Monday, May 26, 2014

Today we salute the Dogs of War!

I've always been fascinated about how dogs help humans.

Today there is no better day than to salute the four-leggers that help our service men and women as they defend our country.

Today we salute the Dogs of War.

From Lethargos, who accompanied soldiers in the war waged by the Ephesians against Magnesia in the 17th century...

...to brave Sallie, who fought along side troops in the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry during the civil war...


...to Cairo, a member of the United States Navy SEAL team who stormed and infiltrated the hideout of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabod, Pakistan, consequently killing the founder of the al-Qaeda organization, reportedly responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...


...to all the brave K9s currently serving hand in paw with our military personnel all over the world to comfort, detect, storm, alert, warn, message, sniff out, search, rescue and save thousands of human and other canine lives day in and day out...

...we salute you!


Take a moment today to learn more about how dogs are helping keep our country safer and how you can help them in their time of need through donations (here and here for care packages and cooling vests) or adoption once their military duty is fulfilled.

Friday, May 23, 2014

What happens when your dog gets bitten by a copperhead? We know now!

A dangerous snake bite has always been a little fear back in Mum's mind. Yesterday it became a reality.


We've seen several types of snakes here in our fenced in yard at the cabin - 6' rat snakes, many large garter snakes and the milk snake that bit me last year.

But the most dangerous snake we have up here are copperheads. We boned up in advance so that we'd be prepared if something ever happened, including identification, and emergency treatments for dogs and human.

Well, just yesterday, Mum went out to get the mail and walked about 20 feet outside the fenced in area around our cabin, leaving us in the yard and watched us. Just as she was unlatching the fence, she looked over and saw Gracie sniffing around some large rocks we have to defer the massive rain water that comes off the roof of our cabin and keeps our yard from washing down the mountain.

She told Gracie, 'leave it,' but at the very same time Gracie leapt about four feet in the air, ran back from the rocks and started pawing at her nose. Mum knew immediately it was a snake that bit her. But what kind? She had to find out.

She checked on Gracie quickly and saw the two blood spots from the puncture bite on her nose. Yep, a snake. She put us in a down stay at the other side of the yard, grabbed the three pronged rake and started moving a few rocks away from where Gracie was sniffing.


Yep, there was a snake, but it was so tucked in the rocks, she couldn't positively identify it from her first photo. So she moved more of the rock with the rake until she completely uncovered the snake. She nearly certain it was a copperhead, so we emailed the photo to our vet in Ball Ground, and called them immediately.


They confirmed it. Yes, it was a copperhead. Mum got instructions from them while checking on Gracie and seeing that her snout was starting to swell. She rushed around to get us ready to race to the emergency vet, as the first three hours are the most critical in getting medical attention for a snake bite.

We are far from town, so it took us about 45 minutes total to reach the vet after the bite. We had called first and they were waiting for us at the door. They rushed us all into the exam room and immediately commented about how great she was doing. Mum thought so too, and truth be told, she was expecting much worse from her research about this issue.

Over the next 30 minutes or so Gracie's snout swelled even more. Wow, we thought she looked a little like a basset hound on one side of her face poor girl! She's also drooling because she couldn't control her mouth normally with the swelling.


Standard treatment for a dog with a copperhead bite is a shot of benadryl, antibiotics and a steroid injection, followed up with some pain killers. Gracie was doing so well (her temp was normal, and believe it or not her heart rate was good), that we decided against the steroid shot and Mum gave her Traumeel (a homeopathic) for the pain and inflammation. Gracie got the benadryl and antibiotic shot and she has antibiotics to take over the next days. Mum doesn't like giving Gracie antibiotics but will in this case, as snakes carry tons of wacho bacteria in their mouths.

After about an hour or two, the swelling started to subside. All the time Gracie wanted her dinner, treats, lots of love from all the people at the vet office. What a trooper!

The biggest danger to a dog that is bitten by a copperhead is an allergic response. If they are allergic, it can be fatal to a dog. Otherwise, it's just a process of letting the venom process and work through the body and run it's course which takes about a week to get back to normal.

It is expected she will have sloughing of the skin around the bite over the course of  the next days to a week.

The other danger is the bite area becoming necrotic. Necrosis is when the tissue dies. The first signs are the skin turning black and it would happen in this case in about three days. So we are monitoring Gracie for any signs, but it isn't expected since she is doing so well.

Today Gracie is looking better. She's really tired, eating and drinking well, no Big D or vomiting. The swelling has gone down a lot on the right side of her face, but she's still swollen all around her snout from her eyes down to her nose skin. Mum gave her a Traumeel again this morning, just in case she is in a little pain.

Last night Gracie didn't want Mum touching her snout as it was way too sensitive, but she's letting Mum rub it a little and check the skin this morning. Super good sign.

We think that Gracie didn't get as much venom from the bite as she could have if the snake had been more out in the open. Striking from between rocks doesn't allow them to get as big of a a hold as if they were free.

The big question is where did it go? Mum couldn't find it when she took us out to get in the car to race to the vet. And she can't find it this morning on her preliminary check.

One of our thoughtful neighbors let us borrow a very heavy hoe, just in case; as it's the best way to kill a snake of this kind if we absolutely have to - gives you some good distance.

Mum ordered organic yellow sulfur, as many folks up here use it to deter snakes and other nasties. Her plans are to put it between the rocks, under the deck and on the outside of the fence to keep the snakes out of our play area.

One thing that Mum should have done is carry Gracie, from the yard into the house, and then to the car for transport. Keeping your dog inactive reduces the 'flow' of venom throughout their body and slows down the bad effects giving you more time to get to the vet for treatment.

Copperhead bites are much less severe than rattlesnake bites and don't require antivenin. Some folks up here don't even take their dog's to the vet, but we don't recommend that in case the dog was bitten severely or has an allergic reaction. In the case of rattlesnake bites, the quickest you can get to the vet the better and antivenin is required. And it's recommended not to do anything but keep the dog as immobile as possible before and during transport and let the vet experts do their thing.

Snakes bites are more dangerous for smaller dogs. Gracie is 28 lbs, as compared to my 18 lbs. So it would be much more dangerous for me. Snake bites are more dangerous for humans than dogs, as well.

We'll continue to work on our snake avoidance training. I've been great at it with Mum in the yard, but Gracie is not as responsive to the commands. So we'll work harder with her. We're secretly hoping that the copperhead sheds it's skin in our yard, as it looked like it was about to, and we can use that type of skin with our training, rather than the skin of the milk snake we have.

Here's a great article from PetPlace that we found for snakebites with dogs if you'd like to read more.

We'll update again in a few days!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Would you let a drone walk your dog?

Jeff Myers, on Vimeo, decided it would be cool to have his dog walked by a drone. Hmmmm....really?


Yeah, not gonna happen in my lifetime, that's fur sure. Just too many dangers out there that Mum needs to be close by for, potentially. Kind of interesting though....but I think the dog is thinking, 'what the heck is following me?'

#TBT On the Ole' Brickyard!

That's me, YoYo, on the Ole Brickyard in 2007 where the world famous Indy 500 will be held on Sunday! #TBT #ThrowbackThursday 

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Hungarian film White God / Fehér Isten wows audiences at Cannes!

Kornel Mundruczó's sixth feature film tells the tale of an eternal friendship between a girl and a dog in a world where ancestry can decide on life or death.

It's been called the 'a four-legged twist on Rise of the Planet of the Apes.'

And, it's wowing audiences at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

Take a look! We want to see it!


Sources say the scene with the large pack of dogs is very real and not the work of 'Hollywood' magic. Very cool! Most all of the dogs were rescues from the area pound and all found homes after filming.

More info? Read the review from the Hollywood Reporter.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Luna Moth - how precious, how rare!

Not too long ago we were delighted to see another Luna Moth!

This one was very different than the one we found on our fence last year, as this one was newly emerged and very much alive and beautiful!

They are even more beautiful at this stage of their life cycle.

Last year, we found a beautiful caterpillar, and then were able to see the adult just as it's life cycle was winding down, which is only about a week. At that stage they are very pale, a super contrast to the pow color in the early stages like this one.

We found this one on the pillar that holds up our back deck.

Wow, just wow! He's gorgeous!

Gracie and I didn't really have any use for him (it's a him, as you can tell by the super fluffy antennae).


The next morning he was gone, and off to mate, have more little caterpillars and start the cycle all over again.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Black and White Sunday: Winning!


Three of the five ribbons I won at last weekend's agility trial, can you guess what color they are?
Happy Mother's Day to all your Mums!!!

Thursday, May 01, 2014

Review of Only Natural Pet's #PawNatural products: EasyDefense Flea/Tick Tag and Tripe Nibblets!

We've been talking about how we live green and healthy recently. And as part of that we are fortunate enough to try out some new products that we've been wanting to experience for a while thanks to Only Natural Pet offered through Pet360.

A couple of weeks ago we received some products to try. The first one is the Only Natural Pet Beef Tripe Nibblets Pet Treats.

If you've never tried tripe, I highly recommend it! Not only is it super good for you, but it tastes and smells amazing!

Made from 100% pure freeze-dried beef tripe, the treats have no grains, no fillers, and no preservatives; only the protein packed, tripe we love. They come in smaller nibblets that can be broken up and make great training jackpots! And they say they make great food toppers, but we're using them for trick and training rewards. Mum promised more at our agility trial this coming weekend!

The other product we're trying out is the Only Natural Pet EasyDefense Flea and Tick Tag. (You can see it on me in the photo on the right below). We've been wanting to try these tags for a long time as they are one of the most natural and pesticide (even essential oil) free potential way to repel fleas and ticks.

How do they work? They say that these tags use your pet's own bio-energetic field to repel pests and they last up to one full year. The directions say that when opened and placed on your pet, it uses your pet's own inherent energy to send out frequencies that repel pests. The process operates with quantum mechanic's refined frequencies, and is somewhat similar to the basic principles of homeopathy. Sounds like a solution a 'little off the beaten path,' but if you know us we enjoy the road less traveled.

So how did they work? Interestingly, (and pleasantly so) we think they are making a difference!

Mum added the tag to a very small collar (one of the kitties old collars) because I don't like wearing my standard super strong collar all day. I've been wearing it for about two weeks now. And Gracie has been wearing her collar and tag as well.

So far Mum has found three ticks come off me, two after playing in our yard and one after a hike we took last weekend in a different part of Georgia. Here we have the ticks that potentially transmit Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and the other tick we found from our hike last weekend is the kind that potentially transmits Lyme Disease if those ticks are infected.

All three times the ticks didn't show any interest in me, but left me and sought out Mum. Which she doesn't really mind, because over the years she can instantly known when a tick is on her and grab it before it bites. Then she puts it in white vinegar to die and be preserved for future reference.

So what about Gracie? Well, Mum hasn't seen a tick come off her or one on her all this year, which is really great!

When we cuddle for a time with Mum, or go to sleep, Mum takes the collars off of us and lays them beside us as you need to keep the collar/tag near your dog pretty much constantly. Mum does take them off when we play agility in the yard, when competing, or when we have our zoomie/wrestle time.

Another interesting thing is that I've been trying to bury the collar and tag when it's not on me. Normally I don't bother burying things unless it's a bone in the couch on occasion. Gracie on the other hand is quite the little undertaker, as she'll bury her poo often with her nose. (That's how she got a scraped nose when she was on the Doxy a couple of years ago).

Mum is very interested in my behavior of wanting to bury the collar/tag when it's not on me. I try to bury it in bed in the middle of the night when Mum puts it near me, and I try to bury it in the couch during evening cuddle time. A quick Google search turned up some interesting facts about dogs burying with their nose. Patricia McConnell says in a post from last fall that Carolina Dogs bury their poo and that one of her BC's occasionally would bury some food by ripping up grass, placing it over the uneaten food and tamping it down with her nose. Mum doesn't know yet why I'm burying it, but it could be because it gives off a certain odor, or because I cherish it. She's gonna keep watch and try to figure it out. But it's really interesting and quite fascinating for her.


Big thanks to Only Natural Pet and Pet360 for allowing us to try some new pawsome stuff!

"This post is sponsored by Only Natural Pet on behalf of the BlogPaws Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Only Natural Pet, but you know that Johann The Dog only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Only Natural Pet is not responsible for the content of this article."
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