PCV

I've been putting out some feelers recently to try and find Riley a new Primary Care Physician, or I should say, Primary Care Veterinarian. We have been working with a Homeopathic Vet that is on the northshore for a few years now. I have even brought MeiMei (aka Tank) to see her too. We've had some luck, but I don't think it's working out to be the best fit. Recently, I have been having some trouble with Riley's ears and darn if I can get a hold of her! Plus, I've been at my wit's end trying to settle the cat fights between Ming and MeiMei and the remedies do not seem to be doing anything.
So I asked around and many people on my little board of trustees encouraged me to try someone else. The decision is not so easy. A part of me wants to stay with my current allopathic vet. They are close, they are good, they are willing to listen. But I don't have the support I need if one day something serious happens to Riley. Part of me wants to stay with this Homeopathic vet. I've spent money with her, she knows my animals' histories, and she's fairly close. You see, most people who work with a homeopath, don't ever see them. Many homeopaths work by phone consult. They can treat ailments by asking you certain questions and you describing it to them. Seems strange, but many many people do this. To a certain degree, this makes me nervous that I am not a good observer nor reporter. But I know that there are many people who know what they are doing and they use a very well known homeopath that lives in CA or NM or somewhere out there.
The other option I have is to find a holistic-minded vet that lives within the area. I don't mind driving up to an hour if I can have everything I need. There are some vets around here that use a little of both conventional medicine and alternative medicine. Makes perfect sense to me. Natural remedies cannot fix a ruptured spleen or broken leg. I would have someone that supports raw feeding, uses gentle homeopathic methods, and has the knowledge of conventional methods if necessary. Problem is, are they good? Looks like a little more research will need to be done...

The Annual Winter Walk

Today was the Annual Winter Walk of the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Nashoba Valley (www.BMDCNV.org). The .8 mile walk took place in Wamputuck State Park in Hingham. Berners and their people gathered at the visitor's center for breakfast, shopping, and raffle prizes. We arrived early, just as the closer parking lot was beginning to fill up. I walked in with a plate of potstickers to share (Happy Chinese New Year!) and a bag of three stuffed Berners for the raffle table. Jeffrey and I found the stuffed Berners at a Toys R Us that was going out of business. When I saw that they had stuffed Berners, I gathered up as many as I could find and took them home. I decided to only keep one and add it to our ever-growing stuffed Berner collection. The others would be going to new homes.

I perused the raffle table and the club store, Ways and Means, wanting one of this and two of that, maybe lots of those....*sigh*. Alas, I was good and only purchased a red bandana for Riley to wear. After fifteen minutes of meet and greet, people started arriving in droves. It was the biggest gathering for the Winter Walk I have ever seen! It is mind boggling to see dozens and dozens of Berners arriving, all with their owners in tow. I get so excited and giddy seeing so many beautiful tri-colored dogs all in one place. Each Berner looking distinctly different from the next. Some are petite, others giants, some thin and long legged, others short and stout, some are balls of poofed fur, others curly cues. Riley was estatic.

The walk was a crowded one. It seemed like there were at least 100 dogs and even more people. Although mostly Berners, I spotted one Swissie, one St. Bernard, one Husky, and one mix. Most dogs were off leash and mostly well behaved. Riley kept his eye on us and trotted along happily with his tail carried high and smiling the whole time. The weather was perfect. Sunny. Warm enough for us, cool enough for the dogs.

And of course I really couldn't leave without buying a Berner mug too. Thanks Hun for letting me go back and get that mug. *smiles*

Down Drabbington Road

Yesterday, I didn't have to go to work. I went to a doctor's appointment with one of my students. And lucky for me, it was right in Waltham! After the appointment, there wasn't enough time to drive up to the northshore to finish my work day so I took the opportunity to spend the beautiful afternoon with Riley.

In Weston, down route 117, and off a little road called Drabbington Road, there is a well known place called Cat Rock. Any time of day, there are people walking their dogs there. Oftentimes you may see dog walkers with a whole herd of dogs of every size, shape, and color. I tend to stay away from these groups. I can never understand how one person could be in control of so many dogs! I rarely walk with more than two dogs. Either Riley and Mandy (my neighbor's Maltese) or Riley and Agave. Just keeping track of two dogs and keeping them on voice command is enough to keep me busy the entire time. Lots of people like Cat Rock because of the many wooded trails, fresh running streams, and the swimming hole. I have never seen anyone there who isn't walking their dog, so you don't have to worry too much about your dog bothering non-dog people.

Yesterday, I decided to enjoy the 50+ temperatures and take Riley and Mandy out for a romp. Mandy was shaking with excitement when I arrived to pick her up. Riley and Mandy make a funny pair: large black fluffy dog with tiny white fluffy dog. And they run and play with each other, so they appear as a pair. It is very cute. Right away, Riley found a ball and was thrilled to be able to carry it around the entire walk. Mandy, a little unsure where she was trailed Riley wherever he went, bravely jumping over logs and through muddy puddles. We saw a few other dogs, one woman who clearly did not want her dogs interacting with any other dogs, one man with 6 different types of hunting dogs (Golden, Lab, Irish Setter, German Pointer, Cocker Spaniel, Brittany Spaniel) went out near the water, maybe to train, and another woman with a friendly yellow lab named Manchester. We stopped to chat as Mandy, the social ambassador, greeted her with enthusiasm. For a little dog, she is one cute dog. We got to talking a little about therapy dog training. Her dog certainly had a wonderful disposition for it. At one point when I was rubbing Manchester's ears, Riley strolled over to check things out and Manchester let out a low, rumbling growl. Embarrased, the women quickly said, "I hate it when he does that, he gets so terratorial." And I looked at her and said, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think most people over-react to growls. Growling is not always a display of aggression. Dogs have their own way of communicating and that is just how they say, 'hey, you're too close to me, back off.' I'm sure if they had a nicer way to say it, they would."
She seemed pleased with my reaction as if she had never thought of her dog in that way. We said our goodbyes and went on our separate ways. Riley was very satisfied with his walk and jumped up into the car without any hesitation. Back down Drabbington Road and home.

Annual Checkup

I have two vets and a "board of trustees" I council for Riley's health issues. Really! This is absolutely true.

I have an allopathic vet (conventional) and a homeopathic vet. And then many many people whom I have networked with along the way that have taught me about animal health, immunity, nutrition, and behavior. I have found that nothing is more empowering than knowledge and learning to be an educated consumer. I am constantly learning and using the knowledge to make decisions that are best for our lives and for our Riley. What I used to get caught up in was that I needed to show my vet that I was a good dog owner and so essentially, I worked hard to please my vet. I am now much smarter than that! My vet works for me and they need to let me know that they will support me and not fail me when I need them most.

The average person looks at Riley and sees a beautifully handsome and healthy dog. His coat is amazingly shiny and soft, he never smells like a dog, his teeth are always white, and he has great energy. And I would agree with all of that. However, many of Riley's health related issues are more chronic than acutely obvious. His weaknesses are a result of both biological and environmental factors. This, I have come to accept and I continue to learn how to manage. My philosophy is to build up Riley's health (as much as I can) naturally, from the inside-out. Thus is why I am often hesitant to administer any of Western medicine's quick fixes including antibiotics, pain killers, and topical treatments. I stay away from any toxic chemicals and of couse I feed a natural, holistic diet.

On a yearly basis, I take Riley to the local allopathic vet for an annual checkup. Last Saturday, I took Riley in. We checked his weight, took a complete blood count (CBC), ran a Lyme/Ehrlichia.Heartworm test, and did an overall look over. I was a nervous wreak. Riley came through with flying colors. He is 82.7 pounds (we will now have to start calling him the mini-Berner) and healthy through and through. The reason why I was so nervous is because I know Riley's file must have in big bold wording, "FEEDS RAW!!!" "REFUSES TO VACCINATE!!!" and who knows what else. I knew I would be nervous as I was expecting my viewpoints to be challenged and I knew I was going to be lectured. And I badly wanted to be able to make a strong argument for my decisions and get her to be more open-minded. I made a list of concerns and made a cheat sheet of notes so that I could ariticulate exactly why I have decided to make the decisions I have regarding Riley's health. At one point, I found myself clenching my two hands together in a tight fist. I must have been a sight to see.

After leaving, I spent a lot of time reviewing how it all went. It didn't go as well as I wanted it to, but in actuality, it really didn't go that bad. My vet basically stood behind what she had to say for legal reasons. She never told me I was being a bad dog owner. She never told me I was making bad decisions. She understood the reasoning behind my decisions and offered her knowledge to clarify possible consequences of our actions. Being a conventional vet, she obviously does not advocate raw feeding, but she never made any notion regarding his diet. In fact, she commented on his great level of health.

My problem, I think, is that I really want to have a warm-fuzzy kind of visit with my vet. My homeopathic vet is like that. But of course she advocates raw-feeding and heals using the fundamentals of homeopathy. This makes for a fun and easy vet visit. However, I desparately need the support of an allopathic vet. I need a vet that has the tools of x-rays, ultrasounds, and surgical skills. Who knows when I may ever need that, but my homeopathic vet cannot provide that for me. So in the case of some kind of emergency, I need to feel like my vet knows me, knows Riley, and will support us. In my mind, I think this is being smart. I don't believe that one vet is better than the other. I need them both. But I can't have my cake and eat it too. Too bad.

The Girls

Riley has three kitty sisters. From oldest to youngest: Little Li just turned 7 at the turn of the new year, Mei Mei will be 5 in the spring, and Ming-a-ling will be three next summer.


Little Li gets her name from her petite size. Just barely 7 pounds, she by far has the most poise and is the most agile. Oftentimes we walk into a room to find her sitting in a perfect statuette pose. We also call her the "Nudginator" cuz she nudges a lot as a way to show her affection. She is a beautiful gray/brown striped tiger with a black tipped tail. She always has a soft, calm look to her face. She generally keeps out of Riley's way. I'm not sure the two have much in common.

Mei-Mei is also known as Meister, the turkey bastor. This would pertain primarily to her 21+ pound pear shaped body. Mei-Mei is...a black and white blob. The poor girl can't help it. It is simply her body type. She has a flat face, more rounded ears, and a flabby belly. As a kitten she used to have knee problems due to her excessive weight gain. Luckily on an all raw diet, she has not needed surgery. And she is the most needy one of the bunch, always wanting to find a cozy lap or pillow to snuggle into. Unfortunately, she is also the target of the most mischevious one, Ming. Because of this rivalry, Riley has to step in at times to referee. He hates a quarral.

Ming is also known as the Minganator (after the Terminator). Jeffrey put Ming-a-ling on her collar tag just to be funny, and cuz it rhymes and we like rhymes. She was the unexpected child. Though all of our girls are adopted, Ming was found in our backyard....*feral*. Yeah. She's a lot of work. She has been raw fed from the first day we had her so she is the best eater of the girls. She tears into all her meals with relish. Being the youngest of the bunch, she has the most energy and is always getting into something. Usually, she's getting into trouble. She is all muscle, with a longer face, pointy ears, mascara-lined eyes, and a long tail. Her coat is white with large gray spots. And she is obsessed with Mei Mei. When Ming approaches Little Li, Little Li will actually wrestle with her, satisfying the younger sister's, "will you play with me? Let's play! Let's play!" But when she approaches, "the Blob" she gets warning growls that are just too tempting to ignore. Sometimes, we will see that Ming just wants to be close to Mei, her closest older sister, but Mei Mei only finds her as a nuisance. Ming is the closest to Riley in age and in affections. The only time we ever hear her purr is when she is on top of his head, sucking and kneading his fur. When Riley is away while we are on vacation, Ming will run to greet him upon his return to rub up against his chest and circle around his legs in affection. We keep hoping she's going to grow up soon.

Riley never takes advantage of the girls' smaller sizes. He will only use one gentle paw to play with them and allows his tail to be a cat toy. He always waits patiently behind them as they eat their meals, waiting for them to finish so that he can have clean-up duty. But he has learned never to bully them out of their food. I think he appreciates their companionship and respects them as members of the family. We'd like to think that he loves his sisters. For now, they are our family. Jeffrey has a name song for each of our babies. At any given time in the house, he can be heard singing their names to them. It is very charming.

New Tricks

Riley is a great dog to train. We first knew he was able to learn a great many tricks when we had to teach him a trick to showcase at his puppy kindergarten class graduation. He had already learned, "sit" "paw" or "shake" and "look at me." I had done a lot of puppy training research and taught all the beginning obedience skills on my own using a Clicker. Then, after watching a trick performed on the TV show, Animal Planet, I set off to teach Riley to, "be bashful." This trick requires Riley to hang his head, lift his paw up, and cover his nose, as he looks bashfully at you. It is a great crowd-pleaser. It still requires some refining as he does not response to voice commands as well as he does to hand commands and when he gets over-excited, he will often miss his nose. But, usually, he can get it right within 2-3 tries. Other tricks we have learned or are still refining include:

Lay down, all the way down, stay, leave it, high-5, jump up, paws up, come, back up, wait, stay, speak, take a bow, and crawl.

Our most recent trick we've been working on requires Riley to pay attention to actual vocabulary. We have been working on touching objects on request, such as a ball, right paw, or left paw. We're nowhere near mastery, but we have made progress. What I have observed from every skill or trick I have taught Riley is that, I am the one who needs to practice. I need to practice diligence and patience. Riley has always eagerly and readily learned everything I have ever attempted to teach him. I have all too often lost patience or dropped a trick I felt was too difficult. The first few weeks are always the hardest and most frustrating. And then suddenly, he begins to get it and it is so rewarding. Maintaining consistency in performance continues to be my responsibility. More diligence. More patience. So rewarding. Riley performs for me everyday, for our friends, for strangers, and for patients.