Shock and Awe

The Shock

Noah died today.

I can hardly believe I’ve typed that. He was fine last night, and then, this morning, he was not fine at all.

The vet said that she saw a mass on his spleen and that the mass had ruptured. His abdominal cavity was full of fluid which was presumed to be blood, based on his symptoms. She said that it has been her experience that that is cancer and the prognosis is grim. For a pretty penny, we could’ve had her open him up and have a look, but the single digit percentage of patients who had benign tumors was not a good enough indication for it, in my opinion. Even if we had the money to put him through all that, the life expectancy with that kind of cancer is mere months after the surgery.

He went peacefully while I stroked the soft fur of his head and neck.

The Awe

I am amazed at how God looked out for Noah. The tumor could’ve ruptured in the middle of a busy week and we might not have noticed for a whole day. As it was, we noticed first thing in the morning and got on it. This could’ve happened when we were flat broke a couple of weeks ago. Things have been really tight, but I happened to have enough to give me the confidence that the vet wouldn’t turn us away, which seems to be standard practice at the clinic where I took him.

Noah was the second of two great dogs after a really trying dog experience. Let’s just say that beagles need room to run and bark and play and run and bark. Noah and Rocky were both very obviously gifts from God. We couldn’t have been better matched.

I am thankful to God for giving us nearly 8 years with Noah and for not allowing him to suffer a lot before he died.

I love you, Noah. Rest in piece, faithful friend.

Noah Nicklebee*

June 2, 1999 - May 26, 2008

WFMW: Barking Dogs

Last week, a commenter named Cindy asked how to get her dog’s barking under control:

… Do you by any chance know how to get a dog to stop barking? My black lab barks at anything: people walking past the house, people walking across the street, the neighbor cat. The biggest problem is that he barks at everyone that comes to the door. He barks, growls and gets his hackles up no matter who is there (except family and then he just barks). I can’t open the door because he is charging the door and carrying on. He hasn’t bitten anyone, most of the time he just backs away when they come inside, even though he still is barking. Any ideas?

That has got to be really annoying for you and your guests! I don’t have specific answers for your situation, but I would like to point you in a direction that I have found helpful.

I have learned a lot about my dogs’ behavior by watching The Dog Whisperer, with Cesar Millan, and It’s Me Or The Dog, with Victoria Stilwell. I highly recommend checking out their websites.

Your barking dog reminds me of one of the first episodes of It’s Me Or The Dog that I saw. I don’t remember the specifics of the problem with the dogs, but I do remember that they were naughty around other people and other dogs. It seems like there was barking or excessive pulling on the leash in social settings, or both.

The first thing Victoria did was to establish who was in charge. (It wasn’t the dogs!) Later, she took one of them on a walk and had someone else walk a strange dog in the vicinity. When the dog she was handling started to bark, or in other ways freak out, she turned and walked the dog away from the strange dog. When the dog settled down, she’d try approaching the strange dog again. She did that repeatedly until that dog learned that if it wanted to be introduced to a strange dog, it had to shut its yap and behave. You might try something like that with a willing victim friend at your door.

Victoria talks a lot about speaking the dog’s language. She demonstrates time after time on her show that she does not need to resort to beating the stuffing out of a dog to bring it under control; she resorts to body language and tones of voice that the dog understands. For example, she looks a dog in the eyes and gives it a cold glare that means, “You can fight me, but I will win.” She also says that tone of voice makes a big difference and recommends using a firm lower tone of voice rather than a shrill, whiny. The tone of voice needs to convey strength of will and command attention. Whines are easily, sometimes happily, ignored. Fewer syllables is good. A firm, deep “Hush!” is better than a higher pitched, “Noah! Quit that barking! You noisy beast, shut up! Noah, hush! Be quiet or I’ll kill you, you stupid* dog!”

* Obviously I’m pulling this scenario from the deep recesses of imagination. For one thing, Noah is not stupid. For another, he doesn’t have a barking problem.

When watching Victoria in action, there is no question about who’s going to win the contest of wills.

Anyway, Cindy, it sounds like something in your actions is telling your dog that his behavior is okay or that he is the boss. I highly recommend checking Cesar’s and Victoria’s websites and watching their programs, if you can, for help in retraining yourself and your dog. Dogs bark, and that’s okay. They’re supposed to, but what you’ve described seems excessive.

To read about what works for others, visit Shannon @ Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW: Walking a strong dog without losing your arm.

Do you dread walking your dog because it often seems more like the dog is walking you? Do you find that your leash hand has lost a layer of skin by the time you get back home?

I grew to hate walking our dogs because they pulled so hard. Choke chains work, but I had a problem keeping them up high enough on their necks, and then I’d end up with something about as effective as a saddle. The head collar didn’t work, either. You have to have a dog dumb enough not to back out of it.

My friend, Nina, once mentioned that she uses a prong collar for her large, energetic, very strong lab. Prior to that, I thought that was terribly cruel and would never have considered it. Knowing Nina, who doesn’t have a cruel bone in her body, I considered it.

Time passed and I forgot about the collar, until I was visiting my friend, Guinevere*. Her dog, Gideon, was a handful on a leash as a young pup. She said that he walked like a completely different dog with the prong collar. I had an opportunity to have a closer look at the collar she used and saw for myself that the points were blunt-tipped, so they only applied a near-pinch pressure and didn’t harpoon the dog’s neck.

On my way home from Guinevere’s house, I stopped at the pet store and picked up a prong collar to try with my dogs.

The first time I put the collar on Rocky, he cried out like I was killing him! He was used to pulling me where ever he wanted to go, so he took off with a flying leap. He suffered from severe wanderlust and wanted to run, wild and free. In a couple of minutes, though, he decided to yield his will to that of the Lord of the Leash.

Rocky (may he rest in peace), Noah, and, now, Heidi, adjusted well to the collar, and our walks have been enjoyable ever since. Noah and Heidi mostly walk next to us instead of charging off down the road, the dog walker clinging to the leash handle and flapping in the breeze behind them.

If you are having trouble getting your dog to walk with you, I recommend giving the prong collar a try. It does not harm them when used correctly, and you may not always need it if you walk them regularly enough that they’re used to cooperating.

For your dog’s safety, use a pronged collar according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This is a good article regarding the “how to” if you need help.

To see what works for others, check out this week’s Works for Me Wednesday.

Stardate Tuesday

In case I never mentioned this, Dogs Rule.

Adelheid loves to have a stuffed animal. There isn’t an attitude around people or Noah with it so we let her carry around her favorite.

Last night I went shopping for some stuff I needed for the church Christmas thing tonight and saw that the dog toys were marked down. I picked up one that most resembled her old one. When I got home, I said, “Heidi! Come and get your dolly!” (I may have mentioned before that she reminded us of a little girl with a doll when she was a puppy, so we have always called her MFT (most favored toy) her “dolly”.) She came running and sniffed the thing for a minute and walked away. I called her back and offered it to her again and she took it and walked around the house with it. Since then, she has spent most of her spare time in her kennel with the thing.

The Church thing

We had a great time at our thing tonight. *Ella went with me, and my mother in-law brought 4 other people. That was cool. All of the tables were so pretty and each was unique. I have yet to see a table decorated the same way twice. One was actually mostly black! It was striking. Simple, yet interesting. (It was that hysterical older redhead, **Guinevere.) Our guests seemed pleased with the table so that was a relief. (I always worry about disappointing people when it comes to stuff like that.)

*The Asterisk still means what it always has, but I have to put something here so that I can get on with the double asterisk.

** Not your real name, either, but 10,000 blog points to the person, blogger or nonblogger, who knows where this came from, who said it and who she was saying it to: “I’m Guinevere _______. My friends call me Jenny. You can call me Guinevere.”

I was pleasantly surprised to hear my contribution to dessert being raved over. I made cupcakes using the Cocoa Crazy Cake recipe and the Vegan Buttercream Frosting. They did taste exceptional. I am not sure if it was because they were refrigerated, which I don’t usually do, or if it was the recipe change, or if they were that great.

If it had to do with the recipe change, this time I substituted the 1/2 C of shortening for Soy Garden. I was a little leery of doing that but I didn’t have a lot to lose because I had already started dumping ingredients into my mixing bowl. (Take it from me: THINK FIRST.)

Everyone at our table also really enjoyed the entertainment. Every song the singers sang pointed to Jesus. No one could walk away from there wondering what it was all about, or at least not knowing the Object of our celebration.

Speaking of Jesus

Something I read in my email today caused me to look through the Bible for answers. Flipping through, I read some verses today that were an encouragement to me. Maybe they’ll be an encouragement to someone else.

Hebrews 4:14-16

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Colossians 2:13-15

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Something I think about quite often lately is that satan doesn’t have to turn me into a baby eating devil worshiper to win; he just needs to get my eyes off Jesus.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

“Here, Yellerrrrrr! Come back, Yellerrrrrr …

Best doggone dog in the West.”

Guess what we watched tonight.

A few years ago, Aunt Knockknees got the boys a dog omnibus - The Greatest Dog Stories Ever. Until then, I did not know there was a sequel to Old Yeller. Savage Sam is the son of Old Yeller, but, unlike Old Yeller, Savage Sam requires blood pressure medication to read.

Tonight, after I baked another batch of Gingersnaps, we sat down and watched Savage Sam. I didn’t even know this movie existed until recently. I’d have to reread the book but it seems like there was a big chunk missing.

I kept Dub on Benadryl today based on previous incidences of hives. He slept all morning and part of the afternoon. Apparently he didn’t sleep well last night! Hopefully we’ve headed the hives off at the pass this time.

Yes, I did mention that I made more Gingersnaps. I thought I’d mention it because there was a big difference in the ones we made today compared to the ones we made the other day.

For one thing, I remembered not to mix in that last 1/4 C of impure, adulterated white sugar. The finished product was definitely sugar coated! It was a bit much and I don’t think I’ll roll them in the sugar again.

For another thing, I used vegetable oil instead of Soy Garden. I said I was going to use Soy Garden but thought the oil would be less fattening. Fattening schmattening! The cookies turned out puffy, not flat and cookie-like. They looked attractive, just not Gingersnappy. The higher fat of the shortening worked better. I’m sure the Soy Garden would be good, too.

Once again I saved out three(they’re really small) for each person and stuck the other several dozen into freezer bags for later use. I am so proud of us! We have a stockpile of cookies in the freezer and have only had one per person since we started stashing them there Sunday. It’s quite a milestone. We Nicklebees traditionally do not save cookies, and that’s all I’ll say about that, though I should think the extra poundage speaks volumes!