Look Out!!!

Fat Cat took over Zack's kennel and decided it was "her domain". The look on her face says it all.

Belly Trouble

This last week or so Zack has been having his bouts of belly pain on and off again. Normally it is just a one off, I give him his meds and he is fine later that same day and then is back to normal. However, this last week he has had a few setbacks.

It is always the same thing that happens, around 4 - 5 a.m. I am awakened by loud squelching noises in his belly and then he starts to squirm because he is in pain. Never any diarrhea. On Tuesday morning he had a really bad bout and was vomiting too. I gave him his meds and pepcid but he threw them back up. I took the morning off work on Tuesday because I was worried about leaving him. The vet then prescribed him to stay on his anti-inflammatories for 7 days rather than one treatment which he has been on now for 2 days. Yesterday Zack seemed to be back to his old self, bright, happy, eating, tearing round the garden, playing with other dogs, etc. perfectly normal and I thought great the anti-inflammatories are working. But then at 5 a.m. this morning the same thing happened, although no vomiting this time.

Another trip to the vets to have him checked over and this time have a complete bloodwork panel done. Luckily everything came back normal including his white blood cell count. When he was sick as a puppy his white blood cell count was off the charts so I was so relieved to hear his WBC was normal.

Then Dr. Nagy advised that she thinks he could have been born with a stricture, a defect in his bowel where the small intestine meets the large intestine, and as his normal poop moves through his bowel overnight it sometimes causes irritation and flares up and then the squelchy belly noises are his intestines trying to move the poop through the stricture causing pain. It make sense that that is what could be happening.

Dr. Nagy said it is something he may just have to live with these bouts but if it gets alot worse down the road there were two options that she said could be done to find out and that is an exploratory surgery where they open him up and check his stomach and intestines and remove anything that is bad looking or have an endoscopy done up in Calgary to check inside his bowels. She didn't recommend either of these procedures at this time as she felt he isn't bad enough yet and it is treatable and I definitely don't want to have any invasive procedure done to Zack unless I have to. Hopefully it won't come to this but inevitably we will do what we have to to get to the bottom of it.

Zack is to stay on his anti-inflammatories and also if he gets a real painful bout again we were sent home with trammadol to give him to ease his discomfort.

Glad to say I got home tonight and Zack ate his dinner and is much brighter. Fingers crossed this phase is over.

FREE TO GOOD HOME

FREE TO GOOD HOME: 2 year old child. Genuine reason, I've just got a new puppy so no longer have the time for the child. Also worried the child may bite the puppy. Child is currently kept in a crate 24/7. Needs a home by tomorrow or it'll be put to sleep. Thanks. YOU WOULDN'T DO THIS TO A CHILD SO WHY DO YOU SEE IT AS ACCEPTABLE TO DO IT TO A DOG OR CAT? If you can't dedicate at least 10 years to a dog or cat DON'T GET ONE!!!

A classified ad everyone should read.

Bend it like Beckham (I mean Zacky!)

I don't think teeth are allowed in soccer!!!!! LOL



When's the next world cup?

The Raspberry

After Zack's photo session with Paws-on-the-Run Photography Wendy was kind enough to give Zack this little raspberry toy. He just loves it.

It bounces erratically



Which makes me laugh when Zack tries to catch it.

Getting Noticed

This weekend I attended an agility trial that was held in Lethbridge to try and promote my Pet Portrait business for the first time. I set up a booth, hung my banner and tried to get my name out there.

Zack and Dylan came along. I had a tent set up to keep the dogs in but Zack kept escaping out underneath the tent - I should have known LOL - so he sat next to me in his chair like a little gem.


If he wasn't in his chair he was on my lap or under the table in the shade. He was surprisingly well behaved and I was very happy he hung out, took it all in and was such a good boy.

Occasionally he would peek out to see what was happening then go back to sleep.

We got to see two more border terriers, one of which was doing agility and did very well. It was great to see the three of them together. All in all it was a good weekend, the weather was great (albeit too hot) and hopefully people noticed some of my work. I donated a prize of a pet portrait and it was given to a veteran dog which is a bearded collie!! Woo hoo - that will be great fun to paint!!!

Ups & Downs

Last night was Zack's agility class. The last few sessions have been a struggle to say the least. However, for some reason last night Zack got his mojo back, he ran, yes ran over the jumps leaving me behind. Whoo hoo he ran, did I say ran, he ran!!!!Then he even ran up the teeter twice to the point where it actually dropped (with a little help from Sarah on the way down) but he did great. I couldn't believe it.

There was an onimous storm approaching last night in class could it be the electricity in the air that got Zack fired up? I am not sure. Class was cut short because of the storm but we certainly left on a high note.

On the downside this morning I was woken up at 5 a.m. to terribly loud squelching noises in Zack's belly. He was having one of his belly cramping episodes. I hate when it happens seeing him squirm in pain. He looks like he is going to vomit but didn't this morning. I got him up and outside to see if the walking about would help him and then gave him his meds. At about 7:20 am. he let out a rip roaring belch which seemed to help him a little. Pete and I always say "better out than in".

It is now 12:40 and I am pleased to say Zack seems to be doing a lot better now albeit he is a little quiet but no more squirming in pain or squelchy belly - which is a good thing.

I wished I knew what sets him off. He had ground chicken last night at agility could that be it? Although the previous weeks I have used ground chicken for agility and had no ill effects. I just don't know. I can never pin point anything. It is just something we have to deal with once in a while. Poor Zacky.

Dylan Portrait

As a going away gift I painted a portrait of Zack's BFF Dylan for Martin & Karen. They loved it.



It will definitely be a shame once they are gone, we will lose good friends and a really sweet, gentle dog who taught Zack alot of life's lessons when he was a pup. We are looking after Dylan until Monday and we will make sure we make the most of our time with him as they will be gone next week for good :(

Run Run Run

Here are a few more pictures of Paisley's latest visit, as soon as she arrives it is non stop running round and round

Now Paisley's legs are so long her one stride is about the same as 3 of Zacks so he has learned to tuck his bum in and turn tight circles

but occasionally he misjudges

then let's Paisley know about it

and then gets his own back LOL

It is a great way keep the dogs amused and within a couple of minutes of Paisley leaving Zacky is out cold!!!

He is so darn cute!!!

Photo Session

On Saturday morning Zack had his photo session with Wendy of Paws-on-the-Run-Photography which we won in a draw at the Windy City Canine Rescue Bark in the Park Fund Raiser. All of the pictures turned out brilliantly, and it was so hard to decide which pictures I wanted so I am taking them all!!!!! I will be posting some in the future.

All Legs & Teeth

This morning Paisley came over to play with Zack and after tearing round and round the garden running circles and chasing each other they both poop out in the shade

but the play doesn't stop there

the legs start flailing

and the contest of who has the biggest teeth begins





There were some sweet tender moments albeit brief (LOL)


and I think they make the cutest "odd" couple

Talk about the Lady and the Tramp....

Summer Heat

With it being so hot outside daily walks are later in the evening now when it cools down a bit or early in the morning.

Zack moves a little slower in the heat.

After about 1/2 an hour he is just trotting along rather than runnin about

I think both he and I will be happy when it cools down just a bit.

Whoo Hoo - We Won!!!

Zack and I attended Bark in the Park in support of Windy City Canine Rescue a couple of weeks ago and found out that we won one of the raffle/draw prizes - being a session with Paws-on-the-Run Photography. Wendy takes awesome actions shots of dogs which as you can see is my downfall - I cannot get an action shot of Zack without it being blurred most of the time.


So I am super stoked about having a professional do it for me. I can't wait.