What’s New

Vickie has set up a blog for her rescue work. I’ve added it to the links under :Apso Aficionados. Take a look.

It’s my favorite time of day, the time when I am the most creative, the time of day the words flow out of me. I am a solitary writer. Rick is an interactive reader. Since our computers are nearly side by side in the library, after he’s up checking the latest news, it’s more difficult to write. To give you an idea, a tour of the library..

As you enter the front door of our very small home - 1200 square feet to be exact - here’s the view on the left..

The above open doorway is four feet wide and showcases the floor to ceiling shelves, both open and behind cabinet doors. Entering the room, opposite the doorway is a french door which opens to the deck extending around 3 sides of our home.

Continuing in a counter-clockwise motion (just as Tibetan Bons circle stupas while praying), the fourth wall is comprised of our computer stations.

The room looks much cozier now. These photos were taken right after the room was finished. Rick no longer sits on a kitchen chair. His office chair, while not antique like mine, is similar. There’s a leather reading chair in the right hand corner next to the french door. The shelves are full to the brim. The computer equipment has changed and grown. Looking out the french door, I see the 4-Runner (the vehicle I should have purchased when Rick exchanged it for his large-bed Toyota Tundra), Suzanne without her silver hub-cabs purchased on her 200,000 mile birthday and, farthest, a teen-age boy’s rendition of Ota Toyota The Rubber Queen. Ota, parked under the Rough Road sign (no, I didn’t ask where it came from..didn’t want to know) still sports roll bars topped with off-road lights. You can bet a doll’s arm was still hanging out of a heater vent on the dash! And echos of Beastie Boys and Nine Inch Nails! Those were racier days for Ota. She’s now a refined city girl, getting lots of beauty rest.

I made a page about this entire scenario for a book I gave Nate for his 21st birthday. The library had been Nate’s room. Within five days of dropping Nate off in Tucson at the University of Arizona, we had his room gutted, temporarily organized as the office and Rick started building the cabinets. Sacrilege! We had discussed this with Nate for months. He never objected. I remember phoning him to talk about it one last time (probably as Rick was ripping up that awful lime green shag carpet!) to make sure it was okay. In no uncertain terms he said, “mom, I don’t live there anymore!” Alrighty then!

A few weeks later Nate phoned us to tell us about something he’d just read. In preparation for family weekend, UA had given information and guidelines to students. Rule #3: Most important to remember is your parents probably miss you as much as you miss them. While you get to move into a new space they have to deal with a huge gaping hole where your bedroom used to be….unless they fill said hole with a new office in which case they will never realize the psychological damage they have done.

Nate thought that was very funny.

Once again, I started out with this entry simply to let you know I worked on the website yesterday. I’ve rewritten the homepage and am working on updating the intros into each main section. Put the Pen to the Paper is undergoing a complete renovation. This morning, laying in bed, deciding if I should try to fall back asleep, the words started pouring out. I know what I want to write on the Veterinary page! Up I got, put on the coffee, started preparing the dog food, came in here to post Katy’s completed painting of Panchen and next thing…I’m writing about Libraries and Beastie Boys!

HERE”S BLIND TRAVELIN’ SILVER DOG BY KATY WIDGER

Have you been to Katy’s? If you haven’t, you must! That link will take you to her main page - Katy Widger - paintings in oil and paintings in hand-dyed fabirc. From there you go to Katy’s various areas of interest, learn about her goat products, her books and, most importantly, more about her. In her Raindance Journal, she writes from her heart so beautifully.

I can hardly believe it. It’s been almost a year. Dragging my feet, but at wit’s end trying to get Gompa puppies into this world, last spring I enlisted the help of a veterinary reproductive specialist. Dr. Milan Hess came highly recommended. She’s a specialist, complete with DVM and DACT behind her name. (Kathy, we need to investigate..) She’s a breeder herself; some rare breed from Finland. Just returning from a two-week trip to Finland, we could hear her latest import in another room. “I traveled to Finland to bring back a yapping dog. I could have gotten one right here!”, she said as she spritzed the alcohol solution onto Nagpo’s tummy. Almost instantaneous, as she placed the sensor on Nagpo’s tummy, she declared, “She’s pregnant.” She moved the sensor to show us a more puppy-like image. 

See the puppy? Ya. Well, even if you were there, it was difficult. The beating heart, however, was very apparent. As was the next. And the next. In the image above, the smaller circle on the left is the head. The large circle on the right is the body. The tiny comma-on-its-side shape in between is the heart. The beating heart. The beating heart of a - as of now - live puppy. There was another. And another. Three beating hearts!

Dr. Hutchinson, another veterinary reproductive specialist who presents seminars around the country to breeders, said his practice is an emotional roller coaster. People are either really, really happy or really, really sad. Having left Dr. Hess’s office in the past year, after each ultrasound - 5 to be exact - really, really sad, today I finally rode the high side of the roller coaster. What a ride!

The ride isn’t done. There maybe some hills to climb, some curves to navigate, but we’ve made it this far. FINALLY!! Here’s to the rest of ride being smooth. No bumps allowed!

or..How we overcame Malassezia Pachydermatitis starts:

When Sadie first came to us in early November 2007, we noticed that she was “itchy” but attributed it to her move from humid Minnesota to very dry New Mexico.  I bathed her with “dry skin” shampoo and conditioner, but the itching continued.

By December 21, I noticed that the fringes of her ear leathers were encrusted with yellowish, flake-like scabs that came off when I scratched them, but did not bleed like a true scab covering a wound. She was, by this time, scratching her ear leathers and ear canals furiously. She was also biting her toenails and licking her feet..

Katy, thank you so much for taking the time to write this informative article, complete with photos. About a year ago, in an attempt to help Eli, my husband’s Labrador Retriever with his incessant scratching, I educated myself just a bit about yeast after reading about it in Whole Dog Journal. Here’s what I wrote on the Veterinary page of the website as that time: 

One suggestion is that an overgrowth of yeast in the intestines eventually leads to gut leakage. The body identifies these toxins and mounts an attack, which manifests as ‘allergies’. Treatment for ‘allergies’ may provide temporary relief; what is needed for total relief is to decrease the yeast population with the use of diet.

While I haven’t been nearly as diligent with the diet as you, Eli’s diet is largely made up of a raw meat. Yeast - at least yeast in the intestinal tract - feed on carbohydrates, so the approach is to not provide the yeast colonies with carbs. And…I admit to using an anti-histamine to help during particularly bad times.

While still with Julie, Sadie along with several other dogs went through several sessions of ‘itching’. I am wondering now if yeast was the actual culprit. Perhaps Julie will fill in the details… Although skin scrapings showed no irregularities, Julie treated her dogs with Ivermectin (which has the added benefit in mosquito country of preventing heartworms). The itching subsided and we jokingly named the entire episode “The Mutant Mites”. Couldn’t see mites upon microscopic examination, but the response to treatment was positive. The obvious question is would yeast respond to Ivermectin?

I groom a little Scottish Terrier, Wally, every two weeks. He is the nicest little dog, but lives in constant misery. He has been to a skin specialist, has had numerous tests to determine what he’s allergic to, is on a kibble diet that doesn’t contain any of those ingredients. It hasn’t made any difference. Yesterday I asked his owner if he’s been tested for yeast. Yes! She said, “sometimes he has it. Sometimes he doesn’t.” She’s at her wit’s end.

So, what comes first? The yeast or the allergies? The chicken or the egg?

“Frustration is the mother of invention”…here is the result of one of my frustrations!” Joyce Johnason wrote. With her permission, I share. Read Quick, Inexpensive Grooming Table Transformation for directions.

I’ve used something similar for years, inserting dowels inside the metal legs.

Hi Julie, I never look at our precious Toby without thinking about you. Somehow or other I misplaced your e-mail and stumbled upon it by accident. I am sure you probably don’t offhand remember us. We purchased Toby about 4 years ago at Christmas time. You also had Vienna for sale.

   I cannot even begin to tell you what an awesome dog he is. He loves the world and all who are in it. Not only is he a very adorable dog to look at, but every one who meets him threatens to steal him when we are not looking. I was reluctant to have a male Lhasa as we also have a male Golden. Toby is our 4th Lhasa but our first male. He will not be our last male. He is incredibly affectionate and when picked up will immediately nestle into our necks and cuddle . He is not wary of children but instead looks forward to the grandchildren’s visits. Our vet who says he has had many reasons to be cautious of the breed keeps asking what we do to have such great Lhasas.

  I will admit our females have been a bit more snobby but this guy is straight out of a Disney movie. I do believe it is thanks in a great part to your wonderful breeding practices. He was actually potty trained in a little over a weeks time. His coat has been by far the easiest to maintain. We have never shaved him down but keep him about puppy length.

  I sound like a proud parent and I am. He is so careful about showing favoritism between my husband and myself it is comical. Just want you to know how much one of your precious puppies is loved and I am so sorry it has taken this long to tell you.

Toby’s loving family, Tom and Randi Carlson

In the past two days I’ve received emails from two different people about Rabies vaccinations. Katy has a wealth of knowledge on the subject, along with very strong opinions. Click Katy and Ken’s Critter Advocacy in the left hand column for resources. Katy, to follow the latest on the research funded by the Rabies Challenge Fund, where would one go?

Here’s my response to which is safer, the one year or three year vaccination:

This is a good article to start with, especially if you’re new to alternative thinking regarding vaccination.

Early Sunday morning…ahhh. The candles continue to flicker in the library window, adding warmth, a certain coziness, as I sit here sipping coffee, reading email, writing.

Toshimi sent me a note. Yesterday, the 19th was the anniversary of Koyuki becoming part of Toshimi and Tet’s family. She posted about it on her blog, including several photos of a very young Koyuki. Her blog is in Japanese. The characters, the letters that comprise the language are beautiful. There’s a link to Toshimi’s blog in the left hand column. Visit her FFT composite/collage page.

There’s something I’ve just become aware of called RSS feed. My web site skills, my blog skills are basically self-taught, so it could take some time for me to figure RSS feed out. When I do, this blog will alert viewers when Toshimi or Katy or whoever/whatever updates their page. Nate has a facebook page, which is one reason I decided to learn how to blog. I remember the day he and Rick brought Queen Mary III home. Within 10 minutes, he’d taken photos of her perched cattywompus (that’s one benefit to vehicles designed to crawl over rocks in the back country) and uploaded them onto his facebook page. That’s all it took for him to share Queen Mary III with his friends. Wait a minute! Show me how you did that! Just last week I asked him for another tour of facebook, noting the many features, how he and his friends used them.

Jason Steinle, a gifted healer, is my young, bright, handsome chiropractor. That, in and of itself, has been a welcome addition to my life, giving these sometimes-weary bones a new lease on life. Gotta keep brushin’ those dogs! The icing on that cake is Jason’s technical knowledge. He maintains a couple of websites, a blog or two, has done radio and television interviews and is now venturing into interviews for the internet. Additionally, he’s a self-published writer. A great resource, he originally gave me the information on this blog’s host WordPress, explained the many benefits - search capabilities, categorizing, archiving - of blogs. If I can’t figure out RSS feed and how to incorporate it into the blog, maybe I’ll book an extra chiropractic session, to be spent in front of the computer.

That slight diversion, that siding in rail speak, was simply to say one day, the blog - without my input - will let you know when Toshimi updates her blog. Maybe by Koyuki’s next anniversary??

Like a year ago when I met Julie to pick up Koyuki and Edie, along with Josh and Crystal for the Tomu handoff, yesterday I drove to Nebraska. This time is to meet my sisters for lunch. Oh. And to return Ranpa.

About equal distance between my hometown, Norfolk, where my sisters remain, and my home in Colorado, we met in North Platte, Nebraska…which is where I met Rick 31 years ago, come to think of it. Arriving 20 minutes before me, Lori and Kelly scouted out downtown and found a Japanese restaurant named Tempura. We settled in for a couple hours of tea, food and laughter. It was really, really, really fun - just the three of us having lunch. I think we should do it more often!

Sleek Sue and I took back roads back to Colorado, eventually joining I-76 in Brush. I love road trips and  back roads. As the years pass, I feel melancholy, driving through town after town, rural, dying. Family farms have been swallowed up by corporate farming. Footprints, if you know what to look for, are there. A shelter belt in two rows, forming an L. The skeletal remains of a last barn. I love barns, small quaint towns, church steeples rising above the hills and prairie, beautiful farms. the country. Now I sense ghost country, the Death Of An Era. 

Photo by Eugene Richards

In the January 2008 issue of National Geographic, The Emptied Prairie gave me a better understanding of the brief, really, history of farming the prairie. If you’re so inclined, be sure to check out the Photogallery link on the upper left hand side of that page. The hauntingly beautiful images are by Eugene Richards.

Hey! Note RSS feed at the bottom of that site!

..please step up. Several people have asked me about Susan. Susan in the Tibetan costume. Panchen’s Susan. Susan in California. Are they the same Susan? No, although California is a commonality.

Panchen’s Susan lives permanently in California with three - now four - Gompa dogs. Susan got her original Gompa Rinchen from Ceese. Then a second, Tsante aka Sammy. Somehow, like Panchen, Raji made her way to Susan’s house. Maybe Susan will comment on her introduction to the Gompa dogs and how one dog led to another.

The Susan in the Tibetan costume lived in California for years. In the past several years, she and Bud have been transitioning to Colorado, renovating a house here, preparing to sell a house there. Great people, fun people, we wish they’d hurry up!  Both Bud and Susan have bred and shown Lhasa Apsos for a number of years. Their story as a couple is heartwarming, compassionate, with a last gift of love and companionship. It’s the kind of story that restores my often cynical, jaded view on our species. With their permission, I will someday share that story with you. In the meantime, Susan wrote this piece, Like A Pebble On A Pond, about her grandaugher.