Hi- I don't know about lymph nodes, but I do know that 6 weeks is FAR FAR too young for a puppy to leave her litter! She needs to be back with them, and getting her first vet check now. Here's a good guide to WHY staying with the litter is so very important at her young age: http://www.humanesociety...

Hi- When my Vanya was getting very reactive to both people and dogs walking by outside our cabin, I bought privacy window film from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Non-Adhesive-Frosted-Privacy-Window-Film/dp/B007RCX088" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this...

My sympathies! I don't have any helpful advice--I just moved from a location with the world's most wonderful visiting vet, to a new town, and I too had a lousy vet visit. So I can imagine how terrible you felt, since I felt the way you describe. Amie's advice seems really useful. Keep up the faith: ...

We need to try to do something about Simone's behavior...either a trainer or a behaviorist. To grossly oversimplfiy a complex and subtle behavioral suite, she practices passive resistance a lot of the time when being walked; she can get really stubborn and just decline to participate. As another po...

Inaras mom wrote:I want a "kisses" greeting from Vanya!

Careful what you wish for!

I trained most of them with the help of a clicker, cheez whiz for treats, The Manners Minder and Dr Sophia Yin's excellent training video that comes with the Manners Minder. There are lots of good clicker training videos on youtube--kikopup has great examples.

I hope tomorrow's surgery (#7?!!!??) goes well.

It's fun--and useful--to train a number of different greeting rituals. Vanya knows: 1. "go say hi"--this is (supposedly) a calm, polite greeting that involves a nose target to the new person's hand and a turn back to me for a treat. 2. "kisses!"--this involves excited kisses, shr...

Thanks for your kind words. When Vanya and I play in the orchard, I keep looking around for her until I remember she's gone.

I don't know much about him, but it's worth talking with your vet. When my Tiva had mast cell cancer twice, our vet did a lot of research on nutritional support after surgery (we couldn't do chemo for a variety of reasons--mostly because Tiva was 15, and chemo was going to be about $7000 and require...

I'm very glad that you've started her on fluoxetine, and that your vet seems knowledgeable. If fluoxetine doesn't work at first, there are all sorts of things to try: adjusting the dosage, changing the timing, trying one of the other good drugs available for anxiety. So don't despair! And don't worr...

Dear Tiva has died. The vet came out Monday while I was driving down to the farm, and gave Tiva a mild sedative so she would be calm until I arrived. We all spent the night out in the orchard, and in the morning the vet came back and gave her the euthanasia shots. Naomi, her amazing housesitter who ...

My husband called, and Tiva had another seizure last night, it seems like. Now her back legs won't support her--it was a little better in the morning, but now they're collapsing. My husband says she's freaking out, trying to stand up. This may be her time. I've got a 7 hour drive to get back down to...

I don't know why it's happening, but sugar will make it go away. (The literal kind, I'm not suggesting you find him a date to give him a little sum'n sum'n) Sugar? You feed it to him? Or something else? The mind boggles. Vanya has this happen maybe once a year or so. He staggers around looking bewi...

Dogs, like people, can have all sorts of chemical imbalances that make meds a great option. Meds absolutely don't need to turn a dog into a zombie, drugged out lump on a couch. I started trying herbs and OTC meds, which was a huge mistake. APrescription meds are far, far better regulated than over t...