Katy Could Use Some Paw Prayers

What started out as problems getting up off the floor, which we got help from a dog PT for eventually morphed into Cushing Disease. The medication for Cushing actually helped with her balance and overall strength but we've had additional complications and her kidney's are starting to shut down resulting in pancretitis. If she goes there there is no coming back. She is getting morning IV treatments at the vet and her Dog Dad is hand feeding her baby food but we could use some help with prayers from the Paw that she can react to the treatments and get eating again or we could be looking at a very sad scenario.

I had wanted to write about this journey earlier but there is so much going on with caring for Katy and lots of non-Katy stuff that is great but time consuming that I avoided doing something that was going to be hard. It is hard to write about Katy not being strong, stubborn, and feisty.

I also wanted to record this for anyone else struggling with helping an aging dog with balance and stability issues because I didn't know what to do or where to start. First if you have the option consulting with a dog PT was worth it. The exercises and information on what we could do to help and what wasn't helpful was worth the consultation. We didn't end up going back for further visits because we started the Cushing treatments and then had food issues but I do plan on using the exercises to increase Annie's strength and flexibility as you don't have to wait until they lose strength to build it.

The harness Katy is wearing is the Help 'em Up Harness. I write this in case we do need to find another one down the road.

Reviews can be great or they can confuse you more if you don't know why someone purchased a product, what they were dealing with at the time. Katy has strength in her front legs and once stabilized can stand on her back legs. However, her back legs are weak, especially if she's been laying down. I had trouble helping her up off the floor and what became really scary at times were the stairs as without restraint she would fly down or barrel roll on the stairs even with the ramp a neighbor kindly loaned us to make going down the back stairs doable. The harness gives you the human a means of picking up and stabilizing the dog without hurting either you or the dog. We chose this one based on the suggestion of her PT and if needed I'd purchase another one because it has made a huge difference in being able to give her confidence in moving around.

The critisms I've read generally refer to dogs who no longer have the ability to stand once brought to their feet with the help of the harness. The dog is a dead weight in the harness if they can't support any of their weight on their legs. I've never reached this stage with a dog but the few people I know who have generally have had to move to more stabilizing equipment to allow the dog mobility as the harness isn't the right tool.

I meant to write all of this down in other posts earlier for my own records and to share with you. It has just been too hard to face. If I didn't write it maybe I could ignore it. However, having reread my Bailey posts I want to make my future posts balanced not as health updates but records of what an amazing dog she is today. Tomorrow I hope to get to talking about what an great night Annie and Katy had hanging outside for Halloween.

Service Dog Etiquette

While not wordless, I waited until Wednesday to post this in the hope of engaging Blogville in an effort to get the word out about behavior around service dogs. For years, we've discussed how to educate the public about approaching strange dogs, to make our own dogs safer. However, recently the topic of service dogs and strangers has become more personal as my niece has been struggling with the issue since getting her service dog, Darcy, pictured here. She was a rescue, who she had trained to be her service dog. While more people are getting service dogs, the public is still relatively unaware of how to behave around a working dog. This has made her life challenging, as people don't seem to understand the basic etiquette for service dogs. I hope we in Blogville can work towards changing that.

I believe we have made a difference in educating people about how to interact safely with our pet dogs. I think we can turn that towards educating the public about safely interacting with an ever growing number of service dogs. The range of jobs service dogs perform is growing. While the public seems to recognize the physical services dogs can perform, dogs are also being trained in medical detection and assistance, as well as in mental health capacities. When these dogs are in public, they are working dogs. It is important that people understand the different roles played by pet and service dog.

There is an important distinction between working professional and pet dog. Sadly not just children, but adults need to be reminded that service dogs are providing valuable assistance and distracting them from the work they do is irresponsible. While the dogs are trained to ignore distractions, the effort involved with ignoring those distractions is effort not being put towards the tasks assigned to the dog. The damage caused can range from minor annoyances to major issues. The ultimate goal is for service dogs to be no more of an interest to the public than a wheel chair or a cane. The fact that the dog is alive and cuter than most medical devises shouldn't mean people can't control themselves and act responsibly.

Think of the dog as a dentist working with a drill. Would you want someone walking into the dentist's office as he/she is drilling your teeth distracting him/her while the drill is doing critical work? That is the image to keep in mind when you see a dog working. You don't know what the dog's tasks are and how failure to achieve those tasks could impact the person.

Humans are curious by nature. However, it is important to remember is that it isn't our job to know what the diagnosis is that the dog is trained to manage unless the person wants us to know. You may see a stranger in a wheel chair, walking with a cane or walker, but how many of you feel you have a right to ask why he/she needs that medical device? How did he/she get one? How much did it cost? How long did he/she have to wait to get one? While dogs are not inanimate objects, they are medically prescribed and you have no more rights to ask a stranger why they have a service dog than why they have a medical device. As I said humans are curious, it doesn't mean we need to be rude. Some people are more than happy to discuss the dog with you. However, what if anything they wish to discuss is up to the individual.

As you may have noticed, I told you my niece has a service dog, but not why. That is her story to tell. When and who she chooses to share that with is her business. She was kind enough to share her pictures with me for this story. While she was willing to share more of her story, I chose not to for this article. It is enough to know she has a medical prescription for a service dog. Beyond that, there is no need to know, unless she chooses to share it with people. At some point, I may write another blog about Darcy and do that.

I think it is also important to know a person isn't necessarily being mean or rude if he/she chooses not to interact with you while out with the service dog. Some people are very enthusiastic and willing to talk about their experiences with the service dog. Others have a dog because it is the only way that person leaves the house and gets to his/her daily tasks. Like anything else people fall on a spectrum. Not everyone feels education and advocacy is one of his/her daily goals. Just because you see a dog, it doesn't mean it is the duty of that person to educate you or your child on the duties of the dog or give a show of what the dog can do. A working dog is not an entertainer; it is present to care for the person assigned to it. Don't take it personally. If you want to learn more about service animals there are plenty of ways to educate yourself and your children, random strangers are generally not the best option.

One thing not required by all states, but I do think helps the public is when services dogs are identified as such. If you notice in these pictures, Darcy is vested. Depending on the situation, the vest allows her to wear different patches to help the public be more aware of her job. While I can understand those with service animals may feel this is restrictive, it is a non-verbal message that identifies the dog as a working dog. While this won't work on all, as education becomes more wide spread about the work of service animals, being able to identify one should make it easier for those with working dogs to be left alone. It also makes for fewer questions when animals are entering areas where only service dogs are allowed, pets are not. It is a small price to pay to help create more awareness and tolerance for service dogs.

I know I'm preaching to the choir in Blogville, however, it is our mission to go beyond our borders to get the word out to others about this issue. The number of service dogs is increasing and the lack of knowledge about how to interact with them in public is creating challenges for those who need the animals to be focused on work and not be distracted by the uniformed and the curious. I don't think the vast majority of people mean to do harm, they just don't understand the harm they do. That is where we can make a difference through education and advocacy.

Prayer and Good Wishes Request for Bailey

Dear Blogville friends, we are asking all of you for your prayers and best thoughts. Bailey has had some challenges the past few weeks. While he's always been a finicky summer eater, not eating at all is not his way. At his vet's suggestion we've changed food and tried a variety of things, but his weight had dropped dramatically. This past week we took him in over several days for a variety of tests. At first we the were afraid a tumor was the only answer based on the things discussed. However, as tests have continued, we have hope that it might have a more treatable option as the tests have shown no cancer or tumors to this point.

The tough part is with the Labor Day holiday we will have no answers until Wednesday as they took lots of samples to test during an endoscopy on Thursday. We are feeling more hopeful as he has started eating since we started treating for IBS and he is eating rice and beef. Both vets we consulted decided regardless of diagnosis getting him to eat was a priority and if it is IBS getting him on the treatment and diet can only help. He even has gained back a little weight.

Katy has been really stressed out as Bailey has often been gone for a day at a time for his tests. While normally a healthy Sheltie barker, when Bailey has been gone she's stopped barking at all and is highly stressed until he's back home safe.

Thanks Blogville

We encountered Blogville shortly after we started blogging and no matter how many breaks we've had to take because of life happening people always reach out and make sure we come back. Lassister and Chase every year make sure we hear about the deadline for the card exchange because they know how much we love it. No matter how hard Mom tries, the fall is always crazy and our Blogging time falls off. Yet, they never forget to post something to remind us we need to sign up or we'll miss out on something that always brings us so much holiday cheer.

Let's not forget those holiday cards. There is something so amazing about opening the mailbox and finding bright, cheerful holiday greetings from our blogging friends every year. We fill two card wreaths each year with warm holiday greetings from our friends.

We don't participate in all the amazing Blogville events, but we have enjoyed the Olympics and many other great events hosted here. Even when we aren't participating, we have loved reading and looking at the pictures others have posted. We have been fortunate to win several contests and to get to try out some fun new products that others have offered as prizes.

On this national day of Thanksgiving, we do want to say thank you to all who make this community such a warm and welcoming community. We are not always able to participate as much as we would like, but we are always better for the time we spend here. For that, we thank all of you for your generosity of spirit and kindness. We look forward to another year here in Blogville.

We are Blogville

Mom and Dad traveled to a wedding this weekend and Mom mistakenly thought she didn't need to prepost before she left. Bad mistake we've been off all week and are only just starting to get caught up with all the adventures of our friends. So here goes our late entry.


We are participating in Stanley & Murphy's We are Blogville census. Our journey to Blogville, started at New England Sheltie Rescue in CT, where Mom and Dad founds us and brought us home to Massachusetts. Bailey arrived as a puppy and is now 11. Katy came here at 3 and recently turned 6. We got Mom started on our Blog in 2011. We have enjoyed meeting new people and participating in various activities in Blogville.