I made this sketch in photoshop from one of my favorite photographs of Rufus. Im thinking about having it printed out and framed. I think it would make a nice addition to my walls. What do you think?
The last two weeks have been utter chaos at my home. Preparing for thanksgiving, school stuff for my son and dealing with Zeus with his multitude of medical issues has pretty much kept me buried up to my elbows in alligators. My mind has been racing and I feel stretched to the limit. The last thing I’ve wanted to do is head to the pet store to pick up dog food. The bags are heavy and cumbersome to lug into the shopping cart, through the check out and load in my SUV. Not to mention dragging them in from the SUV once I get home. Luckily I found an absolute lifesaver this week.
Mr Chewy delivers dog and cat food/treats, flea and tick products and kitty litter straight to your doorstep. I was pleased by the incredible selection of high quality food and treats they offer at very competitive prices. The website is easy to navigate and best of all they have free delivery for orders over $49 and $4.99 flat rate shipping for orders under $49. They carry my brand of food, Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, and treats (I dont always bake for them and I do buy treats) Wellness Wellbars, for less than what I pay at the store and with out the hassle – SCORE! I thought I would give it a try and hope for the best. I purchased 4 bags and set up an automatic monthly delivery schedule. They offer a 15% discount on your first order if you set up auto delivery and there are no hidden charges or fees. How awesome is it that I will never have to worry about running out of dog food at the most inconvenient time ever again!
Fast forward a couple of days… I am super impressed by how quickly my order arrived. I ordered on a Monday afternoon and by noon on Wednesday the FedEx truck was pulling up with two giant boxes being delivered right to my doorstep. I was very pleased that the bags were packed in cardboard boxes, two bags per box, and in perfect condition upon arrival. What a time saver! With the couple of weeks I have had, not having to make the extra trip(s) to the petstore to buy food (and basically not having to think about it) has been absolutely invaluable! Thank you Mr. Chewy! You are a life saver!
The holidays are upon us in full swing. Time to put up the turkey baster and crockpots and break out the Christmas decorations and tree. But first this place needs a good scrub down and that’s what I have spent the day doing. Everything has to be spic’n span before the decorations can go up.
Its funny because one of the questions I get most frequently is “how often do you vacuum your carpets”? Well, I think the better question is how frequently do you “clean” your carpets? I recently found out that the EPA recommends that you should shampoo your carpets 2-4 times per year. As dog owners, we are certainly in the high end of the 2-4. Did you know 80% of all the dirt in your house walks in on feet? Feet meaning paws too. That amounts to ALOT of dirt in my house even though I vacuum with a Dyson every day. Carpet that is freshly vacuumed and appears clean can hide as much as a pound of dirt per square yard. The 5 second rule? Myth! Bacteria can live on carpet even after four weeks! And even grosser, around 2,000 dust mites can live on one ounce of carpet. OMG my dogs LAY on the carpet!
Dust mites are present year round but particularly favor August to November when houses are closed up because of cool evenings and increasing humidity. According to DVM360 - Dust mites are the leading cause of allergy/asthma in humans. In dogs, it appears to exceed flea allergy as the most common intradermal skin test reaction. An estimated 30-80 percent of atopic dogs and cats skin test positive to dust mites. Again, up to 2,000 of these little buggers can live on just 1 ounce of carpet! I found a photos of them on the internet and they look like something straight out of a horror movie!
This year Brutus and Rufus have developed really bad itchy skin. They went to the vet a few weeks ago and the vet put them on Benedryl and Claritin twice a day. It has helped, but they still scratch and I’ve started wondering if its due to dust mite allergies. So…. it’s time to shampoo the carpets and see if that does the trick.
There are many products on the market that clean and shampoo carpets. I have rented and purchased several different shampooers over the years. I have had the best results by far with the Rug Doctor line. Rug Doctor rental machines (red machine) can be found in over 30,000 grocery, drug and home center stores throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and over 20 other countries. To find the rental location nearest you dial 1800-Rug Doctor or check the website. You can also find savings coupons (here).
Rug Doctor has several specialized professional cleaning products in cleaning formulas and wipes, including: Anti Allergen Carpet Cleaner, Oxy-Steam Carpet Cleaner, Pet Formula Carpet Cleaner, Hi-Traffic Pre-Treatment,Urine Eliminator, Spot & Stain Remover, Odor Remover and Upholstery Cleaner.
Recently they have started offering a line of machines for home sale (blue machine) that are identical to the rental machines. Same great machine, just a different color. You can find them for sale on the Rug Doctor website, Sams Club, Costco, Amazon, Sears, Target, and Walmart. While the machines cost significantly more than the other retail machines on the market, they dont even compare in quality, durability, performance and value. Rug Doctor motors are tested to failure and will perform in excess of 1400 hours. The average house requires 1 hour of actual motor run time per cleaning. Deep cleaning my carpets at say once a month, the machine would last more than a decade! The last machine I bought, I paid $239 for, it didn’t clean very well and broke in less than 3 months, 1 deep cleaning and half a dozen or so spot cleanings.
Since I have great, hairy, slobbering, oily coated beasts (lol), I have a retail machine (blue). Having one on hand is an absolute must for frequent thorough deep cleaning and a savior for spot cleaning when owning dogs or cats. Today I used the Anti-Allergen cleaning formula which removes pollen, dander and yes, drum roll please ***DUST MITES*** yey! It smells so fresh and clean in here. My carpet is clean and I’m ready to put up my holiday decorations. And bonus, NO scratching for over 8 hours now! I will honestly tell you it is worth every single penny. Make sure you put it on your list for Santa.
When it rains, it pours or so the saying goes. Unfortunately its been one of those “pouring” weeks for us. My poor black lab Zeus just can’t win for loosing it seems. Last Tuesday I took him into the vet to have his stitches removed from his lipoma excision. Stitches were removed, they said he looked great and was healing very nicely… Well we were in the waiting room to have a prescription filled he apparently shook his head and gave himself a giant hematoma in his left ear. I was rubbing his head and noticed his ear felt warm and as I moved my hand further down his ear and OMG it felt like a huge marshmallow as in it. I went up to the receptionist and asked if someone could look at it. I thought he had been bit by a spider or some other insect and he was having a reaction. The vet tech came out and immediately knew it was a hematoma and said I would need to have him seen by the vet.
The vet saw us and and explained what an aural hematoma is – a collection of blood in the ear from a broken blood vessel. Most likely caused by head shaking and usually associated with ear infections. Labradors are apparently very prone to getting them, of course. She explained the treatment options
While option three is of course the cheapest and least invasive, it is actually a non-option. Aural hematomas are very painful for the dog and take months to resolve on their own. Unfortunately a significant amount of tissue damage is done which in turn creates a significant amount of scar tissue. The ear usually ends up quite disfigured. Sometimes this is the only option for dogs that can not tolerate anesthesia due to other health issues or age.
Option one, draining it and injecting steroids would have the ideal choice however… why does it always seem like there is a however? However Zeus is currently taking Novox (generic form Carprofin, the bio-equivalent of Rimadyl®) for arthritis and steroids are contraindicated (should not be used in conjunction) due to possible bleeding issues. So of course that option is out.
We decided to go with option two. Zeus stayed the night there and they performed the surgery that night. I picked him up around 2:00 am and I have to tell you I was totally unprepared for what they had done to him. I really thought they would just put a small incision in the ear flap, drain out the blood and stitch it up. NOPE! They made a 3 inch incision in his ear and drained out all of the blood, inserted drains on both sides of the ear and secured them with sutures. The actual incision is not sutured and left open to drain and prevent another hematoma from forming. It heals from the inside out. The sutures stay in for 3 weeks and he will have to wear a cone of shame while the sutures are in.
He had a really hard time maneuvering around with the cone and was in a tremendous amount of pain the first two days. I was not prepared for the amount of blood/drainage. When I took off the bandages around his head of course he shook his head and blood went EVERYWHERE. It looked like a crime scene in my bedroom. It made me feel sick to my stomach. I just had no idea that it was going to happen. Its my sincerest wish that anyone who has to go through this in the future and reads this post will be prepared for the first few days post surgery. I wish they had prepared me. The first two or so days are the hardest. Its bloody and messy and painful. Its normal for there to be alot of drainage and for the incision to bleed and for it to be left open. But don’t be disheartened, it does get better very quickly though.
He was not sent home with any oral antibiotics, just a topical one for inside the ear. The next day while in my panic over the blood, I asked them to call in an oral antibiotic for me. I had a feeling it would get infected and of course by the afternoon it started smelling manky so I’m really glad I did. By the next morning the infection started clearing up and the smell went away.
Tomorrow will be the one week mark and there is almost no drainage coming out now. It is healing up nicely. Zeus is doing very well and seems very happy go lucky again. He does wear the cone all the time except when I clean the incision once a day with warm water and will continue to wear it as long as he has sutures. We will be going back on Tuesday for our first post-op check up. Im hoping they will remove the drains at this visit. The sutures will stay in for a total of 2-3 weeks.
Icanhavecheeseburger certainly had it right when they said “Its all fun and games til someone ends up in a cone,” the cone of shame is no fun!
Its been a really long time since I have taken any of the dogs for a therapy visit. Life has well, just gotten in the way and time has passed at a break neck speed. We used to go weekly. I miss it. I had forgotten how much the dogs liked their visits and how happy it made the residents of the nursing home. I had forgotten that many of them have had saint bernards themselves. I had forgotten many of them had to give up their own beloved pets to move into the nursing home. I had forgotten the looks on their faces when we come in for visits. How it lights up their eyes and fills them with happiness to run their fingers through the boys’ fur. I had forgotten how the hugged them and it made them smile. He made their day, and I hope I never forget again.
Come on mom… its this way!
We met Joanna when we first got there. She was sooo happy to see Rufus. She told me about the Saint she had when she was a young woman. She told me the saint had saved her life by pushing her out of the way of an on coming vehicle and sadly he was struck and killed. He gave his life for hers and she was so grateful. What a dog, how humbling.
This woman misses her dogs so much. She thanked us for coming in and sitting with her. Rufus is her new buddy and is welcome back.
I think we made this lady’s day..
A few more random shots.
Rufus earned his treats today. He is snoring and sleeping soundly under my desk. I promise not to let life get in the way and make time to share the joy that these wonderful dogs have given to me. Next visit, the VA hospital to pay homage to the men and women who defend our rights and liberties so that I may own dogs and take them in public.
Tonight I am launching my new series Sunday Saint Showcase. Its my sincerest hopes that Its The Dogs Life will help give rescues and additional platform to reach out to the public on behalf of the wonderful Saints waiting to find their forever family. If you have room in your heart and home to help a Saint in need and would consider Lola, contact Sunny Saints rescue.
http://www.sunnysaints.org/lola.html
Lola is a 3 year old wet mouth, rough coat Saint Bernard that has been used as a breeder and then was dumped at a local shelter, along with her mate Roscoe. When she was spayed, it was discovered that she was in the early stages of yet another pregnancy. Lola is a friendly and outgoing girl that craves love and attention and weighs 120 pounds. Her foster family has taught her some basic obedience and leash manners. She now walks very nicely on a loose leash. She sits nicely if she wants to be petted. She has been socialized with the dogs in her foster home and is showing no aggressive behavior toward them. She needs a forever family to take her to obedience training, and help her to transition into the indoor Saint that she was meant to be and not the backyard puppy factory she has been. Can you offer Lola the good life?
Sunny Saints, Southern California St. Bernard Rescue is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation (#45-0922994) formed by a group of friends with several years of combined experience in Saint Bernard rescue who share a common philosophy to treat the dogs that we save and the people who foster and adopt them with kindness and dignity.
• Sunny Saints P.O. Box 870 Bellflower, CA 90707
• General Questions & Information 562.422.2385 (Sheila) — Sheila@sunnysaints.org
• Intake Coordinator 562.619.2059 (Pam) — Pam@sunnysaints.org
• Adoptions Coordinator 858.222.4101 (Kim) — Kim@sunnysaints.org
• FAX # 562.435.6361
We are not a shelter facility, so please don’t call and ask if you can come today to see our dogs. All of our Adoptable Saints are in temporary private Foster homes. The first step in our adoption process is to fill out an Adoption Application. After the application has been reviewed and approved, our Adoptions Coordinator will contact you to set up a phone interview. A home visit may be required, and if you live outside of our coverage area, photographs of your home and property may be used as a substitution for the home visit. When your home has been approved, we then set up the meet and greet with the dog that you are interested in. The dog typically can be adopted directly from the meet and greet and you can take your new best friend home with you. Upon adopting, you will be required to sign an adoption contract. An adoption donation is necessary to adopt a dog. Some dogs cost us less to ready for adoption than do others, so the money collected goes toward paying the bills for all our rescued dogs, not just the dog you are adopting.
Sunny Saints was not established to place our rescued dogs in just “any home,” but rather to place them in the “right home.” We are dedicated to sending all of our Sunny Saints to loving, “forever homes” and it is important to us that you know everything that we know about each dog so that you can make an educated decision when adopting a dog from us. It is also equally important for us to know as much as we can about you so that we can help you to find the perfect dog for your situation. If we tell you that a certain dog isn’t right for you, trust us. We want what’s best for both of you.
We will do our very best to give you our honest opinion on the dog you are considering, however, we cannot guarantee the future health, heritage, or temperament of any of our rescue dogs.
All pets in our program will be spayed/neutered prior to adoption unless deemed medically inappropriate. Puppies too young to be spayed/neutered will be placed into their adoptive homes on a foster-to-adopt basis where the adoption will not become official until after they have had their surgery. All dogs will have basic vaccinations, have been wormed and microchipped. Copies of all medical records in our possession will be forwarded to the adopting party. Their foster family will let the adopting family know the type of food they are used to eating so they can have it for them upon bringing the dog home. An adoption donation is required.
Sunny Saints will consider adopting to those who live outside Southern California on a case-by-case basis.
As of July 1, 2011, adoption fees are as follows: Puppies under 1 year of age are $500.00.
Dogs 1 to 4 years are $375.00 and dogs 5 years and older are $300.00.
So, I was chatting with a friend the other night and the topic of Saint Bernard cupcakes came up. Im trying to be crafty these days so I thought I’d try my hand at them. I searched the intenet looking for directions but couldn’t find any. Mind you Im not a baker and certainly not a cake decorator… I’ve made Bakerella’s cupcake bites and those were tasty! But heck, you cant go wrong with those little gems.
After watching some youtube videos on how to pipe frosting I headed over to Michaels to see if I could find the implements so I could give it a go. Armed with multiple tips, disposable icing bags/couplers and candy eyes/redhots I headed to the grocery for the ingredients to make my icing, yes I made it from scratch. Turns out I only needed #12 and #233 tips (but a #10 and #234 would have worked too).
Here’s the breakdown on what I used:
First I put a coating of frosting on the cupcakes face. Next (following package directions) put globs of the glaze where the mask goes and placed the eyeballs in it while still warm. Next I used a pipping bag with a #12 tip to put on the muzzle and added a dolop of the glaze for the nose and a redhot for the tongue. Finally I used the chocolate frosting for the ears using a pipping bag and #233 tip to make the ears look fuzzy. The whole endeavor wasnt too time consuming, but make sure . One tip I can give you is to make sure you freeze the cupcakes for 30 minutes to an hour to make frosting easier and to keep crumbs out of it.
I think this one looks like Rufus – my baby boy is immortalized in cake and buttercream.
The finished product
Using the #12 tip I created the 3 dimensional muzzle
As Zeus has aged he has developed several bumps and lumps on his body. It seems like every few months a new one crops up. They are mushy and soft and move around under his skin. Two years ago a particularly large, hard and unmoving one appeared basically over night. At first I thought he’d been stung/bit by and insect and he was just having a reaction. After three or so days it had not gotten any smaller even with Benedryl so I packed him up and headed in to the vet.
The vet told me she believed it was a lipoma or benign fatty tumor. Labradors are particularly prone to developing them as they age. To make sure the vet wanted to do a fine needle aspiration of the tumor and see what type of cells came out. Luckily it was greasy fat and I was told it was nothing to worry about. I should keep an eye on it and if it changes or it started bothering him to come back in.
The next year at his annual check up, I had it aspirated again and nothing insidious showed itself in the sample. It hadn’t really changed much but it seemed to bother him to the touch somewhat.
About a month ago, I had an issue with his ear and I was unable to get in to see my regular vet so I took him to a vet that was close to my home. The vet seem particularly concerned about the hardness and its unwillingness to move around. I assured him I had it aspirated at his annual exams and it was just a lipoma. He then went into a spiel about how hard lipomas on the ribs (typically seen in Labs) can be more than just a lipoma and can infiltrate into the surrounding tissues, muscles and even into organ tissue. I started to zone out as the “C” word was mentioned and chemo and radiation…. OMG I sat there shell shocked. Basically, it was time for Zeus and his lump to part ways.
Pardon the sock next to the couch, you know you see it. Talk about embarrassing! :oops:
It’s been a week since I took Zeus in to have his lump removed. He is a real trooper and is doing really well. Poor guy, I added insult to injury and took the opportunity to have a couple of offending teeth pulled and a dental while he was under. Double whammy! But he’s enjoying the soft canned food. He goes back to see the vet for a check up and to have his stitches out Tuesday. The fur has even begun to grow back. We were lucky, it was not a “C”! It was not an infiltrative lipoma, it was under the muscle which is not typical… go figure! Watching them get old is just the pits!
Dr Dressler, DVM at The Dog Cancer Blog has a great article about lipomas and liposarcoma. I highly recommend it.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about my “dog roots” lately. Where I’ve been and where I’m going. I’be seen my journey transform from that of rescue to someplace I never thought I’d go, preparing for showing and AKC events. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel I have betrayed my passion for helping dogs, Saint Bernards specifically, down on their luck and in need.
With the down turn in the economy and housing crisis firmly entrenched in our country there is no shortage of Saint Bernards and Labradors in need of a helping hand. While I am not able to provide a temporary “physical” foster home for a dog in need at this time (as I have done countless times in the past), I can provide a “virtual” home for one looking for its forever home. This Sunday I will be launching the first ever Sunday Saint Showcase section on my blog. Each Sunday I will feature a different Saint Bernard or Labrador currently in a rescue waiting for the start of a it’s new, forever life.
If you are considering adding a Saint Bernard or Labrador to your family, please consider adoption. Petfinder.com has many listings for available dogs in your geographical area.
If you are a Saint Bernard or Labrador Rescue and would like to participate, please feel free to contact me for details.
*Its the Dogs Life is not a rescue, nor it is it affiliated with any of the rescues that are featured on this blog. I do not have any influence in who is considered for adoption. Each rescues guidelines are different and all inquiries should be made directly to the rescue group that is hosting the dog you are considering. We are not responsible for any actions of the groups or the dogs being featured on this site.