Holiday!

Woo hoo! a whole week away in a Cornwall cottage by the beach and away from all the stresses and strains.

All the dogs were amazing on the really really long car journey, just curled up together and went to sleep. We stopped at a services half way there and took them out in 2's for a wee and a leg stretch. They got back in woiuthout any fuss and off we went again with them all curled up in the back.

They were so good at the cottage, just adapt and get on with things. We went on fantastic beach walks and they did lots of travelling around in the car visiting new places.

Poppy loved her first sea side experience, even had a paddle! she made lots of friends and rolled in the sand although we had to occasionally wrestle bits of seaweed from her. She is firm friends with little Daisy and they spent a lot of time running around together.

Whilst we were in Cornwall she had her first forest experience as well and we discovered how much she likes muddy puddles and rustling leaves.

It was fabulius to see her behaving like a normal puppy and experiencing all these new experiences. We noticed she was having less episodes and this was fantastic! the Cornwall air is so great :-)

When we came home she had an ear problem , we took her to the vet who notices a gritty sibstance in her ear ? ear mites...........but no, she brought a souvenir back from Cornwall- Sand!

stress, vets and trips to Sollihul!

Our first trip to the Willows was a bit of a mixed bag. Overall i guess it was fairly positive in that other then the episodes as she tries to relax, her neurological examination was 100% fine. The difficulty was the fact that they couldnt give a diagnosis or predict what will happen with the episodes. I know we should take comfort in the fact that they were optimistic but they told us they couldnt rule out metabolic issues or brain tumours! Im sure they have to say that but it was the watching and waiting that is so hard to bare. We basically had to 'wait and see' and if she developed any other symptoms then they would get her in , anaesthatise her and perform an MRI/lumber puncture but we obviously wanted to avoid that because of her age and the anaesthetic risk we so it was all just a waiting game until our next review. It was very hard to treat her like a 'normal' puppy as we were on strict instructions to reduce her exercise, not worm , de flea or stress her system in any way. We didnt want to wrap her in cotton wool but t was very hard not to and we found ourselves watching her for signs of worsening or new symptoms.

Our second appointment was more productive,  They were pretty certain that she had allergic encephalitis due to the vaccines. They said it wasnt something that they wouldnt expect to get worse but as the damage is already done then she more then likely stay the same although there is always the chance that things could improve, but its not likely. She isnt to have any more vaccinations and we will be given a letter to show to dog trainers etc should we need to go anywhere where they are supposed to be vaccinated. They have said its not a big issue anyway as the puppy course will do her at least 3 years! (so glad to hear a vet finally acknowledge this). Also she isnt to have any 'spot on' treatments for the foreseable future as they can affect neuro conditions and also we need to not let her system have to deal with anything extra. They have suggested we worm her though due to the lung worm risk, but only with Panacur which is kinder. We were given 3 options;

1) Do nothing but go for check ups every few months and go back sooner if concerned
2) Have a 6 week trial of the anti epileptic mediation Keppra (this apparently is their drug of choice for a young dog like her as it has no side effects and no liver toxicity). If the episodes reduce then they will know that the part of the brain affected is the core and that the episodes are seizure like in nature. If they dont reduce then the episodes are coming from the brain cortex and are movement related so her sympotoms would be define as parkinsonian in nature.
3) We could go the whole hog and have her anaesthatised for mris and lumbar ounctures etc.

We have chosen route one for now but have the option to reevaluate should anything change.

She is growing up so fast!

We booked a holiday to Cornwall and planned on enjoyingshowing her the sea and the beach.

Events of Mid October. We love Poppy so much. Within a short amount of time it felt like she had always been with us and we wanted the very best for her, as we do with all our pets. We have always researched where health and medical issues are concerned and my background in medical and veterinary fields have always helped with this. Ive always felt that in the Uk we over vaccinate our animals compared to many other countries and according to the drug company data sheets. Having said that i always felt the puppy course was important but also because it is a requirement for many training classes and kennels (not that ours have ever been kennelled but its good to have that option should an emergency arise).

Poppy had her first vaccination and advocate treatment with no problems whatsover. she simply slept more that evening and was back to normal the next day. Two weeks later on October the 13th she went for her second vaccination. The vaccination was given without any problems and she was microchipped at the same time- again with no problems. Within about half an hour though she was very hot and unsettled and within 2 hours she was staggering around and falling over, we were besides ourselves and got onto the emergency vet, who said to just keep an eye on her. We watched her all night and then when we got her up the next morning hoped she would be better. In a way she was as she was eating , drinking and playing as normal but she was having strange episodes of shaking and losing her balance so we rang the vets again and this time insisted they see her (in the meantime i was desperately searching the internet to give us more clues as to what was wrong). The vet checked her over but again told us to just watch her, by this time we were deperate for the weekend to be over so we could get on to our usual vets.

On the Monday we took her and she had an 'episode' in front of the vet so we were referred to the Willows referral centre in Solihul but with strict instructions to record and monitor any episodes in the meantime. This would be the start of a stressful journey and a long one!

I have uploaded a very short video of the sorts of symptoms she was getting.

Well we got Poppy on the 29th September and its safe to say she settled right in! One of our biggest worries was that christian wouldnt take to her or would see her as a replacement of Obi. This couldnt have been further from the truth.

Anyway, Christians condition means he isnt as independant as he should be for his age. He needs a lot of prompiting and coaxing and assistance with personal hygiene, dressing and is unable to make himself simple foods like sandwiches etc. 

Shortly after we got Poppy , i had to nip out to the shops but having been exercised and fed , Poppy was in her pen in Christians room fast asleep. I reasurred Christian that she had everything she needed and should she wake up she would be fine. Knowing he is sensitive to sound and would get distressed if she did cry or bark, i gave him instructions to leave his room, close the door and come downstairs should this happen.

Anyway, my trip took a little longer then planned so i text him to check he was ok. this was his response!

I was delighted and gobsmacked at the same time! firstly i dont think i had ever had such a long text off Christian second, he had thought of everything and thirdly, he had shown an amazing capacity to care for this precious puppy despite having such fundamental struggles to care for himself. When push comes to shove- he can do things we werent sure were possible.

 

 

Its probably a good idea to start explaining a little more about our family. We are an animal mad family made up of three humans. (myself, my husband and our son) and our Jack (russell) pack, a parrot, 3 cats and some chickens.

Our 14 year old son suffers with Aspergers and OCD and for the past 2 years we have been part of the PAWS (parents autism workshops and support) programme at Dogs for the Disabled. The programme offers parents of autistic children the chance to train a pet dog to assist/support the child. We have found it hugely beneficial and as we already had a dog our son has a great bond with it seemed like a sensible step to take. People often underestimate the bond between autistic child and dog, there is an understanding there between them that seems to transcend the difference in species. Dogs just don't judge people the way other humans do and from a parents perspective there is a lot to be learned from dogs as we have often found the way you deal with a dog (training methods, routine etc) uses similar strategies to dealing with a child with autism. Everything is methodical and step by step breaking it down to its fundamentals and building on them. I always say that Christians dog Obi is naturally tuned into his moods, its not something we've trained- heck we wouldn't know how! but they have a great bond. I will post something that i posted on facebook recently that i think sums it up nicely;

''Obi and Christian have such a great bond, they are best friends and despite Christian struggling to show concern and emotion to us and other humans he has no difficulty expression compassion and care for obi. Obi is really intuitive and picks up on Christians moods (often before we do). Its not something we've trained (we wouldn't know how!) its an instinct thing, we like to think its obis way of being there for his 'best mate'. Being a terrier, obi is full of personality, loving but exuberant about all life has to offer, what ever he faces he does so with gusto. Hes a good dog, but far from perfect-lol. In a way i think that helps him and christian get along, we can laugh at obis antics and christian can see that its ok to be a little 'odd' sometimes and not perfect, obis enthusiasm is quite infectious and i think he shows us all that when life slaps you down, stand up, brush yourself down , kick grass over it and walk on:-)''

We could never replace Obi or what he does for Christian but as Christian has grown we have realised there are some areas that Obi cant help Christian but where Christian could benefit from a support dog with a slightly less exuberant personality. Obi is fantastic but can get excitable round other dogs and some people, he likes to explore new environments. Christian is leaving school in 2 years and we would like him to gain some independence. It would be nice for him to be able to travel on buses and trains. This is something he finds very stressful but when Obi is with him he more is relaxed and focused on Obi. Obi's exuberance means we need to be with them to reign Obi in when he gets over excited and he will be 10 when Christian leaves school.

With this in mind and after nearly a years contemplation and research we made the decision to look for a Labrador puppy who will be trained over the next 2 years in preparation for his/her role as a support dog. Getting a new dog is always a gamble and there is never a guarantee he or she would bond with our existing dogs or that they would be the right personality to work with Christian. It was also important to us that Christian knew that Obi would always be his dog and would not be replaced. With such importance being placed on the future role for the puppy we went about seeking out as much information as possible by contacting as many people as possible- PAWS, behaviourists, lab owners, breeders, trainers, kennel club. We found a line we like that sound of. They had had success as assistance dogs, had sound temperaments, good health scores and were a nice cross of show and working lines. We picked a couple of breeders and went on the waiting list. We were told that due to the selective nature of the line and the fact that the breeders were hobby breeders (just the occasional litters from family pets) that we could have a good while to wait One evening about 5 weeks later i was looking at the website of the line and noticed that someone had pulled out of getting their puppy at the last minute and that there was a single 8 weeks old chocolate lab girl left from a litter. My heart skipped a beat as i emailed the breeder to see if she was still available- she was! We arranged to go and visit her the next day.

We were trying to be very sensible. We went armed with questions, planned to see the papers and mother and were adament we were 'just looking' ..................our sensibility dissolved the minute we set eyes on the fluffy, cuddly bundle of skin and fur sat before us! we did eventually ask our questions and managed to go home without having committed one way or the other, however, we both secretly knew it was a done deal. I couldn't wait until the next day so contacted the breeder that evening to say that we would like to collect her the next day.
So the next day after pretty much buying out Pets at home i went and picked up the gorgeous Pansy (a name we didn't really feel matched her bold personality). We decided to stick with the flower theme and Pansy became Poppy. We nervously introduced her to Obi and our other Jacks and it soon became very clear that she would fit right in.

Christian and Obi.