PartnersPal

Hi everyone! We had a major rain here today and flooding conditions out close to where I live. I left work to go get the guys in and safe. In the process I got to thinking, what with all the Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados etc. that folks around the country have been experiencing over the past several years, that it was time to re-examine my families disaster preparedness' plans. For me, it is now just my wife, the 3 dogs and 2 cats. Luckily we don't live on the coast or in earthquake prone area but Texas has a large number of Tornadoes and windstorms as well as a lot of flash flooding. a little online research with the Humane Society and the American Red Cross indicates that (1) shelters will not take pets unless they are certified assistance animals and, in the event of a disaster, boarding kennels who can take animals on short notice or hotels that allow pets are few and far between. If you are unable to stay in your current residence and are forced to evacuate you may be faced with some hard choices concerning your pets (or no choices at all) unless you have planned in advance. the Weather Channels "Storm Stories" recently ran a story about a city hit by tornado in Nebraska where the citizens were forced to leave and could nto take their pets. One man was forced to leave a crippled Lab and two Dachshunds. Nearby cities animal control came to the rescue of many stranded pets, but many others died or went missing.

I have put together a disaster/evac kit for my family and my pets. The pet kit consists of a plastic box which contains the following:

Food for 2 weeks minimum.

Water for 3 days.

Bowls for food and water.

Towels (cloth and paper).

disinfectant/cleanser.

Blankets and bedding.

Poop bags and a couple of large garbage bags.

K9 first aid kit(another topic).

Toys and chewies. (It is important to keep pets calm as they can freak just like us humans.)

leashes, muzzles and tie out stuff.

A small ice chest with meds, (Synovi-G3 for Annie, heartworm med etc.) Vet records, pictures and descriptions of the guys in case they get lost. Important phone numbers etc.

I also keep several wire and travel crates that have collected over the years in the garage where I can get them easily in case we need to leave in a hurry. Of course they are used for trips to the park, vets etc. but are handy if need be.

In the event of a disaster, hopefully we would not have to leave our home but there may be significant damange to the roof or fence and I have sufficient repair materials to provide secure (fenced in) covered housing for the guys if the need arises. If we are forced to leave I am prepaired to camp out in my truck with the guys for as long as need be rather than leave them.

My worst case senerio is that something will happen while I am at work and I will not be allowed back into my neighborhood. Still working on that one.

So, whats in your kit? Anyone experience this situation who would like to share advice or story?

PardnersPal.

Valhalla,

Thanks for the information. I have not heard of this product. Where do you get it? I can get the river washed pebbles and cedar mulch at local landscaping firms. Is the "crush n run" something that is local to Virgina?

Julie, thanks for the information on the Cedar. I will have to look into it. I have a little of both covers in the pen right now. The pebbles are much easier to clean than the cedar, so I am leaning that way. Another option may be limestone paving stones. They are pretty cheap where I live and would be too big to eat. BTW the kennel is small enough that I don't think sliding on the pebbles would be a problem.

PardnersPal

I am in the process of finishing a small dog-run/kennel on the back part of my property. I do not have the funds at this time to lay a slab like I would prefer and am trying to decide on the best alternative. I am thinking about either river washed pebbles or cedar mulch. The pebbles would be more hygenic and easier to keep clean, but would retain heat in the summer, though the area is shaded. The Cedar mulch would not be as durable, harder to clean, but would probably be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter and I'm thinking, being Cedar, provide some insect repellant properties. Does anyone have any suggestion/ advice on these alternative or perhaps some other inexpensive cover.

PardnersPal.

I have a 13 month old BC that I want to train to "down" at a distance. I have been working with her on developing a "down/stay" -- walking away and then calling her. She has been doing very good to the point where I am moving on to "proof" training her down/stay and recall. I want to be able to put her in a down stay, walk away 30 to 50 feet, call her and then stop her in the middle of recall and have her drop where she is. I am mostly working with a clicker. So far, when I tell her to "down" in the middle of a recall she continues to come and downs at my feet. Any suggestions?

PartnersPal

Hi Christine,

I agree, don't try to get him to catch a disk now. I would suggest that you start out with "rollers". That is, throw the frisbee so that it rolls on its side on the ground. This will teach the dog to chase it and he will be more comfortable in grabbing it while it is moving. Once he gets that down you can move on to throwing the frisbee for him to catch. Good luck

Nestor.

Hello Everyone,

My girl Annie, 9 month old BC has been diagnosed with OCD and is in the middle of a 4 week course of Adequan injections. I was told by my Vet that the Adequan should help releave pain and help repair the cartiledge in the joint.

I have observed Annie closely over the past 2 weeks as she has gotten the injections and I have noticed that her limp (left front leg) has gotten more pronounced and she appears to be in more pain when she shows a limp. She does not always limp, it comes and goes, but it seems to always show up within 24 hours of her getting the Adequan injection. I have mentioned this to my Vet and they have told me that the Adequan should not be causing this and that Annie may get worse before she gets better with the Adequan injections. Annie's symptoms do not seem to be reflecting what the Vet is saying or what I have read in the literature. Annie will get a shot, within 24 hours she will begin to limp badly and it will clear up over the next 48 hours until she gets the next shot when the cycle will start over. Has anyone seen this same cycle with other dogs getting this medicine? Any ideas on what is going on here? The Vet now wants to start Annie on anti-inflamatories. Any advice would be appreciated.

Nestor.

Thanks for the input! I appreciate the suggestion on sent work Sarah. I have been thinking about trying Annie out to see if she had any potential for SAR and I have one contact in this area for that. Once she heals up I will look into it.

Concerning surgery, when I first got Annie's diagnosis I went on line and read a number of articles about OCD. They all recommended surgery over what they termed a conservative approach. However they all seem to have been written prior to the release of Adequan for canines. As I understand it, Adequan has been used for horses for this type of problem with very good results and for a number of years. It has only recently been formulated and released to canines. I asked my Vet specifically about surgery because one of the articles I read said that almost all dogs that are treated with the conservative approach eventually wind up with arthritis or have to have the surgery anyway. It indicated that the earlier on in the progression of the desease you have the surgery the better the result. My Vet said the current perfered method is using the Adequan now that it is available. She has suggested X-rays again when Annie is 1 year old (about 4 months) and a re-evaluation. If there is not significant improvement she indicated that surgery would be an option then. ??? Is anyone out there familiar with the use of this drug from personal experience??. The articles about it online indicate that it is very effective. Having arthritis myself I was wondering why my doctor hasn't told me about it or if it has been formulated for humans. But that aside, what I don't want is to see this be given to Annie in leu of surgery simply because it is the newest treatment. Would any of you recommend taking Annie to an Orthopedic Vet? I reviewed the X-rays with my Vet and from the articles on line you could definitly see the flattened area on the

head of the bone, so I do not doubt the diagnosis, I just wonder about the treatment.

Well, I picked up Annie yesterday and got the bad news from the vet. She has been diagnosed with OCD.

The Vet went over the xrays in detail with me. Annie is showing damage to her cartilege on both shoulders, but more on the left than the right. This seems to be consistent with what I have read on line about this desease. My Vet has restricted (severly restricted) Annies activities for the next 5 months (yea, right, how do you restrict an 8 month old BC???) then limited exercise for 4 to 6 months after that. We are starting a course of Adequan injections. 2 per week for the next 4 weeks. Then we will move to a glucosemine/chondrotine (excuse the spelling) supplement.

Annie has always been an out door dog, though we bring her in at night. We have a big back yard where she runs and plays with our other dog a little Shi Tzu. Now I guess I am going to have to confine her to our den until I can build a small dog pen in the back yard to confine her in while I am at work. I really feel worse about having to restrict her exercise that I do about the diagnosis and what it means for her future as a Disc dog (which is no future at all).

Any advice would be appreciated. My plans had been to participate with her in our local disc club as a means of providing her with an energy release and as something we could do together that would be fun for us both. Now I am having to re-evaluate this and am searching for another outlet for her energy and way we can work/play together. Agility seems to be out also as well as fly ball and herding/trial work. Obeidence training seems to be one of the only options left. Any thoughts on this problem? Of course she is still my girl and the best furry friend I have. Want what is best for her. I just am feeling real bad when she looks at where I keep her frizbees and then looks back at me saying "Why don't you play with me anymore???"

I'm just wondering if this common with other Border Collies. My first BC, a male named Pardner, began favoring his right hip when running at age about 7 months. He had the typical "bunny hop" gait that is displayed by dogs with Hip Displasia. After visits to my regular Vet and an orthopedic specialist and a full series of X-rays it was determined by the specialist that he was suffering from "growing pains" and was put on regime of 1 to 2 asprin per day. Unfortunately he passed away from unrelated causes before he grew out of the symptoms. I was never sure if the Orthopedic specialist was right or if it was something else that he could not definitively diagnose at the time. Now my current BC, Annie, 8 months old has begun limping on her left front leg. The limp is intermittant. She will go for 1 or 2 days without showing it, then start limping for a day or more before it goes away again. Of course when I take her in to the vet she does not limp and surface exam shows nothing. No pain, she usually goes to sleep while the doctor is feeling her leg. Asprin seems to help. Tomorrow (today) she goes in for X-rays. I am wondering if she is suffering from "growing Pains" as well? She weighs about 35 lbs. and has been putting on weight fast in the past several months. No fat, just bone and muscle mass. She is already bigger than I expected her to be judging from previous litters and her size at 8 weeks when I got her.

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms with their dogs? Is "growing Pains" a common problem with BC's at this age? If so, how long should it take for her to grow out of them. Judging from her age and current weight I expect Annie to put on another 4 or 5 lbs before she stops. How soon after her weight levels off should I expect these symptoms to go away?

Any insight on this would be appreciated.

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Thanks for the input from everyone. I need to talk to my vet now that I've read whats been posted about SD. He is the one that recommended it. Of course that was several years ago and for our cats so maybe there is a difference??? Anyway, as fortune would have it Annie goes in for her boosters tomorrow and I'll see what he says. I need to go dig the bag out of my garbage to see the ingredients. What I bought this time was a new "Natural" brand of SD that I havn't tried before. (It was the only SD on the shelves at the time I was in and cost about $5 more than the regular 35 lb. bags I had been getting. Anyway, looks like I have some research ahead of me.

Caroline, don't worry about hijacking the thread, I was pretty sure this topic had come up before but I didn't readily find specific when I checked the Archives. I was interested in what you said about allergies. Annies buddy is a Shitzu (belongs to my mother in law but stays at our house. He has been diagnosed with alleries. Scratchies alot and the vet has recommended Benedryl when it get bad for him. I may suggest that my m-in-l try the Nuto.

Nestor.

Hello everyone. I new to these boards so forgive me if this topic has been done to death. I have an 7 month old BC named Annie. I have been feeding her Science Diet puppy food since I got her at 8 weeks. I recently went to Petsmart to purchase Dogfood and cat food and walked out with an $80.00 dollar bill. Now don't get me wrong. I am willing to pay that to feed Annie (and Bandit my mother in laws Shitzu) if the food is that much better than other foods out there. I recently attended a clinic on "How Dogs think" at a school here that recommends Purina and feeds it to all boarded dogs. What do you feed your dog and why. I Science Diet better than other foods or is there a better alternative?

Nestor and Annie the Disk Dog

Thanks for the input. How does the clicker retrieve work exactly? I have never used a clicker for training, though I am slightly familiar with the idea. My problem is in getting her to bring it to me. If I can get her to do that then I believe that through praise I can positively reinforce the action to the extent she will repeat it. She really wants to play and please me but I don't think she understands that a retrieve means bringing it all the way back. She stops when she gets close but not quite there.

I'll try the multiple rollers this evening and see how they work.

I have a 4 month old BC that I am working with to play frisbee with. I am a member of club where I live and we do distance and accuracy and frisbee tricks with our dogs. Annie is really getting the hang of going after a frisbee. I am keeping her to rollers (on the ground) for now until her bones and joints fully develop and in the mean time will be teaching her obedience and frisbee basics like right, left, around and go away. My current problem is that while she retrieves fine, she will only bring the frisbee back to within 3 to 5 feet of me and there she drops it and usually sits or lays down. She is still ready to chase anything I throw and wants to play but I can't get her to consistently bring it close to me. She does this on the first throw so I know that she is not just tired. I have tried using a long line on her to force a close retrieve, but she just drops the frisbee and comes to me. I also am having trouble getting her to take the frisbee from me, she seems only to want me to throw it so she can chase it. Anyone have any suggestions on how to correct this? Any Frisbee player out there?

My pup Annie is just turning 4 months next week. She was totally uninterested in chasing balls at first. This was particularly distressing because my previous BC was a natural retriever and was chasing and retrieving balls at 7 weeks and couldn't get enough, but not Annie. I got a small kong and tied a string to it (about 5 foot long) and would throw it down in front of her and then jerk it lightly so it would move. You need to be careful not to jerk it too hard or you will pull it out of the dogs visual range and out of sight is out of mind for most pups. Anyway Annie started chasing it. The idea is to keep it just out of their reach so you stimulate the prey drive in them. Occasionally let them catch it and get in a few chews and then pull it away again, like it escapes. I played with Annie and found that she had great prey drive, but she still would not go after a ball. It wasn't until she was about 3 months old and I started rolling frisbees on the ground for her that she really took off. Something about the frisbee really excited her over the ball. I think that dogs will develop their own favorite toys and I was happy that Annie liked frisbee chasing because that was really what I was into. My previous BC really like balls better but would chase and retrieve a frisbee if a ball wasn't offered. Keep working wiht your dog, they'll catch on.

We are currently experiencing a lot of Mosquitoes in my area and I have an young BC that stays outside most of the day. We have done what we can to control them, no standing water, grass mowed etc. They bother me alot, to the point were I wear long sleeves and use insect repealent whenever I am outside. I was playing frisbee with Annie this evening and noticed that some were buzzing around her face. We have a concern with West Nile virus where we live and I was wandering if anyone out there had any home remedies, or commercial. Plants that keep them away any other suggestions.

Thanks