@bellabasenji:

How's the heartworm treatment going?

Beeji just went in to the Vet Hospital today for round two of the treatment. I will be able to get him tomorrow afternoon. He so loves the techs out there, that he didn't even look back as they led him off!! I'm glad but also a bit sad! LOL.

Anyway, they will call me either tonight or in the morning to let me know how he is doing. Now we go back to keeping him as calm as possible. The meds sort of slow him down and he does feel lethargic for several days.

But so far so good.

Thanks!!

Thanks everyone for the warm wishes, it is now Saturday and Beeji woke up full of steam! He wolfed his breakfast, headed to the rack where his harness and lead are and then dashed to the front door and back to the rack.

I think he was trying to tell me something!! LOL

I finished my breakfast, got on my outdoor clothes, harnessed and leashed Beeji and off we went. Had a good long walk and are now back at home and Beeji is curled up on my bed and all is right with the world!!

Aloha,
Cheryl

Yesterday, I took mom to have her hair done and we crated Beeji as always. He was fine with going in his crate and we were only gone an hour and a half. I got home, let him out of his crate and he did his happy dance and we headed for the backyard to play. He wasn't as excited as he usually is to be outside and only ran after his ball one time. Then he began a hacking, gagging sort of cough.

He kept doing this and finally threw up an icky pile of vomit. It was his food from his morning feed. He acted like he felt a bit better but within the next 20 minutes he started the gagging cough and threw up again, the rest of breakfast. I checked his throat to see if he had an obstruction but couldn't see anything. I headed to the garage to get the shovel to scoop up the vomit and when I turned around, Beeji was chewing on some long grass growing near the storage house. I called him and said leave it and he came over but then he began to cough again and threw up the 3rd time. Not much content but still enough for me to worry.

I took him inside and he got up on my bed but wasn't calming down, if anything he was getting more and more agitated. He vomited a 4th time and this time there were strands of the long grass. I looked at his face and noticed that his fur was up in little bumps around his forehead.

It looked like he had pimples under the fur. Then his eyes began to swell shut and areas of his mouth began to swell. He was one miserable little dog. I immediately called my vet Dr. Gencil and he told me he would wait at the clinic for us. They were getting ready to close.

Beeji let me put on his harness and lead but had no enthusiasm for it like he normally does. He went outside and got in the car by himself with no problems. I was driving the 4 miles to the clinic and worrying. He threw up again but this was just a white with creammy ropey vomit.

We got to the clinic and they did X-rays of his chest and throat. He did not have anything caught in his throat but his X-rays showed some dark circle type shapes. Dr. Gencil said he felt they were gas bubbles based on position but to keep an eye on Beeji for anymore vomiting or difficulty with stools.

They gave Beeji a "big ole shot" as Dr. Gencil said. I think it was benedryl since he asked me if I had any at home and when I said no, he gave me some in pill form to give Beeji if he didn't get better.

He said to not feed him his evening feed, giving Beeji's stomach time to settle down. He gave me some Hill's ID can food, which he said was easy to digest and said to feed Beeji three small meals the next day (which is today).

The vet techs there adore Beeji and one had stayed after her shift just to be with him and to make sure he and I were both allright. Very sweet of them.

So armed with benedryl and easy to digest food, we came home. The shot made Beeji very lethargic and he got on the couch, put his head in my lap and went to sleep. He stayed that way till bedtime, when he went back into his crate and curled up and slept all night. He moaned a few times but wasn't restless.

This morning, he is feeling much better and I gave him his morning small feed and he ate it just fine. We went on our regular walk and he had a good poo for me. It was firm without being hard, etc. So that seems to be okay.

Dr. Gencil had said to call him immediately this morning after our walk as he and the techs would worry until they heard from us. I called and we talked briefly. He said to keep an eye on Beeji. He wasn't sure what caused the allergic reaction, it could have been an ant, the grasses he chewed or anything else. He didn't think it was the food, I had given Beeji a mix of the Nutro and Pedigree with some canned food that morning but he didn't start vomiting untill after 2 PM but who knows.

Anyway, Beeji came home after his walk and we went into the back yard and he immediately heads for the two areas where he had thrown up. I hadn't gotten them scooped up in the excitement of the day before, so I go charging after him, scoop HIM up and get him back inside. I don't think he ingested anything but wasn't taking any chances. While he fussed in the house, I got the shovel and scooped up the messes and took them out to the field behind our house and buried them!!

Of course as soon as he got out of the house, Beeji had to investigate the areas. He has been a little off his energy levels today but ate his second small feed with the same gusto as this mornings feed. He is napping now but he usually does that this time of day anyway. In about a half hour we head out for our afternoon play time in the yard and I will see how he is then.

All in all it was an adventure I don't want to have again. I have never seen a dog have an allergic reaction like he did, it was pretty awful. Thank goodness for caring vets who stay open for you and take the time to treat your animals with care.

The Vet hospital staff called after lunch and said they would be calling again this evening just to check. I am so thankful they care so much.

So here is to no more allergic reactions. I will be very nervous when I feed him his regular food again but I am hoping it is not the food that caused the reactions.

Thanks for letting me share my worries. Now I'm off to take a nap with my pup!!

@nala121498:

I'm glad to know that he's progressing nicely and you are finding ways to adjust to it. Still keeping you guys in my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery!

Bless you Nala,
Today has been a hard day for the whole family. Mom is having difficulty with her arthritis and the pain is very strong. I am ready with the pain meds as needed.

Beeji must have gotten up full of the devil as he has been into waaaaaaaaay too many things today.

We started out with the food battle. I put the mixed dry and wet into the bowl. He watched me as If he was the prince and had to say "No that doesn't suite me, take it away.

Well after 20 minutes, I took up the food snacks. Anything he could reach such as rawhides etc were put away. We get dressed, leashed and ledding and are finally ready to go.

We walked a double amount this morning and by the time I got him back t the house, I was exhausted but he was still pretty fiesty. We decided to head to the back yard where I can toss his floppy disk and he can chase it, growl at it, shake it in that death toss and then he flips it up and runs after it again.

When we went in for lunch. He tried the begging route but Mom and I had talkd aobut how to reach him first and find a job fo him and

@Capt_Jack_our_Basenji:

WELL i must say he is a lady killer, lol. he is four yrs but acts like hes one. hes a great dog…ill have to put more pics up later, i may become a little obsessive about pics (im a scrapbooker....) LOL.

hey from a fellow scrapper. I think you have a great subject. Capt Jack seems to know how to play to the camera. My dog Beeji is still leery of the camera. I have no clue as to his past so I am trying to get him used to it since I intend to photograph him alot.:D

I just wish I had a built in camera of some sort, since he tends to do really cute things and then stops or doesn't do them long enough for me to grab the camera!!:(

I have a lot of pics of him sleeping since I can sneak up on him that way. Feel free to check out my scrap place at the following link.
http://scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=profiles&u=86807
Aloha,

Didn't get a photo, I was too busy trying to save the object but today Beeji was playing with an indoor soft toy, tossing it and pouncing on it when he "accidently" bumped into a small stack of pages I had just pulled from some old scrapbooking magazines. Instead of keeping the whole mag, I just pull out the pages I like, articles etc, trim and file them.

Well I had not IMMEDIATELY filed these pages and of course the tantalizing smell of glossy magazine sheets that are mom's favs was just too too much for Beeji. He looked right at me and in that split second I saw the wheels turning in his devious little head. "I know I'm not supposed to and she is looking right at me but if I just grab and run…." and then he had slid through the pages, gotten a few in his mouth, was across the floor and onto the couch faster than I can type it out and had begun to shred with a mighty desire.

I was right behind him, yelling no, and reaching out for the pages. I got them but some damage had been done. I had to laugh because he just sat there as I got them back and looked at me as if to say, "I was just sitting here not doing a thing…" the only problem was a small sliver of paper caught in his mouth!

I want a built in camera in my glasses so I can catch all this!!

In my continued search for a quality food Beeji will eat, Nutro dog food had been recommended. I searched their ingredients list and they too have Menadione listed. I sent them a similar email and this is their response:

_Ms. Willoughby,

Thank you for contacting Nutro Products and sharing your concerns.

Vitamin K is an essential nutrient used to ensure proper blood clotting and there is also some evidence to suggest that it can help bone health in older animals. Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity) is an AAFCO approved source of vitamin K. The levels of this nutrient used in our foods are completely safe and well within AAFCO guidelines.

I hope I have answered your questions completely. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. You can reach me by e-mail or Toll Free phone call, Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM (PST), at 1 (800) 833-5330 ext. 804.

At your service,

Roger H. P. Clark
Team Leader
Nutro Products Inc.
Consumer Services Department_

Anyone have any experience with any of the Nutro products?

All I can say is MORE MORE MORE… he is too adorable. and I love his writings. he will surely grow up to be a great wordweaver!!

Aloha,
Cheryl

Great photos of Callie, I like the "innocent" pose. Beeji looks like that right before he does something naughty! LOL

He is awesome! I really like the one with his nose covered and the one on the bed. I have a B mix but when I look at these photos, I can see the B in my fellow!! How old is Jack?

Those are great photos. I love the studly pose one!! He is letting everyone know he is the man!! LOL and yet, he lets us see his shy side in the very next pic! Too cool.

Where did you get the bandana?

@MaxBooBooBear:

Since Max often had loose stools due to inflammatory bowel disease, I would take paper plates in a plastic bag on our walks. When he would start the basenji spin, I would reach down with a plate. I got pretty darned good at catching everything :) Of course, sometimes the neighbors would look at me funny. But that was easier than trying to get it up off the ground if it wasn't firm. One time, a young boy was with his dad who was doing some construction on a house by me, and he had his dad's megaphone he was playing with. He started giving a blow by blow description over the megaphone of me following behind Max trying to catch his poop. Now that was a little much :eek:

You gotta love little boys!!

I am sitting here laughing out loud with tears running down my face!! The visual of you keeping a paper plate in position….

Oh my, I needed that laugh. I have no clue what Beeji would do if I tried that. I had a friend who had a Samoyed and when she went, my friend would place a sheet of newsprint under her. Upon finish, roll the print and bag it.

This morning we went on a nice long walk and Beeji found a new place to poo! It is even farther away, but then it was my fault for walking so far (he says)

At least I'm getting exercise! I should take some before pics of me now and then this time next year. After a year of daily long walks, I should notice something!!!

Aloha,

@JazzysMom:

Thanks, I accept all denominations of funds , will be 50 on the 19th of >>this month and love presents and my choice of a chew toy is an Oreo!!!

Hey! We are birthday "twins"….sort of. I guess I'm the younger twin; I'll be 44 on the 19th.

Many Happy Returns of the Day!! on the 19th. I personally believe the 19th should be declared a national holiday! :D Actually all birthdays should be celebrated that way!!

I'll send you a B'day thought on the 19th.

@red:

The only problem I have with Blue Buffalo dog food is that they list Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite in their ingredient list. It's a synthetic vitamin K supplement and it's use in pet foods has become quite a controversy. I steer clear of it in the pet foods I choose for the pups. Here's an interesting link to an article on the possible effects of Menadione:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione

A lot of companies are not adding it anymore, and Blue Buffalo may have taken it out and just not updated their site info. May be something you want to check into.
Hope this helps! :)

I went back to their website and sent them a note about the Menadione stuff. Here is the their reply:

Dear Cheryl,
Thank you for taking the time out to write us. And thank you for your
interest in BLUE. While there has been much research on Menadione, it
the amount that must be taken in, in order to be harmful has not been
proven. In any case, we care very much about our furry little friends
and the concern of their parents and that is why we began reformulating
in Oct 06' without this ingredient included. It is hard to say when you
will no longer find bags without this listed in the ingredient list for
2 reasons. 1) There are many out there that still contain this
ingredient because they were made before the reformulation began and
these must run their course. 2) We have a window period in which we are
able to still use all the bags that we had already printed before we
started reformulating. There will be bags out there that still have it
listed but do not actually have this ingredient in the formula. When we
run out of these bags, new bags with new ingredient lists will be
printed. One way to know weather or not your bag contains the menadione
is by looking at the best used by date. We have a 1yr shelf life so if
you find a bag that says best used by Oct 07 or later, then this bag no
longer contains that ingredient even if it is listed on the bag. Those
bags that do still have it in there have so little that it can not be
harmful. There is less then 0.01%.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions.

Best regards,

Samantha Wuhrer
The Blue Buffalo Company
(203) 762-9751 Ext 11

I may try the treats, but want to re-read the ingredients again. The store where I saw this brand only had the treats not the food.

I'm still working on food as Beeji has now decided he hates the dry. I'm not sure why. He won't even eat it mixed with wet and he loves the wet.

oh well the search goes on.

This was taken the last day Beeji was at the Vet Hospital. I had just told him he was going home with me and I am positive he is smiling in the photo. Plus the dance
Aloha,

Mom calls him my little shadow as he is always at my heels. If I get up to go to the bathroom, he follows me to the door and then stops. When I go to another room, even if he is sleeping in his bed or mine, he is up like a flash and right there!

We have had a few bouts of separation anxiety but overall he is getting the idea that if I go out, I will come back. Mom did have a scare when I went out and forgot to close the garage door. She didn't know the door was up and opened the door to the garage to put some trash in the can. Beeji shot out of the door and headed out the garage door.

Mom tried to call him back but he had taken off. She called me on my cell and was very upset. I was too but didn't let her know. I headed home and we sat on the front porch. It was about 5 minutes later and he came running up to the porch.

I opened the front door and he came inside. I tried to keep it low key so he wouldn't get the idea that running would get lots of attention but it was hard not to want to grab him and never let go.

I am extra careful about the garage door now. Whenever the door to the garage opens, Beeji dashes out tothe garage. I don't say much just wait a second and then he runs back in.

The past couple of days, I have been using the backdoor from the garage to go out into the fenced backyard so I think he is getting it that the garage is not a way to "escape" But he still has to go check to see if the door is up or not.

@jys1011:

Bravo…You should be rewarded too :)

Thanks, I accept all denominations of funds ;) , will be 50 on the 19th of this month and love presents :rolleyes: and my choice of a chew toy is an Oreo!!!:D :D :D

Just kidding.

Seriously, thanks for your feedback, I want to have a well behaved dog and a well behaved human. I think I was more worried than he was, but so far so good. He got a little excited tonight as we were playing and he rolling around and turned his mouth toward my hand and all I said was no bites and he immediately stopped.

Thanks again everyone!!

I am so relieved to read about the Basenji spin, I was at first worried that Beeji had a twist in his guts or was just having a fit, but then realized he just has to spin. I can tell when he is going to poo since he spins but he hasn't exactly picked one spot to go. We have about four places that he will use but all at different times. Go figure.

I too believe in the poop and scoop and though it is not fun, I do it. Lots of folks here in the neighborhood don't do it and some even look at me like I am nuts for picking up. I sometimes wonder what they are thinking!!

The only challenge I have with the spinning is that the poo doesn't wind up in a single pile but layed out in a circle so I have to stretch a bit.

I have taught Beeji to stand still once he is done. I wait till he finishes and does his kicking thing. (do all Basenjis do that? He kicks dirt and grass etc up with his back feet sort of in the general direction of where pooed. He also does this when he pees.) Anyway after the cat kick as I call it, I tell him to stand and then I slip the lead around my wrist, get the plastic bag and do my part! Then off we go.

I like the idea of a short tight lead till he actually gets to the business of pooing. I will try that in the morning.

What a hoot a Basenji is. Even my mix can make me wonder so I can't imagine a full blooded B and me!!! But it might be fun. After all, I'm finding with Beeji, he is sort of like chips, you have a hard time stopping with just one!!!

Aloha,

Beeji is a really good dog but does still try to mouth when playing and his teeth can be hard, He doesn't bite as in a mean bite but just using his mouth.

I have been doing the firm no bites, immediately stop playing and ignore. He usually settles right down and is okay.

Today I was sitting in my recliner and he came and got up in it with me (which is fine, he had permission). But then he climbed up so that his butt was up on my shoulder, I was sort of reclining but not fully. Then he flopped over and his head was at my face, he mouthed my nose and it was harder than usual, still not a real bite but teeth were there.

I said no bites, and he stopped but then immediately went to do it again, I could tell he was excited so I just sat up and slid him off my lap onto the floor (not hard, not in anyway angry, just my sitting up and he slips off) as I did so I did a high pitch yelp, said no bites very firmly (all this while sitting up so it was very fast) and totally ignored him and sat very straight and still.

Beeji just sat there on the ground with this look of o crap, I've blown it now. (Remember he has been abused/beaten/hurt or something in the past so I am very careful not to do anything that will look like physical punishment) I didn't say anything to him and wouldn't look at him.

I waited a second, got up and walked away to the kitchen, he slunk and I mean slunk to the couch and crawled up and lay down and didn't move.

I waited in the kitchen out of his sight until I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was not in the fear posture but was just sitting on the couch.

I washed my hands, put away a glass or two and then called him to me. When he came over nice and calm, I petted him and gently told him good boy.

He hasn't mouthed anymore today but that doesn't mean he won't try it again when he does get excited.

I went back and reread several posts and hope I am handling this correctly.

I also took him outside later and let him exercise a bit more. I don't think we had walked as long as usual this morning, but I have injured my foot and can't walk as far. I will see a doctor for it today and I hope we can find a solution or I am going to have to try and find some one to walk him.

The Vet has given us permission for him to run and play a bit more than he had been due to the heartworm treatment. he will have to go back to a slower pace after the next shots but they usually make him feel not so good so it is easier for him to stay quiet then.

So we were able to do some ball tosses, where he could run after them. (He doen't fetch so I had to hobble after him to get the ball and toss it again) I also got him an outdoor floppy flipper disk and he chased that a bit and ran some with it.

He is now asleep on my bed so I guess I got him tired enough.

I sure wish he didn't have the mouthing problem, I think who ever had him must have let him be mouthy as a pup and then never dealt with it and probably didn't like that he does it as an adult.

I'm hoping we can begin some basic obedience training as soon as I get news of my foot. If I can't do it, I'm going to see if the trainer at my friends boarding/doggy daycare/ grooming shop can work with him a bit.

Overall he is a nice pretty mellow fellow but he is a high energy dog and I want to make sure he gets the work outs he needs.

I'd appreciate any advice from all the trainer gurus on here! He is too good of a dog to let him not get his manners as we say!!

If you know of any energetic dog walkers in Bladen County, NC let me know!! LOL

Thanks

Aloha,
Cheryl

Chance is a very handsome fellow! But you are a naughty person, I found all the Basenji vids on youtube and was up WAAAY too late watching, laughing and having a ball.

Ready for more footage of Chance!!

Aloha,