We are devastated. On October 25th, Fergus passed on and we are still wracked with grief. Initially Ebony kept searching all over for her favorite chew toy. When she couldn’t find him, she would crawl into a dark corner into a tiny ball. She goes back and forth from being clingy to ignoring me to the point that she no longer comes running when I fall and I have to call her to me to help me get back up. She has been acting up in public, refusing to stay in a park position and begging for attention from the speech therapist. The vet says it will take her 2-4 weeks to grieve and I am to expect erratic behavior in the mean time. She is needy but seems to get little comfort from me. Its like she blames me. We left her in the car that final trip to the vet with Fergus. We never leave her in the car. We carried Fergus away from her and didn’t bring him back. The vet says it will pass but it is a cruel blow that we can’t seem to comfort each other in our grief.  Fergus was so incredibly devoted to me, that I purposely picked out a puppy that wasn’t so needy. I knew Fergus couldn’t have handled that level of competition. It makes her a great service dog, Ebony can stand down while doctors and ambulance crews do what they have to do. Fergus was way too protective and had to be locked up the last time the ambulance came to the house. Fergus would give Ebony the bed, the toys and the treats but never the prime next to mom spot.

Fergus became ill suddenly and we had some real roller coaster days. One day he would collapse on the stairs and pee on himself in embarassment. The next day he would be wrestling with Ebony on the kitchen floor. One his last night, Ebony and I wouldn’t leave his side. We all laid on the living room floor in one huge puppy pile. Fergus was too scared to sleep and he would nudge me if he thought I was drifting off. Ebony was the only one that slept and she crawled on top of him to do so. When he would try to drag himself after me and collapse, we knew it was time. I couldn’t even leave him long enough to go to the bathroom. At 4am, my house mate joined the puppy pile in the living room where we cuddled with Fergus until the vet opened,The vet said his muscles had atrophied in just a weeks time and the blood work indicated a lymphoma with CNS involvement. She gave him a prognosis of a few days but seeing his fear, she recommended euthanasia. I knew he would be miserable not being able to get around and collapsing so I agreed. He was 13 and half years old and he has my handsome boy! I miss him so.

Bookmark this:

The American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) is sponsoring the National Service Eye Exam Day on 5/12/08.  Inspired by a smaller successful event in Tennessee last year, the ACVO is pairing up with Pet Health Systems to offer free eye exams as well as biochemical screening.  Eligible service dogs need to be certified to participate and interested service dog owners will need to sign up on their website after 4/1/08.

This free screening is available to guide dogs, handicapped assistance dogs, detection dogs, and search and rescue dogs. Dogs must be certified by one of the national organizations to qualify”.  Members of the Yahoo Assistance Dogs Group contacted ACOV and confirmed that  “IAADP membership will be accepted - they want to be sure that the
dog is in fact a SERVICE DOG - not a Therapy Dog and or companion animal”.

Ebony will qualify for IAADP membership next month, I am hoping that the turn around time will be quick enough that she will be able to participate. Although I am delighted with the excellent care that she is receiving at Woodinville Animal Hospital, I want her to have the opportunity to get the eye exam by an opthalmologist. Her eyes are so important to the both of us.

Bookmark this:

Thank you for those of you who have expressed your concern. Ebony is doing great but I have had a series of health concerns that prevented me from blogging. I am grateful to my beautiful niece who continues to assist me in training, exercising and entertaining the talented Ebony. I will post as I can and I will publish my snippets of training notes and significant stepping stones that I think are of interest in the whole big picture of living with and training a service dog.

Bookmark this:

Today was Ebony’s second puppy vet visit. She did great, we were able to finish up her puppy vaccinations. Her minor goldendoodle puppy health issues like the waxy ear build up and her vaginitis were greatly improved.  She is a little on the skinny side but her fecal tests were normal so I am to start feeding her FOUR times a day!

I made a dual appointment with Fergus to have his hot spots checked once again.  He had three new hotspots that needed shaving and treatment. I also had some lumps that I thought were fatty tumors checked out because one of them had started to bleed.  The vet said that they were warts and he was scratching them, making them bleed.  He has a wonder SoftE collar but Ebony is very adept at untying it for him and in the few minutes it takes for me to notice he has it off, he has scratched and chewed himself raw again. I had removed all wheat from his diet last week and although it didn’t seem to make much difference in his itchiness, the vet says no more wheat.  Both dogs are flea-free but my poor golden retriever’s skin allergies persist.  We left with oral and topical antibiotics and steroids.  It was an eye popping, jaw dropping $300+ vet bill AFTER my disability discount! I was in tears because my poor golden has been so itchy once again and very worried about what this vet bill, one-third of my monthly income was going to do to the budget. Now I won’t be able to afford the intermediate dog training course at the end of this month.  It will be a top ramen kind of month for me but I am confident that my dogs will receive the care that need to be their healthiest, even with the Golden Retriever predispostions. I thas really helped reenforce my decision to not get a pure bred this time and go for the hybrid vigor of goldendoodles.

Bookmark this:

Brushing:  Rickrat wisely recommended brushing Ebony daily.  She is not fond of the brush, especially on the legs but she is getting less fidgeting. A groomer showed me how to use a slicker brush and start at the bottom of her legs and work up. This helps detangle any mats that an active Goldendoodle puppy can acquire.  By the time I am done with her legs and I am brushing her body she is in puppy heaven.  On her ears, she has tight poodle curls and the fur on her legs is quite curly as well.  On her body and face, she has soft wavy fur, more reminiscent of a Golden Retriever puppy.  We will have to see what it is like when she sheds the soft puppy fluff and acquires her adult fur at about 8 months. Right now, I am overjoyed that in two days of brushing her, I STILL don’t have enough fur in her brush to clean it out!

Goldendoodle Ears:I will take her in for a grooming this coming week.  In the meantime, until I can get her ear hair trimmed, I have been gently cleaning the upper inside portion of her ears with a solution of 50% white vinegar and water. I dip a guaze pad into the solution and genty swab the inside of ears. This technique was suggested by Kathryn in her Goldendoodle book and was approved by my vet as a means of preventing the waxy build up that Goldendoodles are at risk for.  I am careful with her ears and don’t go anywhere that a finger wrapped in gauze can’t go, to protect her ears.  In two treatments, the wax seems to be receding.

Rash: One thing I didn’t mention in my vet post was that the vet detected a mild rash around her vulva.  It can be common in female puppies and usually results from her leaning or rubbing against the grass where she just urinated. I am wiping her with diaper wipes after she pees and she gets antibiotic cream on her belly twice a day.  I have tried putting the ointment on right before I feed her so she is much more interested in eating her kibble than licking her belly.

Teeth: Dental care is really important and I want to start her getting used to teeth brushing soon.  It is just a little bit more than I can handle right now. Hopefully, we will add that to our repertoire soon

Bookmark this:

Ebony’s first visit to the vet was today.  She appears to be in great health.  The vet, Dr. Michael Flynn at Crown Hill Veterinary Hospital thought I had made a sound service dog choice in Ebony in terms of her intelligence and disposition. Since they have been caring for Fergus’ severe skin allergies for years, they welcomed the fact that I had chosen a dog with hybrid vigor. The only thing amiss on her exam was some discharge in her ears.  They say Goldendoodles are prone to it and the best preventions is careful trimming of the ear hair.  They suggested the first couple of times I take her to a groomer until she is a bit bigger and more use to it, then I should be able to stay on top of it. She also got her second set of vaccines.  Although Starview Kennels include lifetime vaccines for all of their puppies, the cost in time and gasoline far outweighed the cost of the inject ion at the vet while we were there in the office.

Bookmark this: