"Molly" Moved

"Molly", the Giant Schnauzer/English Springer Spaniel mix who lived adjacent to Kodi's backyard for the past year has moved away.

He spent a lot of time running up and down the length of the fence that separated them, playing with her. She was the sole canine socialization Kodi got to experience regularly, as he felt comfortable with her, seeing as how she was on the other side of the fence, he didn't have to fear being attacked and she was a puppy, so she was always in the mood to 'play'.

"Molly" broke our hearts whenever we were in the backyard with Kodi. She would watch us playing with him, clapping our hands and calling out to him, chasing him around the yard, as she spent all day, nearly every day, in her backyard without so much as a toy to amuse herself.

We often wondered if she were able to speak to us, if she would ask why her human family didn't play with her, why they provided her with no toys, why they left her outside all day and most of the evening until late at night in the bitter cold of Winter and the horrendous heat and humidity of Summer, while Kodi was always accompanied by his humans, provided with no less than 13 toys to keep him busy, enjoyed interaction multiple times a day on a daily basis.

Many of "Molly's" neighbors talked about reporting her family for neglect, as they provided no dog house or adequate shelter for her or the older female Beagle who lives with Molly. They allowed her to get into the trash and chew on tin cans and plastic soda bottles, often her only toys and source of amusement. Neighbors talked about reporting, but didn't want to cause upset in the neighborhood, didn't want to fight with the neighbor or have to fear some sort of retaliation.

Now, we understand "Molly" will be living with her family in a 'country' setting. We don't know if she will have a fenced in yard, if she will have a dog house or a place to escape the cold and heat. We don't know if she'll have toys to play with or fresh water to drink.

Being in the position of disagreeing with the way she was cared for, but having to live next door to her family was difficult, but the neighbors who discussed reporting her family for neglect should have done so, as now she will be living in a more remote setting where others may not be aware of how little is provided for her.

Kodi isn't sure what to think about why "Molly" isn't outside, why when he calls to her she doesn't bound down off the back stairs like she used to and meet him at the fence. He looks for her, calls to her and sits patiently waiting to see her again. It will be a hard adjustment to make, reaching the understanding that she's not there anymore. It will be hard for all of us to adjust.

Thrifty Eater

Huskies, as a breed, tend to be 'thrifty eaters'. One would think for such an active and high energy breed, they would be big eaters, fueling all that activity, but they aren't.

Kodi has been true to his breed, hardly eating at all. I'm amazed that he has the energy that he has, that he's able to walk twice a day for an hour or an hour and a half each time, to play in the yard for a half hour to an hour at a time, several times a day, seeing as how he sometimes really only eats once every two or three days.

He has never preferred canned dog food, nor has he liked kibble.

We started him with a well known, highly recommended brand as a puppy, he didn't care for that, we tried a Veterinarian recommended prescription diet, but he wouldn't eat that. We tried mixing canned food with kibble, which worked a half dozen times or so, but then he stopped eating that.

A year ago, the Veterinarian said that they weren't concerned about his weight, though he's in the lower acceptable range for the breed standard. He's lean, lanky and apparently some Huskies can be that way.

We talked to the Vet a couple months ago about whether we could put him back on the vitamin supplements he was on when he was a puppy. They didn't feel that was necessary, but suggested trying another flavor of the same brand of dog food, saying that Huskies can be finicky.

We changed to a lamb flavor, from chicken and he seemed to be willing to eat a little more, but he started begging for canned cat food when I was feeding the cats, so I offered him a teaspoon of cat food each time I fed the cats.

When we recently saw the Vet, this time, they said they weren't 'concerned', but would like to see him put a pound or two on. They recommended taking that little bit of cat food and smearing it all over the bottom of his food dish and up the sides, then putting his dry kibble in on top of that, so that to get to the flavor of the cat food on the bottom of the dish he has to eat through the kibble.

We tried it and it worked! Kodi's eating twice a day. He's not finishing all the food, but he's eating about 3/4 of it each time, which is more than he was eating in two or three days.

They also suggested a spoonful of peanut butter was a good source of protein, fats and carbs, since Kodi LOVES anything peanut butter flavored. I've always treated him at least once a month to some plain cooked pasta with a little browned hamburg as a treat.

He's so active, has a high metabolism and burns up everything he's eating, so a little indulgence won't hurt him.

I can't imagine what he might look like if he puts a few pounds on. He's going to be an incredibly intimidating figure of a dog.

Yearly Visit to the Veterinarian

Today was Kodiak's yearly visit to our Veterinarian.

This afternoon we got ready, put his Halti and leash on, grabbed his stool sample and medical records and went to the car.

At the Vet's office, Bud went in first to let them know we were there, as the last time he was at the office the three or four small dogs that belong to the staff were running loose in the building and when they opened the door to allow us into the exam area, he was rushed by all of them at once. He slid on the floor and fell into the metal display shelves where he cleared the bottom of products. I didn't want a repeat of that incident, so they restrained the other dogs before we came in.

"Kodiak will be entering the building momentarily, please restrain his adoring fans!"

The first time we'd been to this office we saw "Dr. Dave", a very animated man who has a great attitude, but was a bit too 'enthusiastic' for Kodi. This time we were treated to "Dr. Stephanie", the wife of Dr. Dave.

Kodi's sample was clean. He received a quick once over. His teeth are looking good, she said we're doing great with brushing his teeth. His eyes look clear, his ears were clean. She gave a dew claw a quick trim for me, listened to his heart and told me he looked really good.

She gave him his distemper and Lyme Disease vaccines. This time he also got a Kennel cough vaccine as they told me there is a 'dog flu' that the kennel cough vaccine has been proven effective in preventing. We have to go back in 3 weeks to get the booster for the kennel cough. The Vet shared that a service dog should have kennel cough vaccine just to be sure they are fully protected.

When we saw Dr. Dave the last time, Kodi weighed about 54 lbs. I asked Dr. Dave at the time if that was something to be concerned about, as Kodi seems thin to me. He reassured me that there are leaner and lankier huskies, then there are stocky and heavier huskies and in his opinion Kodi is just a leaner dog, nothing to be concerned about.

Today he weighed approximately 54, 55 lbs. Dr. Stephanie said she was NOT concerned, but thinks he's a bit on the thin side, as his vertebrae are easily felt down his top-line. She said he's not seriously under weight, but she would like him to gain another pound or two to be ideal.

I explained that he's a very thrifty eater and very finicky about his food. She asked about the amount of exercise he gets so I explained that he was walking about 2 - 2 1/2 hours a day as well as playing in the backyard up to 2 hours a day, though his time outside has been limited by my power chair's inability to navigate in the snow and weather.

She believes that his metabolism is so high and he eats so little that he's literally burning off everything he's taking in. She laughed and reassured us that needing to put on a little weight is a rare situation with pets, that we should be thankful we don't have to take weight off, as that's a much more difficult process.

She gave us some ideas for higher calorie additions to his diet. She doesn't want to see us reduce his activity level as she reminded us he's still a very young dog and all dogs as they age tend to gain weight because not unlike their human companions, their metabolisms slow as does their activity and energy level.

She also noted that as a working dog, he will likely be more lean because he has a natural desire to be busy and active.

She provided us with two oral doses of a general worming formula, just to be sure he doesn't have an undetected parasite hitching a ride, but was pleased with his condition, health and care.

I can't emphasize how important it is to visit your Veterinarian for yearly physicals, maintain good communication with them so you are always supported in caring for your pet.

Migraine Treatment ~ Kodiak Cuddles

I’ve been living with severe, chronic migraine headaches for some 19 years. Along the way I have also been diagnosed with sinusitis and sinus headaches, as well as tension, cluster and ‘rebound’ headaches.

An Ultrasound of my face uncovered a previous skull fracture and bone fragments from a broken eye socket that were floating in my sinus. A CT scan and later an MRI confirmed the ultrasound results.

After years of treatment by a neurologist who prescribed a variety of medications that included home injections and being released from treatment after all his options were exhausted and he was at a loss as to what to do to help me, I was left to my own devices, dealing with the pain by laying down in a dark, cool and quiet room, putting moist heat on my head, trying to sleep them off.

Some days this strategy works, other days not so much. Sometimes my migraines cycle from one side of my head to the other for five or six days consecutively. On several occasions a single migraine has lasted for three weeks.

Today I had a particularly bad headache. I put heat on it, took some over-the-counter pain killers and went into my darkened bedroom to lie down. As soon as I was lying down with my pillow scrunched up under my neck Kodi came into the bedroom and jumped up on the bed.

He licked my face and nibbled my nose as he made soft sounds, much like a cat purring. He leaned his cheek against my cheek, slid down against me, leaning his shoulder into mine as he slipped onto his side with his back against my belly.

He looked back over his shoulder and licked my face before resting his head on the pillow next to mine. I put my hand on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

We rested there for a while. It was nice to keep warm with him, relax and de-stress.

A Neurologist couldn’t provide me with relief… because he wasn’t able to prescribe Kodiak Cuddles.