THINKING ABOUT BONNIE

Bonnie is doing well and her head tilt has improved quite a lot. We are still going to the Chiropractor because I now believe she had an injury when younger. She and Topaz play hard and I remember the time I heard Bonnie cry and Topaz had pushed her against a kitchen cabinet. My vet has said that if it was something serious she would not be getting better and she is. The head tilt is almost not noticeable. Most would not pick up on it. I may try to find her a nice home where she will get more one on one. She is a smart girl, I started her training at 8 weeks and she remembers it well. She knows sit and down and walks well on a leash. She is house trained and crate trained. Of course if she went to a new home she would need house training to develop a new routine. I would like her to be with someone who was home most of the time.
I don't think she would be happy hanging out in the house or crate all day while someone worked full time. She is super smart and trained so fast. She is still puppy at 13 months. I believe she has so much potential. I am not sure that I want to breed her and I want the best for her. Time will tell and if the perfect place comes along for her then I would consider doing what is best for her. I love all my dogs and it is hard to think of letting them go but sometimes they need more than I can give, especially with so many Shelties. I have placed a few Shelties over the years and it was not easy but I knew what I was doing was best for the dog. If they can get better than what I do for them then it is right.
Sometimes it is more loving to give them something better than what I give them. I know them well and I know their needs. We will see what time brings.
Topaz is enrolled in basic obedience and she is super smart too and I am looking forward to training her. I would love to get back into Therapy work. Hopefully I can work towards that.
I have had four Shelties that were awesome Therapy dogs. It is very rewarding for the people we visit and also for me. I love to share my dogs.
I take life one day at a time and believe that what is meant to be will happen.
The hair is flowing around here, so today I will completely groom two more, maybe three if I get the ambition. Everyone is shedding, even Bonnie but she does not have undercoat, but is shedding some of her coat. She never had undercoat but maybe it will come with age.
All for now! Rosie is telling me that it is time for breakfast so I better get moving.

BONNIE AND TOPAZ

DOGS AND RAIN!!

Another day of rain, and wet, muddy and smelly dogs. You think the rain would bother them but not so. The seniors definitely don't like to go out in the rain, I have to give them a gentle push, heaven forbid that they get their feet wet. Especially Brooke, she just does not want wet feet. The young dogs don't care which is great, they will run right out in the rain and want to play chase. They don't care if they get soaked. They just shake it off and go on playing chase, and catch me if you can. The Shelties and dogs in general are amazing as they accept whatever is given to them and especially the weather. Although Bling who is 9 years old becomes very upset with heavy rain and thunder. With thunder she will find a place to hide and bark at the thunder. I think she thinks that she can chase it away. One night we had storms and she barked the whole night. Thankfully the others did not join her. If they had there would have been no sleep that night. I did a complete grooming on Brooke and Keeper yesterday and thankfully they go out and do what they need to and come right back in. They don't get muddy and their coats just fluff up a bit with the rain. I am glad that I started with the seniors yesterday and not the younger dogs as they get muddy and very wet. I took out tons of hair yesterday as this is the shedding time of year, now through September, and once the undercoat is gone they look so pretty. Will do two more seniors this week, Max who is 13 and he hates brushing. But that is only because of his age and it hurts his skin, so I do small portions at a time and it takes several days to get him groomed out. I started on Glory the other evening and sat on my grooming box rather than put her on the table which I usually do. She was in seventh heaven. She put her head on my knee and just soaked it all in. Glory would be a wonderful Therapy dog for someone. I co-own her with a friend and she is here to have a litter and then I may find her a home where she will blossom with not living with a pack. But this will take a lot of thought as it is pretty easy to get attached to her. The home will need to be perfect, she is so sweet and loving, I can see her visiting the elderly and giving much joy. Having a therapy dog  is a wonderful experience for all. The elderly love to see the dogs, have a time to pet and talk to them. Many have memories of dogs in their past. It is so rewarding to share your dog and bring joy.
I have digressed from the rain topic. I am hopeful this will be the last day of rain for awhile. I want to get everyone groomed and it would be so nice if they could stay clean. I have small stone in my dog yard but the dirt is beginning to come through. I have purchased a few pieces of kennel deck which helps a lot. They are over the area by the gate which used to get very muddy and now they keep clean. They like the decking and often lay on it and not on the stone, it is much more comfortable. Actually they prefer to be in the house. They are good for the most part, although if Topaz can steal any kind of paper she will. Then we have a great game of catch me if you can. She loves the little yellow notepads, she will rip pages off before I can catch her. Then Bonnie sees what fun she is having grabs a sheet of paper and proceeds to shred it, what fun!! Someday I hope to get back into therapy, maybe Topaz. We start her obedience class tomorrow and if she does well we will go on with the training and get her Canine Good Citizen title so that she can become certified for therapy.
For now all is peaceful. Maybe I will be lucky and have a few moments of peace before breakfast. 

Morning coffee with the kids!!

LONGER THAN I LIKE

Twelve days since I have written about Bonnie. Her head may be a little straighter but still tilting. I have decided to take her to a veterinary chiropractor. In trying to cover all bases it is possible she hurt herself and maybe has a pinched nerve. An adjustment might help that and she would be able to straighten her head. It is worth a try and would be wonderful if this is the problem. I am hopeful.
The dogs don't like this weather anymore than I do. They just lay around and some of them love the basement floor, it is quite cool.
I had another one of Topaz's puppies visit this week. It is so nice to see how the pups are developing. Topaz and Zuzu her daughter seemed to know each other. When Coco visited a few weeks ago she and Topaz also seemed to know each other. It is fun to see them interact with each other. 
This is a really good day to brush dogs in front of the air conditioner. With this heat and humidity their coats are just falling out in big tufts. It is not too difficult to brush when the hair is dropping on its own. 
Topaz is a very independent girl and will often ignore me especially if there is some paper she can steal. That is her favorite thing to do, she just loves paper of any kind and will play keep away as I really don't want her eating it. That is her next favorite thing to do. I have to make sure that nothing important is within her reach. She loves to steal any thing that she can reach.  So Topaz and I are going to a beginner obedience class. A few manners will be good for her. Lately she has been ignoring my come command, I go get her and tell her come but next time she ignores me again. She is having fun, thinks this is a game. She will get down on her front paws, butt in the air and tail wagging, she is challenging me, "come get me if you can." If I grab a cookie she will come to me but I don't want to reinforce her bad behavior. She is so funny and I try not to laugh, she gets this look on her face that says " I dare you" and she really does. I now put her on a leash when she comes out of her kennel in the morning so she has no choice but to do what I ask and she is fine with that. I think that she will train beautifully and we will have fun. I can picture her as a very well trained dog.

Topaz and Bonnie!

BONNIE NEWS

A beautifully cool morning this morning. Should be a nice day without the humidity and heat. The kind of summer that I love. Bonnie is doing well, we don't have answers for her head tilt. We had thought maybe a tick disease as those diseases attack the central nervous system. All her blood work came back normal, no tick disease, thyroid normal and all other blood work normal. She is on Doxycycline so that if there is some infection this will clear it. At times her head tilt looks a little better but it always goes back to the tilting left. I thought about an MRI which would show any tumors and maybe swelling in the brain, I have decided against it as I would not put Bonnie through the surgery for a brain tumor. Operating on the brain can be so risky. Once she has finished the month of Doxycycline she will go on Methadexazone in case there is any swelling and hopefully it would help that. Then another thought I had was that she could have had a toxic reaction to the heart worm meds. I always used to use Interceptor until they stopped making it, there was no Ivermectin in it. I switched to Generic Heartguard as there was no choice, but it has Ivermectin in it and that could be a possibility. I have read about Ivermectin toxicity and the damage from that is not reversible. My plan for Bonnie is to just keep her comfortable and happy. And she is a very happy girl and seems to have no pain. There is the possibility that she played too rough and hurt herself, but my vet said she would get better from an injury. 
I am sitting here writing and I feel this cold nose poking at my leg, of course it is Keeper wanting some attention. He is the sweetest boy ever.
With this heat everyone is dropping coat and I have hair everywhere. I am brushing as fast as I can and it is pretty easy as the hair is just dropping out. Soon everyone will be naked and much easier to keep, sometimes I think a smooth coated Sheltie would be wonderful.
Well that is my news for today, enjoy this beautiful cool air. 
A friend of mine has a 10 week old bi black female available, she is so cute and has a wonderful personality. At 10 weeks she really needs her own home. If anyone is interested give Harriet a call at 603-539-1603. Her picture is below.