Sorry for being gone for so long. There has been so much going on here at the house, I haven't been able to keep up. OK, so let me fill you in on what the boys have been up to in a nutshell, then I promise that I will be better about their blog from here on in.
- The boys had their first snow
We had the boys' first snow! I didn't know what to expect from them (I never do) but it was really fun. Mo Mo was very excited at first, as he is the one that always loves the cold. He was outside for a total of 2 minutes before he realized that it wasn't that great. He basically kicked and screamed in dog language the whole time that we were outside until the last 6 minutes or so, which he spent trying to eat all of the snow/ ice that was on the ground. Mr. Wendel was not very excited at all to see that there was snow outside. He seemed very upset that we would suggest he go outside in that sort of weather, and walked very carefully. To my surprise, after the first few minutes, Mr. Wendel was running around like he was shot from a cannon! He had so much energy and was very excited to be discovering a new thing! He really didn't want to go inside after our walk. Wesley was throwing snowballs at them (typical...), and we all had a blast. Can't wait until next year's snow! Look us up on www.youtube.com/momoandmrwendel to see the snow filled fun!
- Continued Problems with potty training
Well, unfortunately the boys are STILL having a hard time being potty trained. While there has been no more poop in the house (yeah!) they are still peeing if we don't keep an eye on them (especially Mr. Wendel). Mo Mo is doing much better but I am still nervous if he isn't right next to me, so I am leash training them now which is working very well. Basically, you get a really short leash and keep them right next to you wherever you are in the house, and they won't go to the bathroom. Good practice holding it in, but I have no idea how you transition them from being leashed all the time, to not being leashed in the house. They are also still peeing around the baby gate where they sleep. I think that we are giving them too much room in there... they basically have whole room to themselves, and it is gated off with a white baby gate. They pee around the back and sides of the area (never in the middle) so I think that they feel that they are going outside. I don't know what I am supposed to be doing about that. I have tried to look it up online, and they all just say that dogs don't go to the bathroom where they live. That may be true for MOST dogs, but what about puppy mill dogs, that have ONLY gone to the bathroom where they live. How in the heck are we supposed to train them not to go potty in their room?? *Sigh* We will keep working on it.
- Art Landerman
The whole family went to dogfest 2009 in Baltimore, MD earlier this year, and we met with a man by the name of Art Landerman (www.artlanderman.com). He had a booth set up at dogfest among other vendors showcasing his pet portraits. We took the boys there, and talked with Art, who seemed very nice and really was proud of his work. We decided to hire him to do a painting of our boys, and it was the best investment that we ever made. The painting is incredible, and we couldn't ask for anything more. Art is a wonderful, extremely talented, funny, good person that we would highly recommend to anyone that wanted to get a portrait done. He also does people, and other pets.. He is truly amazing.
- Mr. Wendel goes to meet Dr. Cochran
Well, upon getting the $2200 estimate from Dr. Hymen, at the recommendation of my dear friend, Linda, at the Potomac Valley Pekingese Club, I visited with Dr. Cochran in Fairfax, VA. She was very nice and quoted us around $1100, which is way better than the $2200 that we initially were quoted. We are scheduled to get surgery in early January, and are very excited to see the progress that Mr. Wendel makes. We will keep you posted.
- Mr. Wendel get's a tick bite
It is ALWAYS something with Mr. Wendel. We were supposed to be going out to dinner with my family, and as I was getting ready to go, I gave both of the boys a bath, and discovered that Mr. Wendel had a HUGE tick underneath his collar (it must have been there since his last bath- about a week prior- because it was engorged). I, of course being the cool as a cucumber dog mom that I am, freaked out, called the vet, and got him an appointment there. They told me that I had to take the tick off. I remember how to take a tick off from all of my years as a summer camp counselor, and a lifetime of running around in tick infested woods, but it was so much worse taking it off of him. He was crying and looking at me, as if to ask me why I was hurting him. I suffocated the tick with vasline, then took a match, blew it out, then immediately put it on the tick as close to the head as possible to kill it and make it let go. It worked, but I still feel like I left some of it in there. When Wesley got home, I shoved him back out the door, and we all went to the vet. We gave Mr. Wendel to the vet tech (and got Mo Mo and Mr. Wendel both canine flu booster shots while we were there), and the vet tech handed him over to the vet to check him out. He said that everything looked good, to put neosporin on it. He also said that if he was acting funny (wasn't eating, very tired, grouchy, not drinking water) to send him back in. Mr. Wendel was right as rain the next day, so we never had to go back in, though it took about two weeks for the tick bite to go away. Crazy, I know. It is all gone now, and we are no longer on high alert.
- Thanksgiving with family
We took the boys to have Thanksgiving with all of our family and it was lots of fun. It is so nice to see family after not seeing everyone in forever. The dogs had a great time playing with my little Arthur cousins especially. They have three kids, 2 boys and a girl, and they were so great with Mo Mo and Mr. Wendel. One of my cousin's son is possibly a dog reincarnated! He was playing with the dogs like they were on the same wavelength. Impressive for sure. My cousin's daughter was so sweet with Mr. Wendel and as is his nature, he was very depressed to leave her when we had to go home. He is such a drama king LOL. All in all a wonderful holiday dinner filled with fun and family. Just the way that I like it.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Mr. Wendel's First Appt with Dr. Hymen!
Mr. Wendel, Mo Mo, Wesley, and I drove to Annapolis, MD on Friday August 21st 2009 morning for our 10:30am appointment with Dr. Hymen. We were immediately taken aback by how beautiful the building was. It is set by itself with very well maintained landscaping in the front. When you walk in, you are greeted by about 8 really friendly and competent staff of pet lovers. When Mo Mo and Mr. Wendel and I walked in, they all were talking about how sweet and cute they are and being very attentive to them. I sat down and completed the new patient paperwork and the boys sat in the chair next to me. About 20 minutes after I completed the paperwork, we were taken back to the room where Dr. Hymen met with us. She was very nice and really knowledgeable. Her technician, Shelly, was very nice as well. Dr. Hymen did several tests on both of Mr. Wendel’s eyes to check his ocular pressures, tear production, and looked at his retina. There was good news and bad news.
The good news was that she said that Mr. Wendel’s big eye’s (his left eye) retina looked good from what she could see through his corneal pigment. She did say that he would need the surgery. She said that he has some serious pigmentation (which we already knew) that was causing visual impairment for him. She also said that he has a large amount of blood vessels on that eye which she is concerned about so she put him on some mild steroid antibiotics for his eye to shrink the blood vessels.
The bad news was regarding his right eye. We were told that his eye was small due to a congenital defect. Upon further examination, Dr. Hymen told us that his right eye had sustained a serious trauma when he was younger that was evident by a large laceration scar in the middle of his eye. She said that he probably had something that stuck him in his eye when he was young and it was left to get infected. She said that the laceration must have gotten really painful and infected to the point that his eye just stopped developing and that is what caused his blindness and the size of his eye. She did tell us that it doesn’t bother him now, so there is no reason to take it out which we were happy to hear. I was so sad to hear about the pain that he must have endured as a newborn. Dogs are such amazing animals. He went through so much pain and suffering at the hands of these monstrous puppy millers, and he came out a wonderful, cuddly, happy, playful boy on the other side despite the fact that he is half blind. I think that we can all learn something from his strength and forgiveness.
We were given a cost estimate for his surgery (attached in detail). They said that it would most likely be somewhere in the middle of the high charge and the low charge. Dr. Hymen was nice enough to give us a 10% discount so it’s not as bad as I originally thought that it was going to be. Thank you so much for all of you that are interested in helping. As always, feel free to call or email me with any questions, concerns, or just if you want to chat!
The good news was that she said that Mr. Wendel’s big eye’s (his left eye) retina looked good from what she could see through his corneal pigment. She did say that he would need the surgery. She said that he has some serious pigmentation (which we already knew) that was causing visual impairment for him. She also said that he has a large amount of blood vessels on that eye which she is concerned about so she put him on some mild steroid antibiotics for his eye to shrink the blood vessels.
The bad news was regarding his right eye. We were told that his eye was small due to a congenital defect. Upon further examination, Dr. Hymen told us that his right eye had sustained a serious trauma when he was younger that was evident by a large laceration scar in the middle of his eye. She said that he probably had something that stuck him in his eye when he was young and it was left to get infected. She said that the laceration must have gotten really painful and infected to the point that his eye just stopped developing and that is what caused his blindness and the size of his eye. She did tell us that it doesn’t bother him now, so there is no reason to take it out which we were happy to hear. I was so sad to hear about the pain that he must have endured as a newborn. Dogs are such amazing animals. He went through so much pain and suffering at the hands of these monstrous puppy millers, and he came out a wonderful, cuddly, happy, playful boy on the other side despite the fact that he is half blind. I think that we can all learn something from his strength and forgiveness.
We were given a cost estimate for his surgery (attached in detail). They said that it would most likely be somewhere in the middle of the high charge and the low charge. Dr. Hymen was nice enough to give us a 10% discount so it’s not as bad as I originally thought that it was going to be. Thank you so much for all of you that are interested in helping. As always, feel free to call or email me with any questions, concerns, or just if you want to chat!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Vote for Mo Mo
http://www.cutestdogcompetition.com/vote.cfm?h=B55CEBDDD2F152D8E952334D89C286C5&page=1
Please click on the link above to vote for Mo Mo in the cutest dog competition!!!! Wish us luck!!!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Keep Your Fingers Crossed!
Well, this morning was the first morning that we are trying to keep the boys at home...without their puppy pad!!!!!!!! I am scared for what I will find when I get home...and what Christa and Hannah (our lovely secret dog sitter friends) will have to say about the situation... We will see...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Puppy Pad Problems
So we have discovered that Wendel does NOT like to go potty outside. I don’t know why… but he really likes to go potty on the potty pads in the house and refuses to go potty outside. Wesley took him out for a last potty last night and he told me that Wendel was obviously uncomfortable and holding his potty and he finally decided to let it go outside and he put both of his front paws against the wall outside and pooped right up against the wall standing on his back legs! He is so funny! He is really good at going on the little puppy pads though. He hasn’t had an accident (knock on wood).
Wendel loves to chew the pig ears that we buy, and Mo Mo was never interested in chewing them. Now that we have Wendel, Mo Mo likes to wait until Wendel does all of the work and gets them all mushy and chewed then tries to steal them from him. A fight will ensue and Wendel always wins. Even if Mo Mo gets it from Wendel we just don’t think that it is right to take Wendel’s hard work and give it to Mo Mo so we give it back to him.
We are going to have to figure something out regarding Wendel’s pooping on the puppy pad in their room. They have their own bedroom that they stay in with a little baby gated area that has their puppy pad, water, food, and their beds in it. Wendel goes to poop on the puppy pad then they play in there and they run in the poop. By the time that I let them out in the morning they are both covered in poop! They are still smiling though… but I have to spend 8 times the regular amount of time that it takes me to get ready in the morning when I have to clean up two puppies, change their flooring in their room, change their pad, hose off their baby gate, and dry them both off. It is crazy! Their beds just got out of the dryer from the last poop incident!
Anyway, if you have any suggestions about how to remedy this problem let me know. I have thought about putting a little box around the puppy pad and having the box opening face the wall a little bit so that they can’t run into the box, but since Wendel can’t see very well I don’t want him to think that we got rid of the puppy pad all together. I also am apprehensive about elevating it for the same reason.
Wendel loves to chew the pig ears that we buy, and Mo Mo was never interested in chewing them. Now that we have Wendel, Mo Mo likes to wait until Wendel does all of the work and gets them all mushy and chewed then tries to steal them from him. A fight will ensue and Wendel always wins. Even if Mo Mo gets it from Wendel we just don’t think that it is right to take Wendel’s hard work and give it to Mo Mo so we give it back to him.
We are going to have to figure something out regarding Wendel’s pooping on the puppy pad in their room. They have their own bedroom that they stay in with a little baby gated area that has their puppy pad, water, food, and their beds in it. Wendel goes to poop on the puppy pad then they play in there and they run in the poop. By the time that I let them out in the morning they are both covered in poop! They are still smiling though… but I have to spend 8 times the regular amount of time that it takes me to get ready in the morning when I have to clean up two puppies, change their flooring in their room, change their pad, hose off their baby gate, and dry them both off. It is crazy! Their beds just got out of the dryer from the last poop incident!
Anyway, if you have any suggestions about how to remedy this problem let me know. I have thought about putting a little box around the puppy pad and having the box opening face the wall a little bit so that they can’t run into the box, but since Wendel can’t see very well I don’t want him to think that we got rid of the puppy pad all together. I also am apprehensive about elevating it for the same reason.
Wendel Surgery!!!
After discussing it amongst ourselves, we decided that if there is a way to make Wendel able to close his eye, we want to get it done. I called (literally) every veterinary ophthalmologist in Virginia and Maryland and I found a doctor that we are comfortable with! She is located in Annapolis, VA. We are more than likely going to have him undergo a procedure called a Canthoplasty. Basically, the lateral canthoplasty will shorten the upper eyelid by making a triangular split thickness resection. The success rate is very high, and we are really hopeful.
It is going to be really expensive but it will be money well spent. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it is to sleep with your eye open and never be able to fully close it. He is such a happy boy you would never know that he had an issue, but at this point we have to administer his eye lubricant every two to three hours and I am sure that he would rather be doing something else. Also, if it is hot or really windy or sandy I don’t want his eye to be exposed and that could lead to other foreign objects getting into his eye and terrible pain.
We have our appointment for consultation with the veterinary ophthalmologist in early September, so in the meantime we just need to keep giving him his eye lubricant and his antibiotics. We are very excited!
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/42/6/435
It is going to be really expensive but it will be money well spent. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it is to sleep with your eye open and never be able to fully close it. He is such a happy boy you would never know that he had an issue, but at this point we have to administer his eye lubricant every two to three hours and I am sure that he would rather be doing something else. Also, if it is hot or really windy or sandy I don’t want his eye to be exposed and that could lead to other foreign objects getting into his eye and terrible pain.
We have our appointment for consultation with the veterinary ophthalmologist in early September, so in the meantime we just need to keep giving him his eye lubricant and his antibiotics. We are very excited!
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/42/6/435
Saturday, August 1, 2009
lagophthalmos treatment for dogs
Good evening!
Does anyone know anything about lagophthalmos treatment for dogs? I am trying to look into getting Wendel surgery so that he can blink and
Does anyone know anything about lagophthalmos treatment for dogs? I am trying to look into getting Wendel surgery so that he can blink and
sleep with his eyes closed...two things that at this point he can't do. I see that in people, they insert a weight in the
eyelid so that the person can blink easier. I am thinking that there must be a surgery to extend the eyelid or something
to that effect. If you know of anything, please let me know!
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