Legs At 9 Months

Sorry I couldn't help myself, but to be honest Meerah has grown very little in the last month and she is now 61.5cms. I've no idea of her weight. I'm sure when she fills her frame she will look much better. Despite my continued apprehensions, she is a beautiful mover. (but hips and movement never go hand in hand) I'm sure her best is yet to come and hopefully as a show dog, she'll be worth waiting for! 

Beti In Tremadog

A lovely walk around "Cae Capel," a walk I was very familiar with 40 years ago, but the path was very muddy then and you had to watch out for cattle. Still Beti and I were glad not to meet anyone, though we did on our detour to the nursery on the way back, I was very disappointed to find the bluebells already going over there, ours are only just starting to flower.

Mum is not good, her mobility is deteriorating rapidly, and she's really not coping with the continued pain. I took her lunch and did a few bits and pieces to help her over the day. I'm pleased that my brother is coming to Bangor on the train on Thursday. I'll pick him up and take him to Tremadog, he'll then stay with her till Tuesday allowing me to hopefully get to the show. (Friends are checking in on Steve and the remaining dogs) 

The Alarm New South Wales

As North Wales has lost one of its stars, one who fought so hard for so long, most people will be reminiscing with "68 Guns,"  and what a tune it was .. but for me, when I think of Mike Peters, this is the one in my heart! 

Sunny But Cooler

Steve Walking

Not bad going is it really? The physio are happy with him, be it slow and steady there is progress. After this walk, he sat on his "High Chair" halfway back, had a cup of tea and admired the view. 

Sammi At The Vets

If a dog of any breed is unhappy with his bottom, biting, licking, scooting etc we must be observant, but especially so with breeds prone to anal furunculosis. I'm lucky to have never had one suffer from it here, but 3 from the "H" litter had it and I know Nico (Sammi's sire) has produced it to 2 different females, though we know one of those females had it herself a couple of years after having her litter. There is no point hiding these things, the breed can not improve if we stick our heads in the sand. Baby and bathwater always comes to mind, but when we have all the information we can at least make informed decisions. 

Anyway, back to Sammi and her first visit to the vets since 2021. The vet gave her an MOT and said everything abdominally feels good but without moving a single joint he said, of course there is the usual stiffness and loss of muscle that we would expect in a GSD of her age! I'm afraid I jumped straight in to her defence. No, there is no stiffness and no mobility issues at all with Sammi she could out move any 7-year-old. He replied, "Oh Ok well I did see she was very mobile as she came in. " Why do people always jump to the conclusion that an older GSD would have mobility issues? Look I'm no idiot, both her parent were seemingly fit and well at 11 yrs old and had died before they were 12, but currently Sammi is in fine form! 

The reason for Sammi's visit was because she had a sore bottom, In my mind I had diagnosed an infected anal gland, and I was right. Anal glands emptied, antibiotics and steroids. He apologised for the price of the antibiotics but felt they were the best in this case ... well absolutely, the best for my angel, and what is the point in using something else that may not clear it up anyway? 

Dermoid cyst (Nova - Orin x Luna daughter)

A dermoid cyst on a dog's head is a benign, congenital growth that develops from misplaced skin tissue during embryonic development. These cysts can contain hair, sebum, and keratin. They are more common in certain breeds like Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Kerry Blue Terriers. While generally harmless, they can cause problems if they become large or infected.

Once clipped they were far more pigmented than expected.

Histology report MICROSCOPIC DESCRIPTION  The sections comprise epidermis overlying dermis which contains parts of a large intradermal multilobulated epidermal-lined cyst / cysts which contains finely laminated keratin and hair shafts, and are lined by epithelium retaining its granular layer. Adjacent hair follicles appear largely normal. A lesion free margin is present in the sections examined i.e. assuming that the sections are representative of the margins then this extirpation appears to be complete. DIAGNOSIS Dermoid cyst

 COMMENT The changes are consistent with a dermoid cyst or cysts. These are embryonic remnants and the lesion usually occur along the dorsal midline particularly on the head. Complete surgical excision should be curative.

Outside The Box

It was just too nice to leave anyone confined in the house today, but I had great concern about Orin seeing Steve again. Orin is a typical adult male GSD, a lovable hooligan who doesn't know his own strength. So yeah, put the husband in the puppy pen, well it worked!!!

Four Of Four

So there have been some tears today, all my GSD friends have had a successful day at their various events and I'm at home feeling sorry for myself. I'm trying not to wallow in the self-pity, but maybe this time I'm allowed too? Well just a little eh! I'm chuffed for them all, but what I would have given to be at Malvern today. I'm trying to convince myself that Meerah would have been last and Beti in her current attire would never beat Yoko, but we would have liked to try! It brings me back to the same thought, you can feel pleased for others but feel sorry for yourself, and trust me I do. Will it ever go to plan for us, or will we always either be the bridesmaid or just left sitting on the sidelines? 

Photo of Beti at WELKS 2024

Jay

Just some memories!