Social time is very very important in a huskies life (or any dog for that matter). Even on the coldest of days when many of our dogs stay in the house or the dog barn, we let them out all together in a huge play group. Dogs are very social animals and love to play and interact. Some dogs only like 1 or 2 friends. Other dogs love to play in a large group. In our kennel there always seems to be one or 2 dogs that are the play instigators. Shaman and Jenny are probably the hardest players. They are both from the Fairbanks animal shelter and have been with us for several years. Shaman is the cream colored boy in the video and Jenny is the black pointer mix. They can always get the other dogs to join in and run around the yard at top speed.
People have often talked to me about shoulder and wrist injuries in sled dogs. I rarely have that problem and I think it is because I let my dogs free run most of the time. A dog on a chain often runs around in its circle in the same direction. This makes muscles that are not balanced. Too, with the chain pulling down on the dogs collar, many sled dogs can develop chiropractic problems. With a free run kennel, the dogs turn, jump, run and are able to stretch out their bodies and their muscles on a daily basis. Even after a summer of not running in a team or skijoring, our dogs are all in great shape and start off the winter training able to do more miles without any injuries.
Many people are worried about fights. We have had a few and they are very scary. All of the dogs are neutered and spayed so that definitely helps. But we also respect the hierarchy of the dogs themselves and the dogs have great respect for us as the ultimate last word in the kennel. I don't suggest that people just let their chained up dogs loose if they haven't done a lot of research on pack mentality and hierarchy. I hate to see dogs chained up all of the time and try to suggest starting with just a couple of dogs at a time. The rewards that come back from having a free run kennel are great and the bond that you have with your dogs can't be described.
My favorite winter activity is skijoring. The dogs love it and it gets us all outside for some good exercise. It tends to be pretty easy on the dogs too as they age and we have quite a few 13+ year old dogs still running. We don't go far. Maybe 4 miles with the older dogs. Some of the trails can be pretty hilly too but I think they like the up and down instead of running just on the flat. Here is a short video that I took when we skijored at North Star Golf Course on Sunday. In lead are Robin (13.5 years old) Chanel (12.5 years old) and Misty in wheel at a young 6 years old.
Well, to be optimistic, at least this January is way warmer than last year at this time when we had 40 below for nearly 3 weeks and that is in the hills too! We live "in the hills" which only means you are a couple of hundred feet or more off the valley floor (Fairbanks elevation is 436 feet). The "hills" (we live at about 750 feet) are usually warmer that the valley where the cold sinks and stays. But today there is no inversion. I woke up this morning to 27 below. Pretty chilly but at least not 40 below. The dogs are either in the house or in the dog barn pretty much all day. We have many old dogs, a couple nearly 15 years old and I really hate to leave them outside in the colder temperatures. They love being warm and have settled into the routine of the barn.
In the early morning everyone goes outside and gets to run around for awhile. Then everyone is brothed with a rich meat broth. Back in the house and the barn they go. 3 hours later the barn dogs are let outside to run around again and pee and poop. The indoor dogs can go in and out as they please (we are the "doormen") but they rarely stay out for very long. After another warm up in the barn it is the afternoon play time. They are usually out for an hour or so running around and playing. Some dogs just go into a dog house and curl up, but others play hard to use up some pent up energy. Feeding time is around 3 pm. Back in the barn for a few hours until the next break. Their last break is at 11 pm and they are good until 6:30 or 7 the next morning.
I used to have straw or hay in the barn but this winter we have tried dog beds. I hated cleaning out the broken down straw every couple of weeks (or sometimes even once a week). If dog beds get soiled (rarely) then we just toss them in the washer. There are 2 dogs now that are still on straw. Borax and Chance. They had a wonderful initial frenzy of ripping their beds apart (I luckily quickly saved them) before I decided they weren't going to adjust to a bed.
Most of the time there is a break in the temps where we can get all the dogs for a skijor. But this week+ has been too cold. For boredom problems I give the dogs meaty marrow and knuckle bones (bought over the long term from Fred Meyer's). Usually when I go to the store I pick up a package or 2 and throw them in the freezer. It takes quite awhile for the dogs to lick out the frozen marrow or chew off the meat on frozen bones. Then the next day I switch all the bones to different boxes and the dogs think they got a new treat.
When they are loose we spend time petting, rubbing all over and generally having fun with the dogs. We want them to have an interesting and stimulated life but can be harder in these temperatures.
So our daily routine is set around the dogs. Often we take a longer walk with some of the dogs that are good about not running off. In the evening it is time for me to go to work and time for Don to get more of his computer stuff done. He is lucky to be able to work at home.
OK. I am just a bad blogger. I think of all these things I would want to blog about but then think "why would people want to read this?" So I have to get better at just writing on a consistant basis and figure that at least I can go back and read them! I do enjoy many of my friends blogs, especially about dogs so know that there are friends that would enjoy seeing pictures and hearing about my dogs. So I will try and do better.
Happy New Year from our household. This is only 8 of the 14 dogs that we have in the house but hard to get them all in one place for a mass picture.
She is now up to 40.4 pounds. Slowly but surely. We have started her on a raw chicken mix that we can buy in 50 pound blocks up here in Fairbanks. We are still feeding her 3 times a day and mixing in cooked chicken also. A Digestin in each meal plus 2 GI cell supports in the morning and night meals and 1 in the afternoon meal. a touch of bone meal, her thyroid dose 2x a day and a pet tab round out her food.
Don suggested feeding in 3 separate bowls and separating the feeding by several minutes. She is a voracious eater and the food disappears in seconds. Often intestinal problems are caused by stress and with as fast as she eats that has to put some stress on her body. So 3 portions each feeding is what we are doing now. She still has loose stools at times but they are balanced by some firmer ones.
Well, Onyx is doing fairly well. Still having diarrhea at times....not really formed stools much. BUT...she is slowly gaining weight. Weighed her today and she is at 39.2 pounds. Her coat continues to be gorgeous and she has a ton of energy. If she wasn't so active and high strung she would probably be fat by now. So we take things slowly and continue down the path that seems to be working.
Sigh....after a couple of good days on the Viokase, Onyx went back to some bad blowouts. So I stopped the Viokase and back on the GI Cell Support and Digestin in each meal. She is still get a half of a pet tab a day and bone meal with her cooked chicken. She seems pretty stable. Still have one very loose stool a day. She got up to 38 pounds but I weighed her yesterday and she was 37.6 pounds. I want to keep her on the upwards weight gain of course so it was disconcerting to see her drop some ounces! But her overall attitude and need to go outside is great. She used to need to go out quite a few times through the night. But now she seems to have her one stool a day and even though it is not the best, it is better than her having diarrhea throughout the day. So I continue to tweak her meals and see what happens.
She weighs 37.2 pounds this morning. Up from the low of 36. I have now established a set routine and may make small changes as we go along and I definitely will have to start feeding a more balanced diet....She is getting the Viokase-V with every meal. 3 meals a day 3/4 teaspoon Viokase. You have to mix the powder with room temperature food and let it sit for 20 minutes. I also add 1 GI Cell Support in her morning and night meals. 2 days in a row now she has had solid ***. I'm inclined to take a picture because WOW...this is great news for her. I also have the Digestin that I am not giving her at the moment...I think it does a lot of what the Viokase does and may be more inexpensive in the long run, but for now since everything seems to be working quite well I am not adding it.
For some reason the blog is not showing my full write up...you have to click on the heading to read it all.....(ummm except now this is all showing...)
But here it the latest update. I am cautiously optimistic (and elated) that we may have solved some things. First...my holistic vet gave me some high powered digestive enzymes and GI support pills. The one is called Digestin and the other is GI Cell Support. I gave her 2 in her night meal a couple of nights ago and for the first time in years she didn't have to go outside in the middle of the night. Then my traveling vet was up and also looked at all her bloodwork and mentioned EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency)...Onyx had been tested for this a year ago (called TPL test) and it was in the "normal" range. But when I looked at her latest amylase readings and noticed they were below normal And also knowing that her cobalamin is non existance (she is on those shots...) I got to reading about EPI. This is a constant degenerative disease. So I think that maybe over the last year as she got worse and worse, that her pancreas has just given out. My traveling vet thought that was worth looking into. So I got some Viokase-V which is basically ground up pancreas from pigs.
Yesterday I put the digestive enzymes in her morning and night meals and put the Viokase in her mid day meal. This morning I am following her around with a flashlight when I let her outside (it is very dark at 6:30 am) and WOW>>>>!!!! Solid poop. She had a few drips at the end, but an actual formed turd. Nice!
So, now I am in a bit of a dilemma. Can I get by with just the digestive enzymes? According to all the literature about EPI, you have to put Viokase in every single meal...that most dogs can't even get a little treat without the pancreas powder along with it. So, does she really have EPI? Or just low enough that one dose a day is going to "cure" her along with the other pills? The Viokase is very expensive (which I would pay for if she needs to be on it for the rest of her life) but can I get away with the other supplements (the one does have ox bile extract in it) and that will do the trick?
I also still have her on only chicken, bone meal and a vitamin each day. I do need to find a way to increase her calorie count some without compromising her gastrointestinal tract!
So, for the moment I am going to keep up my regime of what is working. I really want to thank everyone who sent me information on how they dealt with some of these things with their dogs.
ARGHHHH. Learning every day and sometimes the lessons are extremely hard. Onyx had been doing well the last couple of days. Some formed stool, good energy and hopefully on the path to weight gain.
But tonight I grabbed a bag of soy crumbles out of the freezer. I thought it was not opened but it was and the end was totally open so there went soy crumbles all across the kitchen floor. And of course, Onyx was right there gobbling up quick as can be. I grabbed her and got her out of the kitchen as I am frantically cleaning them up. She got a good mouthful and I hoped for the best. Well, my hopes were dashed when a couple of hours later she BAM....SPLAT...SPEW.....stinky liquid diarrhea across the concrete floor downstairs. ugh.
So my questions now are 1) is this a coincidence or is she allergic to soy (or wheat or corn oil or something else in the soy crumbles)? 2) Is this cyclic and she really has a bacteria, parasite or coodies? 3) is she going to do this all night like she did the last time it was this severe?
sigh. I guess I wait and see. She just slammed against the door and I ran to let her out and WHOOSH.....out more came. (at least she made it outside this time)
I thought I was on the right path, and still may be, but very disconcerting to have this kind of a set back. Her body just can't handle this kind of sickness.
I'll put more IV fluids into her tonight and see what happens.
A few changes in the last couple of days....when I first started this I really didn't want to use rice but felt that she needed some sort of "filler" to her lonely chicken. But I have cut that out now. I am putting 1/4 cup of soaked oat bran in with her mid day chicken meal. A friend said she had a dog with the exact symptoms and this really helped clear him up.....so worth a try. It seems to be working. She is having more and more formed stools and not frantic to run out the door to go to the bathroom. I am also adding a sprinkling of bone meal to her meals. Her diet is no way "balanced" but I am just working on getting her healthy and able to gain weight.
I still add to one meal through the day :acacia fiber, pet enzymes, grapeseed extract and golden seal. She is also getting 1/2 pet tab vitamin each day. She continues to get her 0.4 mg of thyroxine twice a day.
I have been weighing her every few days. After continually loosing weight for weeks she stablized at 36 pounds. This morning she was 36.6. YEAH! I just want to continue to see that increase continue over the weeks. I am adding a bit more chicken every day and will try adding just a small amount of fat (I have been taking all the skin off the chicken). She is still on 3 meals a day.
Today is her cobalamin shot (once a week) and that will continue long term until her system is normal (if it ever can become that!).
It has been several days since Onyx has been on her new diet. For the first time in the middle of the night she had a stool that was partially formed! YEAH. Her diet at the moment consists of this:
1) before each meal I mix 1 capsule (opened and sprinkled) of Slippery Elm in 1/4 cup weak broth. She gets that about 15 minutes before she eats
2) chicken and rice are the staples right now. She gets 1/8 teaspoon of Acacia fiber, 1/4 of a Pet Tab (dog vitamin) 1/8 teaspoon of bone meal and sometimes a sprinkling of enzyme powder. She gets this 3 times a day.
3) twice a day she gets 0.4 mg of Thyroxine
4) once a day she is getting a tablet of Ultimate Flora. The vet suggested yogurt but I am really afraid to give her anything with milk products
5) once a day she is getting Golden Seal
6) once a week she gets a Cobalamin shot
Yesterday I gave her 500 ml of IV fluids.
The only little set back was this morning after I fed she had some diarrhea but it had some pieces of paper in it! Not sure where that came from but I did find a shredded envelope on the floor that another dog had torn up and I think Onyx may have ingested some of that. Her system is just so sensitive right now that I think little things are going to affect her.
I weighed her this morning and she is still 36 pounds.
The vet wanted to put her back on metronidazole. She said that some dogs are on it for their whole life....but I just can't help but think that after 4 weeks of this without any relief and Onyx only getting worse that it just wasn't helping.......
So, that is it for the moment. It is still touch and go with her though. She is painfully thin and emaciated looking. Her energy levels are quite high so that is a good sign I think.
I will continue to tweek her diet and will try some oat bran soon that a friend swears cured her dog of this same kind of malady....but baby steps at a time. I certainly don't want her to get worse again.
We have had Onyx for several years. Pretty much ever since she was rescued she has had a terrible problem with digestion and keeping weight on. This is part 1 of a blog which I am hoping that in the end will have a picture of her "fat" and healthy. Over the last couple of years she has been on several different diets. High protein, high fat....high protein low fat....one protein, one carbohydrate....hypoallergenic...raw....It seemed that we could change her diet and her system would be OK for a few days...then sink back into pretty much only diarrhea. She has had total blood panels, fecal/'worm floats, parasite tests, x rays and tests for more rare diseases such as Addisons disease. Amazingly her blood work looks fairly good for an emaciated dog and all the other tests have come back negative except for giardia which she was treated for. This picture of her body is Onyx at the worst. 36 pounds. She has been on various drugs including steroids, panacur treatment (for worms and giardia), metronidazole, Tylan and antibiotics to name a few. It was a couple of weeks ago that she finally just "blew up." The vets were shaking their heads. I was worried about just waking up one day and she would be dead. For several days anything she ate would come out the other end as a spewing mess....no form...just brown stinky fluid (try cleaning that off your concrete floor a dozen times a day!)
So after posting to several dog email lists for opinions and talking more to my vet I ended up taking her to a holistic vet. She thought she might have a weird parasite but no one knows for sure. The vet gave her 300 ml IV fluids and I brought home more to give her every day. Luckily she is a good patient and sits while the fluids are going under her skin. She is also now on thyroid medication as some of her values were quite low and although some of the main ones were normal we thought it would be a good idea to at least try this. The thyroid is tied closely to a lot of the rest of the body functions. She also got a B12 shot in acupuncture point 33 (stomach) as her cobalamin levels are very low also.
The one vet now suggests exploratory surgery but I do not want to go that invasive if we can work this out some other way.....possible diagnoses could be tumors or irritable bowel syndrome.
I fasted her for 40 hours. Some people thought this was not the right thing to do to such an obviously very skinny sick dog...but when she wasn't processing one thing that went into her, she was starving anyhow. After 40 hours she got a very very weak chicken broth with 1/4 cup of rice. She held that in her....next meal was weak broth with rice and a little chicken. To that I have added Acacia fiber (1/8 teaspoon to start) and Slippery Elm. I will keep her on the supplements as she seems to be doing very well on them. Echinacaea and Golden Seal are also in the future.
So as of this evening, she is on her 6th meal in 2 days. She is being fed 3 times a day and I will gradually add a little more chicken and rice each time. This isn't a balanced diet and I have started adding 1/4 vitamin tablet to 2 of the meals. I don't want to take anything too fast for fear of regressing her. But it is hard to do that because I really want to put a huge bowl down and say "eat and gain!" but know that I need to take things slowly. She is holding everything in her body and has not had any diarrhea. In fact, I haven't seen her go at all (but sometimes it is difficult to watch when you have 20+ loose dogs running around).
So, I am planning on keeping the blog updated on Onyx and what works for her. Many people emailed me with great suggestions and some of them I will implement as Onyx gets stronger and able to take a little more into her system. I will also keep in contact with the vets and just hope that what we are doing is going to work for her. It is a tough problem.
I have always hated Elizabethan collars. The dogs are uncomfortable in them....they can't turn around in a crate or lay down comfortably with the "cone" surrounding their head. I will describe what we use for most of our dogs that have gone through surgery and are not allowed to bother the incision. Thanks to Dr. O. for this suggestion years ago.
Borax just had a tumor taken off his rectum. With the external stitches it is imperative that he doesn't chew or lick this site. So, this is what we do.
FIRST: Take a long tea towel
SECOND: take a thick layer of newspaper and fold it into the middle of the towel (it should be fairly thick and stiff)
THIRD: Using a heavy duty strapping tape (or duct tape which is my favorite and nearly indestructable) tape the seam of the towel with the newspaper firmly inside.
LAST: Wrap it firmly around the dogs neck and secure the towel with duct tape. (do not tape to the dogs fur). The towel should be around the dogs neck tightly so they can't slip it over their heads, but not too tight that it restricts their breathing or their feeding or drinking.
I take off their collars but you can certainly put on one over the towel set up. Now, Borax still has a lot of freedom yet can't move his head all the way to his back end to lick!
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