We’ve had a lot of dog drama since mid-summer and it just continues. Also, it’s warm and we’ve had very little snow.
August:
- We adopted Flibu and Bazook. Chaos moved inside so that we were able to accommodate new dogs in the dog yard.Flibu and Bazook nearly killed Amy-Sue and beat up Timber. Amy-Sue recovered from her sucking chest wounds and is a core member of the team. Timber recovered from his attack but is no longer a mid-distance dog due to muscle damage in his armpit area.
In our 20 years of adopting sled dogs, we never had an attack that ruined a dog’s mushing career until now. I’m still very traumatized about what happened and am so sad that Timber is not on the team. I am ever grateful to Doc. H.E. from Alpine for saving Amy-Sue.
We returned Flibu and Bazook because we couldn’t trust them not to kill/maim another dog.
- Maude and Medusa weren’t eating and visited the vet. Maude had an ultrasound done (we wanted this even though the vet didn’t suggest it because we know from last year’s ultrasound that Maude has a growth on her gallbladder). The ultrasound showed that the growth on her gallbladder was about the same.
The vet gave me Cerenia for Maude, and that seemed to have helped with her not eating.
Medusa checked out okay and was given Omeprazole, which seemed to help. She is eating fine now.
September: We adopted Athena and Striker.
October: Athena had a bad wrist injury. She is still recovering and needs another 3 weeks until she can do short runs. She will not make the “A” team this season.
November: We acquired Rev and Sniper. At our dog drop at Alpine I asked the vet about Sniper’s stained area due to tears and he said that due to the way her third eyelid is shaped the tears flow in the wrong direction.
December:
- My go-to girlie, Allie, wasn’t eating well. A vet visit revealed that she had mammary tumors. Bloodwork revealed that she has renal disease. She had the tumors surgically removed and is on special renal food. She moved inside and will become a permanent inside dog. Unfortunately, during her recovery, she injured her back, so she’ll need to stay in a crate for a while. The biopsy revealed that the tumor was benign.
- Her daughter Axel moved inside because Axel can’t live without her mom. It’s going to take a long time for Axel (and Allie) to learn how to use the dog doors.
Update: We moved Axel back outside because she wasn’t happy inside. Allie is still recovering inside and we’re not sure if she’ll go back out into the yard. She missing mushing.
- Kia wasn’t eating well and a vet visit revealed that she needed a dental due to worn teeth. The local vet in Whitehorse was unable to do a dental until summertime. I was on my way to Fairbanks for work and managed to get an appointment with Doc. B.C. at Aurora in Fairbanks. Kia had 9 teeth removed and the doc found a mass on her tongue. The mass was sent out for a biopsy and is benign. It was an oral fibroepithelial polyp.