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Canine Sense - Did You Know

Check out these articles by Dr. Stanley Coren (BC, Canada) Canine Corner

Friday, September 24, 2010

BLUE ALGAE TOXINS

PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS

GARDEN POND OWNERS NEED TO KNOW; STANDING WATER WHERE YOU MIGHT EXERCISE YOUR DOG IN PARKS, FIELDS etc

Something I've never heard of before is that, even here in the Ottawa area, any type of standing water, ponds, water features you may have in your yard that might contain blue-green algae can produce serious toxins, when the weather is right; they form enormous blooms or CyanoHABs. These are recognizable as blue-green, brown or white floating mats. They're responsible for causing illnesses in humans and animals exposed to them by drinking or swimming where a bloom is present. These blooms aren't always present at the surface as it depends on a lot of conditions.

The story - a client of mine let their 2 dogs out last Thurs for last potty, then put them to bed. Within 20 mins they could heard signs of distress with the male, Maxx. Down they went to find this boy vomiting blood and diarrhea blood. In less than 45 mins of attending to him he went 'down', totally 'out'!!! They rushed him to one of the 24/7 emergency vet clinics for treatment. At this point they were told not to hold up any hope of him making it through the night. What could it have been that caused such a violent reaction so quickly? They went home and searched the property to try and find what he might have gotten into ... nothing could be located; no mushrooms, nothing. Then they searched the internet and found out about these blue green algae (BGA)!!!! hummm their garden POND!!!! had to be it.

This BGA has been found in fossil form going back 3.5 million years, and produces neuro & liver toxins. BGA neurotoxins can kill animals within minutes by paralyzing the respiratory muscles, while the hepatotoxins can cause death within hours by causing blood to pool in the liver. Some of you may have heard the term Red Tide which is the same in large bodies of water, but is not associated with tidal movement.

Maxx and his sister Chloe, after his grooming

I heard about this on Tuesday, as Maxx needed to be cleaned up, and to fix his chopped up, shaved rump as best I could. To me, Maxx was the same. No ill effects neurologically at all!! TG. The vets say they haven't seen a case of recovery from such an ill dog in many moons ... they really held out no hope, except, it was for his will to live that brought him thru it all. So Maxx got my special treatment :)

Maxx's liver values aren't normal yet but they are way down. He's on special food and meds and will return in two weeks for follow-up testing. They had gone up to 3150, normal levels should be less tha 100!

SO canine friends, this is probably as freaky to you as it is to me hear; take heed on this if you've got a garden pond in your yard, any standing or running water on your property as this toxin hits HARD and FAST. Don't waste time in getting to a vet, and if you don't know a 24/7 emergency vet #, look it up now and paste it up where it's always handy for anyone in the household.

Just do an blue algae canine toxin web search and you'll find more info. Learn about any garden or fish ponds you might have and how to properly care for them, as this BGA can come and go in a short time frame.

I hope this info helps more owners & their dogs.

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Monday, September 20, 2010

Sudbury Road Trip

Sudbury - The Big Nickel

This past weekend, Marylou, my mom and I went up to Sudbury, specifically to attend the Purina Puppy Classic & 3 days of the regular dog show. This is our 3rd year qualifying for the Puppy Classic. This year we had BPIS Ch Shelamo's Riding The Sky HIC that qualified, and I also showed Penny Woodruff's boy BPIG Ruffleith's Barolo Di Rionda. This event was held on Friday night.
BPIS Ch Shelamo's Riding The Sky HIC in the Purina Puppy Classic

BPIG Ruffleith's Barolo Di Rionda in the Purina Puppy Classic

"Whistler" won a Group 3rd placement!

Saturday afternoon after the regular show we headed to an outlet and shopped! Figure we spent some 2 hours going thru racks of clothes. Dangerous place for 2 women :) That took us to the dinner hour where we enjoyed an all you could eat FEAST at the Red Lobster. OH boy! did I stuff myself. The sun was close to setting so we headed up to the Big Nickel which I hadn't seen for some 10+ yrs, Marylou had never seen that area ... the barren landscape that once looked like the moon has now been allowed to grow with many areas being reforested & grassed over ... what a lovely sunset.

We were back at it early Sunday morning, where "Whistler" took Best of Breed.Really didn't take my camera out to capture many other moments ... other than this one ... Rio doing his high jumping act while meals were being prepared by the handler next to us. He can also 'table surf' as we found out in the hotel room.

Hey ... over here ... what about ME???!!!

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Shelamo Jumping Jelly Bean

Meet one of our new boys! He's called Jelly Bean. He's joined BPIB Ch Shelamo Winds At My Back, and co-owned with friends Jan & Steve Silcox. He is out of our Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack, sired by Am/Cdn Ch Barwoods Jana JFK.

@ 5 months of age

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Friday, September 10, 2010

Dog Obedience ~ City of Ottawa Update

If you are registering for any of the City of Ottawa courses, like my dog obedience class you need to register today!

The great powers to-be have elected to have the contractor perform computer maintenance/upgrades, shutting down all on-line registration from Sept the 12th thru to at least the 16th. Thus all class #'s are being decided upon by what is showing up today, some of the good working staff will spend extra time at work and decide tomorrow noon. These #'s will be what decides if a course is a go or not.
So, if there is a course you're keen on this fall, get on-line and register now.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Fall Dog Obedience

To my Ottawa area viewers - I know vacation is over, kids back in school, but have you thought of classes for your dog? Something to keep their interest up, a night out that the dog enjoys, a bonding time for you and your dog, and all to learn how to communicate better with your dog to live as a good neighbour. It's time to get on-line and register as many are starting soon.

My classes through the City of Ottawa start up next Wednesday, September 15th, Level 1 starts @ 6:45 pm; Level 2 at 8pm (must have completed Lev 1). You can go here ...

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/parks_recreation/programs/guide/registration_en.html

and click on Go Register icon, search Dog Obedience, Wed, Ron Kolbus Lakeside Gardens.

Dogs of any age over 4mths can attend and must be up-to-date on their rabies vaccination. A dog is never to old to learn!

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Line up, Line up

With the 6 pups in our care right now it is imperative that they learn good feeding habits. They've been taught to "line-up" when it's time to eat (a Marylou's command). Everyone must be calm before I put the food bowls down.I get constant sits from the larger dark sable boy. He is so patient every time, some of the others have to do a few laps around till they settle into a spot to start waiting.
ML ... eat your heart out ... lol
So folks, if I can do this with no other hands helping me, with 6 - 14+ wk old pups, then any of you with one or two dogs should be able to ask/teach this behaviour also.

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Monday, September 6, 2010

Beauty & Brains

Just received some exciting news from Linda Howie .... "Whistler" went seeking a new title on Sunday at the herding instinct testing in Alfred, Ontario ... he passed all the requirements with flying colours!!!

He was able to work well with the handler, gather the sheep well & adjust to them, super temperament, with an "well done" comment.

Don't you tell me when, that's my job!!!

He is now

BEST PUPPY IN SHOW CH SHELAMO'S RIDING THE SKY HIC



Gosh Linda, this boy has gone from the show ring, to agility classes, to entertaining the ladies, and now trying his paw at herding. YIKES, he's just over a yr of age, are you going to have fun with this boy.

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Friday, September 3, 2010

Time of Year for the Monarch Butterfly

The monarch butterfly, as it fuels up for the long flight south for the winter. I remember as a kid on many of our camping trips, capturing the monarch caterpillars, watching them form into a chrysalis in a jar, and then into a butterfly. Just an amazing process.

This is a female.

Afternoon sun as it shines thru its wings.

Oppss!! A little breezy!

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