Joint Aid For Dogs

We have all been there. You wake up from sleeping in an awkward position and your back and neck hurts. Or the clouds roll in with signs of rain and your knees start to hurt. The latter happens to me often actually. Well, joint pain is just as common in pets as it is in humans.

Let's talk about Africa. As you will recall,  I was worried about Africa needing a very expensive surgery. ACL surgery is around $2500 dollars per leg and we thought Africa might need them both done. It has been well over a year and she is doing great without the surgery.

It seems that while her diagnosis was that her ACL was torn, her recovery has led us to believe that it could have simply been her joints. A dogs joints works very similar to ours. Our joints can hurt with a change in the weather such as rain just like it can for dogs. Similarly, as joint pain worsens, the tendons, muscles, and ligaments can be damaged or in pain as well. This could have easily been the case with Africa.

Our dog's extreme limping, lack of desire to get off her bed, and overall immobility led us to believe it was something that could only be helped with an invasive surgery. I now believe that keeping her resting and with the help of glucosamine she is healed. Joint aid for dogs is a much better treatment to start with than surgery. We gave her two tablets a day to start which had a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin. These two nutrients are the foundation for ease of discomfort and ultimate healing of the joints. There are lots of great brands of glucosamine out there.  I would definitely recommend trying this treatment plan first before any surgery, especially when dealing with a dog as large as Africa. Glucosamine will also help with arthritis in dogs, which is quite common. In fact, the vet has said that Africa may be heading in that direction even at her young age.

All is well at our house and next post I would like to talk about two new arrivals at our house. In the meantime, perhaps we can teach Africa how to skate on our bamboo longboards since she is up and ready to get moving. In fact, she is better than ever.

Update

 If you open up any media website you can find several articles with the latest crime and tragedy. Such headlines seem all too numerous these days. However, among the dark I always seem to notice the light. There are stories with happy endings and miracles. We think we have such a story in our home.

It may sound like a farce because it is no secret that we, or rather, I had much anxiety over the cost of the ACL surgery we thought Africa would need and therefore perhaps you may question my sincerity of our miracle. We had a family member offer to help us with the cost of surgery and were even sent the money. We were super grateful, but still hesitated and wanted to give it time to heal.

It went from bad to worse. Soon she was limping on the opposite knee which we had heard could happen once she started to favor the one. We put her on Rimadyl and Dasuquin to help with the joints and inflammation. We also reduced her food because she is overweight and tried to reduce her movement.

I am happy to report that she is much improved. Miracles do happen even with dogs. Little Jack prayed every night to "please help Africa to get better" and I can tell you that I fervently prayed and not just because there were dollar bills in my eyes. She is walking without any limp and took her first walk yesterday without any consequences. We still don't want her to overdo it and realize she is still susceptible to injury, but thankfully she is happy to lay around and take it easy.

We are grateful to have her well again and I have even seen her running after joggers and walkers in the yard. Thank you so much for your concern and advice. Below are a few articles that helped convince us that sometimes surgery is not necessary and to try other remedies. It may still be inevitable, but for now we be happy with the blessings we have.

 http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-health/is-surgery-the-answer-for-acl-injuries.aspx

http://tiggerpoz.com

A Bum Deal

Actually it is not the bum, it's Africa's knee. It seems that Africa has torn her ACL and now requires a very expensive surgery. Perhaps you can tell from the photo but she is keeping her weight off the back right knee and walks around on 3 legs now. In short, it is a bum deal for her and us.

As much as I would like to complain about the cost, the fact that the husband works 3 jobs as it is, and the inconvenience of an injury like this, I mostly want to complain about how sad it is for Africa.

As you may recall we started our love affair for the breed, South African Boerboel, with our beloved Tonka who loved a short happy life due to Wobbler's Disease. His disease was so rare and tragic that we had no doubt that our next one would be unbelievably healthy and live an active life. This was not the case. Before this injury, Africa has been suffering from arthritis at just 3 years old. She is on glucosamine which helps, but this injury will only exasperate the arthritis and make her essentially suffer for the rest of her life.

For now, she is on anti inflammatories to see if that helps and then we will schedule this really expensive surgery knowing that the stress of walking on the other knee will probably cause the same thing to happen.

I realize that many of you have pets who suffer from long term ailments as well. How do you cope with it? Africa is like our child and knowing she will have a life filled with a lot of immobility is frustrating. How do you cope with surprise costs in an already tight budget?  Any thoughts and similar experiences with this kind of surgery and injury on a large breed dog would be appreciated. In the meantime, chin up! At least that is what I am telling myself.

Every Little Boy Deserves A Dog

Why does every post contain a picture of Africa on our near her bed? Because that is where she spends 99% of the time. Therefore, this is where I capture most of my pictures of her. This picture features my own little creature, Jack. He is the perfect child and makes up for where I am the worst mother.
He has figured out that I am not a morning person and therefore wakes up when the sun is up and cuddles with Africa. Adorable? Yes. Tragic? Perhaps, but I really am ok with it. I would like to take this time to thank Africa for being there for Jack in the morning when I am not available. Usually I find him sitting on her bed just petting her, but on this morning his 5 a.m. "rise and shine" got the best of him. Every little boy needs a dog.

Sweet dreams.

One Bark and Scary Night

It is 3 a.m. and I am not sure if I am awake or dreaming. A loud bark from Africa confirms that I am indeed awake and this is not a dream, but maybe a nightmare. The husband is away and I think my biggest fear is about to occur.

Africa never barks unless there is a human on or near our property that is not expected or welcome. Typical night sounds, other dogs barking, or anything that usually provokes a dog to bark, does not inspire Africa to needless noise. This trait is fantastic because we all know how annoying barking can be.

It is this knowledge that made me to begin to shake and panic when I was awakened to very confidant barking coming from the main part of my house in the very dark, and early hours of the morning. It got worse when I realize that Africa is even more loud and running across the house towards the garage.

I grabbed my cell next to me and immediately dialed 911. I explained that I was alone, I had two young children, and my dog was barking uncontrollably which never happens. I asked the operator to just stay with me as I investigated. She was ready to send someone, but Africa stopped barking just as I opened my bedroom door.

I checked out the rest of the house and garage and of course didn't find anyone. I confess I am an extremely paranoid person especially after becoming a mom, but I know that if Africa is barking, there is a reason.

I still don't know what that was, if anything. I live in a very safe neighborhood and a community with a low crime rate, but know that anything can happen at anytime. A similar experience has happened once before 2 years ago. It also resulted in nothing, but the that kind of feeling of panic is never far away from my memory. My own personal theory is that if it was someone, without even seeing Africa, her very bark is aggressive enough that she would have scared someone away.

I can speculate and wonder forever, but the one thing I am sure of is that I have an incredible guard dog who was a hero on that night and probably other times I don't even know about.

It is scary out there, but a lot less scary when you have one of these.

Hoppy Spring!

Africa is always a good sport and didn't let the kids down on being the Easter Bunny this year. She brought them lots of candy, silly toys, and deviled eggs for me. We hope spring has been good to you and wish you lots of rain and happiness. If you don't want any rain, please send it our way. Arizona just never gets enough.  Hoppy Spring!!

Definition of B. I. G.

You know you are big when you require two extra large dog beds.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Does posting pictures of these two together ever get old? Perhaps, but not in this house. We love this duo. I know I have stated previously that these two critters are only 3 days apart. There are a lot of reasons these two make for such great friends, however, by comparison perhaps it is the differences that bring them together because they have very little in common. Let's take a look.

Africa                                                       The Boy
150 lbs                                                      35 lbs
Potty Trained                                            Still has accidents, but working on it
Sleeps all day on her bed                          Never sits still, even when asleep
Barks (speaks) only when visitors arrive  Never stops speaking even when asleep
Eats two meals a day                                 Seems to eat 15.5 meals a day
Has eaten all her stuffed animals               Has one "lovie" from the beginning that goes everywhere
Only kind of likes me                                 Loves me
Dreams of being sent to time- out              Does not like time-out



Similarities:
drools                                                          drools
loves to catch balls                                      loves to catch and throw balls
Loves the man of the house                        REALLY loves the man of the house
Is loved by us                                               Is really LOVED by us

So you see there are tons of differences, but none of that matters when there is so much love between a boy and a dog.

Mr. Chewy On My Door Step

Is there anything better than getting your dog's food delivered to your door? I think not. This busy mom of two loves any help I can get when it comes to shopping and convenience. I recently tried out Mr Chewy's website to get dog treats and dog food for Africa. It is the best kind of shopping there is. Not only does this site offer Africa's favorite treats and dog food, but it also has free shipping on orders over $49.
Here's the scoop on my new favorite online pet store:

-70+ Brands – Mr. Chewy offers a wide selection and adding new in demand
brands regularly.
-Subscription based ordering for hassle free delivery of your favorite
products.
-Prompt shipping throughout the United States.
-Free Shipping for any order over $49

I'm not sure who got the better treat, Africa with her bag of dog goodies, or me with this new great website. Check them out at : http://www.mrchewy.com/

Naughty and Nice

It is easy to see how adorable this is. I am especially pleased that the little one went to Africa instead of waking me up at 5 a.m. as usual. There is nothing like a quick little snooze with your favorite horse on her comfortable bed. However, can you spot the naughty in this picture? It seems that one of the subjects in the photo is house broken, the other is not...yet.

Happy New Year! We've Been Busy!

By "we", I mean everyone but the lovely beast you see here. The toddler is in charge around here doing everything just shy of starting the house on fire. The baby is 10 months old and army crawling like crazy. The wife (hey that's me!) is trying to stick to her new year resolution of complaining less and loving more, and the boss/husband/ Africa's lover, is working is tail off like the rest of society for a better future and a little less "pay check to pay check".

What is Africa doing? What she does best. Guarding and sleeping. It isn't a bad gig. She has a new fluffy dog bed not shown here and has given up entirely on laying by our feet on the second class carpet. I don't blame her. Her bed is nicer than mine. She continues to be the best dog ever to our kids and therefore I love her.

I apologize for the repeat tacky plug of our business but we need all the help we can get. Besides being a firefighter, carpenter, and reserve firefighter for another company, my husband has started a longboard manufacturing company in my garage. Gasp! It is as small and wonderful as it sounds. He has been like a mad scientist coming off shift from being up 24 hours running calls to staying up until midnight creating and calculating how to make the best longboard skateboard.

I will spare you the long amazing story that has taken place in the last 3 years (hence my absence), but let's just say we are about 3 years too late getting into the gig because suddenly longboarding became really popular with lots of new companies while we were still in our garage coming up with what we thought would put the rest to shame.

So with lots of pleading and humility I come to you my blogging friends asking if you could spare a link on your link list.. The way to compete with the rest is to move up in the "googling" world (not yet a word). If someone adds a link -http://www.blacklongboards.com with the title or name being : skateboards longboard that would help us tremendously. NO worries if you like to keep your blog clean, but if you see this as no big deal and do help us, we can't thank you enough. Every link helps and makes it possible for people to find our site. If you do this and think it was no big deal or hard to do, I hope you know that just helped make a huge leap in our business venture. Thank you so very much just for your support all this time and for loving your pets in common with us. WE love and appreciate you!

Special thanks to Norwood Unleashed for the huge plug on your blog to our business and for the twitter follow. If I ever do get rich, I am buying you a house.

Sleepy Africa
and Kasha

After Christmas

After Christmas is always a bummer isn't it? Maybe not so much for Africa. She was sharing a house with 3 other dogs and competing for all of the comfy spots. Fortunately Santa brought a new dog bed and a new toy to make Africa's year. She probably won't move from this spot for the next 10 days. How was your Christmas?

Confessions of an Elephant owner

I am the author and owner of a dog blog, and yet out of everyone in my household, I am the least in love with our dog.  It's true. It's crazy, but it's true. I became a mom at the exact same time I became a dog owner and so my loyalty and frustration was not shared, but skewed and misplaced at times. The house breaking and crate training almost did me in on top of caring for a newborn.

When I am most humble, most grateful to my husband for all that he does, and most kind, I confess that I like her a lot. I wish I carried this attitude with me all of the time as I should, but alas I do not. I like having a clean house and true cream colored carpet. When you have a horse living in your house, the clean house prospect disappears. Thus you see my selfish frustration.

However, today I had a moment of enlightenment as we hurried out the door to run various errands as a family. I observed as Africa anxiously saw us all to the door, obviously concerned that we were leaving. She would inevitably go back to her bed and sleep while we were away, but as soon as she heard us return, she waited by the door as she always does excited for us to come back in.

We are EVERYTHING to her. Even me! She wants to be a part of our lives in every way. She is there to protect, to watch out, and to wait. When I put myself aside, I am pretty impressed with not just my dog, but all dogs in general. While I am pretty selfish, it is clear that they are the most unselfish creatures.  I don't deserve a dog like Africa. My husband surely does and thank goodness for him. Love is selfish, love is blind, but when it comes to dogs, they freely give it to whomever is willing to feel. I feel it today, and I am most grateful.

My name is Kasha. I own a dog blog that is all about our dog, Africa, and yet sometimes don't like her. I complain a lot about the business of owning an elephant for a dog, but today... I love her. The end.

My What Big Ears You Have

The newest baby has begun to notice our largest baby. I can't ever say enough about the perfect demeanor a Boerboel has around children. Africa may not be too welcoming to random visitors, especially the adult, male variety, but she loves kids anytime.  The one thing she and I can agree on, is our love for cute, squishy, mini humans. Happy Fall!

Big

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Object in this picture is very much bigger than she appears.

The one thing that surprises me with this breed is the fact that despite coming from the Continent of Africa, she really doesn't handle the heat here in Az. I understand that the temperature is higher here, but I would think it would not be quite as tragic to our little lady as it really seems to be.

So here we are just trying to survive one more summer with lots of water and thank goodness--an Air Conditioner! It was supposed to break in the spring of this year it is so old, but knock on wood it just keeps chuggin.

If you are still with me and reading this, big hugs to you my friend. I have been a wee bit absent from the blogging world for two little cute reasons and also to help the other boss around here create a brilliant business making and selling longboards. I hope to give you a peak to the site soon. With this economy it sounds like a bad idea, but can it really get any worse? I hope you are doing well. What are you looking forward to this Fall?

Africa Waits

Africa waits for the temperature to return to something more tolerable than the 114 degrees we have been having.

Africa waits for a soft pat on the head or a tickle behind the ears.

Africa waits for breakfast and dinner and some cool water in between.

Africa waits for a trip back to her home land.

Africa waits for Elections 2012 (oh wait, no that's me.)

Africa waits because she is the most patient creature I know.

Just say no to Puppy Mills

If you have never heard of puppy mills, you have probably never watched Oprah. Congratulations on your ability to avoid Oprah and her magical powers, but hopefully you have still been able to avoid accidentally purchasing a puppy from a puppy mill despite missing the puppy mill episode.

I myself rarely watch Oprah, but one fine day like 3 years ago I watched, learned, and became apalled. It turns out some breeders want lots of money for their puppies while putting little money and care into the process. The dogs are kept in really small cages often so neglected their collars are embedded in their necks. The females are bred way too much and spend the majority of their life cramped and pregnant without the right nutrition and help. From what I saw on the Oprah show it doesn't look good and these people should not be allowed to breed dogs.

I thought that episode shut all the puppy mills down, but apparently there is a puppy store right here in my little neck of the woods still supporting such horrific places. I was happy to see so many people caring and protesting on this day where I snagged a few shots. The best place to get a dog is from your local dog shelter, the second best place is from a good breeder of whom you can actually meet, see where their dogs are kept, and know that they take really good care of their pets. That is what we did, it is a shame we didn't rescue a dog, but boerboels don't end up in the humane society very often if ever.

There you have it, puppy mills are bad, good breeders are best!

Everybody Still Here?

With the all of the "End of the World" talk I just wanted to do a quick roll call? Everybody doing good? At least we know that all dogs go to heaven!

Busy Me Hasn't Forgotten Thee

Hello furry friends. We welcomed our baby girl to the litter a wee month ago. She is perfect and healthy and we couldn't be more thrilled. Thankfully these two have each other while I figure out how to divide my attention to a busy toddler and needy infant. We are getting there. In the meantime there are always naps on the floor with the loyal dog who always has time and love to give.

Have You Heard?

Have you heard? Gas prices are going up, up, up! Inflation is causing dairy, meat, and grain prices to go up, but also natural disasters in different parts of the world will cause shortages in fresh vegetables and fruit in the near future. Then of course there is Libya, Egypt, and several other places with political unrest. My personal favorite is a mother in Florida who was recently arrested for a D.U.I. Who was she? Oh just the president of M.A.D.D (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

It is 7 a.m. at my house and everyone is asleep, but me. We are safe, we are healthy, and truly all is well despite the terrible news you may hear. Take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. See? You are doing awesome too! We can be still and take each day at a time. Come what may, we will be fine. Have a great week my little furry and non-furry friends!