Everyone cross your fingers!

Today Tycho had his surgical consult at Boundary Bay Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Langley. My dad and I took him out to his appointment, and we met with Dr. Geoffrey Hutchinson for over 2 hours. He answered all of our questions and explained all the benefits of the new hip joint model that they will be using for this surgery. After meeting with the doctor a lot of my fears of the unknown went away. The doctor was very experienced and extremely knowledgeable. And if that wasn't enough, the man who designed the hip joint, not to mention numerous other human and dog joints, will be flying in from Zurich for the first two cases of surgery that Dr. Hutchinson will be performing. All sounds good right! Well here is the catch, they only need 2 dogs for this study. That is 2 dogs that will get the amazing discounted rate for surgery. We're talking $2500 instead of $7000! Before today I thought that there were no other dogs in the running for a spot, but it turns out that Dr. Hutchinson is evaluating a few other dogs for this study, and will choose the two best candidates for the study. Everyone please cross your fingers for Tycho as it will be a great opportunity if he gets chosen.

On a side note we confirmed Tycho's diagnosis of Addison's disease last week and he is now being treated with prednisone. Since being on the pred he is without a doubt a new dog. The dog who refused to walk more than a couple blocks now pulls on his walks and goes for over an hour very happily. His energy level is higher than it has been in over a year and he is doing great. Addison's disease does create a higher anesthetic risk for Tycho, but if properly treated he should do fine in surgery.

Just so Kepler doesn't feel forgotten about I should tell everyone that he is heading to Hope tomorrow for his herding instinct test. I am very excited to see what this so-called Border Collie mix does with sheep. He is 5 and a half months now and I think he is ready to play with the sheep!

Look how grown-up

Sad announcement, Kepler's friend Salt broke his femur a couple weeks ago, he is now recovering very well, but the boys can't understand why we won't let them play together anymore

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw him in his kennel like this, he lay like this for hours!

Turns out he might just be a German Shepherd!

On Friday Tycho had an ultrasound. His recent blood work showed some concerns for his kidneys and liver so I wanted to make sure everything looked ok before he undergoes his total hip replacement surgery (hopefully next month!). Thankfully his kidneys and liver looked good on ultrasound, but the big surprise was that the radiologist could not find his adrenal glands. Well she found something on one side that looked like a very small, misshapen adrenal gland, but nothing on the other side. This indicates he might have Addison's disease, a blood test will confirm or deny this diagnosis next week. If he does have Addison's disease it could explain a lot of Tycho's symptoms, including stunted growth! Thats right, my little Corgi Shepherd might not be a corgi afterall. Maybe he is just a shepherd that was stunted in growth during development. It could also explain his bad skin and coat, vomiting episodes, lethargy, muscle waste and a host of other things that have plagued my poor boy. I don't know a lot about Addison's yet, but I've been doing a lot of research since Friday.

Some of my token favorite Tycho photos for today!

Puppy Tyke (definitely a German Shepherd)

Zeus and Tycho

He's often goofy...

...more goofy

...but occasionally handsome

Long overdue!

In the past month Kepler has graduated from puppy class, gone to daycare, grown to over 30 lbs, and made some new friends along the way. Those of you who have raised a puppy before (or a baby!) will understand why I haven't had a ton of time to blog about it!

Kepler keeps me very busy, he's a far cry from the puppy I got 2 months ago, the one that actually concerned me because he would collapse in a heap after walking a few steps. We regularly go to Bridgeman for hikes with his new friend Bella, a 15 month old Golden Retriever that I started walking. The two are almost impossible to walk on-leash together because they are always in a tangled ball wrestling, but they are both exhausted after. Kepler still loves the water, I can't keep him out of it. And since a recent trip up to Whistler for a day at the lake, he actually swims now! Being the water dog that he is now, he also loves going to Ambleside dog beach.

I have been pet sitting a lot lately, but I'm happy to be at home with Tycho for the first night in nearly 3 weeks. He hasn't been doing well lately so I've been eager to be at home with him. Last month we had to take him off his pain medication for his hip dysplasia because of kidney and liver problems in his blood work. We retested him this week because he was vomiting daily and the blood doesn't look much better. Luckily I work at a vet clinic and can get him in for an ultrasound soon to make sure this isn't anything serious. He only 6 and a half years old but my poor Tyke is an old man before his time. The good news for Tycho in the last month is that I found a surgeon that will be able to give him a total hip replacement for about $2000, which is a huge deal! I'm hoping that he will get the surgery done by October and have a new lease on life.

"Mom, I think I'm getting to big for this kennel..."

"Seriously, I don't fit in this anymore..."

"Much better, I'll share a big run with my brother"

On the beach in Whistler

In his hole taking a break from swimming

His new best friend Salt

"Mom I think I'm winning!"

Sigh, my grown-up boy

Thats all for tonight, I have a German Shepherd (thats right!) that needs some cuddles.

A puppy, a baby and a horse!

Today Kepler and I joined Erika and baby Loic on a trip to go see her horse Jeffree. Kepler was a bit nervous at first, but soon realized that: horses = cookies. A realization he was very happy to have come across. Eventually he approached Jeff with interest. Kepler also learned today that horse manure is yummy. It was a great morning! Even Loic, who was nervous of horses the last time he saw them, pet Jeffree.

Kepler meeting Jeffree

Loic petting Jeffree (note the look of shock on Erika's face)

Jeffree, myself, and Lolo

This afternoon Erika and I took the dogs for a walk at Bridgeman. I forgot my camera, but it must be noted that Toby and Kepler raced around together and had a blast! Kepler also dove into the water a few times, he definitely loves water this dog! What a great way to end yet another busy weekend.

What a busy weekend!

As I sit down to write this, I realize how completely exhausted I am.  No wonder Kepler is fast asleep at my feet.  This weekend has been non-stop for both of us. 

Friday afternoon we went for a fun-filled hike at Bridgeman with Flash and Freddy, two dogs that I'm taking care of.   After a quick rest, it was off to little mans first agility trial.  As a spectator of course!  He watched his cousins Abby, Amigo and Tyler compete, and met lots of people.  Abby completed her ATCHC (Agility Trial Champion of Canada) on Friday night.  Go Abby super mutt!

On Saturday we began the day with the second week of his puppy class.  He is in a class with a great mix of puppies of all shapes, sizes and ages.  But sadly he is the only rescue pup of the bunch, a very depressing thing for me.  Luckily being the most popular and obviously unique guy in the class (and may I mention the cutest!) he may have scored one for rescue by showing the other owners how great a rescue dog really can be.  As a proud mom I must also say that although he is the second youngest in the class, he is definitely the most advanced.  He is the only dog who can lie down, come and drop it!

Next on Saturday we were off to my teams softball tournament.  We had missed the earlier games but made it just in time for the last game of the day.  Everybody on the team knows and loves Kepler since he has become a regular at the games since his arrival last month.  Wow it has been exactly a month since I brought this little guy home, time sure goes by quick.

Finally, Saturday night, we were off to the fireworks.  First a patio dinner where Kepler played with a nice little girl, then a long walk to the beach.  Once we got to the beach Kepler was beat.  He slept through the whole fireworks.  Puppies can socialize subconsciously while they are sleeping right?  He had to be carried back to the car at the end of the night, but he still got to visit with lots of people in the crowds.  We'll try to stay awake for the fireworks next week.

On Sunday we had a couple softball games in the morning, and then it was of to Caribbean days at Lonsdale Quay.  Again there were crowds of people, music, other dogs, BBQs, kids playing and other performers (including the cutest kid Michael Jackson impersonator ever!)  

At last, the highlight of our weekend was my friend Erika's son Loic's first birthday.  Happy Birthday Loic!!!  Kepler was very lucky to get an invite for some intense kid socialization.  Thanks again Erika!  Kepler played fetch and tug with the kids, and raced around the yard with them.  Then he just chilled out to let them pet him.  I must say he was a perfect angel.  He didn't nip at the kids at all, and he had a blast playing with them!

I've been bad with photos this weekend so I'll just post one cute puppy pic as I'm exhausted too and all I want to do now is curl up on the sofa with my puppy and relax with him after a great weekend that I will remember for a long time.

Kepler at 13 weeks, 20 lbs

Fun at the beach

Since I've discovered how much Kepler likes water, I couldn't resist taking him to the beach the last 2 days in this beautiful sunny weather.  On Sunday Jody, Ryan, Kepler and I spent the whole day exploring Spanish banks and the Kitsilano area.   We hit the dog beach at Jericho first and Kepler and Ryan had a blast.  Jody and I even braved the water for a bit!  Poor Kepler wasn't big enough to get past the waves, so he was left barking in the shallow water.  I carried him out deeper a couple times and let him swim back to shore.  He loved it!  Each time he got back to shore he began barking at me to come and get him again.  Next we went along 4th and had some lunch and did some shopping.  It was such a great day that we didn't want it to end so we stopped at Kits beach on the way home.  The beach was packed and Kepler met lots more people.  See Jody's blog for photos of this great day as she was the official photographer.

This evening Faren, Jody and I took the dogs to Ambleside.  Luckily I brought my camera for this!

Super cute wet puppy!

Less cute dirty, sandy puppy!

 Pooped puppy!

And a video of his puppy scoots!

He's gonna be a swimmer!

I can tell already that Kepler is going be a water dog.  He already is!  We went to Ambleside dog beach again this evening, and I couldn't keep him out of the water.  Ok, so he wasn't actually swimming....yet.  He was pouncing on the waves, snapping at the water to try and catch it, and boy was it cute!  He went in as deep as his chest and had an absolute blast.  

Also at the beach we met a 14 week old Boxer named Leo who Kepler liked almost as much as the water.  They wrestled, and raced, and raced and wrestled for over half an hour before we broke up their fun.  Unfortunately I'm a bad mom and I forgot my camera today so no pictures of the fun outing, but I will bring it next time for sure.

But I do have some cute photos from earlier in the week to share...

Playing with Flash...

 Relaxing at work after a long day...

The one and only time he will ever be a purse dog...