Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Summer on Whidbey

Merlin has been up and down this summer. Some days are really good and he sleeps well, is happy, and goes outside when he needs to pee or poop. Other days he whines, pees in his diaper, and won't relax.

He's using stirrups some of the time now as his feet are mostly just dragging and not trying to walk anymore.

The good news- if you can call it that- is that he seems to recognize now that the cart is what he needs for mobility, and wants to use it when he wants to get somewhere. The downside of that is two wheel corgis in the same house tend to get wheels caught and block each other's way.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Whidbey Island


Merlin is definitely happier up here on Whidbey. He goes for a long walk on the dike each morning, and gets to sleep out in the car during the day (his favorite thing) and is sleeping much more at night as a result of being more active. He is quite willing to use his cart now. He's pictured here with his new beach wheels which make going out on the sand easier (still not really easy, though.)

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day

Merlin and I went over to his birthplace for Mother's Day dinner. Now, I've been watching Merlin's ability to walk disappear over time, but his breeder's family only sees him on occasion, and as I took him out of his cart during dinner, they were quite upset to see him barely managing to crawl around. I forget that what has become normal to me is devastating to them.

When they bred Lily they of course had no way to know that she carried the gene for DM, and neither did the stud's owner. If they had, that breeding would probably not have been done, even though, as it was probably carrier to carrier, it was a better breeding than many are doing. They couldn't know.

Breeders today CAN know, and those that don't have their big Ostrich heads stuck in the sand do know, and can do something to prevent this heartache for future corgi owners. If you are looking for a corgi puppy, ask the breeder what the DM status is. If the breeder isn't testing, or tries to tell you testing isn't important, look for another breeder. Unless you want to have a dog that can only drag himself around, that is. Remember that that cute little puppy that you fall in love with today, you are going to love 100 times more in eleven years when he starts to show signs of DM.

Day at the Beach


Yesterday two friends with DM dogs and I took our dogs to the beach near Santa Cruz. The dogs had a ball, and the three of us spent a lot of time explaining about DM and IVDD. The usual reaction to seeing a dog in a cart is "Does he have hip dysplasia?" so it is a good chance to educate about DM and explain about genetic testing for it. It's also good for people to see the dog in the cart- later, if their dog ever needs a cart, hopefully they will remember the image and instead of euthanizing, look for a cart. We also hope that if they buy a puppy of a breed that has a lot of DM, they will ask for evidence of testing.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

DM or IVDD?

No, this isn't a post about diagnostics. It's about which disease is preferable. We would all rather corgis got neither- or at least, that's what I would have said before I found out how many corgi breeders are unwilling to test for DM. I am sure when the test for IVDD is available they'll be equally unwilling to jump on that bandwagon, but for now they argue that DM is a disease of old dogs and that there are other, more important problems (such as IVDD.) So read the following and make your own decisions. These are from emails I received today.

From the owner whose dog has had surgery for IVDD:
Maggie had another physical therapy session last night. She walked on the underwater treadmill for 25 minutes and she was walking with her back legs!!!! Her right leg is stronger than her left leg, but she pretty much hit with her paws each time. She didn't knuckle like she did last week. I was so excited at how much she had improved since her last session. The PT was pretty excited
too.


And from another corgi owner:

My Pembroke has DM. She always loved her walks in the park, but with one leg cooperating less and less, she barely wants to walk more than 30' from the car.
Can you please advise me as to when I can determine that she needs a cart? She does wobble and the leg goes under her causing her to lose balance. Should I wait until the other leg is not fuctioning too? This is such a heartbreak, but I'm determined to work through this as we love her so.


You be the judge. Why is owner number one happy that her dog can barely walk and number two is heartbroken when hers is just barely knuckling and can still walk?

DM robs dogs of more than their ability to walk. It takes their stamina, their strength, their youth, their independence, and ultimately, their life.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Babies and Merlin


I've become like a mother of a newborn- if he's sleeping I don't disturb him, because if he is sleeping he isn't barking! We had a nice drive over to watch a friend do agility yesterday (friend from Indiana with her Rottie) and he was as good as gold, had a nice nap in the car, behaved nicely at the trial, rode home nicely. Then he barked non-stop from 3 PM until his walk at 7 PM, then again until he went to sleep around 10. He's asleep now- I'm not going to wake him!

New Merlin breakthroughs


This morning Merlin went outside in his cart to poop, then later barked to go out to pee, went down the ramp with a little guidance at the corners, peed, and came back up. Then on his own he made his way into the bedroom to find me. Yay, Merlin! Maybe the cart is becoming more second nature to him.

Or maybe its because he had a seizure early this morning (6 am) and it rewired his brain.