4th of July - Part II

This year to get away from all the noise that accompanies the 4th of July festivities, we decided to get ourselves to a fireworks free zone and did a BBQ picnic up in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. It was so nice because we didn't hear one piccolo pete go off, and all we heard were some great tunes on the iPOD.

It ended up being 8 dogs, 10+ adults and a bunch of BBQ "neighbors" who came to hang out with our group. Winnie ended up with a small fan base of children too!




Of course, as we were heading home we did hear a few fireworks going off, but we went for a drive until later at night. Once we got home - the music was turned on in the house, the air conditioner was turned on ("white noise") and we fell asleep to Nirvana's "Come as You are"... Last year we tried to "fight it" by desensitization-fireworks CDs. It didn't work out well for us, so this year, we ran away from it. All in all, it was a success! Winnie had the shakes for about 10 minutes, but didn't pant at all.

Uh oh... That Time of Year Again

We're bracing ourselves for the firecrackers, the piccolo pete's and loud booms. Yup, the Fourth of July is upon us, and there's no hiding it from Winnie. I'm not sure if the neighborhood is "practicing" - but a few nights ago, there were some sounds that set Winnie off into a frenzy of shivers and heavy panting.

Even with the fireworks CD on every day to desensitize and armed with herbal relaxation drops, the Fourth of July was extremely stressful for the poor pooch.

This year, we're going to try and see if hiding out in a firecracker proof community will be more relaxing. The Palos Verdes peninsula has always been a safe-haven for those canines that didn't enjoy the pyrotechnics. This year, we'll be firing up a BBQ, relaxing on lawnchairs and roasting smores with our canines.

Dodgers Dogs

The spcaLA is hosting a Night with the LA Dodgers! You can buy tickets to watch the Chicago Cubs take on the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, August 20th at 7:10 p.m. at Dodger Stadium. Ticket sales help spcaLA care for the homeless and abused animals of Southern California.

To order your DISCOUNT tickets click on the "Dodgers Dogs" link above to be taken to the spcala site or call 323-730-5300 ext. 232. Tickets are limited, so hurry before they’re all gone! Also there will be a pre-game auction starting August 10th on eBay featuring Dodgers memorabilia. Also note that Right Pavilion tickets include all you can eat Dodger Dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, Coca Cola products and water. Plus, you can purchase beer, ice cream, and candy!

Sadly, pooches should probably be left at home for the game.

Urinary Tract Infection in Dogs

Last week, I decided to take Winnie in for what I suspected might be a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) or struvite crystals. Winnie had been holding her urine for only when we go for walks, and when we do go for walks, she'll try to pee/mark everywhere. More recently, she had been stopping on our walks and refusing to continue, or would look up at me while she'd pee. Just for my piece of mind, I decided to get her looked over by the vet.

Our vet decided not to do anything invasive to test her urine - he wanted me to get a sample the old fashioned way - by using a syringe and trying to "suck up" a sample before it soaked into the ground. This was no easy task - I took her outside of the vet's office and asked her to pee in a dirt area. Luckily, she squatted and did her thing. I moved in really quickly and successfully got a very small sample, mixed in with dirt and tiny rocks. I wasn't sure if it would be enough, but our vet took a look and ran a quick test. Sure enough, she had a severe UTI. I felt terrible that she had been suffering with this for awhile!

Luckily, she's going on her 2nd week of antibiotics and she seems to be feeling much better. She no longer looks up at me while peeing, she hasn't stopped on our walks, she doesn't mark as much and oddly - she hasn't been eating cat poop on our walks anymore. (Strange coincidence? Maybe... but so far, so good!)

We love our vet - and are so thankful that he's able to see us quickly, tries to find the least invasive way to work on Winnie and is so knowledgeable about all animals. I also decided it might be best to have a few "emergency" vets saved on my phone - just . in. case. Utilizing the link below, I was able to find a few emergency vets in our area. Click the link below to run a search near you:

The Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society -

Celebrity Shiba-- Ikkyu

Just learned that Ichiro (Ichiro Suzuki) has a Shiba! Meet Ikkyu - he's adorable!

Know Your Groomer

Came a cross a great article on groomers and what to look for!

Know Your Groomer

Rattlesnake Avoidance Training

I enjoy taking Winnie on hikes in the Angeles National Forest from time to time, and we normally stick with the cooler months (late October to April) for most of our hikes, due to Winnie's collapsing trachea. And, it's just not so much fun when it's too warm out there. Hiking in Southern California is actually very fun; there's a lot of great terrain and it's amazing that not too far from the city (about an hour away), you can really find yourself relaxing in the mountains - off-leash & far away from cars and civilization.

We've run into critters like squirrels, chipmunks, an occasional deer. And, just a few weeks ago (our usual hiking group without me and Winnie) came across a rattlesnake. In fact, they got a little off of the trail, and our friend who was in the front of the group nearly stepped on a rattlesnake. Luckily, Winnie was not there - as we opted not to go that day. However, there's no doubt that if we were there, Winnie would have been bit.

Just a week ago, I was notified about an upcoming Rattlesnake Avoidance Clinic, so we signed up and went this morning. I was a bit apprehensive since they were going to use shock collars and Winnie is so head shy about collars anyway. It took some work, since she managed to get loose. And, after a quick chase around the park, we finally had her setup in her harness and a shock collar on the lowest setting.

The trainers go in a dog park with her (without me). Inside the dog park are two small cages with rattlesnakes in them. On a leash, they take her close enough to sniff the snake at first but when she goes in too close - they gave her her first zap! Meanwhile, the snakes rattles are going full speed. (See picture below, it was taken right before the first zap.)


She didn't like that first zap... There was a lot of Shiba screaming and drama going on after this.


She was happy to walk away from the snakes!


The lesson was only about 15 minutes, but she was not having any fun whatsoever. Here's a shot of Winnie letting them know that she wants OUT of this exercise! It sure didn't take her long to learn that the snake is not something to be near.


At the end they took her to one end of the dog park, and let me enter. Then they take her off leash and have me call her. She didn't want to come to me at first, because she knew there were snakes there. But, she decided to walk the perimeter, and came over to me by walking as far away from the snakes as possible. She passed with flying colors.

The trainers recommended coming back to rattlesnake avoidance training again next year - just to be sure that the training has taken "effect". They said that with most dogs, two to three repeat lessons are the most effective. However, they have seen cases where some dogs come back year after year not retaining anything. I doubt Winnie falls in that category. It only took her 3 zaps to learn that snakes are not cool to be around.

For some background on rattlesnake bites in dogs, there was a study compiled by the American Veterinarian Medical Association - http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2002.220.1675

The UC Davis Veterinary Medicine "Pharm News" has a rather extensive write up on animal medicine in relation to rattlesnake bites. For their write up - Vetmed.ucdavis.edu