Malamute Manor » Moola

Halfway there….to puppies

omalmals — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:59:38 +0000

This is the second time I erased this…I can’t believe it. I must be more excited than I thought. Riggs is officially kickd out of the bedroom at night now. Mula wants it all to herself. Jazz isn’t nearly as jelous as I thought she’d be. Mula is getting fatter…Chungamoola!!!! Not sure if it’s the puppies or if she’s just eating more. She demands her evening egg every day now. I can’t wait for the puppycam to be ready to go – it made it so much fun last time I’m excited about doing it again. Watch at omalmalamutes.com. She’s due just in time for Christmas and since we did Christmas names a while back, this time it will be Iditarod checkpoints so don’t forget to vote for your favorite names. I’ll be using the winners and my favorites to name the puppies.

Puppies!

omalmals — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:49:02 +0000

I think we’re expecting! I’ll know for sure in a couple of weeks when I do an ultrasound on Mulan – but she’s acting different…she actually fell asleep in front of the TV the other night (she never does that) and has been lying low around the other dogs not wanting to get Jazzy’s wrath. Jazz has been very jelous of her lately and that’s new too. So I’m pretty sure the breeding with Harvey took. On one hand I’m really looking forward to Mula puppies – she’s my absolute favorite – such a sweetheart that gets along with everyone and a true Hoover child. On the other hand it’s soo soon after the Alien 11 litter – but time marches on and the girls are 4 years old – the max age for a first litter so it’s now or never. We’ve never had two litters this close (heck, the last one was 4 years before the Alien 11) and so this is a new one for us. I’m on the lookout for some really great homes and I do have several people that have already expressed a serious interest so looking forward to meeting all of you. Looking forward to adding to our little “family” of puppy owners – we always make such wonderful friends from every litter.

Canine Whisperer Interview

omalmals — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:43:52 +0000

What a week! While out doing errands (and buying a ton of chewys for the gang – they have been stealing and eating everything in sight) I received a call from the Detroit Free Press wanting my take on the recent rash of dog attacks as the Canine Whisperer (my local moniker for dog training). It’s the owner, not the dog in most situations, so that’s what I relayed to the reporter who seemed very responsive to our message that there is no dangerous breed – just ignorant or clueless people that don’t know how to be pack leader and raise the dog improperly (or not at all). Here’s the link http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709150317 At any rate, turned out to be a very fair and informative article and I wasn’t misquoted too badly lol . With my 15 minutes of fame – it’s back to picking up poop and keeping the guys from eating the house. Toll this week: 2 coupons for free on-demand movies (arrrgh!), part of my wood Sander, assorted pads of paper, a rubber stamp and a few other things snitched off my desk. I’m hoping a huge supply of rawhides and bones will alleviate the energy the cooler weather has brought. I think my worst culprits are Moola and Jazzy – at least that’s who I catch with all the stolen items.

It was bath week this week for Hoover, Pod and Riggs…they look much better now. Hoover wasn’t too crazy about lying down in the tub (he’s the one that can’t walk) but he did ok. He is such an easy going guy and hates to be dirty so he humored me. Pod was a real challenge – kind of like bathing a pogo stick!

Hoover’s Big Vacation & Gracie’s Big Wins

omalmals — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 20:02:46 +0000

We just got back after a wonderful week in Marquette, Michigan for our first dog show in a long time.

Gracie cleaned up – THREE Group 4’s – one each day – at least you can say she’s consistent! And best of all Hoover had a blast. I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to travel with a handicapped dog – but it turned out fantastic. He had an enjoyable time just hanging out at the dog show and by the end of the trip we coudn’t stop without him rotating himself around wanting to get out. The excuse was to pee, but I think he was just enjoying the scenery like we were. I coudn’t pack his wheelchair due to lack of space, but that didn’t stop him. I served as back legs and he was able to get into and out of the van just fine and even insisted on checking out the sand dunes and going down to the water. He wanted to do everything the others did.

We also took evil Holly (to spare our petsitter her brattiness) and Moola who I showed (she is becoming the reserve queen like Grandma Penny – I always said they were alike!). Anwyay, it was very enjoyable and we just love the area. Everything went well for our wonderful petsitter back home – Pam Gibbings who did an awesome job. I really think the guys at home thought THEY went on the vacation themselves.

We ate out a lot and stayed at a really nice hotel that allowed dogs in the rooms. We put a plastic shower curtain down, with Hoover’s rug on it, and Hoover did just fine. Midway I made a laundromat stop to wash his rugs which was the only real concession to an incontinent, paralyzed dog. The only thing he wasn’t too crazy about (and neither was I) was camping in the tent on Saturday. We both could have done without that! The wind was really whipping and scary and I HATE tent camping so that was totally miserable for both Hoover and I. Other than that though, the week was fabulous.

Yodeling Riggs – Shadow takes a turn for the worst

omalmals — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:57:28 +0000

Riggs is back to watching TV and yodeling. Shadow is going downhill fast again and this time I think is it – or closer to *it*. Thursday the vet is coming out for heartworm tests and it’s killing me to try and decide whether to put him down then or wait a little longer. He has another bladder infection which he is treating with huge amounts of cranberry juice on his own (that fixed it before – he ASKS for his juice) but his rear is getting weaker, and he can’t see very well, hears even less, and cries, screams or barks constantly wanting to be helped to do something. Has trouble getting his front up now mainly because he’s just getting weaker which is breaking my back. I really spend most of my day helping him in and out and to get comfortable so I’m wondering if I need to do something. I’m really having a hard time with it because he is so mentally alert and seems reasonably happy (as long as I help him get up, etc.). I’d like him to go as peacefully as possible – but he’s butthead and there is no *peacefully* with him. He’s a survivor and I suspect he will figure out what’s up (my crying won’t help) and will fight and make it really difficult. So I’m really torn about what to do. He’s falling apart – found blood from somewhere yesterday – probably the bladder infection – but he has so much determination to get better (which he won’t) it breaks my heart. Right now he’s sitting under a shade tree in the yard – that will last 10 minutes unless he falls asleep before the squeak goes out he wants up or to come in or move. This has been the hardest one yet – and Penny was agonizingly hard. Hoover isn’t doing all that well – he’s healthy overall, just his rear is getting weaker. Then Moola got into my meds last night so she will have the cleanest arteries in dogville due to the Lipator. Yes, I am running a nursing home for dogs! We would like to think about having puppies – we could use some puppy breath – but how would we find the time! Well, gotta go….being summoned by Shadow…

Riggs goes home

omalmals — Sat, 05 May 2007 19:27:24 +0000

The Saga of Riggs continues. It’s strange, but she said she really didn’t know if he’d make it. It all depended on what they found when she opened him up – it could have been all necrotic and dead tissue (esp. when you consider this started almost 14 hrs. before he went to the vet). I was braced for the worst. But I have a lot of trust in this vet and everyone was sending wonderful prayers and good thoughts. I knew he was in the best hands I could find. I think when he actually torsioned was on the way to the vet – so it had been like 20 minutes max. (not including the prep for surgery time). She thought it may have been a couple of hours. He didn’t get really whimpering and restless until we were on our way there. If I had realized it was an emergency I wouldn’t have stopped for gas and at the post office, but I was just leaving early because my gut told me something wasn’t right though our appt. wasn’t until 10:30. I left like 8:30 thinking it was 9:30 (funny how your brain works at times of stress) – thinking I would just take my time getting there and just be early – well, I was an hour early and she said that it was good that I did or in another hour he would have been dead. She got in there and everything was starting to turn that maroon dead color so made an incision about a foot and a half long to get her hands in and flipped it back – first his spleen started pinking up, then everything else started coming back as they took out 5 LBS of dog food! (where did THAT come from – something weird going on there as he has no access so it must not be getting digested). Took an hour to do that alone. First night I had the option of leaving him there (with someone checking on him late, but no one there at the clinic) or taking him to a 24 hr. facility in Ann Arbor, Lansing or Novi -all about an hour away. Since he just had surgery, I didn’t think it was wise to transport him (or the stress involved) over an hour away so we opted to keep him there and let him just rest. If these toxins let loose, there was nothing they could do anyway – he would go into cardiac arrest and die regardless. So needless to say, I didn’t sleep much Thursday night.

But by the next day she said he was doing good but “quiet”. They didn’t want me to see him because he would think he was going home right away so I just left a little toy with the pack smell on it. He did fine Friday – so good she was thinking of letting him go home that evening. I was going to leave him one more night because I moving Steph back home from College Friday afternoon – but when I called her she felt it was better if he went home because he wasn’t eating. They had even tried hand-feeding him, special treats, everything – but nothing was working. ( A malamute thing…they aren’t his pack) So we rushed back home, threw everything (it filled the van to the ceiling) in the garage and I went over to get him about 2 hours after they’d closed. She waited for me not knowing if I was going to make it or not (we were stuck in rush hour traffic that wasn’t moving in downtown Detroit when I called to check in). Anyway, got there and he was pretty depressed looking – didn’t realize I was there at all for almost 5 minutes. I think he was contemplating his starring role in his favorite TV show – Vet Interns – he really really loves that show. Then he suddenly looked up. The medicine has him pretty dopey which is good because he needs to be still. Anyway, it was cute, as we were gathering up the multiple Rx’s & special food, etc. and putting it all into a bag, Riggs pulled his little toy (I brought the day before – the ”card” from Moola & Jazzy & Shadow) out of my pocket and handed it to me – like “don’t forget this”. Took him home and he was pretty quiet. I tried putting him in Holly’s spot in the back room but that was a disaster because Moola & Jazz would make such a stink every time Gracie or Pod went in and out I decided to let him hang out in his regular bedroom – so he’s staying in Colleen’s old room with his TV. (not the big one with cable to his dismay lol), Other than being quiet, he looks good and is acting fine. I think the medicine is what’s keeping him quiet as he was raring to go this morning until I gave it to him. So he’s just hanging out, watching some TV and eating his Salmon/special food mix. He seems to be content to just hang out with his TV in the bedroom and just go out to pee. So far so good. He’s supposed to stay really quiet and go out on leash for 10 days then go back for the stitches to come out so having his own “room” is helpful. So, not out of the woods yet, but doing much better than the alternative.

In hindsight, I think had we gone on in to MSU that night (when he did the 50 mile poop) it wouldn’t have been that serious yet so who knows, they may have done an x-ray, say it’s just some mild gas, sent us home, then when it got serious I may not have thought it was that important and not decided to go in to the vet that morning and he would have died – so things happen for a reason. I’m just glad he’s doing OK.

Meanwhile, at the O’Mal Dog Nursing Home Shadow is back to being as obnoxious as ever, is trying to climb the stairs (though he still can’t get up on his own – but he yells and makes a stink if he wants help!), and is as demanding as ever. He’s been sitting on the front grass with a beach umbrella for shade – the life! All he needs is the lemonade and a hammock! I swear Wed. I felt like it was a nursing home - I was running from Riggs (crying in pain) to Shadow (screaming wanting help to get up) to Hoover who was whimpering he couldn’t stand fast enough and was stuck in his crate. Geez…All I needed was for Chev to have a seizure (which he didn’t thank goD). I think there is definitely a business here…dog nursing homes…lol….I could be my first customer.

Mud Puppies

omalmals — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:01:22 +0000

Spring is coming. I can tell by the mud and poop piles in the yard. Moola & Jazzy went out to play today and came in covered head to toe in mud. So much for my nice clean bathtub. Especially Moola – she is always the one most covered in mud. And she always finds the blackest, ickiest mud too. No remorse, she loves it. Meanwhile Gracie can’t find joy even in mud. She is protesting because Dan is working long hours. She is a pouter. No one else can take his place and when she doesn’t get sufficient amounts of attention, in her estimation, she pouts. She doesn’t do anything the others do – get into trouble, chew, poop/pee – she just pouts and sends you on a big guilt trip. I give her extra attention but it’s not enough – she wants Dan. If sulking were an artform, Gracie would have it mastered. She puts on her best “hound dog” look and sits in the corner sulking. She refuses to eat. She yells at Pod for no reason. She moans like a ghost when Dan gets home and doesn’t give her his undivided attention immediately. She’s a pro.