smooch

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36748426/ns/us_news/ It is amazing what some dogs can do.

Smooch suffered a spinal stroke,( can't remember the proper name for it.) about 3 years ago now. He spend nearly two months at the Specialist vet in Sydney. I was taught to do physio on him which I did every hour for nearly six months. I went to our local dump and bought a clean but slightly damaged lounge/bed put a heavy plastic sheet on the mattress and spent the next six months sleeping there with Smooch. As I have a bad back myself I was able to get hold of a second hand wheelchair which I used for the standing up exercises for Smooch, I had the wheelchair adjusted so as all four legs were touching the ground. This also helped when toileting as I didn't have to try and carry him out. These days smooch is able to run and play although he is no longer allowed to be my cattle dog. He does tend to fall over if he tries to turn quickly and he ended up with a cow over the top of him when he tried to block one for me. Now when I go near the cattle I put a lead on Smooch. To compensate for the cattle work that Smooch misses out on he is now our chief Duck rounder upper and every day at just before dark Smooch is ready to go out and bring the ducks in. Smooch still has slight problems, his bowls don't work properly, he has to run around before he can poo and even than he has to be walking to be able to pass all of it. He only wees when his bladder is extremely full. All in all Smooch is happy just being with me 24/7. He is loved and spoilt and that is all that matters. In the end it has all been worth the effort that has been put into Smooch and I would do it again if I had to.

After having our dog get her tongue stuck in a Kong, than having a rush trip to the after hours vet, I wouldn't give a dog a Kong. Vet said it is a common occurrence and they have had to cut Kongs from dogs tongue and lower jaws.

I use Permoxin rinse every couple of weeks and have some mixed in a spray bottle. I do a daily check for fleas but if I see them scratching and can't see a flea I give them a quick spray. The Permoxin also keeps the flies at bay.

The two kelpies I had before Smooch both died of old age 17 and 18, both were outside dogs living in kennels or shed, both were feed dog food that was on special at the time, table scraps and cows milk. They would have also had cooked bones over the years. Neither were ever vaccinated. (I shudder at the thought.) Neither of them were ever sick.

I bath Smooch generally at least once a week, sometimes more but only with conditioner. any longer than that everything gets a doggy smell. I have had no problems in drying the skin out using just conditioner.

Smooch sleeps in bed with me cuddled up to my sore back, (no OH to worry about), but in saying that it does create a lot of work, the sheets are washed every second day. Smooch is bathed twice a week sometimes more with hair conditioner. My mattress has a mattress protector, lambswool cover, one of those foam bubble thingies, electric blanked and another lambswool cover on it. Even with all these on the bed I find that some of the dog hair works its way through to the mattress. I run the vacuum cleaner over the top layer at least once a month and pull the whole thing apart at least twice a year.

I use Psylium Husk found the Woolworths Naytura brand the better one. I found it jells better than another brand I tried. Psylium Husk will work for diarrhea and constipation. I use a large tablespoon mixed with warm water and than mixed through the food. Smooch is a very fussy eater and I don't have a problem getting him to eat the Psylium Husk. Smooch is a 15k Kelpie who suffered a spinal stroke and now his bowls don't work properly. You may need to adjust the dose to suit your dog.

Not working for me

So sorry for your loss. RIP Bear

I recently found out that in our council area you have to have a coller and Id tag on your dog even though they are microchiped and registered. If your dog gets out you can be fined for the dog not wearing a collar. Personally I think this is a stupid ruling as I thought that is what microchip was brought in for.

Our neighbor had the same problem with a gsd cross labby, Sam would climb out over the fence and didn't matter how high the fence was. So Sam spent a couple of months at our place, our dog run is electrified chicken wire, so Sam climbed out over the gate, I then put elect wire above the gate and Sam never got out after that. When Sam went home he again started climbing the fence. Electric fence was the only thing that would keep Sam in. As for using a kong, I wouldn't use one unsupervised as one of our rescue dogs got one stuck in her jaw and according to the vet he has seen this happen quite a few times.

It is also a good idea to check your wheels, we were away at a weekend trail ride with the horses, loaded the horses up to come home, drove about 5ks to a tar road and could hear this clicking noise that sounded like a stone stuck in a tyre, got out and had a quick look and found nothing. Ten klm up the road rounding a bend I saw the back wheel on the F100 wobbling, I stopped and the wheel came off, someone had loosened the wheel nuts. So now I always check connections and give the wheels good kick to make sure they are not loose.

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I have never forgotten to feed Smooch, comes about 5.pm he will come up to me and push my hand off the computer mouse than go to the fridge, if I ignore him he will continue to push my hand off the mouse. Ask him what he wants and he will go straight back to the fridge. He has to have his turkey neck before he will eat anything else. So no chance of forgetting to feed him and yet he is a very fussy eater.

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lovely pics

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Petition extended until 6th April, so if you haven't signed please do so.

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The tongue wasn't caught, just the jaw, We had her to the vet within 20 min, rang the vet as we were leaving and he was waiting for us at the surgery. So all good no damage done, she is asleep now on the lounge, just have to wait for the sedative to wear off properly.