For the Love of Beagles!: 2012

Saturday, March 3, 2012

What Your Dog Says About You...

According to Forbes: Got a Beagle? You are inquisitive and willing to learn new things. The Beagle is constantly questioning. If you own one of these dogs, chances are you are a curious, willful person who is loyal to friends, tough on enemies and pretty stubborn.

No comment...but I'd say it's right on :)

Lucy

Bath Day!

We have a wonderful groomer who comes over to the house to bathe the dogs. So it couldn't be any easier. While it’s a day I look forward to, I often find the boys hiding in various locations as soon as the van pulls up. The slowest one to hide goes first, which is usually Jude because he’s the newest family member and hasn’t quite caught on yet.

Jude looking very clean and handsome!

Up next Dreyfus. When I first adopted Dreyfus he was so filthy that after two baths he was still dirty! I'm told that Dreyfus lays down during his entire bath and he prefers to be towel dried. Who can blame him.


Dreyfus post bath. A little mad but clean!

Victor is the last to go usually. I worry the most about him during his bath because he has intervertebral disk disease. But he's always so happy and up beat afterwards, so I like to think the bath is therapeutic for him.

Victor clean, soft and ready for the next activity.

Bath day is also a little bittersweet because I can't help but miss Lucy. I wouldn't say that she loved getting a bath but she tolerated it very well.


Lucy getting a bath

The fun always took place after the bath when she would race around the house with a toy in her mouth completely wild and out of control. It was so much fun to watch and try to catch her. No matter how bad of a day you were having or how much you just wanted to get her dry and move on with your day, you couldn't help but laugh. When we lived in New York City we'd let her run up and down the hallway of our apartment building. She was so funny. Racing up and down the hall.

Miss you little one!

Friday, March 2, 2012

The Art of Sniffing by Jude

And we're off!

Sniff

RABBIT?!


Sniff

Total time 30 minutes. Distance traveled 20 feet. Rabbits caught 0.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Watchdogs on Duty

AKC: Beagles spike in popularity - UPI.com

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Happy Birthday Jude!!!

Jude turns 8 years old today. My little boy is growing up so fast! While I've had him for less than a year I can't imagine life without him. The great thing about Jude is he's happy all the time – when he wakes up in morning, when he goes for a walk, when he’s eating (especially when he's eating), when he’s playing with his toys, when he goes for a ride in the car, when he’s sleeping, and most importantly when we're cuddling. He is my daily reminder to live in the moment. So here's to many more birthdays my precious Jude. Thank you for coming into my life. I love you!

Here are some photos from his birthday party...

Birthday cake!

Jude took a bite out of the cake right after this photo was taken!

Partying with Dreyfus and Victor!

After the cake...

and maybe a little too much partying!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Dreyfus


Dreyfus when I first got him.

Our first few walks consisted of this...him staring at me.

I was going through pictures of Dreyfus and I was amazed at his transformation from when I first adopted him. I forgot how pathetic he looked when I first got him! He was heartworm as well as every other worm positive, lethargic, filthy, skinny, and scared of everything. It took him a month before he would take a treat from my hand and he’d only eat his breakfast/dinner as long as I wasn’t watching him. We took things very slow those first few months. Thankfully I’m quiet and where I lived was quiet, so slowly he began to feel more comfortable around our apartment and me. I lived on the third floor and he was scared to death of both the elevator and the stairs (plus I didn’t want him walking up and down the stairs during his heartworm treatment) so I carried up and down the stairs every time we went outside. We had a lot of dogs living in our complex and Dreyfus was scared of every single one of them. They’d bark at him and he’d shake, so we avoided other dogs. I wanted him to sleep in my bed so I knew where he was at night but he wanted to sleep in the living room on the sofa. Every night I’d put him on my bed and every night he’d jump off. Until one night instead of jumping off my bed he slowly walked up to my head, laid down and rested his head on my shoulder. From that night on that’s where he slept. Soon he started to get more and more courageous about the outside world. He was still terrified of people and dogs he didn’t know but he knew I would protect him. Once he recovered from his heartworm we slowly started to go on longer and longer walks, which he’d love. It got to the point where I’d get home from school, he’d fly off the sofa to greet me and then he’d go get his leash. His favorite walk was a 2-mile long walk around a lake we lived by. It was a beautiful walk, especially in the fall, which we both enjoyed. Every time we went on that walk we ran into a Miniature Schnauzer named “Huckleberry”. The first time we met “Huckleberry” he was loose, standing on the sidewalk barking at us. Dreyfus was scared to death. “Huckleberry” then came running towards us, I picked Dreyfus up and we returned “Huckleberry” to his house. Over the course of our walks Dreyfus and I got to know “Huckleberry” and his owners very well. I always hoped that we wouldn’t see him but we always did. He was a very sweet little dog, who unfortunately had very irresponsible owners. I miss that walk.

Dreyfus and I now like to walk along the cliffs near my parents’ house. He loves to run through the tall grass, chase the feral cats and bark at the dogs we meet along the way. What a long way he’s come!

Trying to get a photo of Dreyfus on a walk now is very difficult.

I'm ready to go!

He loves to run!

My perfect boy!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Treating Dogs' Cancers May Benefit Humans

Treating Dogs' Cancers May Benefit Humans - ABC News

All that talk about lymphoma yesterday, I thought I'd share this.

Dreyfus and Jude

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Lucy - Cutaneous Lymphoma

Lucy as a puppy

Where to start? I wasn’t sure if I should start at the beginning or the end. After trying to write about Lucy for months I wasn’t even sure if I could write about her at all. I decided to start at the end because that way I figured I could move on to sharing happier times. We did have 18 and half years together. Little Lucy always present, always there. Towards the end I knew the time was coming but still I did everything to prevent it. Did I push her too far? I’m not sure. Two weeks prior to euthanizing Lucy, she was diagnosed with cutaneous lymphoma, which I knew in my heart she had but as a vet I needed confirmation.

What is cutaneous lymphoma?

Many of you have probably heard of lymphoma which is a common cancer in dogs, the cutaneous form of lymphoma is very rare and only accounts for about 3-8% of all canine lymphomas. It is usually seen in middle aged to older dogs and it is divided into two forms epitheliotropic and nonepitheliotropic. Lucy had the epitheliotropic form, which is also known as mycosis fungoides. Clinical signs of early epitheliotropic lymphoma typically resemble that of inflammatory skin disease, which includes redness, scaling, itching, depigmentation, hair loss, ulceration, and crusting of the skin. I first noticed depigmentation and redness with Lucy. The skin lesions may be focal or generalized. Lucy’s skin lesions initially were focal around her mouth (which is a common location) and then spread to her nose and the skin around her eyes. Like any cancer metastasis to lymph nodes and other organs can occur. Nonepitheliotropic lymphoma is extremely rare in dogs but is the more common form in cats. Clinical signs typically include multiple, ulcerated, skin nodules.

You can see the redness and the depigmentation around her muzzle, nose and eyes

The prognosis for both forms of cutaneous lymphoma is poor. Recurrence is very common. Generalized epitheliotropic lymphoma is often treated with chemotherapy as well as steroids. Focal mycosis fungoides can be treated with surgery or radiation with or without chemotherapy. Focal mycosis fungoides has a slightly better prognosis. (source http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/CLERK/Nesbit/)

Dreyfus took great care of her right up until the end

And she took great care of him!

Prior to her diagnosis I said I would never put her through chemotherapy or radiation. After her diagnosis I did both. Why? Her cutaneous lymphoma was focal and I thought we could improve her quality of life as well as extend it. Did she suffer through any of these treatments? No, I was with her the whole time. Quick note about chemotherapy in dogs and cats, they receive much lower doses than humans and therefore tolerate it much better and often have very few side effects. When I realized that her condition wasn’t improving and she started eating less and less I knew it was time.

Lucy was a Beagle through and through so eating was an easy way to measure her quality of life. Her whole life, right up until the end, she ate her meals way too fast. We had to put a tennis ball in the middle of her food bowl to slow her down. For a few years of her life she lived in NYC. She had all the doormen trained in our building to give her a treat when she left the building and when she came back in the building. I still remember one year around Christmas we had just come back from a walk and we went through the service entrance of our building, which was full of deliverymen. Lucy maneuvered her way through the deliverymen to our doorman where she proceeded to sit up perfectly and politely to ask for her treat. The doorman stopped what he was doing, told the deliveryman to wait just a second and he gave her a treat. She then turned around, walked back to me and we continued on our way.

The last photo of Lucy

9/12/11 was the first day in her whole life that she didn't want to eat. I knew it was time. She passed away in my arms with her head on my heart. To say I miss her is an understatement.