Rolling Dog Farm

Introducing ... Blind Billy!

Here's Kate holding our newest arrival, blind Billy, who just came to us from Atlanta Beagle Rescue. Morgan S., who runs the group, had emailed me to say:

We got him from South Carolina last weekend. He's maybe about 6-8 years old and has the wide open stare of PRA. The shelter neutered him before they released him and unfortunately did not stop him from licking his incision site. His mouth is a bacterial cesspool - worst teeth I've seen in a while - so now he's got infection "down there" as well as a ton of teeth that are going to have to come out. We've started him on antibiotics and have him scheduled for a dental next Thursday. He is, of course, heartworm positive on top of all that.

The shelter had picked him up as a stray wandering loose in a neighborhood. He had a tag on his collar, and when the shelter staff called the person whose name and number were on the tag, the fellow said he didn't have a dog. Lovely, eh?

When I emailed Morgan back to say we'd take him, I joked that we were beginning to look like Atlanta Beagle Rescue North. Of the seven blind Beagles we now have, all but one came from Morgan's group. (Well, Widget came to us from Morgan many, many years ago when she lived in New York.)  And with Billy's arrival -- and Katie and Spencer's adoption -- the Beagle to Dachshund ratio has tilted decisively in favor of Beagles at the moment, 7 to 4. Of course, since Widget is half-Dachshund (a fact that makes her grumpy whenever we bring it up), even if we add her genetics to the Dachshund side of the ledger, Beagles still prevail.

In addition to being blind, Billy also has dry eye, which Morgan had started treating him for. His left eye in particular seems painful -- some discharge and squinting -- and may need to come out. He had his dental in Atlanta, which we paid for, and lost most of his teeth because they were so bad. Between his heartworms and his eyes, he's got more medical work ahead.

Billy is a very sweet boy, and immediately made himself at home. He loves cruising the front yard, sniffing all the new smells. When I was taking the photos this morning, Billy could smell some food on the table next to us in the dog room, and all he wanted to do was climb out of Kate's arms and go find that food!  So with all the squirming and wiggling, I subjected Kate and Billy to 47 photos. By the time we were getting to the end of the shoot, Kate was still holding up but Billy was getting bored and decided to yawn:

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The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner for Week 4 in this current contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

 

Avery's Heart

Late last week we noticed that blind Avery's belly seemed distended and his breathing had suddenly become labored, so we took him to our clinic in Whitefield on Thursday for an exam. As it turned out, that was the day the clinic's new digital X-ray machine broke down, so we had to take him to a new emergency veterinary clinic in Littleton, New Hampshire, just about 10 miles from Whitefield. There a wonderful vet, Dr. Eva Stobnicki, was able to quickly diagnose the problem: X-rays showed Avery's heart had become very enlarged. (I forgot to take the camera so I didn't get any photos of Dr. Stobnicki with Avery.)

We knew Avery had some mild right-side heart enlargement last year from a previous echocardiogram we did in conjunction with his heartworm treatment, but at the time he was showing no ill effects from it.

She started him on Lasix for the fluid build-up and Enalapril for his heart, and set up a follow-on appointment for Monday with a cardiologist in Concord, Dr. John MacGregor.

So yesterday I drove Avery down to Concord for his appointment. In the photo above is Dr. MacGregor doing an echocardiogram while his vet tech Jen holds Avery. Dr. MacGregor is putting the ultrasound probe through a hole in the table; although we've done dozens of echocardiograms over the years, I'd never seen this technique before. Dr. MacGregor says it provides better access to the heart this way.

The echocardiogram showed that Avery now has pulmonary hypertension, specifically, high blood pressure in his lungs. This is most likely caused by the heartworm infection he had when he first came to us (and for which we treated him last year). Even though the treatment can get rid of the heartworms, longtime untreated cases like Avery had can still cause progressive heart damage.

Here's another view when Dr. MacGregor was determining how much fluid was in his belly:

As a result of the diagnosis, Dr. MacGregor started Avery on two additional heart medications, and he will recheck Avery's progress in two weeks.

At the emergency clinic in Littleton, I had warned the staff that Avery might scream and get a little dramatic being handled for his X-rays. (This is behavior left over from his prior history of abuse.)  Sure enough, about one minute after they closed the door to the X-ray room, I heard Avery start screaming. But the next thing I heard was one of the staff yelling, "Quick, get a towel, he's peeing!" Yep, I had forgotten to tell them he might pee if he gets upset ... and he did pee all over the X-ray table. Oops.  I yelled through the door, "Sorry, my fault, I forgot to warn you about that, too!"

So at the cardiologist's office, I had prepared them for this particular "expression of discontent." Amazingly, Avery not only let us lay him down on the table and roll him over without any drama, but he never peed either.  But you can see from the pee-pad on the table we were ready for it!

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Weekly Winner and $1,000 for the Animals!

Yes, the Shelter Challenge people finally posted the weekly winners for Weeks 4 and 5 (at the same time), and we -- or I should say, you -- won $1,000 for the animals here! Thank you so much! We thought we had won it a couple of weeks ago when we got a few emails from people congratulating us for the win, but the Shelter Challenge had not posted any results past Week 3 ... so we were reluctant to say anything. I gather the Animal Rescue Site must send out an email of some sort, but I don't know why they don't update their page at the same time. In any case, the check for $1,000 also just arrived and is now in the bank. Thank you for all your dedicated voting to benefit the animals at Rolling Dog Farm!

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The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner for Week 4 in this current contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

 

What Are You Still Doing In There?

The usual routine every morning is that we first go upstairs to the (relatively) sound-proof room on the second story of the dog wing, where blind Widget and Dexter T. Dickens and any other night-howlers sleep, and carry them outside. Then we head to the dog room and start letting out the rest of the gang. By the time we get done with the ground floor group, Widget has come inside, gone down the hallway and made a bee-line for Travis' crate. (Having just written "bee-line" I wondered about the origin of the phrase.)

Travis, our dog with the fused jaw, eats -- well, slurps -- a liquid diet and makes a fine mess during the course of his dining experience. (His other name is "Pig Pen," though that might be a disservice to pigs.) In any case, there is always plenty for others to clean up the next morning, and over the years various dogs have enjoyed helping themselves. And none more so now than Widget, for whom the mad dash into Travis' crate is a part of her morning routine.

That is, except when Alayne and I get the sequence screwed up, as we did on Saturday morning, and somehow Widget got back inside before we had let Travis and friends out. (That's blind Louie on the left.) She bounded into the room, went straight for Travis' crate, pulled on the door with her paw, and found it locked. Then she realized that he was still inside. Uh oh. 

So she milled around for a few seconds before deciding to sit back and woo-woo-woo to let us know that something-was-terribly-wrong-with-this-situation-and-must-be-fixed-right-now: 

After the vocal protest, I put down the camera, let Travis out, and Widget zoomed in. All's well that ends well.

If only the rest of the world's problems could be solved so easily.

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Weekly Winner and $1,000 for the Animals!

Yes, the Shelter Challenge people finally posted the weekly winners for Weeks 4 and 5 (at the same time), and we -- or I should say, you -- won $1,000 for the animals here! Thank you so much! We thought we had won it a couple of weeks ago when we got a few emails from people congratulating us for the win, but the Shelter Challenge had not posted any results past Week 3 ... so we were reluctant to say anything. I gather the Animal Rescue Site must send out an email of some sort, but I don't know why they don't update their page at the same time. In any case, the check for $1,000 also just arrived and is now in the bank. Thank you for all your dedicated voting to benefit the animals at Rolling Dog Farm!

---

The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner for Week 4 in this current contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

 

 

All Together Now

Shelby just sent me this photo of all three blind and deaf ones snoozing together ... Spencer on the left, Manny in the middle and Katie on the right.  She had tiptoed into the house at lunch to get the photo with her phone.  When she wrote me the email, she said, "At the moment I've got Katie in my lap and Spencer is sleeping beside me with Manny. I think it's safe to say they're settling in."

---

Weekly Winner and $1,000 for the Animals!

Yes, the Shelter Challenge people finally posted the weekly winners for Weeks 4 and 5 (at the same time), and we -- or I should say, you -- won $1,000 for the animals here! Thank you so much! We thought we had won it a couple of weeks ago when we got a few emails from people congratulating us for the win, but the Shelter Challenge had not posted any results past Week 3 ... so we were reluctant to say anything. I gather the Animal Rescue Site must send out an email of some sort, but I don't know why they don't update their page at the same time. In any case, the check for $1,000 also just arrived and is now in the bank. Thank you for all your dedicated voting to benefit the animals at Rolling Dog Farm!

---

The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner for Week 4 in this current contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

 

My New Pillow

Shelby M., who adopted blind and deaf Katie and Spencer from us a few weeks ago, recently sent me this photo of her blind and deaf Pug, Manny, curled up with Katie. Shelby wrote, "Manny is delighted to have another pillow." I'm not sure where Spencer was when the photo was taken, but since Katie and Spencer were always using each other as pillows, I'm sure all three dogs are delighted to have yet more choices for their sleeping comfort.

---

The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** Okay, this is important, folks: We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the last contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

 

The Best Nose In The Nose Business

Blind Goldie may be old, a bit daffy, and sometimes confused about things -- "Do I want to go outside?  Wait, wasn't I just outside?" -- but if her brain is starting to show the effects of her advanced years (15 and counting), her nose sure isn't. We'll still find her in the kitchen, staring up at a counter because she can smell the box of dog cookies Alayne left out. If we put treats on top of the fridge, she'll stand below with her head pointing up, transfixed on the yummy smell (detectable only to her) coming from above the fridge. No other dog we've ever had has shown Goldie's incredible sense of smell.

So it requires zero skill on her part to tell when Alayne has left dog cookies in a coat pocket hanging on the stair railings. Goldie says, "Sheesh, it's as easy as taking candy from a baby." Or as easy as putting a cookie in a dog's mouth.

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The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** Okay, this is important, folks: We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the last contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Wild Turkey

The real kind. Not the drinkin' kind.

We've had three wild turkeys start hanging around in the past couple of weeks. It's not unusual to see a flock of these beautiful creatures cruising through the farm every now and then, but what is a bit unusual is to have a group take up residence for a while. I call them the "three amigos," and they appear to be toms (males) because all three sport rather impressive beards. (A small percentage of the hens can have beards, but they're also not generally very prominent.)

I took these photos on Wednesday morning from the back deck. The turkey in the photo above had been scratching around in some of the leftover hay on the snow. Even though I was a good 100 feet away and slipped out the back door without making a sound (or so I thought), he instantly knew something had changed and turned to head for the woods.

You can see our chickens were out on the ramp of the eggmobile, sunning themselves and watching their larger cousins. If you click on the photo for a bigger image, you should be able to see our rooster, Duke, at the front of the ramp, standing guard.  He is foolish enough to try and take on a tom turkey weighing two to three times his size, but the fence protected him from himself. We know he's foolish enough because he will also take a run at us on occasion, which results in a dust-up that he loses every time, much to his diminished pride. Current score is something like Steve/Alayne/Kate 21, Duke 0. We keep a rooster not because you need one to get hens to lay (they'll lay just fine without a rooster), but because we'd like to hatch out our own chicks this spring.

After the tom in the photo above skittered off, about 10 minutes later the other two amigos came out of the woods to check things out. The same thing happened -- as soon as they sensed my presence, they left for the safety of the woods:

One of their favorite spots is the half-acre cornfield I planted last year. They scratch through the snow, hunting and pecking for corn kernels in the ground.

I'm not sure what to make of the fact that if you search for "wild turkey" on Google, the bourbon is the number one search result and counts for two of the top four results:

We prefer the feathered one, thank you.

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The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** Okay, this is important, folks: We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the last contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.