Remembering Lucy

August 14th marks the two year anniversary of saying goodbye to our beloved yellow labrador Lucy.  She was 14.5 years old when she left us and I miss her.  Lucy was our first dog and was a bossy, smart, stubborn, loveable girl who helped make us a family.  She was a very naughty puppy and we wondered if we would ever survive that stage.  Riley and Stella have seemed like dream puppies compared to her craziness.


Riley is the dog that taught me to love training but Lucy was the dog that introduced me to the world of natural dog health.  She developed food allergies as a young dog which eventually lead me to raw feeding.  When she was five years old she got terribly sick and was diagnosed with Chronic Active Hepatitis and was expected to live less than six months.   We chose to support and fight her liver problems with many supplements and healthy food and she rebounded and did not show liver issues again until much later in life.  She also had bad problems in her final years with mobility so we learned again about things like IMS therapy (similar to accupuncure), dog chiropractors, swim therapy and supplements.  Her smile was ever present no matter what life threw at us.

She had a bad experience with a jack russell when she was six months and held a life long grudge against small, bossy dogs.  I know now that we probably could have trained past that but luckily her situation was easy to manage as it was easy to know the type of dog that would bother her.  She was ten when we brought home puppy Riley so they never really played much but were very good friends.  Riley was always gentle with her and was her great protector in her senior, wobbly years.

When I think of her now I am flooded with happy memories.  Our recent camping trip to Oregon had us laughing at funny thoughts from years camping with our yellow dog.  I still have moments where I cry and  my heart aches from missing her so much but mostly I am just grateful to have known her.  Thanks for being our dog Lulubelle, you are forever in our hearts!

Heat Cycle Follow-Up

This is a follow up blog to the post on  Stella's first heat cycle.  Stella finished her heat cycle in the first few days of May.  She is now in the diestrus phase which means her body is hormonally pregnant even if she is not.   Some dogs will show symptoms of false pregnancy during this time.  This phase typically lasts two to three months until we go into the dormant anestrus phase between heat cycles.  We are just now closing in on two months since the end of her season.

The first few weeks after her heat were "interesting".  Although she was finished her season she seemed to retain a lingering smell that was attractive to other dogs.   She is generally a meek dog when she meets new dogs and initially throws out submissive, calming signals and then bounces more into her normal playful self.   While she was in this stage she became defensive of dogs smelling her and actually air snapped at dogs that got personal.  It was not a comfortable behaviour for her so I did my best to keep her out of those types of situations.  Riley also continued to be interested in her during that time but she was able to handle him better by diverting his advances into more play type behaviours or just sitting down until we would redirect him away from her.   Those behaviours from other dogs have greatly reduced but she continues to have an attractive smell to some male dogs that we meet.  Luckily those smelling episodes are not nearly as intense as the earlier ones so she is able to cope with being "checked out" and I can usually easily just call her away.  Apparently that is not very common but is not unheard of as their bodies return back to normal hormonal levels.  It is possible that because this is her first cycle that things are still kinda wacky.  I am hopeful that will stop over the next few weeks.

Her nipples and vulva reduced noticeably at the end of her heat and then there have been very slow minor changes since then.  I've noticed just this week that her vulva area is pretty much back to normal but is more pronounced than before.  Her nipples have lost almost all the puffiness although the actual nipples are still a bigger size and will also stay that way.

She had problems with her ears as well.  They developed little scabby cracks around some of the edges.  I'm not sure it this was from Riley licking her ears or if it was just a bit of her immune system recovering but again I hear it is a common happening with Vizslas.  My vet told me to keep them moist and protected from insects.  I tried a few things.  I'm not a fan of antibiotic ointments except in specific instances so did not use those.  Bag balm worked okay but is quite sticky and she hated the smell of it.  I then remembered virgin coconut oil which I tried and had very good success with.  It melts fast, absorbs quickly and has natural anti-fungal properties.  I just coated the ear a few times a day and within a few days they were healed.     

There have been a few minor changes in her temperment as well.  She never used to mark very much on walks prior to her heat but does a lot more of that now.  Some of her single dog to dog greetings when we meet on the trails are a bit different as well.  She seems to focus in on the approaching dog, then barks and bounces in a manner that borders on a ruder style of greeting.  I think that is probably a combination of her age, having extra attention from dogs smelling her, and also being walked more alone due to Riley's recent exercise restrictions.  She would normally just take her cues from him and now is working out more of her own thing.  Luckily it is easy to tell by her body language when she is going to greet like that so I call her back into heel, reward and walk a few steps and then give her the "go see" command which breaks up the pattern and she greets appropriately.

I have cut back her food a bit the past few weeks as I think she has put on a few pounds since the end of her cycle.   I haven't weighed her recently but she was 39-40 pounds heading into her heat which I thought seemed to be a good weight for her.  I will monitor that to see if she returns back to her normal food requirements over the next few weeks as she leaves the diestrus phase or perhaps this is just a symptom of her normal food requirements leveling off at lower levels as she is finishing growing.

Today is Canada Day so I leave you with a pic of my smiling Lucy on a sunny Canada Day a few years ago shortly before we said goodbye.

How many is too many?

For me two is perfect and apparently three is a bit too much.  Lucy was an only dog for ten years until we got Riley.  We basically got Riley because my mom got his littermate Sam.  My dad had passed the year earlier and she wanted some companionship in her home plus it made all us kids feel better to have a dog in the house with her alone.  The two puppies did not live together but have spent a lot of time together over the years and have a close relationship.  Sam is usually here about one week per month and at times we have had him for extended periods.

The two boys always did very well with Lucy and have a great relationship themselves.  The only thing that I dislike is that the two are very competitive with each other and feed off each others energy levels.  I love Sam but there are a lot of times that the two dogs together make me crazy.  Sam lacked a bit when socialized as a pup plus he lacks a lot of self control as my mom has never worked extensively with him.  I've worked a bit with him over the years and he has the basics but he should have more regular work and handling as he is very excitable.  I find it very frustrating when he gets all hyped up because that causes Riley to switch to that same sort of brain state and the two of them together bring out the worst in each other.  Riley doesn't have that reaction to any other dog.  He is happy to play with Stella and was great buddies with Lucy but the "pack" (for lack of a better word) dynamic with Sam is different and something I watch closely on our walks to make sure the two of them never gang up on another dog.   The flip side is that they also have so much darn fun together that it makes the other stuff worth while most of the time.   I also find it interesting that when we add more dogs to the mix (family gatherings etc) that it actually relaxes all the dogs more so maybe the answer is more dogs not less :o). 

When we said goodbye to Lucy I missed the dynamic of having two dogs in our home.  We now have Stella and Riley has been amazing with her.  Sam is a little less thrilled but is also doing very well with her.  Sam did snark at Stella once and Riley stepped in to defend her.   There was a wee bit of noise but no contact and we have not had any issues since.  Sam is now much more comfortable with her and has even played a bit with her. Walking the three dogs together on leash is a bit of a gong show for the first five minutes until everyone settles but off leash everyone is very well mannered and attentive to my commands.  I really am very glad when Sam visits but also very glad to see him go home.  Three dogs with the level of energy that these ones have is just to much for our every day lifestyle.   My hat is off to all of you who manage multiple dogs!

Here are some pictures of the lovely fall hike on nearby trails that we took yesterday.

Reflections on a soggy day

It is pouring rain here today in Tofino.  It is the kind of "movie rain" that makes you glad you are snuggled up safe and dry somewhere.  We will be adventuring out soon for a walk because two dogs in a small trailer without a walk all day will make for a very long evening :o).  My very good friend K is visiting with us and yesterday we all had a glorious walk on the beach.  We have been friends since grade 7 and her dog Mozart (beagle) was the first dog our Lucy met outside of her own litter.  Lucy obviously figured that the friend thing was a good gig and thought of Mozart as her best buddy.  Mozart pre-deceased Lucy by a few years and one day we were discussing what she would do with the ashes.  We almost at the same time commented how we would like to spread our dogs on Long Beach (Tofino).  We decided then that she would wait until Lucy passed and then we would set the two friends together at the beach.  I wasn't ready yet this time last year as Lucy had only been gone for a month but had prettty much decided that we would do it this year. 

West Coast beaches were some of the places where Lucy was happiest in the world.   Our vacations in her later years were always planned for those beaches because it brought her so much joy.  The combination of the soft sand, cool water and ocean breezes dropped years off of her each time.   There is also something about this place that is peaceful and soothing to a human soul.

Unfortunately as we were boarding the ferry I realized that I had forgotten to bring Lucy.  This caused several moments of anguish but in the end perhaps it was because we really aren't ready to say goodbye.  Currently her ashes sit on my desk in an urn in a box and I frequently say hello to her.  This might sound a tad strange but it is a comfort to have her there and also to see her pictures scroll through on my screen saver.  Most of the tears have long since been replaced with happy memories and I am moving towards the final goodbye but she will always hold a very special place in my heart.   I plan to keep some of her ashes and will plant a rose bush (any roses named Lucy out there?) next spring with the ashes before returning here again next year.