PUPPIES - 7 Weeks Old

Izzie came with us.  Izzie is from Macey's first litter.  She is eleven months old now!

Izzie with her mama.

Some More of the Many Looks of Bentley

He cracks us up.

Beautiful Clipper

Glory Girl

Thinking about Glory girl.  She came to stay with us last year at this time.  She was released from the Dogs with Wings training program because her temperament wasn't fit for service work.  She was adopted by  friend's of her puppy raiser's who have a lovely chocolate lab.  I saw Glory about eight months ago and she looked great.  She loves her new family.  It would be great to have another visit from this sweet girl.

Rain, Go Away

Rain, go away, so that we can go out and really play.  

We are Getting Closer!

Bentley has been given a  treatment plan for Atypical Cushing's Disease after results came in yesterday.  Like many stories of health, his story hasn't been an easy one to figure out and his test results have left everyone wondering if there is more going on.  The test should have shown multiple hormones to be all over the place, but just one hormone was considered abnormal, which shouldn't surprise us at this point, should it?  Sometimes thyroid tests come back with false negatives, and so at my request (based on the advise of his dog groomer), I suggested we do further testing on his thyroid, and more extensive tests.  Did I say extensive, I meant, probably, expensive tests.  Oh well, we have come this far, and there is a nagging in my mind that there is more going on, and when I asked the specialist, she agreed and felt it was completely reasonable to do more testing on this thyroid.  She offered the testing at her clinic or his normal clinic, so back to his normal vet...

His dog groomer saw him yesterday and took one look at him, and before I could get a word in, she was all over his thyroid.  She raises spaniels and has seen his symptoms in one of her dog's before.  She even asked if he has lost weight, which is funny, because thyroid problems usually mean dog's gain weight.  Bentley has lost weight and has been part of the reason we have backed away from thyroid problems.  She said her dog lost weight and the fur on her dog looked just like Bentley's.

We are supposed to begin a treatment of Melatonin supplement to treat his adrenal gland in the mean time.  In the end, if it is just Atypical Cushing's, we have months ahead of figuring out a treatment plan that works for him.  We have to keep him on Melatonin for four months to see if there is a difference.  If there isn't, then we will have to start him on a more aggressive treatment.  We'll deal with that when we get there.

Clip's First Camping Experience

We went camping last weekend.  It was my first time, and although it was a short trip, I had a great time!  Bentley and Breton seemed familiar with lounging in dirt.  I wasn't familiar with that, but I sure was comfortable with it!  I got free range of our campsite, while the other two were tied to trees. The one whole day we were there, we spent at the river, swimming after tennis balls.  It was great!  Mom and Dad rode their bikes to the river with Bentley and Breton each attached to a bike, and I trotted along after them, right through the campground.  I guess it was a small enough place that Mom and Dad felt comfortable letting me just tag along like that.  After a day of running, swimming and hiking, I was beat.  I climbed up into the trailer at bedtime, hopped up onto my bed, and didn't move until 9am the next morning.  Bentley and Breton zonked out beside me.  I think that was one of the best days of my life.  I hear we are going to B.C. soon, and spending lots of days camping.  I can't even imagine how much fun I am going to have there.