glittergirl1970

BC article this is interesting!!!

thanks so much, everyone, for the kind words. don't be sorry for me. it was painful to lose her, but my gosh, i was lucky! i had 2 1/2 years with the most amazing dog. and someday i will adopt another senior dog again. someone from the cleveland kennel rescue group wrote this to me, and it meant so much: "You noticed those little, special things about her that no one else would have noticed. Her hairy fancy feet, her 'wild' side, the way she 'twisted' & 'spinned', her sensitivity, the special way she looked at you with love, and her sense of humor! I always pictured Dixie as a 'stand up comedian'...if only she were human. Those are just some of the special things about her that you appreciated. She was always smiling and laughing...and I know that she is doing that now. Dixie is so grateful that she was given the second chance to have a LOVING family-who laughed with her every day, and not to mention the biggest 'fan club' any other dog from the Cleveland Kennel has ever had!"

i adopted dixie 2 1/2 years ago. she came to the cleveland kennel in pretty bad shape. they knew she had to be over 10 years old, she was missing fur and starving when they picked her up. she was rescued by some wonderful folks at the kennel and the senior sanctuary for dogs. i was so lucky to have had her these few years. she was so funny and sweet, she won everyone over and as my friend becca said, she had more "fans" at the kennel then any other dog. she was even on the local news once, as a "spokes-dog" for adoting senior dogs. it was halloween and she got to wear her pink dress and tiara. now most dogs don't like costumes, but dixie totally hammed it up. she pranced around and loved all the attention. they even showed video footage of her on the nightly news later that week. i wrote about her on my blog and incuded some amazing pics. go take a look and see how beautiful (and funny) she was. she was my heart dog and i was so lucky to have had her in my life there last 2 1/2 years. link to dixie's send off.... ok, i am crying at work again, time to go!

my beautiful rescued BC dixie is sick again. i adopted her 2 years ago and we think she's definetly over 10 years old. she has thyroid problems, liver problems and recently has developed a horrible skin rash. i posted something a few weeks back about introducing dogs. my boyfriend has 2 and i have 2, and i was looking for info on the best way to introduce them all. we haven't tried yet, and there's no rush. but dixie might need to be given antibiotics and have her rash treated with ointment. i was thinking of bringing her to the boyfriend's this weekend (instead of leaving her with roomate or coming home twice a day to take care of her.) *fyi- the roomate loves the dogs very much and is amazing with dixie, but i feel bad leaving him to take care of her medical stuff all weekend. dixie is excellant with other dogs, and my boyfriends dogs are good with other dogs. could i bring her along and introduce her in a safe way (away from his house at first, with no food or treats to cause jealousy)? or would his dogs pick up on her being sick? is it just a myth that animals will attack an elderly/ sick animal???

ah, thanks for the detailed info. we're going to wait a few weeks (no sense in rushing) and then give it a go. and thanks for the congrats. i really lucked out with this guy. he's sweet, funny and kind and LOVES dogs. )

catu- you said something about having them meet one by one..... should i just bring one of my dogs and he would bring one of his to a neutral place? is there any order to this? i am wondering if the male dogs should meet first, or if we should introduce them male/female? again, thanks to everyone for all the help on this question and all the others i've had over the last 2 years!

ok, i'm back for more advice from you wonderful people! here's the good news: i'm in love!!! i met a wonderful guy and we've been dating for a while, and it's definetly love. the problem: he has 2 dogs at his place, and i have 2 at mine. we spend all our time at his house with his dogs on the weekends. (i have a roomate who takes cares of my dogs -and loves them to death- on the weekends.) we'll evetually want to introduce the dogs, and i am trying to figure out the easiest way possible. our dogs are very similar. all 4 are about the same size (50-70 pounds), mixed breed older rescues. he has a male and female, as do i. his male dog tends to hump other dogs at the dog park. my male dog tends to mark his territory. all 4 dogs are fixed. would it work if we met up at a local dog park and just let them all run loose and get to sniff each other out? then maybe bring them back to his house? i was thinking we could get back to his house and then let them all run around the yard and get to know each other more before we all went inside. any tips or tricks???

p.s. i updated my avatar so you can see my dixie!

the day after i read your post about boy's diagnosis, i came home to find my dixie quite ill. she's an old girl and had been a bit lethargic lately, and i came home to find the kitchen covered in diareaha and blood. turns out she has acute pancreatis and a possible ulcer. we almost put her down (yesterday evening) but decided to give it another night and some cortisol injections. today she's so much better! we decided i would bring her home (since she was so depressed everytime i left her at the vet's.) she's still not out of the woods and she could take a turn for the worse at any moment. but i decided to bring her home and have what fun we have left. she might not make it past the weekend, or she might be around for months to come. so i have decided to just love her every day, enjoy our time, and see what happens. she was so excited to leave the vet's office, she jumped right up unto the high seat of my jeep. my first reaction was to stop her and help, but she wanted to jump and i let her. carpe diem!

wow, thanks so much for the information. i am going to take off his collar and stick with the harness when we go on walks. it seems to mainly happen at night when he's laying down and relaxed, so i bet that will help. i've been keeping a very close eye on griffin (which is easy when the 80 pound dog is right in bed with you hacking away!) he's showing no signs of discomfort or pain, not lethargic at all during the day (we call him our big spaz) and is a wildly happy mutt. so for now i am just keeping my eye on things, seeing if removing the collar works, and saving up for the xrays in the near future. thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. i don't have to tell you which one is my lovely old BC collie and which one is crazy griff! p.p.s. any guesses on griffin's breed mix would be welcome. we all like to try and guess.

once again i come to you wonderful and knowledgable folks about an new medical problem one of my dogs is faced with. dixie (my senior BC rescue) is finally on the right dose of thyroid meds and doing great. my current question is about my 2nd rescue (griffin). he's a large mixed breed (possibly rott/terrier) and a big gentle baby. when i got him he had kennel cough (the rescue group missed this little fact). he also came from an abusive situation and it seems like someone was very rough pulling on his collar and his scruff area (he flinches if you pet him there, even after being in my home for 2 years) ok, long story short. the kennel cough never seemed to go away, and over the last few months i've noticed a constant honking cough. he has a coughing fit of about five loud honks, and then is done. he does this during the night usually, about once every 2-3 hours. (yes, i am a light sleeper.) he doesn't seem at all in pain or uncomfortable. totaly unfazed. i asked my vet if maybe he just has some incurable kennel cough, or damage from past abuse, and the vet thinks it might be a partially collapsed trachea. i've spent about $1,000 at the vet this month (both dogs got full check ups, vaccines, bloodwork and heartworm meds for the next 3 months, plus dixie's additional bloodwork for thyroid and liver problems.) so while i save up some money, has anyone dealt with this medical problem? what would the treatment even be? the vet mentioned griffin would need to be sedated and xrayed, so this sounds expensive! ok, any info would be great. thanks so much!

you might want the vet to check his cortisone levels (a quick urine test can be done.) hair loss from the midsection down is a sign of canine cushing's. it's an older dog's disease normally, but i've heard of an occasional younger dog having the disorder. is the dog drinking more water than usual? having accidents in the house? and does the skin where the hairloss occurs look darker pigmented? those are some signs.

i adopted dixie from a senior dog rescue group in cleveland. the $90 adoption fee was the best money i ever spent! dixie is truly my "heart dog". when i got her she was pretty sick (she has cushing's.) but her treatment has gone really well and she's the picture of health now. treatment is expensive, but she's worth it. she looks to be pure bred border collie, so i've enjoyed coming to this board to find out more about the bred. now i know why she tries to herd the cats! i just adopted a 2nd dog named griffin. he's also a rescue. i thought dixie needed a younger man around, LOL! griffin is a big terrier mix and they think he's about 5. he's black like dixie and about the same size, and as soon as he walked in she seemed to recognize him. i also have 4 cats that were all rescues.

has anyone with a border collie had to deal with cushing's disease. i am new to the BC world and was wondering if cushing's is common in BCs. for those who don't know, cushing's is a disease where a small tumor grows on the pituitary gland causing huge amounts of cortisol (a steroid adrenal chemical) to flood the body. it's like having a dog on a high dose of prednisone. dixie came to me overweight, with her hind end bald and lots of dark pigmented skin on her belly. now that her treatment's going well (she takes lysodrene, basically chemo treatment) she's at the perfect weight and has grown a beautiful new coat as well as the dark skin changing back to white. pretty amazing. but it's a very confusing disease that most vets don't treat often, and very expensive for testing and treatment. has anyone on the board dealt with this?

i was not familar with border collies until i got dixie, an older rescued dog from the cleveland. she was a stray picked up in the city in very bad shape. under weight and patches of hair missing. she didn't know how to walk up stairs and they think she spent her life chained up in a yard. she didn't know how to play with toys or even bark. but dixie charmed the kennel workers with her sense of humor and sweetness. it's a city kennel that is lacking funds, so dogs are put to sleep after a week. a volunteer worker got her out of there and in with a senior dog rescue group. she came home with me this past may. she has cushing's which is pretty scary and not easy to treat. but she is so worth the time and cost! i've had dogs and cats my whole life. no pure breds, but some lovely mixes and mutts. i think dixie is pure BC. she is such a joy! older dogs come to you already trained. they don't pee in the house or eat your shoes. and if they are from a good rescue group, they will be able to tell you detailed info about the animal (if they are good with kids, if they bark, etc...) and while you may not have an older dog as long as you would a puppy, the time you get with them is so worthwhile. because they really seem to appreciate the 2nd chance at life. dixie now plays with toys, sleeps in my bed, and charms the socks off everyone who meets her. she enjoys every moment of life. she smiles so big. and she was recently on thre news in a pink party dress and tiara to promote the adoption of old dogs. i know i won't have her for 15 years, but i love her every day.