Another sweet, nervous rescue...

[parmelbe]

Will she play fetch in the backyard? When it's warm, my cairn will do this several times a day for about 10 minutes at a time.

 

Fetch is a nonstarter for her. She won't even chase things we throw, doesn't seem to understand the concept. I've tried stuffing a miniature tennis ball with treats and rewarding her for just touching it with her nose, but as soon as it leaves my hand she ignores it. 

 

 

Regarding overheating on walks:  Does she ever show signs of heat exhaustion (frothing at the mouth, for example) or is she just panting very heavily?  Our non-Cairn Ziggy is part Shih Tzu and he is prone to heat exhaustion so I have some experience with this.  You can try using a cooling collar - several types are available.  When we see that Ziggy is beginning to get too hot we splash his belly with cold water.  We have also poured water over his back but he really likes the water on his belly.  

 

 

 

It's usually just pretty heavy panting but once or twice I've seen some frothy saliva. I splash water on her but she hates being wet so that earns me some grumpy looks. 

[Hillscreek]

Lucky Betsy Lucky you! great pics of a lovely cairn.

 

You can start learning to strip her by pulling out loose hairs she has already.  Stripping keeps the harsh

hair, cutting makes it soft. Some people care about this some don't. I gradually learned to take care of Angus's coat myself.

There's lots of advice on the forum about coat care if you get a chance to look around. Look in the Grooming section.

 

Chuckle at her liking the French horn! I listen to classical music quite a bit and love that sound.

 

When it is warm/humid here I don't take Angus for a walk except in the early morning. Play ball and few other things in the house for exercise and fun.

If we are walking and he starts panting with tongue hanging down I quit and come home. He doesn't always drink water when offered. Can't think why.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Hillscreek

[parmelbe]

 

 

You can start learning to strip her by pulling out loose hairs she has already.  Stripping keeps the harsh

hair, cutting makes it soft. Some people care about this some don't. I gradually learned to take care of Angus's coat myself.

There's lots of advice on the forum about coat care if you get a chance to look around. Look in the Grooming section.

 

 

 

It doesn't bother me much if her coat isn't "show-ready" or anything like that. I just want her to be comfortable. I've heard that getting her cut will just make the hair shorter and not necessarily address the issue of built-up old undercoat. If there some kind of product I can get, like those rubbery grooming mitts, that will take a lot of it out at a time?

[Hillscreek]

Try Andis deshedding tool for undercoat or furminator. Google to find where to buy.Think Amazon maybe oryour local petshop.

[sanford]

Like Hillscreek, I recommend Furminator for undercoat removal, which I use for Ruffy. Furminator, or versions of it are sold in Petmarts, Petcos, etc.

In your pix, Betsy's coat already looks very, very short to me, (which probably helps her in the hot weather), so I'm not sure if she even has enough coat for a tool to work on.

I tried rubbery grooming mitts without much success, (got minimal results). I think the mitts might work better on long haired dogs, but I could be wrong.

In the hot weather, Ruffy seems to get dehydrated pretty quickly on our walks, so I always bring water with us, whether he drinks it or not. Seeing frothy saliva on Betsy's mouth would concern me and be a sign that water should be offered and her walk should be shortened. Even though Betsy doesn't like getting wet, if you wet your hand and rub her down gently, especially her neck and belly, it will help cool her.

Edited August 31, 2015 by sanford

[Pepper Bug's Mom]

Just make sure she has every form of ID on her at ALL times - I have my cell phone # on Pepper's tags.  It came in handy last week when the granddaughter opened the front gate and Pepper took advantage of it and BOLTED out the gate and up the road.  The neighbors 2 blocks behind us called and asked if "I had a little dog?" Ha!  We had been scouring the neighborhood for 1/2 an hour - calling, driving, etc.  Of course she will run up to any stranger and practically jump in their arms.  Good luck with your precious baby - she is beautiful and will become a member of your family soon!

[parmelbe]

Oh, of course, she wears a tag with phone numbers and email any time she isn't in the crate. 

 

She's all back from surgery. No teeth needed to be extracted but the lump and associated teat were completely removed after a needle aspiration and sent to the lab. We're all settled in for two weeks of recovery. Good thing I'm still looking for full-time work!

 

She's pretty heavily medicated and has been sort of lolling around with her tongue hanging out. So far we've been able to keep her from jumping on the furniture and when she has her cone affixed she refuses to move. 

 

Pictures aren't working, will update when they do. 

[hheldorfer]

Good news that Betsy is back from surgery and all is well.  She may seem lethargic right now but by tomorrow she should be back to Betsy the Super-Cairn.

 

Do you feel she really needs the cone?  They tend to slap a cone on every dog who has surgery, even though some don't need it.  If it would be difficult for Betsy to lick the surgical site she may be fine without it. 

[sanford]

Many dogs seem to have trouble adjusting to those stiff plastic cones. Soft, fabric cones are much more easily tolerated, as are round, donut-shaped cones. These are found at many pet-supply stores; Petsmart, Petco, etc.

[parmelbe]

It's a soft cone, apparently made of laminated stock paper. She just sort of goes catatonic with it on. I haven't seen her try to lick without it, but I'd like to wait a few more days. 

 

Totally drugged out:

IMG_3725 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

 

IMG_3727 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Edited September 3, 2015 by parmelbe

[hheldorfer]

A dog wearing the Cone of Shame is one of the saddest sights in the world.  I'd go catatonic with one of those things around my neck too!

[Sam I Am]

You can also try a onesie . A few adjustments with your scissors and her belly will be covered. I did that when Rosie was spayed and Jock was neutered, works great!

Edited September 4, 2015 by Terrier lover

[hheldorfer]

How is Betsy coming along after her vet visit?  Back to normal?

[parmelbe]

Still dealing with the stitches. They should come out at the end of the week. She's been pretty fussy since she doesn't understand why she doesn't get to do the things she usually does. 

 

She was on Rimadyl for pain and inflammation but since she hadn't been licking at the incision and we never saw any signs she was in pain we stopped the meds a day early because it was making her really lethargic and she was acting sort of disoriented.

[hheldorfer]

Poor baby.  Bet you can't wait to get those stitches out.  Pain meds have the same effect on Buffy.  A stoned Cairn is not a pretty sight.

[parmelbe]

Got a call from the vet today with the test results!

 

It was a malignant carcinoma. Not worst case scenario, but definitely something that needed to come out. They checked the edges and it was all excised cleanly. We have a little doggy breast cancer survivor!

[hheldorfer]

Thank heavens you had it taken care of so quickly!  Hugs to you and scratches to Betsy.

[pkcrossley]

congratulations speed is of the essence. all best to betsy for her recovery!

[Hillscreek]

My motto is always "When in doubt check it out". So glad you did and Betsy is recovering

[Malcolm's Dad]

Glad is wasn't any worse and Betsy is healing. She will snap back quickly. Cairns will not be kept down for long.

[parmelbe]

IMG_3806 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

 

So lucky to have this park right outside our front door!

[Hillscreek]

What a lucky girl. Angus loves running in the grass also. Ticks here from deer occasionally but he is protected.

[hheldorfer]

Betsy is going to have a great life with you!

[parmelbe]

Took the camera to practice at the dog park today and got some pretty great shots of Betsy! Most of these are unedited, just converted and resized.

 

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 1 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 4 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 5 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 6 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 9 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 10 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 17 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 12 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 16 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

Dog Park 9-25-15 - 14 of 17 by Brendon Parmelee, on Flickr

[bradl]

Those are some excellent shots.