The Dalmatian Diaries Blog

Wow! Where did the time go? My little Widget is 2 years old today.

I had hoped to have all the photos finished uploading by today's post, but as you can see... I don't.

An update on Widget's health: She hasn't had any more kidney/bladder issues for almost 2 weeks now. She's been eating Browser's vegetarian food which seems to be the key. We don't know, however, if the food was the problem or if the vegetarian food is just easier on her kidneys. We're doing another urinalysis next week to see if there is any change. She seems to be feeling 100%. Make that 110%. She's completely back to her widgety self. I hated that she was sick, but I have to admit having sleepy-time Widget for 10 days let me get a lot done at work.

The vet(s) never really did figure out what her problem might be. They suspect it's early kidney disease but her tests aren't showing it yet. I just don't know. I mean, for her to bounce back like this makes me think it couldn't be something that was progressive like kidney disease but rather something she either got into or that was in her food. I had bought her bag of food a couple of weeks before the incontinence started, and it is a brand she's been eating for several months. No one seemed to suspect it but when I changed her to Browser's food, 2 days later she was "dry". I had already switched her back to her old food thinking the change hadn't done anything. Well, two days after that she was "wet" again. She's been back on Browser's food since and has been dry since.

And since it's her birthday I suppose I should give in to the whining that is going on right now and blow some bubbles for her. That is her favorite game afterall!

Well, I knew it'd happen at some point. Widget was bit by either a copperhead or rattlesnake last night. She must have not seen the snake because it bit her in her paw, not her nose (which would be most likely if she had noticed the snake before it noticed her). Her leg swelled up to over twice its normal size. We brought her to the emergency vet where she got a round of antivenin and spent the night. Her tests all came back great so it sounds like we got her treatment quickly enough. When I picked her up this morning her spirits were VERY good! She was all wiggly and kissy despite having her big swollen (and very painful) foot. She can walk on it but it clearly hurts. She was so excited to go home though that she jumped into the back of the car by herself (before I could even get her crate door fully open!).

When we got home she gobbled down a whole bowl of food and took treats just fine. A good sign that she's doing well.

Browser was probably the most traumatized by the whole ordeal. We rushed out of the house last night to bring her to the vet and he was home all by himself. While sitting at the vet's office we realized we hadn't checked him over for bites - and since the dogs rarely do anything independently of each other we were worried he had been bit too but we hadn't seen it. So, I rushed BACK to the house to check him out while Brent waited for word on Widget's prognosis. Browser was fine but then I rushed back to the vet's office. When we came home without Widget, Browser was a little confused. This morning when I got him up he looked in her empty crate with a look on his face that clearly said "What? She's still not home?". I had to sit with him while he ate and when he went outside he was looking for her in all her usual favorite places. He's very happy that she's home now and fully inspected her paw.

I'm sure my ramblings here are more incoherent than usual this morning. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night. Widget is napping under my desk now and I'm thinking of joining her

Widget and I trekked across Austin today to meet with a new trainer. It's not that Widget hasn't been making progress - she has - it's just that I didn't feel that she and I were "understanding" each other like we should. I know she reads me like a book so I wanted to learn a) what she was seeing/learning from me, and b) how to better respond to her during training.

One thing that the trainer confirmed was something we already suspected: Widget doesn't do well when left to make too many decisions on her own. We encountered this when she was a puppy and we were trying to housebreak her (I posted about this I think somewhere WAY back in the early days of the blog). When we removed some decisions from her daily routine we found that she was housebroken in no time!

I think Widget's biggest problem is that she feels that she is supposed to take control of all situations. She doesn't have the confidence to do so (as Tara the trainer pointed out) so that's when the crazies come in to play. Tara taught me how to respond to Widget (to remove some of the decision making from her list of responsibilities) and some great exercises to work on to help build Widget's confidence.

I don't expect overnight miracles but I will say that just after today's lesson Widget was looking at me differently. She did what I asked (and she got rewarded) and I think understanding the rules of the game a little better made her feel better.

She's such a cool dog, I really want everyone to see the Widget I know. Hopefully someday they will!