..site, the day before the USDAA trials. Heehee.

Look what I (did not) participate in!

I’m clear! I don’t have Degenerative Myelopathy!! Mother whooped for joy then stopped and said “Ok, so now you have a nameless genetic disorder that may or may not get worse. Hmm.” Mother’s happy that she can strike that one off the list tho’. At least now there is a possibility that she won’t need to get ramps for the house and wheels for me!

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals sent a test result slip that said “This dog is homozygous N/N with two NORMAL copies of the gene associated with Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) susceptibility.” To which Mother went “Normal? What does that mean??” and proceeded to tear through the accompanying explanation of results. Of all the dogs OFFA has tested so far, dogs with test results of Normal have never been confirmed to have DM. Normal means I can only transmit normal (non-DM) genes to offspring and it’s unlikely I will ever develop DM. Woohoo!

Some dogs will get the result “Carriers” (meaning they may or may not have DM themselves but their offspring might, especially if they are paired with other Carriers I guess), others will get the result “At Risk” (meaning that they will most likely have DM, if no symptoms show, then as they age, and they will also pass the mutated gene to their offspring.   

WOOHOO! CEEEE-LE-BRATE TONIGHT COME ON!

“ROMEO!! Wheee!!! Look Romeo!” screams Mother waving an envelope in the air.

“Wassup mum” say I, lazily licking my paw.

“It’s here!! Oh my god I love it when people are so friggin’ efficient! I get so impatient about these things,” as she tears open the envelope.

“Wassat mum” I go, examining my well endowed maleness.

“Remember I told you I was going to test your DNA for Degenerative Myelopathy and you freaked out and worried yourself pale about scalpels and needles? It’s here!!” Mother exclaims, pulling out 2 sheets of paper and a dubious looking rectangular strip that says ‘Sterile Foam Tipped Applicator’.

I gulped thinking about all the places that swab can go.

“The DIY DNA test kit from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals run by the University of Missouri has arrived! I’m gonna swab your mouth and collect alot of saliva and cheek cells to put on a little card then courier it back to them to test if you have degenerative myelopathy!” she explains as she reads the documents.

I heave a huuuuuge sigh of relief and allow my jewels to drop back down again. “Must I Mother?”

“Yes of course you must! It’s almost impossible to test of it here and testing for it and getting a negative result will give me much needed relief! I’d like to know if you’re going to get worse my boy, if I should start building ramps and thinking about getting you wheels or whatever.” Mother snaps on rubber gloves.

“Now open wide.. AAAAAHHHHH”

Here’s another silly thing Mother made me learn. Bro Taylor, I blame your mum for giving Mother ideas!!! Mother was all excited and like “Auntie M has a great training idea boy! Let’s give it a try”. Next thing I knew I was being made to walk backwards around her. *grumble*

Did I mention that Mother is now training the other direction? *grumble grumble*

Mother bought this basketball hoop thingy from someone and decided to train me to become the next NBA Superstar! The ball that came with the hoop set was alot bigger and I couldn’t hold it in my mouth for long so Mother went and bought a smaller one. I’m the next Michael Jordan! I can slamdunk (sorta)!

Whee! What a great week! Many interesting events. Let me give you a run down.

Over the weekend, my pals Ruthie, Reyla, Enzo & Wally celebrated their first birthday at K9 Kulture! We had a fabulous time of course. Me especially so! I was like a moth to Ruthie’s flame. Mother kept slapping her hand to her forehead when I chased her down and tried to show her my moves. She mumbled something about it being a good thing Ruthie wore some pants but not that I knew how to do it anyway. It? What’s It? 

Here are pictures from that day!

Mother decided to buy a whole duck from the market on Sunday. She got a big bag of hearts, livers and gizzards from 8 ducks for free! She says she’s so going back to this butcher. Instead of having to pay for 

livers and other “spare parts”, she can get it for free! Here was my dinner that night. Not for the faint hearted. I’ve decided I don’t like duck as much as other meats tho’. It doesn’t seem to have any smell! 

Mother told me that after she had chopped off the duck’s head, neck and a wing, it quacked. She and Auntie M, our helper stopped and Auntie M asked “Did you hear that?” And Mother was like.. “YEA! FREAKY!” So apparently this duck’s soul is still flying around. Either that or Mother has gone a little quacky!

Mother and Father took half the day off on Monday to run some errands then took me to the Botanical Gardens! I prefer the place when it’s not so crowded. We usually go on a

 Sunday when there are alot of people and dogs all around! Mother put my on a long leash and let me run around. I showed her tho’! I followed wherever she went and listened to her directions and she rewarded me by running through the fields! I love running! I don’t think Mother does tho’. She says she’s allergic to running - her thighs itch and all that.

Mother came across this article on a forum and told me to put it up because she thinks you lot should know about this. It’s getting really hot outside and we all love playing outdoors, but we must be careful of getting heatstroke!
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The first thing that needs to be understood is that dogs and people are different enough that most of the info cannot cross lines. I do not profess to know what the appropriate procedures for people other than what I learned in first aid.

Dogs do not lose enough electrolytes thru exercise to make a difference, but if the dog gets truly into heat stroke the physiology changes will make them necessary. BUT oral replacement at that point is futile, they need intravenous fluids and electrolytes and lots of it.

Cooling: Evaporative cooling is the most efficient mean of cooling.

However, in a muggy environment, the moisture will not evaporate so cooling does not happen well. I cool with the coldest water I can find and will use ice depending on the situation. The best way is to run water over the dog, so there is always fresh water in contact with the skin. When you immerse a dog in a tub, the water trapped in the hair coat will get warm next to the dog, and act as an insulator against the cool water and cooling stops. If you can run water over the dog and place it in front of a fan that is the best. Misting the dog with water will only help if you are in a dry environment or in front of a fan. Just getting the dog wet is not the point, you want the water to be cool itself, or to evaporate.

For MOST situations all you will need to do is get the dog in a cooler environment, ie shade, or in the cab of the truck with the air conditioning on (driving around so the truck does not overheat and the AC is more efficient). Up to a couple of years ago, I was very concerned about my dogs getting too hot in the back of my black pickup with a black cap. New white truck fixed a lot of that problem. When I had one dog I just pulled the wire crate out of the car and put it in some shade and hopefully a breeze. But having 2 dogs and running from one stake to another, that was not feasible. So I built a platform to put the wire crates on, this raises the dog up in the truck box where the air flow is better. Then I placed a 3 speed box fan in front blowing on the dogs with a foot of space to allow better airflow. I purchased a power inverter that connects to the battery and allows the 3 speed fan to run from the truck power. It has an automatic feature that prevents it from draining the battery. When I turned that fan on medium I would find that the dogs where asleep, breathing slowly and appeared very relaxed and comfortable in a matter of 20 minutes or less, even on very hot muggy days.

Alcohol: I do carry it for emergiencies. It is very effective at cooling due to the rapid evaporation. It should be used when other methods are not working. You should be on your way to the veterinarian before you get to this point. We recommend using rubbing alcohol, which is propylene alcohol, not ethyl, for those of you not aware. So do not try to drink it. Alcohol should be used on the pads and lower feet area where there is little more than skin and blood vessels over the bones. Use a little bit and let it evaporate, you can use too much as some is absorbed through the skin. There are concerns about toxicity, but you have to get the temperature down.

I purchased those cooling pads that you soak in cold water, but found that the dogs would not lay on them. I would hold them on the back of a dog that just worked to get a quick cool, but have not used them for years. I also bought a pair of battery operated fans but found them pretty useless. Spend your money on the power inverter and get a real fan.

Watching temperature: If you feel your dog is in danger of heat injury, check its temp and write it down. Keep checking the temp every 3 minutes. I recommend to get a “rectal glass thermometer. The digital ones for the drug store I have found to be very unreliable, Don’t forget to shake it down completely each time, sounds silly, but when are worried about your companion, things tend to get mixed up. This is VERY IMPORTANT**once the temp STARTS to drop, STOP ALL COOLING EFFORTS. The cooling process will continue even though you have stopped. If the temp starts at 106.5, and then next time it drops to 105.5, stop cooling the dog, dry it off, and continue monitoring. You will be amazed how it continues to go down. If you do not stop until the temp is 102, the temp will drop way too low. I cannot emphasis this point enough.

When the dog is so heated that it is panting severely, only let it have a few laps of water. Water in the stomach does not cool the dog, you just need to keep the mouth wet so the panting is more effective.

Do not worry about hydration until the temp has started down. A dog panting heavily taking in large amounts of water is a risk of bloat.

Due to the heavy panting they will swallow air, mixed with a large amount of water they can bloat. Once the temp is going down and panting has slowed to more normal panting then allow water. The dog will rehydrate it self after temp is normal. If the dog has a serious problem and even though you have gotten the temp normal, get the dog to a vet, as it can sti ll need IV fluids and some medication. Also, a case of heat stroke can induce a case of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (not parvo), with a ton of very bloody diarrhea and a lot of fluid and electrolyte loss. These cases need aggressive treatment.

The best method of treatment is prevention. Learn to watch your dog, and see the changes in the size of the tongue, and how quickly it goes down. Learn your dogs response to the different environments, and be careful when you head south for an early season hunt test or trial. I have been to Nashville at the end of May, only 5 hours away, but the difference in temp and humidity did effect the dogs as they were used to more spring weather in Ohio. Try different things in training to help the dog cool and learn what works better. Another very important point=> Do not swim your hot dog to cool it then put in put in a box/ tight crate. Remember, evaporation can not take place in a tight space, and the box will turn into a sauna and you will cook your dog.

Carry a stake out chain, and let the dog cool and dry before putting it up. I demonstrated this lesson this spring with my 10 month old pup.

After doing a 15 minute session in yard drill on a warm 70+ degree day, she was panting pretty hard and was pretty hot. She was OK but it was time to stop. Just for the heck of it I took her temp. She was 103.6, above normal but too bad for a dog that had just finished working. In my back yard I have a 300 gallon Rubbermaid tub filled with water. I took her to it and she jumped in and out 3-4 times. She appeared totally improved, tongue was much smaller, and eyes brighter and her full spring was back into her step. So I re-took her temp and it was 104.2, so even though she looked better she was hotter. This is a perfect lesson to show not get a hot dog wet and then put them in a box. The water on her skin caused the blood vessels to constrict, decreasing blood flow to the skin. Therefore the hot blood was shunted bac k to the dog’s core and retianed the heat. You may have felt the same thing, after exercising but still being very warm, take a shower and get cooled off but as soon as you turn the shower off you start sweating again.

I know this is s bit long, but hopefully this is easy to understand and helps provide some useful information.

Remember: Prevention, learn your dog. It is worth the time and effort.
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Nate Baxter, DVM
Lebanon, OH
blacklab@iac. net

All in a day’s work. 

These were actually taken by Mother over a few days (usually not weekends because if I’m tired and sleeping, she’d be exhausted and sleeping right next to me too!). As you can see, my favourite hobby is sleeping! I wish she’d leave me alone and stop taking pictures of me drooling! I suppose I should be thankful she didn’t make me put up the ones with my legs in the air!

This is my blue steel look:

Over the weekend Mother dragged me for a photoshoot in support of Charmaine a little 4 year old girl who has cancer and who is trying to raise money to pay for medical treatments that will increase her chances of living from 10-20% to 35-45%. I hope I get to meet her one day! She’s such a strong and brave kid.

Can I just say it isn’t easy being a model? I was totally freaking out on the table - I wasn’t used to standing on a weird table in a weird place. It took a barking photographer (he barks very realistically) and squeaky toys and treats to get the pictures you see here. It’s not that I don’t know my sit-stays and down-stays. It’s just that I need more time people! I need time to get my BLUE STEEL look!

Here are more pictures from that day. We, Mother, Father & I, took one together too.

(Scene: Mother snoring sleeping, me pacing the bed.)

Me: Mother.. *nudges her face with my nose* Mother wake up.

Mother: *grumble mumble* mm.. nnn..

Me: Hello, Mother! Wakey wakey! *nudges her face again* Mother!

Mother: *mumble* Go away boy.

(repeat above for another 15 minutes)

Me: *more frantic* MOTHER! WAKE UP!

Mother: (no response)

Me: *tries to get off the bed by climbing down the bedside table*

(Something clatters to the floor.)

Mother: What the. *stirs* What do you want Romeo..

Me: MUMMMMMYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! *nudges her face again and looks desperately at the floor from the bed*

(Mother grumbles and airlifts me off the bed onto the floor.)

Me: *runs to the peetray* AAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. Ooh oh wait wait for it.. *sputter sputter… ploop ploop ploooop* AAAHHHHHHhhhh. Relief at last.

Mother: *stares at the contents that fell out of my body, understanding dawning on her face* Ooohhh. *sheepish* Sorry boy, mummy forgot to give you enough bone with your rich lamb shank dinner. Teehee. Oopsie. Good thing you know not to do it on the bed! How long did you have to control? You didn’t take long to wake me up did you? Heehee.

Me: -.- So. Not. Funny. *punishes Mother by making her wash my furry butt at 5am in the morning*

(The End.)