Walking the dogs

Often I take Merlin by himself, but just as often I take four corgis, two carts, and a stroller.

The first challenge is getting everyone "hitched up." This means putting Merlin in a cart (Candy is usually already in his) and leashing up Jack and Janine. Jack wears an EZ-walk harness which is connected to a two-fer (coupler) and that snaps to Janine and to a leash. Sounds simple, but Jack is leaping around, barking, snapping (not aggressively, its just what he does) at Janine, Janine is barking, and Candy is barking.) Once everyone is finally leashed, the next challenge is to get out the door and lock the door behind us. This involves letting Jack and Janine go out on leash, letting Candy out off-leash so he can go down the steps, and pushing Merlin out far enough that I can, while still holding Jack and Janine, lock the door behind us. Then I let them go down the three steps, wheel the stroller down, and help Merlin down.

Now we head down our narrow walk to our hill. Too many steps to the street, so we take the steep lawn down. At the bottom we reconnoiter. Candy's leash in hand, Merlin's wrapped around the posts of his cart so I can grab it easily, Jack and Janine's looped over my hand so they can't easily bolt.

And off we go! Sometimes Merlin makes the decision as to which way but usually, when all of us go, I make it. Today we head up Van Ness towards the main road; four blocks there is a good walk for Merlin and there are no curbs as the road is at sidewalk level.

Now it is time for Merlin to stop and sniff and finally, when he finds the right spot, pee. We have to wait patiently. Usually Janine poops, too, early in the walk (and sometimes two or three more times.) Our progress is very slow during the part of the walk where Merlin walks. When he is alone with me I can speed him up with carrots, but in a group walk he brings up the rear.

Next, Janine has to find a place to roll. There are some beautiful green overwatered lawns on our route, and she likes to find a slightly odorous spot to take her roll. She has perfected the art of doing this while on a two-fer with Jack, who just waits patiently, his eyes peeled for the big three: squirrels, cats, and birds.

On we go. Jack and Janine hear a squirrel or even better, spy one, and both freeze, staring at it as if they think they can use their telekinetic powers to make it fall from the tree. If they see a kitty, they lunge. Kitties beware! Birds, Janine ignores, but Jack becomes intensely distracted as he watches them fly.

Candy, on the other hand, is enamored of one thing: people. He wants to be patted and admired. A walk is not complete without the chance to greet at least one stranger like an old friend.

All three are delighted if a corgi stalker appears and flags us down, because now they don't just get sedate pats, they are allowed to fling themselves on the friend (what corgi stalker can be a stranger?) and enjoy unlimited admiration.

All four dogs are also intent on finding lawn fudge, or kitty krispies. Enough said about that- we avoid several streets where the kitties apparently lack litter boxes or flower beds, and stay on the main street.

Somewhere around midway or near the three-quarter mark, Merlin fades, and is lifted into the stroller for the remainder of the walk. Jack is also tiring by now, and walks as slowly as possible in front of the stroller, getting bumped in the rear periodically as he fails to move. Non-plussed, he strolls along.

Finally back at our home, we climb the neighbors driveway to our lawn, and roll up to the front door. I unleash Candy and lift his cart back so he can climb the steps, unlock the door, and loop Jack and Janine's leash on a doorknob. I go back to the stroller and roll it up a board to the porch, the lock the brakes and lift Merlin out. Another walk is over!

Corgi puppies

Whenever I read a litter announcement I look at OFA records to see if the parents are tested (usually I recognize the names if they are.) Usually they aren't, or if they are, came out carrier or At Risk and the breeder didn't want the results made public. This is WHY puppy buyers need to ask about DM testing- because it may have been done and hidden, which is just as bad as not doing it at all. Remember, if the parents haven't been tested, you can have the puppy you plan to buy tested, it only takes a week or so and costs $65, which I can tell you now is a LOT less than the cost of dealing with DM.

What are your chances that your At Risk puppy will get DM? Nobody knows, but somewhere between 10 and 20% is my best guess right now.

If your breeder of choice IS testing, and discloses the results, and the puppy comes from a "good" breeding (no worse than carrier to carrier) I would probably take a chance on the puppy. That breeder is trying to help the breed, and as a responsible, caring breeder is also likely to help you if, in ten years, your dog is showing signs fo DM. But by 2012, I wouldn't buy that puppy, either- if by then there aren't clear and carrier puppies available the breeder isn't doing her share to remove DM from her line.

Remember the breeder should also have tested the hips of the parents. You can also ask about health of siblings and half-siblings and other dogs in the puppy's line. You can never get a guarantee of perfect health, but if your breeder has 12-15 year old dogs running around in good health, its a good sign!

Monthly update on DM Dogs

Merlin has been kind of up and down this month. The heat was not good for him or for getting him out to walk, and the last few days he has been much more active. That has its downside, too, as he tires out quickly, but I'm hoping with two good walks a day (which means about 4 blocks each) he will regain some endurance. Sometimes I think he is ready for a counterbalanced cart, but other times he seems just fine. We go about four blocks, then he quits and rides home in the stroller.

It's a challenge with four dogs and the stroller; once I put Merlin in it we can speed up and I just have the other three to worry about.

Today was tricky as Jack was fixated on birds and not at all watching where he was going so kept getting in the way of the stroller.

Last night he did wake up at 4:30 to pee, then pooped at 5 (due to
eating something that didn't agree with him, made a big mess) and then barked until 6:30 when I gave up and got up. Other than that the GABA has worked and he's been sleeping all night for a couple of weeks now. This morning he didn't have to poop early, but since it has cooled off he has been taking himself outside in the morning again.

Barking

Merlin is barking. I don't know if he barked while I was swimming laps; if so, he has been barking non-stop for 75 minutes. If he stopped it has only been 35 minutes non-stop.

He wants food. He will bark like this until I either get the spray bottle and zap him or give him food. He has had dinner. This is not a DM thing; he has always been willing to bark for up to two solid hours to get what he wants. He'll do it for longer now because I can't ignore him so I have to check more often (sometimes he is barking for a legit reason.)

I'd be tempted to let him eat all he wants, except I have to be able to lift him, and I don't want his front legs collapsing under the weight of his own tummy.

Pretty soon I will wait for a lull in the barking and then give the bedtime snack. Or maybe I will let him go for the record.

Another friend gone

Another one of Merlin's virtual friends has lost his life to DM.

http://peacefulmayhem.livejournal.com/181310.html

There have been so many this year I can't name them all.. Guido, Yogi, Einstein, Dylan, Georgie, Liz, Serene, and so many more. Some old, many too young.

Yes, we've lost other friends to other diseases. What makes DM so hard is that we have to make the decision to end the life of a dog whose mind and spirit are still intact but whose body is failing. What makes it even harder now is that it is now a preventable disease, and while more and more breeders are beginning to test, too many more are not. The SOD1 gene is so thoroughly entrenched in the Pembroke breed that without some aggressive action the numbers lost to DM will only increase.

Goodbye, Beckett.

DM a geriatric disease?

Someone on Performance Corgis asked about how late senior dogs were competing in agility. Here are some responses.

Senior corgis competing in agility

I'm doing agility with a pair of 8.7 yr olds.

Ringo is over 9 and going strong.

My Pem, Mandy is still doing agility at 10 1⁄2 years old. We have been at it for
a long time and she loves it and hasn't shown any sign of slowing down yet. She
got her MXJ last April and has 5 more legs in Excellent B to get her MX title.

This subject is a fascinating one, I retired Shadow at the at of 11 1/2
(after his last run at the AKC agility national this past spring).

Trystan will be 12 years old in a couple of weeks and he is still
competing. He finished his MACH5 in August and has 7 more QQs. And he's
still often in the ribbons 'cause "speed kills" ya know . Last year
was his best year competing - earning a MACH3 and MACH4 and 38 QQs.


Allie finished her MACH3 in mid-May, and turned 12 on June 4.? In December last
year she completed her APD.

You can do this! My Angel (bridge last year at almost 16) finished her MACh at
13.

Merlin retired at 10 1/2 when he started showing signs of DM.
He wasn't headed for a Mach; he'd have been lucky to make it to his C-Tatch (Enthusiast CATCH) in CPE as he was just going into Level 4 when he stopped Q'ing. But he loved it and I loved it and DM stopped us from doing it- and moreover, is stopping me from taking Jack to agility trials even though he is young and healthy. (What do I do with Merlin who needs lots of care if I go off with Jack?)

Update on sleep

Ellen C. has been trying GABA on her reactive Pem, and I looked at the research for its use in dogs, and found it looked hopeful for nightime barking in dogs. So tried it with Merlin, and have now had three good nights of sleep! I hope it keeps working. Right now he is barking but it is daytime and he wants dinner.