The dreaded C-word

The dreaded C-word: CANCER. It's been a long time since I've blogged, and I've written so many posts that I haven't published. I've really missed blogging, and as I sit here typing this, I wish I was posting one of those other posts - posting about when Hush passed her Canine Good Citizen test, or posting about how cute it is that Milly licks Hush's ears after I clean them, how my two beloved Golden Retrievers have become inseparable best friends, how I've fallen in love with an amazing man, whom I now live with and we share our lives not just with each other, but also with our two goldens, and his toy poodle, Ally. Oh, how I wish I was posting one of those stories right now. But I'm not. Instead, I'm writing about how my beloved Milly has cancer.

Yesterday, was picturesque, to say the least. I woke up in the morning, early for me on a Sunday. Two of my dear friends, Eileen and Olivia came over, we packed a picnic and headed to Markham, VA for a day of sour cherry picking. We brought Milly, Hush, Ally, and Evan (Eileen's dog, and one of my dogs' best friends, especially for outdoor adventures). When we got to the Orchard we let all the dogs of their leashes, and they raced through the apple trees away from other cherry-picking-patrons, sniffing every leaf, joyfully rolling in the grass, catching a wiff of something in the air and darting off after a flying bird - in short, it was any dog's best day. We all commented on how great Milly looked, a picture of health and fitness - at 13 or so years, she can outrun Evan (a seasoned long-distance runner, and Eileen's companion as she trains for half and full marathons), Hush (just shy of two years old, her body is muscular and fit, as a retriever's should be - she's fast and has incredible endurance)... so it's truly amazing to see this geriatric dog joyfully racing at lightning speeds through the fields. It was a perfect day - warm, but not hot like DC June days tend to be. We picked cherries, we laughed, the dogs played. After, I headed home, grabbed a quick bite to eat and packed up my beach bag for a pool-party father's day cookout at the beau's father's house. My beach bag contained all the necessities: towel for me, two towels for the dogs, a ziplock baggy filled with freeze dried bison, and plenty of toys for both land and water. Milly again was filled with joyful energy as she darted across yard, begged for bites of everyone meals, and even took dip in the pool. You may remember, Milly fails as a water retriever - she doesn't like to play fetch, and she's not a fan of swimming... but, Hush who loves the water, has influenced Milly... slowly helping her gain confidence in the water - and for a few minutes Milly was happy to cool off in the pool.

When we got home we were all exhausted. We went to bed - the dogs conked out on the bedroom floor. In the middle of the night I woke up to Milly breathing heavily, making that tell tale noise all dog owners know as "my dog is about to puke!" Sure enough, up came some sort of food, and I groggily pulled myself out of bed to clean it up, make sure Milly had water, and went back to sleep thinking she must've gotten into some human food at the cookout. A few hours later, the above happened again, and I began to get a little worried. An hour later, the process was repeated for the third time - by this time Milly was breathing heavily, and I realized she had urinated all over the floor, and all over herself. Something was seriously wrong. I tried to get her to stand up, and she wouldn't. She just lay there, heavily panting. I couldn't get her to move, not even for treats. I checked her gums, they were somewhat pale and dry. Her heart seemed to be pounding faster than normal, her breathing was heavy, and her lower end was covered in urine. We picked her up and carried her to the car and raced to the vet. 

When I got to the vet a tech help me carry her inside, and took her vitals. My normal vet is on her honeymoon, so I saw someone else. The vet listened to her heart, it was beating fast. Listened to her lungs, they sounded wheezy. Her stomach was tender to the touch, and hard. Her lymph nodes were okay. Her gums were pale and dry. She was listless, depressed looking, panting heavily. The vet wanted to give her IV fluids, some strong anti-nausea medicine, run a complete blood work panel, and take x-rays of her chest. I was told it could just be a virus, it could be something more sinister like cancer or organ failure, it may be a blockage in her intestines... we wouldn't know until after the diagnostics. I left and went home, nervous, but hoping for something mild like a stomach virus. A few hours later, the vet called. Milly was feeling better - they'd gotten results of the blood work, and nothing was concrete. The blood work had abnormalities in it - liver count was off, white cells were a little off, etc. but nothing pointed to any one thing. Disconcerting, to say the least. The x-rays, however, proved more useful. From multiple angles a fairly large tumor was present on her lung. I was shocked. In all of Milly's years with me, she has been the epitome of health... and I don't mean healthy for an older dog, I mean healthy for any dog - young or old. 

Based on where the tumor is, it is unlikely the cancer started there - it more than likely has spread to her lungs from another part of her body. The vet reassured me there are options - there is a great oncologist nearby, we don't have to make any decisions right now. Or, based on her age we could simply treat the symptoms as they crop up - let her live out her days and keep her happy and comfortable, and enjoy the time I have left with her. The vet wanted to do an ultrasound, and I agreed to that - based on where the tumor is, we may even be able to biopsy it during the ultrasound. Milly could stay over night, and have the ultra sound in the morning, or I could come pick her up and bring her back. I chose latter. She's with me now, groggy, sleeping at my feet. Her breathing is loud, but she is happy and peaceful. I can't help but listen to every breath and wonder how many more I'll hear. 

So tomorrow I'll learn just how bad it is. How many days, weeks, or months she has left. I haven't completely decided, but I think based on her age, I'm not going to pursue chemotherapy and/or radiation I know she's a fighter - but I don't want to put her through that. Again, I haven't completely decided. Hopefully the ultrasound can help by giving us more answers that we can use to treat symptoms as they arise, and keep her comfortable and happy. I can't stop crying. I'm not ready to say goodbye, and despite her age, I never thought this day would come.
 

A Weekend Away

Two weekends ago the dogs and I packed up our bags (and my dirty laundry) and hit the road for a long weekend in VA Beach. Despite sitting in terrible traffic on the way up there, the trip was incredible. We stayed with my "big sister" who gave me my class ring in a beautiful lantern ceremony during our boarding school days at Chatham Hall. We've remained dear friends since our high school days - she's the kind of girl you can go a year without speaking to, and the moment we see each other it's as though nothing has changed! Our friendship always falls right back into place, exactly where we left it, no matter the time or distance between us. Of course, add to the equation that she loves animals, and so kindly opened her home to me and two dogs, and you've got yourself one fun weekend!

The dogs had a great time! Hush got to see the ocean for the first time, both pups got to race on the beach, and basked in the attention fawned on them all weekend!

I'll post more about the trip soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to share this picture of the girls and I. I had spent the entire day at the beach, did not have on a lick of make-up, and my hair was still full of ocean water. That said, I think the love my dogs and I share just makes this photo glow. I've even considered photoshopping poinsettias into the background and using it for my Christmas card picture this winter.

Child-Proofing Your Canine!

One of the things I like to do with both Milly and Hush is to put them in situations they may encounter with young children. I am 26, almost 27, and I anticipate in Hush’s lifetime I will most likely get married and start a family of my own. In the meantime, many of my friends are getting married and having children, and I have a two year old niece, and another niece on the way. Of course, I am a big advocate of educating children, even toddlers, about animal care and how to treat animals, but there are still certain things that only kids will think to do with a pet.

I remember as a little girl putting Muggins, my Munchkin Cat (a breed of cat with a regular sized body but 2” legs), in a dress and baby bonnet and pushing him around in my doll’s pram. Did this hurt him? No. Did he enjoy it, probably not, but he tolerated it well. I also remember dressing my dog Springdale in Bermuda shorts (the fly made a perfect tail-hole), Hawaiian print shirt, a hat, and oversized sunglasses and having him pull me around in my Radio Flyer red wagon. Again, something most adults would never ask of their dogs, but children might. Along those same lines, I grew up with a Border Collie mix named VT (named because he adopted my brothers and I while we vacationed in Vermont one summer), who I loved to play with. VT was an excellent fort making companion, and together we would spend hours constructing forts out of blankets, pillows, sofa cushions, and cardboard boxes. He was a high energy and high strung dog, but a complete love, and great to play with. When I’d fight with my brothers, I would take VT into the back of my closet, and we’d sit together, crammed into the tiny space, disguised by hanging dresses and boxes of winter clothes. Of course, these probably were not my dogs’ favorite activities, but they relished in the attention, and tolerated my creative childhood antics quite well.

Sometimes, it’s hard for me to think of ways to keep Hush and Milly child-ready. I’ll occasionally dress them up, lightly tug on their ears and tails, use Milly as a pillow while I watch TV (which she loves!), and a few times a week stick my hand in their food bowls while they are eating their dinner. With any new experience or socialization exercise you do with your dog it is important to make it a positive experience. Last Saturday, I had my friends Kyle and Kevin over for a relaxing day of eggs benedict, beer and mimosas, and movies. Neither Kyle nor Kevin had pets growing up, nor do they have pets now, and both are fascinated by dogs, especially Kyle. With limited canine experience, Kyle often suggests things to try with Hush that I, as a dog owner, would never think of. On this particular day, Kyle discovered my yoga balls, and began rolling them around Hush on the floor. At first, she was nervous with balls being rolled towards her, but she quickly realized this was a fun game. While some people might balk at the idea of doing things like this with their dogs, I think it is excellent preparation for when I visit my nieces with the dogs. Content that Hush was in good hands, I went back to cooking and left Kyle and Kevin to amuse themselves with yoga balls and my dogs. When I heard laughter resonating from my bedroom I decided to check on the situation. I found Kyle on the floor, the yoga balls in Hush’s crate, the door to the crate open, and him attempting to coax her into the crate. With no treats, Hush just wagged her tail and looked at him like he was nuts, and the two boys quickly gave up on their creative plan.

In this corner of the crate she could not get around the ball, but the other corner had ample room. I took this picture just before she realized to go to the other side of the crate.

The next night, I was thinking about what they had tried to do with Hush, and it reminded me of my fort building days with VT. I grabbed a big handful of treats, put one yoga ball in the crate, and bribed Hush into it. She happily followed the treats, sniffed the ball wondering why it was in her crate, and settled right in. Next, I took the ball out of the crate, again, rewarded her with treats and praise, and then put the ball back in the crate with her already in it. Once we had mastered the ball in the crate with the smaller of the two yoga balls, I decided to try both in it with her. I let her out of the crate, put the balls in, and encouraged her to “kennel up” with treats. Once she was in the crate with both yoga balls I closed and locked the door. Again, throughout this process I gave her plenty of treats. I would like to preface this with saying the entire experiment was for socialization and to build her confidence, not frighten her, in weird situations. I would never leave her in a crate with yoga balls in it unsupervised, and I was careful to make sure she had fun throughout the process. I was amazed. She seemed confused as to why there were two giant balls in her crate, leaving her little room to move around, but she went along with it beautifully. Once the door to the crate was locked, I praised her again, gave her more treats, snapped a few photos, and removed both her and the yoga balls.

She sniffed the new objects in her crate inquisitively, but was never distressed or nervous.

A lot of times, us humans, get very excited during dog training, especially when our dogs are doing what we’ve asked of them, and seem to be enjoying themselves. It is easy to want to keep going with the training session, and put more challenges in place, and push the dog a bit too far. This is frequently seen with newbies in agility, so impressed with their dog’s willingness, talent, and enjoyment of jumping, the new handler raises the fence height, and wants to keep going. This usually ends badly, with a dog that has been over faced with a new challenge, hitting or refusing the jump, and ending in shattered confidence. Knowing when to stop a training session is just as important as the training itself.

Perfectly content and standing happily with her tail wagging, waiting for more treats, I concluded the socialization experiment on a positive note.

I went into the crate and yoga balls experience with an end goal in mind – get Hush to accept the balls in her crate – and as soon as that was accomplished, I ended the session (with treats and tons of praise). Of course, I was thrilled to see her take to it so quickly, and in my mind wanted to continue with other things a little kid might do, like cover the crate in a blanket, or remove on ball and climb on in there myself. But, I didn’t want to throw too much at her at one time, our goal had been accomplished, and we can now build off of this positive experience in our next socialization training session.

A Fun Activity To Do With Your Dog

The weather seems to have gone directly from burning-up, nearly 100 degrees to cold and rainy fall days virtually over night. In a week the temperature has dropped nearly 50 degrees, which has me wondering if another snowpocalypse is just around the corner.

The shift drop in temperature is making my wardrobe selections difficult, but it is making it nice to spend time outside with Milly. I'm perfectly comfortable during the day (when it isn't wet and rainy) in jeans and a fleece, and the chilly air seems to have give Milly a rush of youthfulness that makes it very enjoyable to spend time with her outside on various adventures.

Last year, Milly and Tina and I all went on an apple picking adventure at an Orchard off I-66 in Northern Virginia. If you haven't checked out Love, Tina Marie, I highly recommend you go over to her blog for the latest crafts, recipes and life adventures. In my research, I have found apple orchards to be extremely dog friendly, and Milly loved her time picking apples with us last year.

Apples are great. I love to munch on them, and the act of picking them is quite fun. There is something neat about going back to your roots, in an extremely controlled setting, and paying someone to let you pick your own fruit. It gives you a sense of being somewhat self sufficient, without the added cost and headache of maintaining an apple orchard, which in the DC area probably requires a very large bank account, which I do not have. It's very easy to pick entirely too many apples while at an orchard, but if you ask me, there's no such thing. You can come home and throw them all in a pot and make apple sauce. Don't think you can eat all that apple sauce, toss the apple sauce in the crock pot and with a few simple additions you have apple butter by the time you get home from work!

Enough about the human side of apple picking, what makes it great to do with a dog? Well, first, you will run into other apple pickers, and running into strangers is great socialization for your pooch. Apple orchards are in rural fields, and dogs enjoy getting out of the city just as much as you do. Apples are a healthy treat for your dog, and aid in digestion, just don't over do it. Milly loves to snack on apples, she prefers them sliced, but she has been known to eat the apple whole. I do not allow her to have more than one apple per sitting, though. Apple orchards also have a variety of apples, so you can pick one, take a bite, if you don't like it, maybe your dog will! I know Milly and I have slightly different preferences in apples, and it's fun to each take a bite of an apple and compare notes, or in her case, tail wags. I recommend you bite the apple before your dog, unless you're into dog slobber, in which case, have at it. I am not, however.

So before winter sets in, look up your closest Orchard and go out for some fun picking. Call ahead to make sure they allow dogs, but many do. I only found 2 out of 20+ in my area that did not allow dogs. You also will probably want to pack a water dish and a jug of water, as being outside on a sunny day, even when the temperature is below 60 will make your dog parched, especially if they snack on apples like Milly does! This weather is truly perfect for excursions with your favorite canine companion!

Washington, DC is Dog Friendly!

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Washington, DC lately. I live in Northern Virginia, or I did, but now I’ve been staying in DC. I have been amazed at how dog friendly the city is, I guess I never quite realized it. In the past week, I have been to many restaurants and bars with outdoor seating, where Milly was allowed.

Last weekend, I met up with a friend for drinks at Elephant and Castle. If you’ve never been there, it’s located on 12^th and Pennsylvania Avenue, and has wonderful outdoor seating. While dogs are not technically allowed inside the outdoor seating, they are allowed outside of the fence on the sidewalk. The servers are very accommodating and will arrange for you to sit along the railing so your dog can be beside you. They even brought Milly a bowl of water!

I really want to go to a restaurant called Art and Soul, where they offer a dog menu, complete with Bowser Beer and Marrow Bones. I better act fast though, because I think the dog menu is only available while the weather is nice. It’s been a neat experience to see what DC has to offer, I’ve never really spent much time there. Milly seems to love the squirrels of DC, too! I took her to the National Mall, and she eagerly wagged her tail at hundreds of them. We ended up having so much fun that we walked around for hours! She also has experienced riding in a taxi cab for the first time. A good tip about dogs and taxis, just let the taxi company know you will be traveling with a dog when you call them, and they will send a dog friendly taxi!

Milly has also toured many of the monuments. It's so much fun to tour the nations capitol with my four legged friend!

IT'S TIME FOR YAPPY HOUR!!!

As the trees fill with blossoms, and the sun begins to shine more regularly, I know that all of those April showers have paid off, and my May flowers are just around the corner. With spring, and the onset of summer, I yearn to be outside more and more.

There is a little dive bar in Arlington, VA called “Jays” where my roommates and I love to go during the summer. As all dive bars do, Jays has plenty of character, and it is simply a pleasure to sit outside on a warm afternoon or early evening, and drink some beer while chatting with my friends. While I do enjoy these moments with pals, I cannot help but feel a bit guilty that I am not spending time during the brilliant weather with Milly.

Well, I no longer have to feel guilty, as “Yappy Hours” are popping up all over the place, Jays included. Yappy Hour is a fun social event for our canine companions and their human parents. Yappy Hour is the perfect opportunity for humans to mix and mingle while their dog socializes with their buddies. In fact, some Yappy Hours are even creating a doggie play area for extra play time!

If you aren’t a beer drinker, don’t worry! Many vineyards have caught on to the fun and exciting trend of Yappy Hour, and who wouldn’t want to sip some pinot on a porch, while their pup sits happily at their feet? While Milly has never attended a vineyard sanctioned Yappy Hour, she has gone on numerous wine tasting adventures. I always call ahead to make sure each vineyard is dog friendly (some will require your dog to remain outside while you taste indoors), and pack plenty of water and treats for Milly. It is so much fun to leave the hustle and bustle of urban living behind and head to the countryside (in our case, Middleburg, VA and surrounding areas) and dart through the rows of grapes.

I encourage all of my readers to check in your local area for upcoming Yappy Hours. They are so much fun! If you don’t have a dog, don’t worry – just tag along with a dog owning pal, or “borrow” a dog from a multiple dog owning friend. It’s probably best to leave the treats at home to prevent dog jealousy, and call ahead to see if your Yappy Hour provides water bowls, if not, you’ll want to bring your own. As always, please drink responsibly, and make sure you have a designated driver.

Don’t forget there is still time to enter the Bully Stick GIVEAWAY!