Poor Little Dunkers

Duncan made it a whole 36 days between grand mal seizures this time. I think he had a partial seizure Thursday before I got home, although I'm not positive. I know for a fact, though, that he had a GM Thursday night. I swear he's deliberately starting to pick awkward spots where he could hurt himself - this time he was smashed up against the entertainment center and I had to work at keeping him from bashing his head into it.

Dr. Lapham and I talked a few days prior to the seizure and agreed that if he had another GM we'd add Keppra to his meds. So now he gets Phenobarbital twice a day and Keppra three times a day. Duncan had his first dose of Keppra Saturday morning and the side effects hit him hard and fast. When he walks, he looks drunk. He can't get two legs to go in the same direction without really paying attention. If anyone bumps him, he falls over. He's peeing and pooping on himself because he can't balance and keep all four legs out of the way. And my formerly bomb-proof dog now startles at almost anything. I know we're just at day three with this new combo but I really hope he can get past these side effects quickly. He's not a happy boy, and I really hate seeing him this way.

To add to the drama, Duncan started having a lot of trouble with his back end a couple of weeks ago. Lots of foot dragging and twisting, and standing/walking much too low on his hocks. I took him to see Dr. L and his theories are that its either long-term damage to the joints courtesy of the med-induced weight gain (my pony weighed in at 127lbs a week and a half ago - he should be 115lbs) or nerve damage that's too minor to spot with regular tests but significant enough to cause trouble. In other words, Dr. L has no idea. So we wait and see if anything changes, or if he gets bad enough that the folks at the vet school might be able to actually find the problem. Assuming I could afford to take him there, of course.

I was trying to get Duncan swimming once a week or so to help strengthen his back legs and lose some of the weight, but I guess that's on hold for a bit. Even though he wears a life jacket when he swims, I don't want him in water that's over his head while he's having so much trouble with his coordination. Lucky for us, we managed to get in a session this past week the day before his seizure. These pictures are from a few weeks ago (taken by James Tock) - he doesn't need the long leash anymore to show him where to go. For a pup who wouldn't get in water deeper than his belly unless I was swimming next to him, he sure does seem to enjoy splashing in the pool.

Swimming

Duncan and I have gone swimming with my friend, Renee, and her dogs a couple of times. We always have a lot of fun and end up staying in the water much longer than I would have by myself. On our last trip to the lake I took a waterproof disposable camera (I'm always afraid I'll drop my little digital in the water), and I think it did a pretty good job.

Duncan seems like he's really enjoying the whole swimming thing. Of course, he still panics for the first few minutes, and he still thinks the safest place is on my shoulders, but we're making progress. This picture looks like he's smiling, but if you look really closely, he looks a bit deranged around the eyes. He's probably gauging whether or not the risk of drowning me during his climb is worth it....


Renee's dog, Merlin, likes to be held while he takes a break from swimming. The first time we went to the lake with them, Duncan saw Renee holding Merlin several times, and he decided that wasn't such a bad idea. So now, everytime Duncan swims to me, he tries to get me to hold him. There's one significant difference between the dogs, though - Merlin only weighs 40 lbs. Duncan and I have worked out a relatively satisfactory solution. As long as I can brace myself before he climbs into my arms, we do okay. Duncan usually ends up with his front feet on my leg and my arm under his back legs. Thank goodness for Duncan's life jacket...


When Duncan has me hold his front legs (which is what I'm doing in this picture), I'm not sure if he's actually kicking his back legs or just letting them dangle. I know he's not bracing himself on the bottom. I really think he's trusting me and his life jacket to support him.


Anytime I swim away from shore, Duncan follows me. Sometimes he turns around before I do, but he always comes back out for me. I've started letting him pull me back towards the shore. Its funny to watch his hips when he's doing this, because they move side to side fairly slowly, until I let go. He picks up a lot of speed when he dumps all that extra weight...


And here's Duncan's opinion on the whole thing...


Of course, he wasn't complaining when we stopped at Bruster's for ice cream (they have pup treats, too).

Water Games

Duncan and I were supposed to meet a friend at the lake for a swimming session Monday evening, but she canceled on me. Instead, Duncan and I took Reyna with us. I was a little concerned, because I generally don’t trust her off leash in a potentially public place, but no one else was around so it worked out just fine. Reyna had a lovely time swimming around our little cove. It was interesting to see how upset she got when I swam away from the bank. She would become visibly agitated until either she was beside me or I swam back to the bank.


Duncan, on the other paw, apparently forgot everything he learned Saturday. I had to coax him into deeper water and then hold him up while he flailed around for several minutes. All his splashing accomplished was getting water in his face, which made him even more upset. When he suddenly realized (remembered?) he wasn’t going to drown, he settled down and swam very nicely. The three of us swam back and forth across the cove a couple of times, and I had to laugh when Duncan tried to cheat by running along the bank instead. Thankfully, the terrain at that particular spot wasn’t very conducive to walking, so he gave up and got back in the water.


Duncan isn't actually swimming here, but I really like this picture...

Catching Up

The most important news is that Duncan is getting worse. His pasterns (wrists) are collapsing, possibly due to the way he’s compensating for the changes in his back end. We went herding Thursday night, and its obvious that his pain during activity is increasing. After a short session (less than 10 minutes), he was doing a very awkward bunny hop (not a normal running bunny hop) anytime I needed him to move faster than a walk. I’m going to start wrapping his pasterns to provide some extra support, but I really don’t know what else to do for him. I emailed the ortho vet, and he wants Duncan to be re-evaluated by the neurology department. His thoughts are that its possibly Degenerative Myelopathy or a problem with a disc in the lower lumbar area. Still waiting for neuro to call me back.

The most fun news is that Duncan has finally learned to swim! One of the women I herd with told me about a nice, quiet spot where she takes her dogs, so Duncan and I went out this morning for a swimming lesson. I had to drag coax Duncan into the water once it hit his belly, and then I had to support him for a few minutes while he settled down. His original idea of swimming was to flail about in a panicked fashion, which didn’t do much more than soak both of us. He eventually got the idea, though. He still starts paddling with a frantic leap, but then actually swims. And he is fast. I would swim away from the bank to get him to swim farther, and he would overtake me so easily. The downside of the swimming lesson was that he tried to drown me more than once. For some reason, he thinks getting his paws on my shoulders is the goal, when all that really does is leave deep red marks on various parts of my body and shove me under the water. I learned quickly that the way to handle that is to push him away as soon as he gets close – redirect him, and he’ll paddle off with no problems. I’m not saying he loves to swim, but by the time we were done, I think he’d figured out he wasn’t going to drown. I’m going to try and get him out there a couple of times a week for exercise, since walking doesn’t seem to be the best choice these days. Oh, and I’d like to point out that I was actually in the water when I took these photos…

Here's Duncan launching himself towards me.


He may not look thrilled, but at least he's swimming.


Shortly before he got close enough to shove me under...


Not to be outdone, Reyna got a little swim time in the Suite Paws pool after she had her nails trimmed. This was after our 2.5 mile walk, so she was actually ready for a little rest after her outing.


A couple of days before we had those nasty hot temps, I bought the pups cooling vests. They have inserts of a solid that melts into a gel and keeps the pups cool for about two hours before the inserts need to be replaced. Duncan loves his vest and will keep his belly as flat on the floor as possible to get all the coolness.


Reyna, on the other paw, has decided that the vest is some sort of torture device I’ve created just to make her life utterly miserable. She’ll actually leave the house if I even pick up a vest. If I make her wear it, she keeps her ears down, looks depressed, and tries to shake the thing off for about 20 minutes. Then she gives up, lays down, and proceeds to look like I’ve kicked her repeatedly. But I don’t care, because the vest keeps her cool.

Swim Fun

The folks at the kennel have been nice enough to allow Reyna to use their pool for her rehab. Today was the first day we made it over there, and if we can use it regularly, I think it will really help Reyna. She had a lot of fun in the pool, and it was the perfect depth – deep enough for her to swim comfortably, but shallow enough that she could stand up with her front paws propped on the side.

Water Dog

We ended up at the pond all three days this past weekend. We did an hour on Friday, an hour and a half on Saturday, and just a bit over an hour on Sunday. I’d booked the pond for an hour and a half Sunday, but Reyna finally started showing signs of being tired, so we left early. Both dogs had a great time at the pond (except Duncan when he inadvertently went in the water). Reyna obviously enjoyed swimming after the various tennis balls and toys that were available, even though she almost never brought them back close enough for me to reuse. She even went off the diving dock (on purpose, unlike Duncan) once or twice. When she wasn’t swimming after a ball, she would just stand at the bank, chest deep in the water, and smile up at me. One thing I found very funny was that, even while swimming, Reyna would take the time to spin in circles. She never quite caught up to her tail, but she got pretty good at paddling around in little loops. Every now and then, she would get out and run around the grassy area with Duncan. The poor boy was pretty much on his own for entertainment, though, because Reyna definitely preferred staying in the water. I’m hoping we’ll be able to get to the pond at least once a week. It’s a 30 minute drive each way, though, so its not something we’ll be able to do every day.

Not A Happy Camper

I recently discovered that one of the dog training places we’ve used has a pond for rent at their location in Youngsville. Its only $5 for half an hour, so we rented the pond for an hour today and went to check it out. Reyna loved it, of course (she’ll get her own post about this). Duncan enjoyed it, too, but he’s still not into the whole swimming thing. He did get in up to his belly, and he seemed interested in the idea of swimming, but wasn't quite ready. I’ve ordered a life jacket for him, since its really hard to find an extra large in the stores. Hopefully, that’ll help boost his confidence just like it did Reyna’s.

Duncan did unintentionally swim twice this morning. The first time he fell in because he leaned too far over the side of the diving dock. The second time, he got right up to the edge of the dock while watching Reyna, and I pushed...er, encouraged him into the water. He didn’t seem pleased either time. And I noticed he didn’t go to the end of the dock again if I was too close...

A Fun Afternoon

The weather has been pretty icky this weekend, but Friday was gorgeous. I got out of class early, so I was able to take advantage of the sunny, 80 degree weather. As soon as I got home, I took the dogs out to the pond behind the house. I'm going to have to try and find a better route other than straight through the woods, because the ticks are definitely out.


Both of the dogs enjoy going to the pond, but Reyna’s the only one who actually swims. Some days, I think Duncan still believes he’ll melt if that horrible, nasty, wet stuff touches him. He has finally gotten to where he’ll actually get in the water up to his chest, but only to drink, and he still gets out pretty quickly. He certainly doesn’t splash around it in and have fun like Reyna does.


This pond isn’t huge, but it’s plenty big for swimming, and the water is pretty clean (ignoring the layer of pollen on top, of course). Reyna doesn’t swim just to swim, but she’ll go after sticks – and occasionally even bring them back. I’ve thought of taking a couple of tennis balls out there, but since she isn’t consistent on returning the items, I figure tennis balls aren’t a good idea. I’d hate for her to leave one out there, and then I have to either swim after it myself or drag the canoe down there.


On this trip, I remembered to take my digital camera and my video camera. Below is a short clip of Reyna swimming. I had a several bits where she actually brought the stick back, but all you can hear during those is the clickity-clickity-click of the digital camera. Holding the video in my left hand and the digital in my right doesn’t produce the best of either. Its hard to zoom with one hand...

On our way back, the dogs decided to play a bit, and I managed to get most of that on tape, too.