4/4/2010 - with a heavy heart I publish the email I received today:
Hi Nancy-
I hope this gets to
you.
I am so sorry to have
to tell you that I had to let Reba go today. Last week she suffered an attack
of what the vet diagnosed as pancreatitis. She was very sick but
managed to come out of it. After several days at the vet's, I brought
her home. She appeared to be doing well, but then she suffered another
attack.
She went up and down
for the last two days and rallied last night. I thought I would be bringing her
home today. Instead she crashed this morning, and I couldn't let her suffer any
longer. I sat with her for quite a while this morning and held her when she
left.
She was a terrific
dog, friendly to everyone, smart and sassy and funny. She always looked a
little funny, with the extra skin she never lost, but everyone who met her
loved her. She went with me everywhere, going to dog shows and corgi picnics
from
Jan Reynolds
Thus ends the story of Reba's rehabilitation. She got her Happily Ever After that she deserved. A very long, happy, and healthy life with a Mom who adored her to the end. Godspeed, Reba! You were an amazing dog with an amazing story. Thank you so much for letting us be part of your journey.
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We have placed here all of
7/16/98 -
I'm picking up a corgi to foster tonight. Reba is a 2 year old PWC girl who weighs 70 lbs! She was turned back to her breeder (as uncontrollable), who is giving her to me to get her into adoptable shape. The breeder estimates that with her body structure, she should weigh about 25 lbs. She can't even wear a collar, it just slips right off her neck is so fat. Apparently the GSD harness they are using slips off without a whole lot of effort as well. She gets "poopy drawers" because she can't tilt her rear to poop right, so we'll have to keep her hind fur trimmed.
Has anyone dealt with such a grossly obese dog before? Any tips? I have to wonder if it would be dangerous to give her "diet portions" immediately. Should we wean her down to normal levels of food? If so, how? And, what does everyone think of the diet foods? Are they worth it, or is it just as good to give less of the normal food?
The breeder has already taken her to the vet, preliminary bloodwork has been done. I'm not sure what it was, but she said if it came back abnormal, they would do a thyroid test. So we are in the process of ruling that out as a possible cause.
Thanks in advance! And everyone wish this not-so-little girl luck on her new diet and exercise plan.
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7/17/89 part one
This is an update on Reba, the 70 lb. PWC we are fostering. Yesterday, after work, I stopped by Reba's breeder to pick her up. Walking into the kennel, it was easy to spot the little butterball. She was suited up in her GSD harness, and the breeder attached a "handle" (about 1 ft of leash), and we encouraged her to come out with us. She waddled out, surprising spry for such a big girl, then I noticed she had poopy drawers of icky diarrhea. We hosed her off, and the two of us lifted her into the back of my station wagon. One person could not lift her. Even if the person was strong enough, it would very likely injure her. I'm sure her bones aren't meant to withstand that kind of weight.
How do I describe her? Things like a furry slug with a Corgi face come to mind, but that isn't very nice. She's obviously a small structured Corgi. She's smaller framed than my Pepper, who is a little chunky at 28 lbs. She's a red and white, and has a lovely face. In fact, she looks like a normal Corgi back to her ears. Then everything kind of balloons out - picture a furry manatee with legs. Absolutely no neck. She's just a solid cylinder from her ears on back. My husband says she looks like a furry, short pot-bellied pig. We're going to take some pictures to chart her progress with. Although we're at the beginning of a roll of film, so it may take a while to get them developed.
My wonderful husband rigged up a platform out of wood that we can use to weigh her on our bathroom scale. She weighed in at 69.5, but that scale has an accuracy that varies by about 2 lbs. from one time to another (within seconds of each other).
Our dogs, Casey and Pepper (PWCs), barked at her once, then quickly determined she was no threat at all - in fact, she wasn't even interesting. They barely even sniffed each other. They ignore her, and she ignores them. It's kind of weird, and completely unlike Casey (Mr. Social). Darn, I was counting on him to get her to exercise a bit. She had poopy drawers again, so we shampooed her butt and trimmed it with scissors before she could go inside. By now she was panting so heavily we half expected her to pass out at any moment... (to be continued)
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7/17/98 part two
(this is a continuation of a previous post, in case the moderators get around to this one first. :) )
She pants ALL the time. It is so bad that her chin and chest are dripping wet all the time. Not just damp, actually dripping with saliva. Even in the air-conditioned house. I think I'm going to have to shear the fur on her chest for sanitary reasons. It's gross and it smells. And it can't be good for her skin to be wet like that all the time. My question is, should we give her an all-over haircut? She's so hot all the time, and that can't be good for her. Isn't it bad for your internal organs to be overheated for very long? Or is that only for extreme heat? On the other hand, I've heard that the fur actually insulates them from the heat, so maybe I should leave it on. What does everyone think?
If I do shave her, should I shave her "underarms"? The fur there is dark, burgundy, red. I guess from chafing and lack of ventilation. I imagine those moist areas are a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria. On the other hand, it sounds more comfy to have fur rubbing against fur than bare skin rubbing against bare skin. Could it cause chafing problems to shave those high-friction spots?
BTW, she's got a shortish coat. Although it's thick, like most corgis. The general consensus on diet is to give her about 1/2 a cup, 2x a day. With supplements of green beans, carrots, and any other non-fat veggie she'll eat. I think we'll gradually change that to 1/2 a cup 2x daily of a diet food, so we don't stress her system by going to a diet level all at once. And, we'll give her a vitamin supplement. Exercise to start out with will probably just be walking up and down the hall a few times, a few times a day, until she has enough energy to brave it in the heat outside. That will be a matter of trial and error, seeing how she reacts to it. (We feed our dogs Eukanuba Maintenance. We'll get a similar quality diet food.)
Temperament. Well, she's a typical Corgi. Too darn smart for her own good. ;) I can see why she was labeled "unmanageable". She uses her bulk to her advantage. If she doesn't want to go somewhere, she just rolls over on her side. She really doesn't want to go somewhere, she rolls over on her back. No big deal you say? Just roll her back over and get her on her way? Ha! That's what I thought too. She becomes an immovable object when she wants to. Even if you roll her over, if she doesn't help, she isn't going anywhere. As I said in my post yesterday, her neck and body are so big that collars and even harnesses are useless if she stands her ground. She has no neck, so the collar will just slip right off. And she's so big around her middle, that she can squish her feet up and the harness slips right off, too! Not only that, but once you shove her into moving - which must be done from behind - she'll take off with a surprising burst of energy and duck into the nearest doorway and under the table before you can intercept her.
Our theory is that if we don't let her get away with it, she'll give up and become manageable in a matter of a week or so. So we just keep at it until we get her where we want her. If you have any better ideas for keeping her moving, let me know. This is going to make exercise exceeding difficult. She had a piddle accident this morning when my husband let her out of the crate (which she's OK with, btw). So we are hoping that she's potty trained, and was just desperate or letting us know she's the boss.
When she does roll over in an "I'm not going anywhere!", she will show her teeth and snarl a bit when you reach to turn her over. And she even put her teeth on George last night. But it's all show. She's really a sweetie. This morning she came in and greeted me in bed, I leaned over and petted her, and got my face thoroughly washed. :) (Our mattress and boxspring just sit on the floor, so our dogs don't hurt themselves getting on and off.) She knocked over the bathroom trash, and snuffled through it. And she keeps doing small-scale happy Corgi things, like she'll give a little hop (very little - it's not an easy thing for her) like she's going to jump up on the bed to give me kisses. Then she'll remember "Oh yeah, I can't do that". There's a sweet Corgi in there. We just need to get to her. Right now she's expending all her energy just existing. Once she's more comfortable, I think she'll shine. :)
How can anyone let their dog get into that state??? It's so sad. She's terribly miserable. And to be displaced from her home and family on top of that. :( Of course, that's probably the best thing that ever happened to her, but still, so sad that she has to go through this.
Thanks to everyone for all the help! This is a first for me, so I appreciate all your input.
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7/22/98 -
Today's title: Reba Meets the Ferrets and Gets a Pen
We usually don't take the time and risk to introduce our ferrets, Popcorn and Graham, to the rescue dogs. There is an inherent risk involved, and it just isn't worth it for a week or three. We just put the dog outside for a while so the ferrets can play. They're both geriatric, so it doesn't take too long for them to run down. They have their own room (the formal living room, which we don't have formal furniture for), so they are fine not coming out every day to play. Well, it is obvious that Reba is going to be here for a while. She would be uncomfortable being locked out of the house while they play. And, being a herding dog she should be OK with them. (The reason we chose the breed to begin with) So, last night Reba met the ferrets for the first time. I had the dogs out when I let the ferrets out, after a while I decided to let Casey and Pepper in. Reba was looking so hot and miserable that I went ahead and let her in, too.
Popcorn was the lucky ferret who happened to be in the room at the time, so I picked her up, wrapped my hands as protectively as possible around her, so they would take any bites should they occur, and let Reba and Popcorn sniff each other. It couldn't have gone any better. Reba sniffed her with a look of "Oh, Hi. What are you?", Popcorn gave a look of "Oh, great. Another one.", then Popcorn squirmed out of my hands and went behind a pile of stuff to play. Reba sniffed a bit, watched her intently for about 3 minutes, then lost interest. Seeing Graham (my "Pembroke Welsh Ferret" - his tail was cut off this spring due to a tumor, so he matches the dogs now <g>) was about as eventful. Absolutely no aggression or rough play. Whew, that makes our lives much easier. :)
Note: Ferrets are primary carnivores. Dogs and cats can smell that. They don't react to ferrets, as a general rule, the same way they react to a prey animal, like a squirrel or rabbit. However, they are small animals, so you need to be careful with introductions. Especially with adult dogs. They are easily injured, be it by aggression or accidentally by rough play.
Reba also got a pen last night. We have a 4' x 4' pen that we made when Casey and Pepper were being potty trained. It's just a collapsible x-pen screwed down to a piece of plywood with stick-on linoleum tiles. We had disassembled it when we moved into this house, and it was forgotten in the basement. Reba has been miserable in her crate. She's incontinent due to her size, and was ending up sleeping on a dirty faux-sheepskin mat most of the day. :( :( Yesterday morning we remembered we had the pen, and set it up for her last night in our spare bedroom. She likes it much better than the crate. She went in on her own (without having to herd her in forcefully) last night and this morning. This morning when we took her out there were 3 piddle spots on the newspaper. So I'm sure she was much more comfortable not having to sleep in it.
I received an email message which made me inquire about incontinence medication for her. Susan and Lois discussed it and decided that the risk of urinary tract infection wasn't worth it. We don't want to add another medical problem on top of everything that this poor girl already has to deal with.
George and I already have a doggy door waiting to be put in. If Reba will fit through it, that will most likely become our big weekend project. I'm sure she's terribly embarrassed that she keeps making "mistakes" in the house. And we aren't too keen on it, either. :P
Reba is a delight to have. As she gets used to her new situation her sweet personality comes through more and more. The nicest is her morning routine. George gets up earlier than me, so he goes and lets her out. Afterwards she come racing into the bedroom, happily snorting like crazy. Since she can't jump up at all, even to stand on her hind legs, I lean over the edge of the bed for her. She gets so excited to be able to give me my morning kisses. It is so funny. Of course, Casey jumps up and sits on my head, since it's time for HIS morning scritches. He's terribly put-out by the whole thing. Pepper is usually just traumatized and stays on the other side of the bed. I need to grow another arm so that I can pet all three at once. :)
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7/24/98 -
Yesterday was Reba's weigh-in. 67.5 lbs. 2 lbs less than when we got her. Yay! BTW, there was some confusion with Reba's original weight. It turns out that the vet wasn't actually present at Reba's weighing. She was incorrect, the weight actually was 70 lbs, not 75. Now, for the bad news. Reba probably has cystitis (sp?). Of course, that could be good news if it clears up quickly, and we discover it is the cause of her incontinence.
On Wednesday I noticed a few drops of blood on her bedding, next to a piddle accident. I called Susan (Reba's breeder). Susan called the vet yesterday, and the vet prescribed Amoxycillin. Reba has also been having "slimy piddle", and lots of small accidents. If anyone is interested in her other symptoms.
She either just plain hates the r/d, or she isn't feeling well from the cystitis. But she hasn't been eating very well at all for the last two days. We've started mixing some veggies in, and low-salt chicken broth. That seems to help. Right now we are waiting to see if the antibiotics make her feel better. If her lack of appetite continues much longer we may need to revisit her diet again.
She's acting fine. In fact, she's been rather energetic. She surprised us all, and I think herself too, by managing to get her front paws up on our bed yesterday morning! (Mattress and boxspring sitting on the floor, so the dogs don't hurt their backs jumping up and down)
The Gold Bond powder is working well, the skin on her underarms now looks normal. It is no longer red and inflamed. Remember how when she came to us, we had to drag her around with the harness? Well, she hasn't had her harness on since Sunday! She comes when called now, even if she doesn't want to. Well, ok, it sometimes takes some encouragement or a little shove, but she isn't the immovable object that she was for the first few days. She'll still roll over if she doesn't want to do something, or is in a lazy mood, but it isn't too difficult to roll her back over. Once in an upright position, she knows she's lost the argument and obeys nicely. She also goes where she knows we want her to go, instead of ducking into the nearest door or under a table.
Oh, I almost forgot! She played fetch with a toy yesterday afternoon. Then Casey got jealous, and since he can run faster, kind of took over the game. But Reba would chase Casey then try and steal the toy. She was playing with him!!! Casey still hasn't recognized her as a potential playmate, but it's getting close. :) Reba had an excellent exercise session that left her panting furiously. She may have run after the toy 10 times, but just 10-15 feet away. And many of those were only intercepting Casey 1/2 way.
I'm applying for a membership to the PWCCP. I'm trying to become a member so that I can help out as a foster home. Are there any members of the PWCCP out there that would consider sponsoring me? Lois Kay is filling out one, but I need another. My two Corgis are just pets, we don't go to shows and such, so I don't know many people. I thought perhaps someone here might think I'm a nice enough person to recommend me as a member. :)
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7/24/98 -
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7/30/98 -
Weigh in day! She's now 65 lbs. Another 2 1/2 lbs. :) Now, the GREAT news. She's not incontinent any more!!! Yay, much rejoicing! The amoxy seems to be working on the cystitis. She's also eating better. For a while we were concerned that she wasn't going to eat the r/d any more, and started mixing in some hard food. Then we decided that was too much work, and we were only going to do the gourmet mix in the evenings. In the mornings we would do straight r/d with some broth mixed in. (For those who didn't follow the story from the beginning, it is dangerous to make her lose the weight too fast. She was only eating a bite or two of r/d a day and we were beginning to worry.) For the last 2 meals she's been eating well, so tonight I just mixed some canned beans and carrots in instead of kibble, and she ate it like she was starving to death. Perhaps this was also due to the cystitis and now she's feeling better.
Now, the down side to her feeling better. She's decided it is time to work her way up in the pack. She's accepted me as "Alpha Dog", but everyone else must be put in their place. Especially my husband and our shy PWC, Pepper. Casey (PWC) just kind of goes "Oh, OK, sure. You can be Alpha" and goes with the flow. Pepper, being shy, runs away whenever Reba growls at her. I think perhaps Reba just has a power trip being able to do that, so she does it often.
Reba is very good about obeying me. She comes when called, and will drop all but the most interesting things when I tell her to. George, on the other hand, obviously must be taught his place in the pack. If he tries to get her to do something she snarls and barks at his ankles as if she's herding him. George is no pushover with her though, so I imagine that this behavior will be short-lived. ;) Rules and limits are obviously a new thing for her.
We updated the web page with her weight last week, haven't gotten this week on yet, and some of the facts. There's nothing new that wasn't posted here, and no new pictures. http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html.
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8/11/98 -
Just a quick update. On last Thursday's weigh-in Reba was down another 1.5 lbs to 63.5 lbs. She seems to have finally found her place in the pack. For about a week she challenged George (husband) and Pepper (shy PWC) at every opportunity. I was accepted as Alpha, and Casey just had an "Ok, whatever" attitude, so he didn't need to be challenged. Well, one night she challenged George when he was just a little too tired and stressed out. He was trying to get her into her pen and she decided this wasn't to be tolerated and snarled and snapped (without touching) at his ankles. Bad timing, she ended up on her back being told that she was *NOT* going to do that again. It worked, she hasn't. ;) In fact, she obeys George nicely now.
As for Pepper, Reba challenged her, and I let Reba know that I wasn't pleased. (Again, on her back, being informed that she was *NOT* going to do that again.) That had to happen a few times, but she's finally gotten the point and settled down. She gets along well with my dogs, and with the boarder we had last week, even with the ferrets. She was just trying to establish her place in the pack. A little too aggressively for my tastes, but it was all noise. There was never any threat to anyone. All bark, no bite.
I know there has been some discussion on the list about alpha rolls not being a good method. But they are fairly natural with her. Being so large, it's very easy to roll her over. It's not nearly as stressful as with some dogs. She also exhibits the 'roll-over' behavior frequently herself. Both submissively and just because it's a comfortable position for her. And, I roll her over often to put the gold bond powder on her underarms and bag balm on her back foot pads. I don't think I would do that with a dog who hated being on their back.
Reba's cystitis has cleared up, and she hasn't had a urine accident for a couple weeks. They have a doggy door now. Unfortunately, Reba only fits on the way in - barely. She can't go out without someone holding up the flap. (2 part flap - out is smaller than in)
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8/17/98 -
As of Thursday, Reba is down another 2 lbs to 61.5 lbs! We're very pleased with her rate of weight loss. 1 1/2 - 2 lbs a week is great. We really wouldn't want her to lose any more than that. I posted last week that she wasn't challenging George (husband) any more. Well, that isn't true, unfortunately. She did it about 2 more times when I wasn't around. But she is minding him much better. And, she isn't picking on Pepper as much, either. She is finally getting used to the r/d, so we don't have to mix in kibble and chicken broth any more. She's eating it plain, with mixed-in vitamins. One day last week she was looking longingly at everyone up on the bed. So, I encouraged her to get her front paws up (not easy for her, but she can do it), then I hoisted her rear up. (Our bed sits right on the floor, for the dogs and ferrets, so it's only about 2 ft high) She was thrilled! She raced across the bed and gave George kisses then ran around excitedly. We didn't want to risk her trying to jump down, so she didn't get to stay very long. But it really made her day. She was so excited to do a normal-dog thing, if even for a few minutes. I was amazed at how such a simple thing could bring her so much joy. What a delight. On Saturday, George and I went over to Susan's (Reba's breeder) to pick up some more r/d. We got to meet Shelly, Reba's Mom. What a delightful, wonderful little girl. She raced out, rolled on her back for tummy scritches, and showered us with happy kisses. Susan calls Shelly her "circus dog", and she obligingly showed us how she sits up for a cookie. It's very difficult to imagine that this spunky, petite, energetic little girl is Reba's mother. It makes us realize how much her quality of life has been compromised by her condition.
Susan tells us that Reba's tendency to challenge us is very surprising. She has not seen any behavior like that in any of Reba's family. We don't know what has caused Reba to behave that way, and most likely never will. But, there's a good chance it is due to her previous family, and isn't an inherent trait. It's not something that will keep her from being a good pet, but she's not the dog for a "soft" owner. She's going to need someone who won't let her get away with it. (She never follows through with the threat, she just puts on a good show.)
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8/21/98 -
This discussion of barking reminds me of a time about a month after we moved into our new house. About 5:30 one Saturday morning, Casey (PWC) and Pepper (PWC), both teenagers at the time, decided to start barking and frapping wildly through the house. After telling them to hush for about 15 minutes, we put them out back to play and promptly fell back asleep. We were absolutely mortified about 1/2 an hour later to have our new next door neighbor knock on our door - in his pajamas - and ask us to make our dogs stop barking. That afternoon Casey and Pepper got a trip to the pet store to be fitted for a nylon muzzle, which we very effectively used for bark training. It only took 2 or 3 times before just showing it to them made them be quiet, quickly followed by not needing it at all. They also got the message that they aren't allowed to just go out back and bark their heads off.
We apologized (profusely) to our neighbor, and are now friends. But, we are fully aware that there are many neighbors who wouldn't come over in their pajamas at 6:00 in the morning. They would just quietly get madder, and madder. Ultimately ending in a big conflict (complaining to the civic assoc.) or revenge (poisoning the dogs). We were stupid, and are very lucky that our neighbor wasn't. In our defense, we aren't usually so rude. It's just that it was 5:30 in the morning, and we weren't thinking straight.
Reba's weekly weigh in! She's down another 1 lb this week to 60.5 lbs. She fits through the dog door both coming in and going out now. What happened this week... Casey and she are starting to play together. George caught them in a game of keepaway. Casey had the stuffed shark and she was chasing him around the coffee table. Casey adores playing keepaway, so this is a really good step. :) Her relationship with George has continued to improve. Well, except that she discovered his box of spare computer parts. She decided that computer cables (ribbon cables, the flat kind that go inside the PC) are wonderful chew toys. We now have 2 mangled cables (why don't we ever learn the FIRST time?!?), and the box has been moved off the floor. We can't blame her. From her point of view, that box must look amazingly like a big version of the dog toy box in the other room. Last night she actually tried to jump up on the sofa! I had just gotten home, and Casey and Pepper were excitedly greeting me on the sofa. Reba was very excited, too, and wanted to be part of it. So she tried to jump up, making several respectable attempts. Her front paws on the sofa, bouncing her back end. She probably only bounced about 3-4 inches up, but it's a lot more than she's ever been able to do before. When she first got here, she would try to bounce, but her feet wouldn't even leave the floor. Actually, she couldn't even get her front paws up on the sofa! It was her FRONT paws she could barely bounce, the back end was out of the question. It's not something we encourage at this point, if she did get up, she could really hurt herself getting down. But it was impressive to see how much she's improved. Another big step towards being a normal dog - she's can now use her back legs to scratch herself. Seems like a small thing, but she wasn't able to do that before. She can't reach very far, but at least she is able to do it again. She still can't turn her head to itch at all with her mouth. She can't even lick her front feet. She tries so hard to reach her sides, but she just ends up spinning around on her behind. Now that we're not mixing any kibble into her food, we're upping the r/d to 1 1/2 cans a day. Lois Kay did some research, and discovered that is the recommended amount for a dog with her ideal weight. Again, if we make her lose weight too quickly, she could crash, which could potentially be fatal. It is vital to maintain a healthy level of nutrition. Hopefully we can get some pictures taken of her this weekend so everyone can have a better idea of what her progress is. Every week I get requests for reminders of where her web page is, so I'll post it this time. http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html.
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8/28/98 -
Reba has broken the 60 lb mark! As of last night, she weighs 58.5 lbs. That's 2 more lbs. Way to go, Reba! As I said last week, in order to ensure that she receives the nutrients that she needs, we have upped her daily intake to 1 1/2 cans of Hills r/d. Obviously that was a good move. :) I don't have much time to write today, but we did update the text on her web page last night. (no new pictures, sorry.) http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html.
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9/11/98 -
This is a 2 week update, as I was bad and didn't post last week's result. Last week, Reba weighed in at 57.5 lbs., down a pound. This week, she weighed in at 55.5, down another 2 lbs. The exciting news last week was that Reba now has enough of a neck to wear a collar again. We were excited that she could wear ID. (I'm fairly anal retentive about having tags on the pets.) However, after wearing the collar for a week and a half, one of her ears became inflamed again. I think the collar is still pressing against her ear when she lays down, cutting off the air circulation. So, last night I cleaned her ear up and removed the collar. :(
Her underarms had been looking better, but 2 weeks ago she got another bath, during which I tried to work the scabs out of the fur on her "underarms". That must have irritated them enough that they became inflamed again, and are being slower about settling down this time. I'm treating them twice a day with Gold Bond powder.
The area around her vulva continues to be inflamed as well. It's looking a bit better this week, but still not great. She'll sit down and scoot around in a circle, so I know it's bothering her. So, although her weight has gone down, her secondary problems are acting up again. Which is causing her some discomfort.
On the brighter side, she is such a joy any more. She continues to become more and more eager to please, taking pride in being obedient and pleasing us. I think Susan (her breeder, who also teaches obedience) will be pleased when we get her into obedience class. We haven't been working on a "formal" recall, but when we call her, she'll eagerly run right up to our legs and look up at us intently. The beginnings of a great recall. :) This is a vast improvement from the dog who, not that long ago, would challenge us and refuse to do anything.
Now, a question. I mentioned before that the pads of her feet are "furry", as in the pad itself has separated, making it furry. Well, this is probably over 1/4 of an inch deep in places. My question - is this dead tissue? Should I trim it? I have started treating them with Bag Balm. Admittedly, I haven't been good about it. So, it's only in the last week that I've started using it on a daily basis. It seems to hurt her when I work it into the heavily furry parts of the pad, which made me wonder if I should trim those parts down to make the treatment more effective.
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9/21/98 -
How humiliating. Reba *GAINED* half a pound last week. I think our company was sneaking cookies. I have a few soft-hearted relatives, I think. Oh, well. It happens sometime in the course of any diet. We just need to get her back on track now that everyone has gone home. Now for a very small brag. Casey got his CGC on Saturday at the Delaware County Kennel Club show. :) Not much of an accomplishment in itself, but this is the first step in becoming registered as a therapy team. So, we're happy that he passed. The terrible trio got into some mischief this weekend. I came home Friday to discover a box of couscous and a box of rice-a-roni strewn all over the house. Huge mess. So I picked up all the box pieces, and proceeded to vacuum up pasta, rice, and seasoning packet from the family room carpet. I won't mention any names, but I'm pretty sure that the culprit is a very chubby r/w pwc. However, Casey doesn't take a lot of encouragement if food is involved. (warning - this is kind of gross, in a bathroom way) Well, Saturday morning, Casey decided to go out to the "backyard buffet" and eat poopies and rotten tomatoes. George and I woke to about 6 piles of couscous-rice-a-roni-tomato-poop vomit piles all over the family room carpet. (There's only one thing worse than cleaning up vomit - that's cleaning up poopy-vomit :P) We thought we were going to have to abandon our trip to the show for Casey's test, but since we knew he wasn't "sick", we went ahead and got ready just in case he felt better after getting it out of his system. Fortunately, his ears were back up and he was back to his old self by time to go, so we headed out.
Casey and Pepper were great at the show. Casey was perhaps a bit tired from his morning ordeal, but definitely all better. They had a great time. When we got home, we discovered that Reba's tummy didn't like the couscous and rice-a-roni, either. George got to clean up a few more piles. :P
Later in the afternoon, we ended up taking a nap for several hours. Well, Reba exploded all over the family room again! And, Pepper apparently decided that since it smelled so bad in there, she may as well poop in the middle of the floor, even though the doggy door was open. And Reba pooped and peed on the carpet, in addition to her other contributions. I think there may have been some diarrhea on Reba's part this time, George stopped giving me the gory details by this time of day.
Pepper, our shy girl, remained OK. Since she's shy, she probably stayed out of the couscous/rice-a-roni shredding, thus didn't get to eat so much. George deserves sainthood for all this. He spent the better part of Saturday cleaning up really gross things on the family room carpet. (Vomit makes me gag - in a huge way. He's very noble about volunteering for the gross stuff.) Our family room carpet is pretty much unsalvageable now. :P
But, fortunately, nobody is the worse for wear. And, Reba's pen is set up again (we had taken it down while our visitors were here since it's in the guest room), so hopefully we won't have a repeat. Poor kids. In case anyone thinks I'm terrible for dragging a sick dog to a show. We knew, beyond any doubt, that it was what he ate that was making him sick. Whenever they do that, they bounce back quickly as soon as it is out of their systems. If he had continued to act sick, I would *NOT* have taken him anywhere. As for leaving a sick dog at home, well, at that point we thought it was the tomatoes that made Casey sick, not the rice/pasta. We didn't know Reba was sick, too. That was our weekend.
- Nancy, who has the most wonderful husband in the whole wide world. :),
and the terrible PWC trio, Casey (I'm a good boy, and I've got a certificate to prove it!) Pepper (Mom, can I have some rice-a-roni, I didn't get any on Friday?) Reba (It smells gross in there. I'll just stay outside.)
Or, maybe that should be Casey, Reba, and Pepper -- the C.R.a.P. Trio -- after this weekend.
-
9/29/98
Uh-oh. Reba held steady again last week at 56 lbs. If you recall, the week prior she GAINED half a pound. This is what everyone who has ever dieted recalls, with horror, is called a PLATEAU! *melodramatic scream* A point in your diet where although nothing has changed, your body decides it's perfectly happy where it is. Well, we've done two things this week to give it a jump start. First off, we've dropped her r/d down to 1 can per day. Secondly, and more important, we've started the official exercise program. She has enough of a neck, and the temperature has cooled enough, that walks are possible now, and we have gone every day starting last Thursday.
We started out at 2 blocks. Which I know means nothing without knowing how big the blocks are, but I'm terrible at judging distances. It takes us about 1/2 an hour at a normal walking pace, with a few short stops. Somewhere within the 1st 6 houses or so, Pepper always decides she has to poop, which is rest stop #1 while I pull out the zip-locks and clean it up. Casey usually will jump in here if he has to poop, but sometimes he'll wait until a little later. The second stop is about 2/3 the way into the walk when Reba says she's about to have a heart attack, and needs a rest. I've been trying to stop at the same corner every day so that she knows where we stop, and will push herself to get there, knowing a rest is coming soon. She's pretty tired by now, so by about 3/4 of the way needs another rest. Fortunately, there's a playground there, so I can sit down for a few minutes, too. The last 1/4 of the way she usually needs a fair bit of encouragement. But has only needed a break twice, once on the first walk, the second when it was about 90 deg. out. This week it should be in the 70s, lovely walking weather. :)
On our first walk, Reba got so tired at about the 1/2 way point that she started rolling over on her back every time I even remotely paused. I walk back and roll her back over on her feet to get her going again. We probably stopped about every 5 or 6 houses on that walk after the 1/2 way point. We've now gone on 5 walks, and she's already down to just the 2 official stops and 1 "pit stop". She loves going for walks, not to mention that Casey and Pepper are thrilled at the prospect. Fortunately she's very good on leash. Aside from the rolling over thing, at least. ;) And she doesn't do that very much any more.
I'm going to have to lose weight to keep up with her! I'm in big trouble when she stops needing her rest breaks. ;) Reba's "underarms" are doing much better. And her ear has improved significantly. I need to take the time to wash off her privates and trim the fur off them. She has a lot of problem with "klingons" (I love that term, btw! Many thanks to whoever came up with it.), and the area around her vulva has started to get very stained with urine, making her have a strong urine smell. That can't be very good for her skin. She hasn't chewed on anything significant in a while, hopefully she's learned that it isn't appropriate behavior. (Please, please, please) And, for those wondering, everyone recovered nicely from the couscous/rice-a-roni mass explosion on the 19th.
For those new to the Corgi-L, you can view Reba's story at http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html.
For those not new to the Corgi-L. No, we still haven't gotten the
new pictures onto the web page. :( *duck* *run*
-
10/2/98 -
Yay! Reba is back on track. She lost 2 lbs this week, down to 54 lbs. :) She loves her walkies. We went 6 out of 7 days last week. And, I must admit that I feel better for it too. However, she learned a new skill this week. During one of our walks, she stopped to go poopies, and (stupid human that I am) I didn't notice and kept walking. Her collar popped right off. Well, she just thought that was an incredibly cool thing and was much pleased with herself. She has since practiced the skill, to the point where she managed to pop it off about 5 times in a 2 block period. Leading me to develop a new skill. I now never let her get more than a 1/2 leash length away from me, that way when I give a tug the force is directed upwards instead of forwards.
For those interested, she's wearing a chain choke collar. Which fits her well. But, her neck has enough fat on it still that it's about the same size as her head. She hasn't dumped a trashcan and shredded the contents, or chewed on anything significant in a week or so! Something must have clicked in that head of hers. We're not complaining. ;)
For those new to the list, Reba is our PWC foster who was returned to her breeder weighing 70 lbs. Her web page is http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html. Now, to continue the thread on stupid owners... (no Corgi content)
I'm currently in a similarly frustrating situation at work. There's a
lady in another department. When I heard she was interested in getting a
dog, I let her borrow my "pick-a-breed" books, printed out faqs,
offered to help find a breeder or rescue, and talked with her at length.
The next day, "I couldn't wait. I bought a puppy at the pet store.
Let me tell you how cute she is. blahblahblah." <cringe> Well,
earlier this week she pulled me in again. "
-
10/2/98 -
Yesterday George completely re-vamped the Reba pages, including the new pictures! Yay! Give them a look. http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html. If you like what you see, drop him a line. He spent a lot of time working on them, and they look great! geos@corgidogs.com. Send any comments/questions about Reba herself to me. Sorry about the quality of the new pictures. That one is my fault. I took over 2 rolls worth of pictures, and those are the best of them. The lighting was just all wrong, but I really wanted to get them taken that weekend. They were taken in my back yard, late Sunday afternoon while my sister was visiting with her puppy.
Enjoy!
-
10/9/98 -
Reba lost 1 lb this week, down to 53 lbs. She hasn't tried to pop her collar off on our walks any more. For the most part, I just don't give her to opportunity to do so, but I also think she was just pleased with her new skill before. Now she's learned that it's not huge amounts of fun to be fussed at and have a collar shoved back over her head, so she doesn't do it. We're starting Casey and Pepper on a fresh diet. The first night, Reba decided that her food wasn't nearly as interesting. So, she ran right over and grabbed a chicken wing before we could react. She quickly ended up on her back being held by George with me straddling her with my hand down her throat. I'm happy (surprised!) to say that I did recover the chicken wing. :) (Before anyone says anything, I do know about chicken bones. These are raw wings, so the bones aren't brittle and dangerous.)
We weren't quite so lucky 2 nights ago, Pepper was slowly pickpickpicking at her chicken wing, and I got tired of standing guard. So, I grabbed the chicken wing, dropped it on the back porch, and was carefully body-blocking the sliding glass door trying to get ONLY Pepper out. Reba shoved behind my legs, and snarfed up the wing. AAAaargh! No! DROP IT! REBA! DROP IT! We play ring-around-the-grill a few times, then she swallows it as I make a dive for her. George hears the commotion and comes running from the other end of the house. I think I was on top of her with her mouth pried open at that point. (What the neighbors must think...) Obviously the lesson to stay away from Casey and Pepper's food didn't translate to the back porch.
We've compensated for the wing over 3 meals. Instead of 1/2 a can, she's getting 1/3 a can for 3 meals. This essentially works out the same as skipping a meal. And, Reba doesn't go anywhere NEAR Casey and Pepper's food now. ;)
For those interested in meeting Reba, we're going to try and make several
events this month - the PWCCP meeting at the herding trial in
-
Casey (I eat my food fast, there's no way she's touching it!)
Pepper (Mom didn't have another wing defrosted, I had to eat veggies instead.)
Reba (Someone save me! They're trying to starve me to death!)
-
10/26/98 -
It looks like the ferret food didn't hurt Reba's diet too much. As of
last Thursday, she's down another 1 or 1 1/2 lbs. to 51.5 or 51 lbs.
(sorry, I forget which, and we managed to write it both ways on the web page.
:P ) We went to an agility competition on Sunday in
Anyway, during about the 3rd team's run, there was one very vocal Border Collie running. Reba started woofing at him from under the bleachers, then decided it looked like fun and raced out from her shady spot, under the rope, and onto the agility course! She had been being so mellow laying in the shade I wasn't holding her leash firmly, and it slipped right out of my hands. So here goes one fat Corgi racing out onto the agility course from the crowd. I nearly died! Now, for the good part. Amazingly, when I yelled "Reba, NO!", she actually stopped, turned around with this "Aw, geez, I never get to have any fun" look, and wandered right back to us. I had images of me on TV chasing her around the agility course, screwing up the competition, and being thrown out by security. But, she only got about 30 feet, the dog never saw her, and security decided they had better things to do. And, the crowd loved it, all the people in our immediate area having heard the 10 second story of her life, and therefore had become devoted Reba fans. ;)
Casey and Pepper had a great time, too. This was also a horse event,
so there were lots of horsy types about. So between lots of horse folks,
and lots of agility folks, there were many adoring Corgi fans. And to see
a group of 3 Corgis, 2 of which were on a coupler (which is simply adorable to
a lot of people - I don't know why), was just too much for them. They
just *had* to come over with adoring ooohs and aaaaahs aplenty. ;) Pepper
had a major breakthrough. She allowed a few complete strangers to pat her
on the head!!! This is a HUGE step for our shy girl. We were
thrilled. :) We've had her on
-
10/27/98 -
I spoke with Susan Strickland, Reba's Breeder, today. She's starting to line up a new home for Reba. We figure she'll be adoptable at about 40 lbs, if her new owners are committed to getting her down to an ideal weight. That's probably going to be about 2 months from now. If you are interested in giving this wonderful girl a home, contact Susan Strickland, sstrickland@del.net. (e-mail me personally for a phone number) I would be more than happy to answer any questions about Reba's personality. However, the decision of who to place her with is Susan's alone. Personally, this is ripping my heart out. So, I would love it if someone from Corgi-L took her, so that I could continue to hear how she's doing. I'm really, really, really going to miss her. Reba's web page: http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html
-
11/3/98 -
As of last Thursday, Reba has broken the 50 lb mark! She weighed exactly 50 lbs. However, we forgot to weigh her until after dinner, so she's probably closer to 49.5. Woohoo! Way to go, Reba-riffic! Yes, that does mean more pictures coming soon. :) I was going to take a roll on Sunday, but I ended up coming down with a bad cold and slept all day. :P So, it looks like you will have to wait until we take them this weekend. Then, of course, there's getting them developed, letting them age a while, then getting them scanned in and on the web page. I PROMISE that I'll post here as soon as they are uploaded. So no need to keep checking. For those new to the list, Reba's page is: http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html
After running around all day at the I-95 party, she's probably down another
3 lbs. ;) We had a great time! Thanks Linda!!! Reba spent the day
going from person to person, being absolutely delightful, and just eating up
all the wonderful comments and praise. Casey latched on to two adorable
Sable males, Benjamin and Bear(?), and they played for most of the day.
Well, except when Casey tried to hump them. How embarrassing - he's
usually Mr. Submissive, I don't know what came over him. And, Pepper, our shy
girl, pretty much hid behind our legs as much as possible. Actually,
Pepper did surprisingly well for her. We've been trying
-
Casey (Can we go back to Linda's house, now? Pleasepleasepleaseplease! I miss all my new friends. Especially Benjamin and Bear!)
Pepper (Can we please never go back to Linda's house? That was scary.)
Reba (I wanna' go back and see all my adoring fans again. They were really nice people.)
11/9/98 -
On Thursday, Reba weighed in at 48.5 lbs. 1 1/2 lbs. from the previous week. Reba had a MAJOR breakthrough last night. She jumped up on the sofa ALL BY HERSELF!!! Ok, climbed might be a more appropriate word, but still, she made it all by herself! George and I were amazed. She's been half-heartedly trying for a while, and I've been encouraging it, figuring that the hopping was good leg exercise. She hadn't even come close before. But last night, she flung her upper body up, got a foothold with her back paws, and voila, one very proud, excited Corgi on the sofa! A few minutes later she got down and did it again. I think she amazed herself just as much as she amazed us. :) She was so excited and proud of herself. Later that evening, we left the room for a minute. When we came back my cup was on the floor. I can't remember if I had left anything in it or not. So, she either knocked the cup on the floor, or drank what was in it, then knocked the cup on the floor. So, we are now happily entering the realm of "sofa manners". We might not be so happy about it when she snitches our dinner one night. Hopefully us stupid humans will remember not to give her that opportunity.
Wow. It's times like that when we really realize how terrible her world was. Jumping up on the sofa is such a "normal dog thing" that you don't even really think about it. And here we were on the verge of happy tears over her accomplishment. We are going to be careful not to let her hop up and down very much. I'm sure her joints just aren't meant to withstand that at her current weight. She's still a big girl with a whole dog's worth of weight to lose. Casey and Pepper are less than thrilled at her accomplishment.
-
Casey (
Pepper (Daddy-god! Tell her she's not allowed up here!)
Reba (Woohoo! Look at me! Look'it Reee-ba, on the sooo-fa.)
12/23/98 -
As of last Thursday, Reba is a 41.5 lb bundle of energy. Her new favorite pastime is to entice Casey into a game of keepaway, where they race around the backyard at top speed until one or both falls over exhausted. She can't quite keep up with Casey, but she does a respectable job of trying. Yesterday she got the best of him. He came in limping on 3 legs. The soonest the vet could see us was 5 hours (Grrrr!) later, but by then he was able to walk on it so we cancelled the appointment. It was pretty scary for a few hours, though. He's fine today. Racing around like crazy, and very confused about why we aren't letting him hop up and down from the bed. Reba is also is very accomplished at talking George and I into throwing her toys over, and over, and over, and over until she falls over exhausted. She makes the whole exercise thing easy on us. She simply takes care of it herself. :)
As soon as we can get over to Susan's house to pick up a bag of kibble we are going to start the process of getting her used to kibble again. We want to do that slowly. Susan tells us that she has a friend who reduced a Corgi, only to have her die of bloat when she was re-introduced to kibble. :( We certainly don't want that to happen to our girl, so we plan on taking it slowly.
Once we get her safely converted back to kibble, and determine the correct
quantity for her to continue losing weight, she's going to need a new
home! Probably around mid-February. We still don't have a home for
her. If you are interested in taking this delightful, energetic 2-3 year
old girl into your family, please drop me a line and I'll give you Susan's
contact information. Reba is currently located in
For those new to the list, Reba's story and pictures can be seen at http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html
For those following her story, we're sorry to say we still don't have
her 50 lb pictures online. Hopefully soon.
Reba got in BIG trouble this past week. I called George one night and told him I would be late because I was doing "super secret stuff". Then I stopped at the local electronics store to pick up his Christmas present. When I got home George went into the computer room like a good hubby, and I unloaded the car. Well, Miss Reba, seeing my hands were full, raced out the front door and right out to the car for a ride, unfortunately it was sitting in the street!!! Aaaaeeee! So I yell to get her to come back, put the present down, and race out after her - figuring her life is much more important than a Christmas surprise. Well, George hears me "shrieking" (I keep telling him that women don't like to be described as "shrieking", but he holds to his story), and chivalrously races to my aid - of course easily seeing his present sitting there in the hall. *sigh* I'm ashamed to say that Reba was glared at and called "Evil dog!" on sight for the rest of the evening. (For the record, we live in the middle of a neighborhood on a quiet street. Not a lot of traffic, but we know it only takes one car.)
Up until then she's been very good about staying in the yard when she goes out front. But she ran into the street again this weekend. She slipped out when George had his hands full taking out the garbage and simultaneously trying to keep the ferrets from running out. She raced out, grabbed a moldy bagel that we had thrown out for the birds, and raced away with it. George chased after her for several minutes, herding her back into the yard, then chasing her around in circles. Picture a man in a robe and slippers chasing a 40 lb PWC with a moldy bagel around the front yard - in retrospect, they were quite a sight. ;) Now picture a woman running out in her robe and slippers. I used my "evil voice" which made her at least stop running so that we could approach her (I have a pretty impressive evil voice), pry the disgusting bagel out of her mouth, and drag her back inside. *sigh*
Obviously some front yard etiquette lessons are in order. This is more than a little bit alarming. I have no idea why she's become "evil dog" in the front yard all of a sudden. She's gotten to be a very obedient girl. Even if she doesn't come, she'll usually at least stop where she is. Maybe she's finally figured out that my evil voice is just a bluff. Boy, how's that for a sales pitch? Have I talked everyone out of giving her a home now? Really, she is a delightful girl. She's just strong-willed. She'll make an incredible dog for someone who doesn't let her get away with it when she pushes her limits. She has a great temperament. I think she would be great at formal activities, such as agility. She loves pleasing us, and is very pleased with herself when she learns a new trick. And she has boundless energy and drive. She would make a great pal to a young dog who needs an exercise buddy!
Merry Christmas!
-
Casey, PWC (Mom, what's in that bag up there on the shelf? It smells like... TOYS!)
Pepper, PWC (And CHEWIES!)
Reba, foster PWC (What's "coal"? Does it taste good? Better than a moldy bagel?)
1/4/99 -
Reba welcomed the new year with a weigh-in of 39 lbs on 1/1/99!! That is a total of 31 lbs. 4 lbs away from losing 1/2 her body weight. She's lost 1.4 of the 2 dogs worth of weight she had to lose. Wow. I need someone to prepare *MY* meals who is as cruel as George and I are. ;) Yes, I took a set of 40 lb pictures. 6 rolls, in fact. I'll be picking them up tonight. So now everyone can start sending weekly reminders to get both the 50lb and 40lb pictures online. Please, keep pestering me! I don't mind. I need the reminders.
Why 6 rolls of pictures, you ask? Well, the little spitfire is so active now that I want to capture some of these great shots of her playing "keepaway" with Casey. Getting action shots is incredibly difficult. Especially when trying to get 2 dogs together in the frame who are racing around the raised garden beds at top speed. And, you don't want "butt shots". So I have to take something like 15.2 pictures to get one decent shot. Add Christmas, some new filters and a new flash, and two lovely snowy days into the mix, and you end up with LOTS of pictures. ;)
Oh, I also hosed my camera lens (autofocus SLR) and had to
"borrow" one from the camera store (10 day return policy), so I had
to make sure I got all the pictures taken I needed before returning it. (I
know, I know... Bad
We had a wonderful Christmas. Reba has already chewed the legs off of all 3 of the toys I got for the sole purpose of being more durable than plushies. (Nylon toys with a plush fabric "tail") We had "cow guts" (polyester stuffing from the Booda cow) all over my in-laws house within 24 hours after they got that one. And, the ape didn't make it much longer. The chick and the bear are still awaiting their doom. Reba got called "Evil Dog" a few more times as George was opening his big present from me which Reba ruined the surprise of. Of course, it's her new nick-name now. But only when she's being particularly evil -- which is surprisingly often. :)
Want to know what I had to resort to in order to get George a surprise gift for Christmas? Trivial Pursuit! I buy him a big expensive electronic gift, and what's the surprise? Trivial Pursuit! George didn't even WANT Trivial Pursuit. I just needed to buy him something that would be a surprise. Arrrrghh. Evil Dog! *chuckle* I threatened George when he opened it, "I don't care if you DO guess it! You had better, for the sake of our marriage, PRETEND that it's a surprise!!!" I had to brave Toys R Us, on the night before Christmas Eve -- in the SNOW -- to get that *#(*&$# game... Evil Dog! OK, OK, so we had an absolutely fabulous time playing Trivial Pursuit with my family on New Year's Eve waiting for the ball to drop. But still... Evil Dog! ;) (For the record, lest anyone take me seriously, Reba is still as spoiled as ever. We really don't hate her.) Happy New Year! Anyone want to play Trivial Pursuit???
-
Reba (What?!?!?!)
Casey and Pepper, PWCs (Wow, Daddy sure was surprised at that rattely box. It must have been something good to eat.)
P.S. For those new to the list, Reba's page is http://www.corgidogs.com/reba.html - no recent updates, for those who have been following her story, though.
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