a few hours we've had multiple full bladder amounts. She didnt feel like pottying last night. She was panting last night. She was shaking & panting this morning... but that stopped when I touched her and then took her outside. Her eating and drinking habits are normal. She doesnt appear to have a fever or any sore spots. She wasnt shaking or making sound to indicate that urinating was painful and the color was normal. Besides the guilty expression, she's acting normal now. Any ideas?

As I am sitting here with my lunch.... this caught my attention the fastest... White?? When we first got Sammi, she stayed on the same food she was fed at the foster house. For 2 months or so, we dealt with soft serve. (I can't remember who here on GT told me of the paper trick, but heck, I still use it on occassion and her poops are "normal" now ) 2 months tho, of frustration, pumpkin, bland diets, posts here, and calls to the vet. Finally, it straightened out. 2.5 years later, her meals consist of: Glucosime, kibble+homecook mixture, a multi-vit and then for the coat, either~ an egg, peanutbutter, or a capful of olive oil. Her dry skin is only an issue in the winter (strangely, like mine). Her poops? The may vary in the shade of brown, they may sometimes be softer than normal (depending activity level that day and time of day) but other than that, they are formed. My Mom had 2 theories. One... nerves. She was in a new situation and stress can make a human sick to their stomach and cause the big D, why not a canine? and Two... the water. She got this one because of me. I am very sensetive to water. I grew up with water that had no taste, smell, color or texture. I cant stand chlorine of floride in my water. When we would travel, I would have to drink bottled water or I would get sick and have the big D (even in the states). So on her hunch, into the second month, I used water out of the Brita for her dog dish. The firming started to happen. Whether or not it was one or both, or neither theory... dunno.

The fist winter Sammi was here, her and I fell down the steps on the ice. We landed in a sprawled heap on the ground. No scream, not even a whimper out of her. (Maybe she was too shocked hearing MY version of a GSOD) She jsut moved away from me for a moment, then came over and licked my face. After she went potty, we went back inside. I had assumed because there was no limping on her part, that I didnt land on her or anything. I was wrong. WHen I came back from the kitchen, there was a pool of blood under her foot where she was laying on the couch! Sure enough, the nail was completely gone. I cleaned the area, wrapped gauze and vet wrap around her foot and then for added measure, took one of my son's outgrown socks and put that over everything. Worked like a charm! (Son was 5, so the socks he had jsut outgrown were perfect greyhound-foot sized) I called the vet and she said I did everything right. Watch for infection and keep Sammi quiet to lessen reoccuring bleeding. If the bleeding didnt stop by a certain time, I could bring her in for a stitch or two, but it wasnt neccessary. She said the nail may or may not grow back. (I had gone back outside and found the nail... the WHOLE thing had come out) To this day, that nail hasnt come back. I joke with the groomers that I should get a discount because it's one less nail being trimmed

OK.. I love my dog, really I do.... but there are some things I will NOT do myself for her. (I have a friend that takes care of her dog's anal glands herself... um, no thanks. I'll gladly pay a vet to do this one! )

Not sure if it's safe or not, but someone here will know Botched wax job? Or bringing back a retro fad from the 90's (when guys would have designs shaved into their hair... back in fashion for the 2009 fashion show, it's houndie hair art! )

Where is the option for "Right after the Breakfast-Is-Finished Burp?"

When I adopted Sammi May06, I was told she was a stuffie killer and liked to play. yeah right... she didnt touch them After a few months she started playing as long as you couldnt see that she was playing. She was a closet player You couldnt be in the room with her playing and if she heard you talking about her playing, she stopped. After a few more months, she woudl play in the same room with you, but you couldnt look at her playing, you were only allowed to hear her play. Soon as you looked at her or the stuffie, she stopped. A few more months, she didnt seem to care anymore that you watched her play, and would even start a form of fetch with you when she got tired of whippign it across the room herself. Now she bounces the stuffie off the back of your head while you are posting on GT about her playing, so that you KNOW she is playing.

You're very welcome I am glad (and relieved) that everything got there in one piece and was enjoyed

I know how it feels to not get any word , and right now with whats going on, I dont think that I wll be participating in the Secret Exchanges for a while.

Dear Secret Santa~ Thank you so much for the presents!! The packaged arrived while mom was sleeping and I tried SO hard to wait for her to wake up. I didnt whine... much, or hop on her.... much, or even paw at the package WHILE whining... much! I promise! But the ears in it smelled so GOOD! Mommy loves the collar you sent me, said it's really pretty I love the stuffies and ears The one is really fun to drag around with it's long legs Mommy said she will get pics up soon of me playing, once she finds out where I hid the cord that she needs for the camera to talk to the computer. not my fault she left it lying there while she was moving stuff around. Luvs, Sammi (from Colleen~ The moose/reindeer one with the "long legs" is by far her fave! i wish I had the camera going yesterday when she was whipping it around the living room at one point she whipped it, it went airbourne and landed IN the lower branches of the christmas tree. i spun around hwen I heard the bells tinkling and was able to catch her reaction. She froze seeing where it landed, looked at me, and then back at her tree-caught stuffy that only had it's legs showing coming out of the tree. She then delicately stretched her neck WAY out and grabbed the stuff and ever so gently pulled it out of the tree and then ran to her bed and sat ON the stuffy I guess she was afraid it was going to fly again Her expressions were priceless! )

Heep, you arent the only one that has to wait til this weekend. Jsut after everything with my mom and now getting sick, I havent got much left in me to get out and do everything. Some of the gifts are picked up, just gotta pick up the final one and then wrap and mail them.

Sammi says she can't wait!!

Wuss! Dan, welcome to GreyTalk!

Dearest Secret Santa~ Thank you SO MUCh for the delicious biskies! They are AWSOME!!!! Mommy said she'd try to get some pics of me eating them if I didnt eat them so fast Love~ Sammi

Thanks Gen Umm... hmmm... Sammi loves any treat invoving peanutbutter. She also loves her jammies and wish she had more than her heavy fleece onces to wear She is a serial stuffy killer as well and always looking for fresh... stuffing and how did you kow I drvive a Chev. Malibu

Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and hugs. She was a very special teacher. At her memorial the first speaker got up and started out, "I used ot be shy...." and never finished because everyone broke out into tearful laughter and applause. For those of us that were honored to have had her in our life, that is a very common phrase. I don't know if the local papers would run my thoughts, but I am heavily considering trying to contact MIFA to see if they would post it. She was heavily involved with MIFA and the letter her friend there sent to be read at her memorial was so touching that it makes mine look like doodles on a napkin. I was hoping his letter would be posted on there somewhere because his needs to bee seen as well. I am also going to send a copy to the school newsletter. I was looking through my photo albums and started crying again for the hundredth time when i read her letter in it. She writes one personally for every Senior in PA. As I sat there looking through them, I noticed the last one had a blank page at the very end. I never noticed that page before. I wonder if every senior's collection had one empty page. Iam going to print out 2 copies of what i posted. One I am going to put one on that last page along with her obit and the card from her Celebration of Life memorial service. The second copy I am going to send to her daughter to have. Thank youa gain for reading, and the thoughts and hugs. I was doing okay from the 19th until 11/3. Then i started crying and havent quite been able to stop.

I know this forum is meant for beloved pets, but I needed somewhere to say this. It’s my own goodbye to a dear friend. Mostly ramblings and memories. I know she wasn’t a loved pet, but she was a loved teacher, mentor, and friend. Today I said goodbye to “That Teacher”. We all have one, you know the teacher I mean. The one that changed your life, you never forgot. You loved them like a parent, or for some, even more. Their impact was that great. To most students in the school system, she was Mrs. Ford. To her friends, and fellow teachers, she was Connie. To Her Kids, her P.A. students, she was M.F., or Mom. She taught primarily Drama (Performing Arts, or PA) ~ Forensics, Theatre, and Debate. Throughout the years she would pick up other subjects to teach: English, Geography, etc… when the school needed a teacher for those subjects, but the Theatre was her heart, her life. I was shy growing up. Everyone laughs when I tell them that. But I was! I am talking, borderline social anxiety SHY. And then my freshman year in HS I met the infamous, or maybe notorious, Mrs. Connie Ford. I was a Novice, a.k.a. First Year PA Student. I was scared to death, like most Novices, of this 5’2’ red head standing in front of the class letting us in on exactly what we were going to be doing this year. Anyone that entered PA thinking that this was an easy A type class was sorely mistaken. Anyone that thought they could sit back in the shadows unnoticed, was really mistaken. Debate was in the Fall, then Pentathalon, or as we called it simply- Pentath, the first weekend in December. Then Drama Competiton, and finally Forensics (also called Individual Events, orIE), in the spring. And that was just the competitive side of PA. We also had the Fall Show, the Spring show, which was the full length version of our 45 minute competitive Drama show, and finally Dinner Theatre a few weeks before school ended that everyone was involved in, but was primarily a Graduation of sorts for her Seniors. When I was going to school, we didn’t have an auditorium. We made our stage in the HS gymnasium. It’s amazing any of us still have our fingerprints after 4 years of laying the floor down, putting the lights up and all the Duct Tape that was used! But we did it That first year, MF thought, because I talked so fast naturally, that I would be a prime candidate for Debate. Ha! Wrong. After my first tournament when I told a judge I wasn’t finished yet, after he called Time on me, we decided that Debate wasn’t for me. For the shows that year, including the Drama Comp, I was on stage, but no speaking parts, that was the closest to the background she allowed me to be. For IE, I got away with being in Duo Comp, 2 people performing a dramatic piece without the use of Props. That was the case for all of IE. No costumes, and No props beyond chairs/stools and street clothing. My sophmore year, I got to have a taste of doing lighting for the drama comp. That year we did Oh Freedom! A show about the civil war that she wrote herself. Many memories are from this year. Most people tell you that if they could relive any year of school, it would be their Senior year. Mine is my sophmore year. I have a VHS tape of our Full Length show, that is so worn out I am afraid to watch it anymore. I am saving the last viewing for when I can put it onto a DVD, but I don’t know anyone that can do that, so it stays on my shelf next to my photo albums that every senior is given by MF at our PA Senior Dinner. She did that every year for every Senior in PA. She would collect all the photos, clippings, certificates and awards you accumulated over the years and put them into albums for you. And then she would make dinner, at her house for her Seniors. For those that have never done Dramatic Competition at the HS level, you take a Full Length Show and cut it down to 45 minutes. So you have 45 minutes to still cram in the gist of the piece, and this includes set and costume changes. There are 3 judges. Each with a stopwatch. At the end, they took your average time from the 3 watches. Every second that you are over 45 minutes, each judge docks you. I remember at Districts for Oh Freedom!, that we were still running slightly over and the pianist & the lighting techs each had a stopwatch to keep an eye on the time. At a certain time, if we were falling behind, the pianist was supposed to, during a scene change, cut to a different song indicating we were going to cut out the next scene. If, towards the end we were still behind, I was to cut out the spotlight on a monologue, when the speaker paused, indicating to start the finale. Well, sure enough, the pianist had to cut a scene. A few scenes after, my spotlight was supposed to pick out a soloist out of a completely darkened stage. The way I did this, was I would look down the top of my spotlight like I was looking down the sights of a large gun. I leaned in too close to the spotlight and melted the stopwatch hanging around my neck!! So just in case, I cut mine later in the show. Our average time? 44m59s. It was also, with Oh Freedom!, that I started to understand acting. We had a judge that had issues with the fact that our slaves in the show were actually almost all Caucasian, save 2, wearing make up and using correct dialect for the time period to appear African. They didn’t know this until after the show, where you go into a room with the judges for your critiques and they saw them without their make up. Oh she had a fit! MF stood nose to nose with that judge and let her have it. “We are a small, white, Northern Michigan school, a show with 2 slaves is NOT going to cut it. The fact YOU didn’t know that they were really white should tell you JUST how good of actors they are! And instead of applauding them, you are trying to disqualify them.. Lady, you need to go back to school and learn what acting really is!” We won that tournament and went on to the State Level Competition. My Junior year I was able to compete in Pentath. (It’s only open to Jr. and Sr. year students and she takes 12 students out of her PA class of over 50) Pentath is a 5 event competition. Dramatic Interpretation, Prose, Poetry, Storytelling and then a 5th one that changes every year. OMG I was scared to death. This was to be the first time I would be up in front of the crowd, alone. My first event was Prose. I had picked a piece from Gaston L’s Phantom of the Opera. The part where Erik is talking to the Daroga at the end and he’s dying. Well, one part he’s supposed to go into a coughing fit and collapse. I was shaking SO badly that my knees really did give out on me LMAO. I got a 1/100, top score for that round. Why? Believability. Haha! At dinner that evening, it was discovered that it was also my birthday. We were at Bennigan’s. at one point I suspected that something was up, maybe it was all the waitstaff gathering at the back of the restaurant, maybe it was the fact when I tried to bolt for the bathroom that her hand clamped down on my shoulder, pinning me to the chair, I don’t know… LOL. I also remember that night, we were all relaxing and watching movies in one of the hotel rooms and decided at 2 in the morning that we were going to sneak down to the 24 hour pool. Oh we thought we were so sneaky… until we got down there and as we were all surfacing from a mass cannonball into the pool to a very low laugh. There was MF sitting in a lounge chair. So much for sneaky. My Senior Year was a blur. I started doing judging for IE tournaments, but being that you had to be out 4 years to be a District, Regional or State judge, I only was judging the smaller qualifying tourneys. I remember coming out of the lighting booth to be on stage, but still being her Sr Light Tech in charge of the crew up there. I remember the impending ice storm on the Friday before a competition and all us kids that lived in the country staying in town so that we would be close to the school, ready to roll at 3am if the storm cleared. I, and many others, crashed at her house. I remember our goodbye at Dinenr Theatre. The Sr’s write their own skit for the goodbye and then after our skit, she brings us all out on stage to give us the trophies that we each earned over the years. When I came out I was bawling LOL and after she hugged me she turned to the crowd and said, “Well Colleen’s crying enough for everyone!” LOL That night we had our Sr Dinner, her infamous speghetti YUM! And our SR cast party and everyone crashing there. I remember all the cast parties, but that one stood out because it was just us Sr’s and MF. In the years following Graduation, I remained a judge for IE. I got certified to judge the D, R and State level. I even got to judge one technically before my 4 years out was up. She was hosting the Districts and needed a judge. She got on the phone with MIFA and got it cleared, since I wasn’t living in the area anymore and that it would be clear I would judge NO Seniors (Who were freshmen my senior year) I remained a judge for many years until my son was born, and I suddenly was going through a divorce and entering the world of single motherhood. But I usually stopped in to see MF when I was home visiting. I remember almost 10 years after I graduated, a new High School was built. With an auditorium. I almost cried when I walked in there and saw that she finally got Her Theatre! OMG I was so happy for MF. And then I realized these students won’t have the same memories of Duct Taping a floor down at 3am before shows. None of them will hold the same memory as I of running up the bleachers to our “lighting booth” and cracking my head against a support arch, and then falling back down those same bleachers and landing at MF’s feet in a daze. Today, I said goodbye to a teacher, a friend. And every day I say Thank You, MF. I am no longer Shy. You were loved, and you will be missed, by former students who love you as I do, and by those that never got the chance to know you and who never will have that chance to say, “I was shy until I met MF.”