Jump to content
BC Boards

dawnhill

Registered Users
  • Posts

    44
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by dawnhill

  1. dawnhill

    Black Jack

    I was just there myself, and was remembering and crying all over again not 20 minutes ago. I know how much it hurts. I wish you peace and comfort though it seems either is impossible now. And I am here to tell you that although the pain does last, it gets better. You cry less often, your breath catches in your throat less often, and the truly happy memories begin to surface in a way that makes you smile again. Bless you in this time of grief.
  2. Adorable puppy!! Enjoy the heck out of every moment. Puppyhood is short and precious. You'll be glad if you spend this time focused on building trusting relationship as a basis for everything else. Once you have that, the rest follows. Happy puppy days!!
  3. Wow! This is from the surgery to get spayed? What an amazing and wonderful unexpected consequence! Maybe there was some nerve caught that got released during the process of, as you say, being anesthetized and stretched out that way. I am so happy for you and Grace, both! :-)
  4. Great bio of Ethel Conrad -- and right here on this site! Thanks! I'm going to have to see if I can find video at Youtube -- especially including the duck herding on Letterman. :-)
  5. What I see here in all the posts really warms my heart. Everyone is talking about it being a two-way relationship instead of one-way. It's about taking the dog's feelings and needs as seriously as our own, whether the result is that we keep a dog that might not be easy to train or even workable but that we love, or we let a dog go through our hands to a home where its needs will be met by a human looking for exactly that kind of dog. I love the "aha" moment of the first story, where the light goes on that the dog was not wanting to be sent away again -- the awareness that the dog has a take on what happens to it, that it's not just the human who has preferences or feelings. And all the other stories, no matter the outcome, seem to be about the same kind of respect for the dog's side of the equation. In addition, everyone has written about their experiences so movingly that it's literally beautiful to read. I also really appreciate that nowhere here was the issue of financial expediency raised as a "bottom line" reason for making decisions -- one that replaces compassion and relationship. In no post was a dog a commodity. I know this adds nothing new to the conversation. I just felt moved by your posts and wanted to say so, and say why, and say "thank you."
  6. Thanks for posting this, Jeanne Joy. I am always surprised to learn how much women born since the late 60s don't realize the degree to which things have changed for the better for women. They think women have always participated in the activities and professions where we've made such recent inroads (not only in acceptance but in getting literal permission). They are amazed to learn that girls were not permitted to play in Little League or wear pants to school (only skirts), or that I was personally and specifically not permitted to take shop class in high school because of being a girl, and was the first girl there ever to be allowed to take physics. I think it's good to remember where we've come from and who made the first big steps that changed things for us all. I sure don't know the women who helped make it possible for women to trial and I'm very happy to have this information. I loved the blog post about Viv Billingham Parks you shared. Thank you!
  7. Hi moderators and webmaster. I thought I should point out that most of the links for items on the page of "BC Products/Equipment" (http://www.bordercollie.org/products/equipment.html) are broken because either the items' pages at the host site have changed or the site has a problem of some sort. BorderCollics Anonymous seems to be the only site whose links work, but that site has a notice that it's currently down for maintenance for a time. So as of the moment, none of the links for crooks, collars, leads, whistles and so on are functional. As a webmaster on a different site, I appreciate it when people let me know about broken links. I hope you see this as an attempt to be useful rather than as a complaint. I assure you it's the former. :-)
  8. Would you be interested in sharing some pictures of them? I'd love to see. :-)
  9. Thanks, Ludi! I looked them up and it doesn't seem they are ever used to provide fleece despite that lovely color. Who knew? (Clearly: not me! LOL)
  10. I would love to learn more about Icelandic sheep. I have only had goats until now (three different breeds) and as I have contemplated sheep Icelandics are one of the ones that appealed to me. What has your experience been? Also, looking up the breeds mentioned here, none of them seems to be the brown sheep in the first picture with Meg above. Might someone care to enlighten this sheep-ignorant person about what breed that is? (I am quite taken by the thought of fleece with that natural color.)
  11. Amen. I see that in herding and even general obedience. It's like something magic "clicks" at three.
  12. Thank you for posting this. The pictures are great, and your descriptions are very engaging -- sheep flying at your head, a hedge that vacuums sheep right out of the working area, and all of it! Meg looks really beautiful, especially the way she's moving in the first picture that has her with the two sheep.
  13. It's really wonderful to see how you and Tuxedo are coming along. Your post about what you had planned to do with him and how that's been impacted by his reactivity was heart-breaking. I'm sorry I suggested you throw in the towel. Clearly that was a mistake, because you are doing phenomenally with him. Bless you both.
  14. This is so sad and difficult for you that it's just heart-breaking. Please let us know what happens with the vet.
  15. She didn't know. And when I was looking it up for her, I didn't realize she lives in the UK. It took a while to figure out the salmon were from Scotland. Even then, it's normal for someone to feel very much on edge after they've had a scare, and she did have a scare at first. To you, seeing it all laid out, it doesn't make sense. But you are seeing it after it was all figured it out, not how it was at the time.
  16. dawnhill

    Jean

    What a beautiful dog Jean was, both inside and out. It's clear she blessed your life and the lives of others in many ways. Maybe the worst thing about a dog like this is that when they go, they leave a hole so big it feels like half the world is missing. I am awfully glad you have Roy and so many good memories. Thank you for honoring her with your words. -- Dawn
  17. It sounds to me like Ben should be safe. I think Gentle Lake is quite correct that this is only a problem with salmon from the Pacific Northwest. That's the only place that particular nematode worm lives. I don't want to be responsible for telling you to shrug off your concerns because that's not fair to you. But I suspect if this disease was a problem where you live that a vet would know all about it and not find it amusing. I really think if you want to be 100% certain you could call a vet school and talk to someone in the area of parasite-born diseases. When I was a university prof people often called the department about such things. Maybe the faculty there have a different feeling about it and don't respond but it's certainly worth a try. It could set your mind completely at ease or let you know if really do need to get an antibiotic. Either way, you would know Ben was going to be ok.
  18. Scottish! I think that's good. I found this, though at Wikipedia. But what I have seen supports the statement: " Nanophyetus salmincola is limited to the geographic range of its intermediate hosts, primarily the US Pacific Northwest. Stream snails are found west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, north to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, and in part of northern California.It is “the most common systemic trematode in the United States.”"
  19. Ben might be safe. "In contrast to wild-caught salmon, farmed salmon, particularly Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), are not considered to be hosts of Anisakis spp. when fed normal pelleted feed. When 2,832 Norwegian-farmed Atlantic salmon and 876 Scottish-farmed Atlantic smoked salmon fillets were analyzed for anisakid larvae infestation, none were detected (Angot and Brasseur 1993). This result is in agreement with results from previous studies that indicated that farmed salmon (Atlantic, coho, and chinook species) are virtually free from anisakid larvae (Bristow and Berland 1991; Deardoff and Kent 1989). Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that aquacultured fish can become hosts of anisakids if fed moist feeds (that is, raw fish)." It's from this FDA site: https://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodScienceResearch/SafePracticesforFoodProcesses/ucm094578.htm The issue is whether or not this is the same pathogen. It looks to me (I am reading quickly and this is not my area of expertise) like two bacteria are involved, Neorickettsia helminthoeca and Nanophyetus salmincola. I cannot tell if these are the two bacteria found in the nematodes referrenced above. (It mentions species of Anisakis, found in the same nematodes.) The problem is some resources talk about the nematode (fluke worm) larvae, which are the intermediate host, and some talk about the bacteria that these carry which is what actually causes the infection. (The snail is another intermediate host.) Bacteriology and parasitology are really outside my knowledge base, so I am having trouble matching things up. But I think it would be a good idea to call the nearest vet school and ask what they think. Let us know what happens.
  20. If the salmon had been frozen that would have made it safe. Here's an article with very good information. https://phys.org/news/2016-11-discovery-bacteria-complicates-problem-salmon.html Maybe you should also call a second vet just to be sure you should not start Ben on antibiotics to be safe.
  21. I just looked up some info and apparently it is only found in salmon raised on the northwest coast, because that is where the snail is found that is the host parasite. Does the wrapper say where the salmon farm was located? Or if you look online at the company website with the processing information, does it say that? I did not find information about farmed salmon versus wild, but I do feel a bit reassured that it needs the snail as the intermediate host. My thought is that farmed salmon habitats would not have this snail present. But I will keep looking. Meanwhile, see if you can find out where the salmon was raised.
  22. I've had good luck with an overstuffed living room chair as well. They make great dog toys and last quite a while. ;-) (Please notice that is a winky face.)
  23. This may be simply a silly idea, but I am wondering if you could watch and see where he usually sits down by himself so you can "plan" on catching him going to sit so you can say it. For example, a lot of dogs will sit down on the seat of a car to look out the window. I remember you said he was a bit car sick or something like that, so this particular plan might not work. But if you watch him a couple of days, I bet there is some place or some sort of situation where he will often sit down just the way you want him to. So then all you need to do is put him in that place or situation and you can plan on asking him to sit -- and he will. It's the same as what everyone else has said, just trying to find a way to increase the likelihood of him actually sitting.
  24. Ben is so very lucky to have landed with you! Reading of your times together and how it's all working out is heart-warming. I have nothing to offer, as your innate wisdom is so much greater than my own. I can only smile in appreciation as I read all you've done. You mention the dog you lost who you still grieve; I have a deep sense of rich love being returned to you now. After all, slippers can be replaced, even favorite ones. Hearts are more precious. :-)
×
×
  • Create New...