Monday, February 25, 2008

Coco Update and Lyme Explanation

Coco has been bent the past week. I'm wondering if she has had it with her rowdy rover class; we got stuck next to a dog last week that barked the whole time. She's decided that charging the door is a new thing to do whenever people walk up the stairs! Miguel and I make her lie down every time she does it, and she kinda looks at us like, "whaaa? whaaa I do? I'm just protecting the house!" It will be nice when we have a real house then she can charge the door as much as she wants! On the flip side, I had a snow day on Friday so Coco was more than happy to curl up on her favorite blanket and watch TV with me for most of the day. Her Rowdy Rover class was canceled because of the storm, so let's see if she is more relaxed this week. Barking dogs are just too much for her, so it's good that she got a holiday.

I took Coco to the vet to get her Lyme vaccine. For us New Englander's, Lyme disease is what we've heard about for years, but apparently out west, where the ticks are less common, it's less discussed. I did a little research on the protein that causes the disease when I was in grad school, so I learned alot about Lyme in the process. A spirochete bacterium that lives in the infected salivary glands of a deer tick causes Lyme disease. It starts out with flu like symptoms, but can progress to the joints and nervous tissue. There is currently no vaccine for people, because some people had auto immune responses to the original one. For dogs, who can't tell you they have the flu let alone achy joints, you just can't risk it, so they get the vaccine anyways. It'll be Frontline for this pup till next Winter. My sister's dog, Gus, has Lyme disease. Poor Gus, he is very achy and grouchy most of the time. To prove that this blog doesn't discriminate against Westies, here is a picture of poor grouchy Gus.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Is it baseball season, yet?

It's amazing what a baseball fan will do for a few salmon flavored dog treats. Go Sox!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Westminster Kennel Club French Bulldog Video

For the love of all things holy and adorable click this link: Westminster Kennel Club French Bulldog Video

They are all so cute and wiggly! I can't stand it! I'm on doggie over load. EEEEEE!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Third week of rowdy rover...

This was a crazy week! Work was busy and I broke my cell phone. I was unable to text for literally seven days. It was horrible. But here is a picture of Coco made with my new and improved cell. It takes videos too so be prepared to be wowed!

This week, Coco and I worked on the command "touch" when I put out my right hand. And we also worked with putting her muzzle on. That always makes me sad to do , even though I know that I should act like it's no big deal. She just looks so sad when she has it on. It's all ridiculous looking, too, because it didn't fit right and I had to basically chop away at it with scissors to make it fit. Oi!

Rowdy rover went a million times better this week. I did what the trainer suggested and got better treats: chicken, cheese and broiled hotdog bits. She was a lot more focused and was pretty close to the other dogs this time. One of the dogs, Jake, was next to us alot and Coco kept staring at him. But I was able to take advantage of that and work on the "watch" command. I think she is starting to understand "watch". The trainers at Gemini are wicked awesome and so nice. Coco is a handful at times but they stop the class whenever she is out of her harness or is panicking. Her big test came after class when we went to the vet. I walked her right past an old Lab mix and she didn't bark. Another Lab puppy got a little close but I saw her ramp up and I got her to settle. However, the third dog, a Corgie, had the audacity to bark in her presence (the little scamp). Coco went bezerk. But honestly, she was so good about walking right past that first dog, that I'm giving her a break!

Hooray for the Coco! She is learning to overcome!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Coco, why?

I am feeling really guilty about Coco's rowdy rover class. She just doesn't like it! She seemed really bummed out towards the end of the class. She didn't want to eat any treats and she seemed kinda slugish. I know that what I want is for her to not panic when she sees other dogs. But I also don't want her to get depressed! Can dogs get depressed? Right now she is snoring away on the floor like nothing ever happened. It could all be in my head.

Anyways, here is a movie of Coco eating a sock. It is pretty dark; my camera isn't too good! But it's fun to be able to post a movie.