This week was full of firsts for little Wellie Belly.

It was the first time she had a bath, the first time she went to our vet and the first time she escaped through the hole in the fence and had a little jaunt through the neighbourhood. I never said all of the firsts were good! haha.

First, the bath. Any dog owner can tell you that this time of year is messy. Oh so messy. Every time we go for a walk we basically bring nature home with us. Since Paddington, Corduroy and Wellington are all so physically low to the ground, they usually get covered and all of them were in desperate need of a bath.

So Thursday evening last week I filled up the tub and armed with many delicious treats, gave Wellie a bath. She did really well, but wanted to get out of the tub the moment she got in. This meant I had to do a sort of one handed wash thing while I held her in the tub so she didn’t jump out. After she was done, it was Corduroy’s turn, then Paddington. Then of course, all three got the “after bath crazies” (I am sure some of you are familiar with this) where they ran around like crazy dogs playing and rubbing themselves all over the carpet and just generally being wacky.

After they were done their after bath crazies, Wellie kept going into the bathroom to see if there were any more treats left over – and she even jumped into the empty tub to see! I was really shocked by this because Paddington and Corduroy have never done something like this. Paddington never learned to jump because of her luxating patellas and Corduroy never learned because Paddington didn’t do it. Neither of them jump very high but Wellie, oh man she can jump high. Her latest thing is jumping onto our guest bed and looking out the window. It’s too cute.

The second first for Wellie this week was our visit to the vet yesterday. Originally we had an appointment for the end of the month but last week she started licking her back left paw and it looked like there was something there so I moved up her appointment to yesterday. Last minute appointments with our vet are very hard to come by so I was very lucky to snag this one. When we arrived, Wellington was happy to see everyone and was eager to take in all of the new smells. Once she was called in to meet the vet, she was a bit apprehensive at first, but warmed up to him straight away. It turns out her paw was just a cut and it had actually healed by the time of her appointment (go figure – as usual I panicked for no reason) and he said she is a very healthy little dog. My greatest relief was when he told me her knees are perfect – I was very worried after our whole debacle with Paddy’s knees.
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I work in research for the most part dealing with human physiology, and often thermoregulation – I am also a loving dog owner. I have participated in research with human subjects investigating cooling strategies for work in the heat including the military, and recently began to wonder how thermoregulation in dogs differs from humans. Many people understand the cooling strategies of the human compared to the dog, mostly, dogs pant and human sweat.

Humans can thermoregulate by using 5 mechanisms, (1) Evaporation, (2) Convection, (3) Conduction, (4) Radiation, and (5) Metabolism. Metabolism is what happens when we exercise and always results in heat gain. Evaporation is how we lose heat from sweat evaporating off of the skin. Convection is the loss of heat by moving air (fans feeling cool on your skin) and Conduction is the loss of heat when we touch a surface that is cooler than our skin temperature (or gain warmth by touching something warm). Radiation often refers to the sun warming our skin.

Dogs gain heat by the same mechanisms that we do, Metabolism from exercise, Conduction from hot surfaces and Radiation from the sun. However their furry coats can help to prevent heat gain from Conduction and Radiation, therefore when you shave your furry dogs coat, you may be doing them a disservice as this may prevent their ability to insulate themselves from the heat.

To lose heat dogs take advantage of Convection, Conduction, and Evaporation. When dogs are outside and there is a breeze or they are moving they can lose heat from Convection, however tied up at home, in a crate, or in a car, they lose the ability to dispel heat this way. Dogs try to use Conduction every opportunity they have, this is why your dog (and mine!) decides to lie down in the mud puddle after a run at the dog park, the mud puddle is slightly cooler than the air and water removes heat from the body 25 times faster than air, so if they are already in the mud puddle, give them a minute to enjoy the cooling effect.

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I had the honour of being the pet photographer invited to take family-style portraits of event goers with their beloved dogs. Pictures were a $5 donation and we raised over $160 with the photos alone! All proceeds went to Big Sky Ranch.

The day, although overcast and threatening to rain, was PERFECT for the photos and I couldn’t be happier with the results. To see all of the photos bigger, click here.

If you had a photo taken with or of your dog(s), please follow these instructions to pick it up:

1. Click here to open the photo album
2. Find your photo and click on it to make it bigger
3. Above the photo there will be a button that says: All Sizes – click on that
4. Click the link of the size photo you would like to download (Square, Thumbnail, Small, Medium, Large, Original) and a link will appear that says: Download the *size you chose* size

This is a hard post to write, but one that is necessary none the less. It was requested and I can see why. It is hard for someone who has a senior dog to even think about inquiring with their vet concerning end of life options as it signifies that the decision has been made to possibly put the dog down, or the fact that the dog is going to pass away naturally in the near future. I know that when my family had to make the hard choice of putting our family dog down, my mother faced a lot of guilt in even placing the call to the vet to discuss what options were available to us.

I have tried to contact various vet clinics regarding this matter but haven’t heard back so I will publish with the information and prices given to me by our vet in Pakenham (40 mins west of Ottawa).

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Zeus was rescued from being put down by a lovely family in Ottawa who loves him dearly. A little while back Zeus got sick and they took him to the vet who thought he had pancreatitis – it actually turns out that he got into and ate a bunch of kitty litter and he had to be operated on with 2 feet of his intestines being removed due to a blockage in his bowels due to ingestion of the litter. The vet bill is now approximately $4100 and still climbing. The vet has now refused to treat him further until the family comes up with the money.

UPDATE

Total costs has of the morning of the 12th was $4143.55. As of Aug 12th there is $1710.54 still owed on the bill for Zues. This unfortunately does not include the daily cost for his care at the hospital witch are around $600 a day for the 13th and 14th. The vet was going to stop all care on the 11th if we were unable to come up with another $1500 for a plasma transfusion they needed to do. We were able to come up with that thanks to a generous donation from the Willy Foundation in the states and the procedure was a success. As of this morning Zues is off intravenous drugs and walking around and eating small amounts. There is still some concern since is blood pressure is still high. He maybe be ready to be discharged on the 15th but the next 3-5 days are important. If the suechers holding the intestine together should leak or fail to hold he will need a far more expensive surgery from a specialist at the Alta-vista Animal Hospital since the Ottawa Veterinary Hospital does not have a board certified specialist. We hope to have Zues back home soon and back to his old self. All donations do need to go to the Ottawa Veterinary Hospital. It is important that it is made clear that it is for Zues. THANK YOU! ~Zeus’ Family

If you would like to help save Zeus, please donate directly to the Ottawa Veterinary Hospital at 900 Boyd Avenue, 613.725.1182 or thevet@ottawavet.com

From Priscilla’s mom, Amber: “Let this be a lesson to all dogs – you must be wearing a cape to fly – otherwise you break your foot”

Priscilla attempted flight by jumping off of the balcony…

Priscilla is Paddington‘s best friend and we hope she has a speedy recovery! Get well soon!