The wrong side of the fence! These are some pictures from my mom and dad’s farm. Rogue and Raven want to come into the milkroom, but I don’t think the goats would appreciate it much, so this is the best they can do. LOL
Well, posting on this blog is probably pretty unlikely this week. I’m going to be spending the week up at my parents place taking care of chores on the farm while they are in Oregon. I won’t have access to my computer or internet while I’m there. So…I’ll try to get some pictures while I’m up there and if I get a chance to come home during the week, I’ll try to get them on here. Otherwise, it’ll just have to wait till next week.
Penny rolling in the leaves.
Here’s some pictures of Meeka with our dogs in the yard. She’s our friend’s Rottie that’s been staying here for a few days.
Our friends had to go to California, so we’ve got their Rottie, Meeka here visiting till Wednesday. She’s a loveable goof! I’d swear that she thinks she the same size as the Shelties, so she tries to follow them everywhere and bumps into and knocks things over in the process. LOL You couldn’t ask for a sweeter girl though. Lucy loves it when she comes to visit because she usually brings a stuffed toy from home. Lucy always steals it and destuffs it immediately. The last time Meeka came, her mom sent an old partially destuffed toy, (think she’s trying to tell us something?)
I have to say though, when she goes home, I never miss having a pool of water constantly sitting on the floor around the water bowls! Makes it dangerous to walk around without shoes, unless you like wet feet. I think half the water she drinks spills back out of her mouth onto the floor. Anyway, all in all, she’s a great guest! I’ll have to search through and see if I’ve got any pictures of her that I can post. If not, I’ll have to take some.
Time got away from me and I only got to go out with the dogs once to get pictures in the pretty fall leaves. I think the colors were awesome though. Here’s some of my favorites.
Brrr…I’m freezing. O.K. I’m a huge wimp, but the weather really got cold yesterday. We even got our first snow. It’ almost all melted this morning, and there was only enough to leave a little bit of a white cover on everything. Have I mentioned that I hate winter?!
I was out trying to get video of Rogue yesterday to show her behaviors with new people, familiar people, etc. but it wasn’t exactly the most ideal weather conditions to be playing in. My husband was supposed to help me too, but he got called back into work in the afternoon, and didn’t get home till almost 6. So, the only video that I managed to get was some at a friends’ yard that teaches agility and obedience. She had a beginning class and only two dog/handler teams came out yesterday, so it was a nice size to show Rogue interacting with them.
Maybe later today if it warms up a bit and my husband has time we can get some more footage of her. Then again, even if it doesn’t warm up today, the dogs won’t mind so we’ll probably go out for more video as long as he doesn’t have to work. LOL
It was a busy weekend for Rogue, and I’m still trying to process everything. Posting about everything will probably come in bits and pieces as I sort it all out.
I know that I’ve posted some about the holistic remedies that we’ve been trying for Rogue’s anxiety, but none have had any effect that I could see, and her anxiety if anything seems to be progressively getting worse to me. So…I decided that I needed to try something else. I can’t remember if I posted about our failed attempt to get bloodwork done at one of the local vets here. I don’t think I did, but the visit was pointless because they said they couldn’t find a vein to draw blood unless they sedated her, and I was unwilling to sedate her just for that. I decided to go to the veterinary hospital that Sheltie Rescue of Utah uses in Salt Lake, since I know that they have been happy with them and the vets there are also familiar with Shelties in general.
So, Friday we had an appt. at noon to have an exam and bloodwork done, and during the exam we decided to have x-rays done as well. I was really happy with the exam, I felt like he was very thorough, and by Monday we had the results back and they were normal. Nothing to explain the sensitivity to touch and anxiety increasing. So, in a way that’s a relief…
On Monday Rogue was also scheduled to have her private lesson with Leslie McDevitt. I really didn’t know what to expect from Rogue, since her threshold for handling pressure in new situations has decreased lately. It wasn’t a suprise for me when she pretty much was overwhelmed as soon as we entered the building. Leslie didn’t even try to do any training with us, just sat and talked to us for the hour instead. She said that in her opinion, Rogue has generalized anxiety disorder that requires medication.
Fortunately, she said that with meds she thought that Rogue’s ability to deal with anxiety should improve alot, and that we’ll be able to get past this place where we’re so stuck. She recommended getting a fax consult with Karen Overall to assist our vet in finding the right meds. I have to admit, I came home not really thinking that Karen would have time to take on our case, since she’s involved in a research study right now, but on Tuesday, I had a reply from her stating that she would be happy to take Rogue’s case. 
For parts of the last two days I’ve been trying to fill out the forms that she sent us. After that I’m going to try to get my husband’s help to get video of Rogue in several different situations to send along with the forms so that they get a good picture of what needs to be addressed. I feel kind of like I’m trying to complete a school assignment or something. LOL
So…that’s about it for now.
Fall for a Sheltie!
