So Whiskey has been running and doing really well lately. She’s even been filling out her very skinny frame (adding much more fat, oils, quinoa, sweet potato into her diet is helping). Then one day while at work, I received a text from her walker informing that she was limping and favoring her left leg. I had taken her out that morning and played fetch and she was doing really well, no sign of any issues before she was put into her crate to rest up. The walker noticed nothing different as she was taken from her crate, to the van to be transferred to her walk. It was only after getting out of the van, there was an obvious limp. He noticed the limp within minutes and kept her on leash for the walk (checking her paws but finding no problem). After he dropped her back home, he put her in the crate, and when we got home from work, she was a very different dog.
so so mellow and sad
getting her eyes tested
not putting weight on her back legs
switching from one leg to another
She wouldn’t come and greet us, she was very sad and wouldn’t stand or walk. She wouldn’t squat to pee, and she was refusing a bullystick which was very very out of character. We took her into ER immediately and carried her the whole time. At the ER, the vet pointed out that a dog with a physical problem doesn’t normally show signs of such lethargy and wanted to test both her legs as well as blood and more. She tested her legs, put her under sedation for xrays, and did a couple blood tests. In the end she said we ruled out the serious stuff and it was probably a soft tissue damage. She gave her a little painkiller and we went back home to watch her. The ER vet prescribed 3-5 days of on-leashed walks.
xrays
That evening I carried Whiskey to her normal potty spot and kept her lying for the evening. Since she wasn’t interested in eating from her bowl, I literally spoon fed her and she would only eat her favorite bits. I slept with her in bed, and the next morning I woke up to find Whiskey had forgotten the previous evening and was her normal self again! I couldn’t see a limp at all whereas the previous night she wouldn’t even stand! She ate her breakfast, cleaned the bowl, and there was a super happy wagging tail with lots of face licks, and she was very ready for her morning walk. I was astonished at the change. I only did a very short walk on leash so she could pee and poop.
The next day we pose for photos since we can’t do much walking
Still working for treats!
3 days later I took Whiskey to see another vet for to check her legs for any sign of trauma, for a second opinion, and to see how slow/fast we could expect to have her to full running again. The vet was very thorough and was unable to find/feel/see anything alarming. She also mentioned that instead of a soft tissue injury it could have been more in her back/spine which is why it seemed like a huge change from one day to the other. She prescribed a more conservative 10 days of on-leash walking (no running and jumping) with a gradual work up to off leash and longer hikes. At the moment it’s been very difficult to keep a one year old from running or jumping but we are trying our best. Today we took her on a canoe ride (because I really hoped there would be limited running and jumping in the canoe) with a tiny bit of water retrieving and some short on-leashed walks. It’s been a tough week but it’s worth it to make sure whatever the problem was doesn’t happen again and Whiskey can fully heal!
activities for the resting Vizsla
swimming much better this year!
Update: 2 weeks later Whiskey’s shown no signs of limping. Hopefully this was a one time thing and it doesn’t happen again! I think the lethargy was mostly Whiskey’s personality when she is feeling sorry for herself. Alot of dogs don’t show signs of this, but even when Whiskey is cold from swimming, or it’s started to rain, she looks so miserable you wonder if there is something truly wrong.
No, not that Birdman (great movie), this is the birdman that Whiskey LOVES. We are working to train Whiskey with birds (trying to get her to hold a point right now). Eric has been our very informative trainer and this time Whiskey recognized Eric’s car and just jumped right in. It smells like birds, fun, and dog. We met up with, his brother and Yoffi, his now-junior champion Vizsla. Yoffi ranked 7th in puppy field trials (dogs up to 1.5 years of age) out of all pointing breed dogs in Canada and was the only Vizsla to place! I was so stoked to watch Yoffi “work”. Now we don’t want to compete with Whiskey because it’s a full time commitment but it’s really nice to see the dogs work and learn. They are happiest doing the work they are bred for and I just love learning.
wading into the field
Yoffi, handsome junior champion
Puppy in training
We went out to a big field to practice and Eric brought some birds. He set up a bird tied to a string that was fluttering around and both dogs were so excited. This is expected in an experienced dog, but really key for Whiskey. I then tried to walk Whiskey in a big loop around the bird to a pre chosen position, then encouraged her to stay still and hold a point, lifting her back into place when she lunged ahead. After a couple rounds, she got much better and understood what we wanted.
initially Whiskey was so hard to hold back
Putting Whiskey in a “suitcase” and learning how to handle
these dogs are so beautiful
getting better!
Yoffi showing us how it’s done
birdman and birddog
watching from the sidelines
Switching to something else before the dogs lost interest, we kept Whiskey while Yoffi got to go “find” and point a bird. Eric took a bird in a launcher 500m away, came back to Yoffi and released him. It was pretty crazy to see Yoffi run full speed tracking the bird and pointing it out way before we could catch up to him. He held the point until the bird was released and is currently training to keep his point while the bird takes off and flies around.
Yoffi finds the bird and holds point
walking up and he doesn’t move
Still holding point while Eric encourages good style
pointing another bird
I’m really excited to continue her bird training as I just love to see these dogs point. I can tell Whiskey loves it and she’s so keen to learn.
It’s the time again! Meetup time in Vancouver for loads of springy red dogs. This time we took over Bridgman Park in North Vancouver for a little walk with alot of pep. There were several new dogs and lots of butt sniffing, playing, and chatting with other ‘parents’.
I really huge group this time!
my little girl stops to pose
long-haired Vizsla
dogs everywhere! where is mine?
everyone is meeting little Moose
The dogs acted like a giant pack walking through the park, although one or two inevitably went off chasing scents. I even got to meet my first long-haired Vizsla and we also have a black Vizsla-mix in the group! It’s so great to have a good community that gets together like this. Vizslas are relatively rare but the show-ups to these meetups is so much higher than other popular breeds. Suffice to say we had one tired and happy puppy on the way home.
I love these dogs!
four way conversation
treat? you must bring an entire bag of treats today
by the riverside, these are not water dogs
everywhere you see, vislas!
All good news and happy pups aside, we did have a sad incident where one of our newest puppies, 3 month old Pana was attacked and bitten by a bull terrier before meeting the group, and had to go straight to emergency. It’s really terrible news, especially since that dog had attacked 3 other dogs that day. It’s always a really good reminder to keep a close eye on interactions with other dogs, especially new ones, and ensure your own dog doesn’t go charging up to meet new dogs.
Whiskey’s been feeling so much better lately after the vet visits. She’s actually been more energetic than ever and I’ve increased her daily ration to over 1kg a day, I have no idea what she does with it! With the longer hours we’ve been having, our sunsets are now at around 830 and we love walking on the beach after work. This day we headed over to Spanish Banks which has a fantastic dog beach and wanted to see how far the beach went. Well guess what? It keeps going until Wreck beach and the walk was really nice full of little beaches, and nice secluded picnic area, and no one around (how we like it!).
Spanish banks was rough today!
how lucky to be living here
the start of a really nice walk
Between Spanish Banks is a very beautiful connection with lots of smaller beaches. Perfect if you want to chill or just have a quiet walk. There’s also a small picnic area with garbage bins and bathrooms. At some point we ended up at the University of British Columbia’s grounds and headed back to our car.
We’ve had a couple minor health problems since spring rolled around. We’ve had a couple bumps crop up and are currently finishing up another case of Giardia (Giardiasis) so I thought it might be of interest to keep a diary of small problems should they crop up again.
Bumps
I self-diagnosed these as hives which was caused by an allergic reaction to physical contact (in this case) with something in the environment (a vet would later confirm, but was unable to see the bumps). A couple small bumps would come after a walk in the park and last several hours only appearing on her lower muzzle. I was pretty sure it wasn’t food since I hadn’t been introducing anything new to her diet and it was a specific area (the part she shoves into everything interesting on the ground). Her appetite didn’t change but because she was a little swollen she looked miserable. They were slightly itchy but otherwise didn’t seem to bother her. The bumps appeared on and off for about a week and even her worse case of it had the swelling go down quite fast.
the worst case she had that lasted just hours
Bumps on ear- bumps all over just one ear after a play at the park. Gave her a ear mite treatment just in case, but they disappeared and never came back.
Treatment
I boosted her immune system by cutting out the kibble entirely (she only has at most a cup a day) and giving her a spoonful of local honey every night. Honey has been my go-to when Whiskey has a problem. It’s great for infection and wound healing (applied to the skin) and in this case local honey helps both humans and canines for allergies. I also sprayed on some Burts Bees Anti Itch Soothing Spray because it seemed like she had a mild itch. We also washed all bedding just in case and gave her extra cuddles.
Giardia
A week after the bumps went away completely, there was one evening when I noticed she was less energetic at the park (walking to retrieve the ball, not running). I kept an eye on her and she happily ate dinner and but then was super sleepy. An hour later I noticed her tummy gurgling more than usual (I was lying down with her because I felt something was off) and she didn’t even seem interested in some cantaloupe which she normally loves. Overall it wasn’t a huge change in temperament, because even my partner thought she was just tired from her hike that day. That night she woke us up whining and when we took her out, she pooped twice (soft) and went back to sleep for the rest of the night.
My sleepy girl with gurgles in her tummy
The next day her energy level seemed better but she vomited during a car ride. In the evening again she seemed ok, but in the middle of the night woke us for another poop. After that she was fine with no symptoms since I changed her food back to home cooked and added extra probiotics. We weren’t too concerned at this point because everything went back to normal and we had assumed that she just ate something bad at the park.
energy level is quite normal
Then several days later the wake-up calls to soft poops started again. After a couple days of getting progressively worse it got to the point she was straining to go but couldn’t and would try over and over again. She would also wake us up 3 times at night to go out. At this point we took her to the vet.
waiting at the new vet
During the wait for the vet, she tried to go poop 5 times in an hour. Because it was last minute, we tried out a new vet closer to home that was available (her normal vet was booked up that day). This one was much more thorough in the examination, but asked to do more expensive (and maybe unnecessary) tests. He noticed her heartbeat was slower than normal and did an EKG (she’s just really fit). We also ordered a very comprehensive parasite panel and diarrhea panel, but needed to wait a couple days to hear back. That night I went to Costco and bought a ton of ground chicken and sweet potato so I could start her on a bland diet.
during the day she is normal
We went back to the vet the next morning after 2 rounds of vomiting (mostly bile) and waking up 4-5 times at night for poops. Strangely she was eating fine and her energy was good at the park, but more subdued at home. This time they did a full blood test, gave her extra electrolytes, a subcutaneous fluid injection (fluids injected under her skin) to help elevate any dehydration, and got her started on antibiotics and some special super canine probiotics. Her blood test came back with everything normal, which was a relief because with home-feeding it’s good to have the feedback she’s doing well. Within an hour Whiskey had perked up again has been getting better ever since. Eventually a couple days later we got a call about the poop results and confirmed she had Giardia and I could come pick up more medication.
the lump is the fluid injection, disappears over the day
Whiskey’s had Giardia before as a puppy but this time didn’t present the same as last. As a puppy it came on very fast and was obviously a problem. This time the illness was non-continuous and harder to tell it wasn’t just something she ate in the park.
a bit skinny, needs more food!
Treatment
Vet bills were over $900 so it’s good we were insured!!! If we weren’t insured, we wouldn’t have agreed to all the tests and treatments. So Whiskey had a heart test (EKG), bloodwork, poop test, electrolytes, a subcutaneous fluid injection, probiotics, prescription probiotics, antibiotics, and a small change of diet. The last time we had Giardia we only had a poop test, with quick feedback (40 mins vs 4 days) and antibiotics so the price to treat and diagnose this can vary like crazy depending on the vet!
extra velcro these days
Lessons Learned
-Insurance pays off, especially moments where you don’t want to make decisions based on money
-Even though we spent more at this vet and did more tests, it took longer to get a diagnoses because the fecal test was sent to another lab. Our other vet would have been quicker because they can do it immediately, even though we would have had to wait an extra day to get an appointment.
-A sick dog plus two working parents make for a very hectic week and lots of worrying
It’s been raining puppies lately and I’m overjoyed at being able to set up some play dates for Whiskey. I was a bit worried about Whiskey being gentle enough around the little ones but with treats, recall, and lots of “lie down” she was great sharing the attention. I really can’t believe how fast her first year has gone and when I see these (10 and 16 week-old) puppies I honestly can’t remember how small she was. Puppies are just so floppy, awkward, and such a joy to watch romping around discovering the world.
Pana, the little sassy girl
Sophie is a mini Whiskey
First we met up with Sophie, Whiskey’s full sister from a different litter. They’re both from Stella and Ripley (click for links). Sophie is 16 weeks old and has Whiskey’s puppy confidence. It was her first time off leash and she did wonderfully! The only problem was she developed habit of sneaking off to drink seawater. Naughty puppy! I love Sophie and can’t wait to meet up with her again.
It’s so cool to see the sisters together
Whiskey looked just the same but their personalities are different
Sophie is fearless and will use her teeth
Whiskey’s got Sophie’s collar
These girls are so good together
A quieter moment
Checking out the genetics
They really are little mirrors
If only I could have two…
Teaming up against a sweet Bernese
Sophie’s learning to pose
And just last weekend we met up with Pana from Egerton Vizslas in Nova Scotia. We were also looking at Egerton when looking for a breeder but they didn’t have any litters coming up back then. A couple provinces in Canada including Nova Scotia have a law that prevents docking tails and dew claw removal so Pana is fully natural! That’s a whole other topic for another day but it’s great to see a full tail wagging on such a happy dog.
This is Pana
Because Pana is so young, Whiskey spent most of the time on the ground
My little girl is 1 year old. We’ve both been working overtime these days so we haven’t been able to have her a little party, though I we gifted her with a custom made dog monster-toy from etsy. Lets see if this one lasts! Here’s a little look back at our growing puppy:
Photographing dogs is like photographing babies that can run faster than a bike… It’s just not easy. We recently hiked up Eagle Bluffs again in snowy, freezing rainy, and cloudy conditions. It was cold and dark and wet but I’m really happy I still got some decent shots in. I am no expert and have tons to learn, but if you do like my photographs, here are some tips from what I’ve learned along the way:
TRAINING the dog
Train a good Sit/Stay and Stand/Stay. Your job will be 20x easier if your dog can stay for 20seconds rather than 1 second
Whiskey automatically poses for us now. Her “stays” are great for photographs
You can train them to pose (reward only when you are happy), also train them to respond from afar (freeze from a distance, and walk a bit forward, stay again, go up on that log, look at me, etc). I use treats all the time and though I’m all for treat-less training, I find them really useful especially when you have more than one dog. You can also use them as a way to focus their attention from distractions and where to look (have an assistant hold the treats)
directing dogs for a photo is not always easy!
When taking photos of 2 or more dogs, it’s exponentially more difficult so have patience and keep your camera ready.
Getting both dogs to look at you and stay at the same time can be difficult, especially from a distance
TRAINING the human
Take lots of photos. This is the best advice I have! Also, LOOK at your photos, what should you do better next time? What should you repeat?
Try different angles, get down at their level, or put them up higher and take a shot from below
getting down to their level
Always take multiples (dogs blink and pull weird faces)
Look at amazing photos and get some inspiration. I’m also on Packdog and follow some great semi-pros for ideas:
Anticipate where they are going to go and set your shot up ahead of time, repeat the same photo several times if you can (get your dog to go back and forth the same path).
We saw a nice place for a photograph and set it up
Learn to multi-task: you will need to be able to walk while looking at a lens, holding treats, checking the light, and also ensuring your dog is behaving.
multitask taking photos while walking and directing dogs
CAMERAS
Understand your own camera- you don’t need an expensive one, though it helps but only if you have knowledge of how to use it. I would suggest to only bring one lens along because switching lenses while hiking is a hassle unless you have loads of time, and don’t mind the extra weight. We hike a lot under the forest canopy so it tends to be really dark. Mix that with the rainy days in Vancouver, plus a fast dog and most of our photos are blurry, even though we have a pretty good lens. A “sporty” camera is great – one that stands up to the elements, and especially if you are going out in the rain, the beach, and generally harsh conditions. Insurance is also great! I’m really hard with my cameras and they always need fixing. MY GEAR: Canon S110 (shoots RAW, great video, tiny and compact) Canon D90 (DSLR, old model but still works fine and I don’t feel bad when it gets sandy and muddy) Fuji X-T1 (mirrorless, newer, less heavy than D90, good in the dark, slower than D90)
I have a 35mm fixed and a general zoom lens for both cameras.
Use the light that you have. I never use flash because it ruins their eyes and I can’t imagine a dog that is ok with blinding light. If it’s very dark, I’ll make do with silhouettes. For running shots, set your camera to a fixed shutter speed (1/250 and quicker) and don’t attempt unless it’s bright enough. For shots in the rain, or dark locations, don’t shoot slower than 1/60 (for a still dog).
It’s a dark day but against snow, we get more light for faster shots
If you don’t have a seriously quick lens, try to manually focus ahead of time and take the shot when the dog runs past that focus area.
I had to take this shot several times to get the eyes sharp enough
Take practice shots and set up your camera BEFORE trying to photograph the dog. Their attention span is not long enough for you to get them to stay and twiddle with your camera.
POST PROCESSING
Taking the picture is half the work. There’s so much more you can do on the computer (or if you’re old-school, in the darkroom). I use Adobe Lightroom for my post processing so I can process batches of photographs with a few clicks. Normally I only spend about 2 minutes per photograph because I never have enough time in the day. I always shoot in RAW and use what room I have to fix up problems and mistakes.
the shot I took straight from the camera
targeting the greens to be more saturated, and focused sharpening
I don’t take my photography very seriously and it’s just a side hobby for me. Overall I don’t spend much time or effort to take or edit my photos, but I do find them getting better over the years just because I take so many. Good luck with yours!
Last week we hit St Marks Summit again, but unfortunately this we were hit with crowds everywhere (our previous hikes up here had very little people)! So this weekend our goal was an uncrowded hike with breathtaking views. We decided to try a new hike that starts at Buntzen Lake -Eagle Ridge or Swan Falls Loop/Lindsay Lake Loop.
Having a hiking dog really keeps you outdoors
She always stays really close when we are on trails
Buntzen Lake from the North Beach
We went up (2) and down (1)
We got to the parking lot super early (8am for us) as we knew we would be fighting sunset times if we took breaks. Surprisingly, a large amount of people also start hiking at 8am on a Saturday morning in March so it was busy for the first section around Lake Buntzen. We knew most people would be doing the Diez Vista hike (a nice one, but we were going higher!) or trail around Buntzen Lake. By the way, I’ve never seen so many warnings around dogs (where to go, where not to go), as well as warnings about hiking in general. I can understand when Buntzen lake is very busy that dogs should be kept to the dog-beach (there were summer days when the lake was “full” and you get turned around) but everyone we saw had their dogs off-leash in this non-busy season
The trail around the lake is very flat and easy
A crazy amount of warnings awaits us.
The first section from south to north beach
early morning at the lake
Pose? ok I’ll pose
artifacts people have found and placed for other to see
evidence of logging in the past
At the turn off to the Halvor Lunden- Eagle Ridge Trail, we were finally alone and looking up a very very high mountain (are we really doing this?). The climb is neither difficult nor technical, just long and the markers are pretty easy to follow though there are some sections where you must climb over a fallen log. It should take 2-4 hours for the 3km, 1150m altitude climb and this is by far the longest section. Please be careful if there is bad weather as it seems there lots of people that need to be rescued here.
the turn off for the higher trails with lots of warnings
investigating
Up up up we go
The trails were easier than we thought
A couple optional rope sections
waiting for our group to catch up
it feels like we’ve been doing this awhile now!
snack time
starting to see some peeps
Fantastic trails here
We met no one on the way up
a cat-nap while we wait for the group
oh we are so close!
we pass a couple frozen ponds
very little snow this year, sometimes it looks like this in July
I can almost taste my upcoming sandwich…
the last hump, you see the peak there?
The peak is beautiful and a great place to eat, rest up, and soak in the sun. After an easy cruise along the ridges’ high forests, you have a choice between a walk around some lakes, or a panoramic view-point walk. We were advised by a friendly forestry hiker we met that the viewpoint walk was a little longer, but nicer compared to the muddier lake walk so we took in the views.
Mt Baker on this clear day
on top of Mt Beautiful
heading through the ridge
my dog glows!
sometimes we would get lost if we just followed Whiskey
what an amazing day
more panoramic views
You can see downtown,Richmond, the Island, etc
Whiskey always runs ahead to the cliff and looks down
I sort of think she appreciates the view too!
By the time we started the decent, the sun was sinking lower and we picked up our feet so we could get back to the car before they shut the gates at 6pm (gate times are posted as you enter). The decent down the south park is less steep and easier on the knees. The hike took us a total of 10 hours at a pretty leisurely pace.
We knew Vizslas were fast runners, amazing trail/obstacle racers, and we knew they could jump high, but we didn’t quite realize what an agile little bunny we had with Whiskey. Early on we encouraged her to climb up stumps, problem solve barriers, and navigate steep cliffs. We were thinking to ingrain her with a joy of climbing, yet a healthy regard about what was within her limits or unsafe. Now she loves to climb for fun!
a very little Whiskey learning to walk along logs
we encouraged her to climb
and so she was fearless!
balancing on strange shapes
All this made agility classes seem so attractive. We were lucky enough to find an agility class downtown that also mixed in intermediate obedience. In fact, there is a ton of obedience necessary to run an agility course well. A dog that is easily distracted, or doesn’t follow at heel would be really difficult to get through a course. And a super bonus and surprise was our class had 3 vizslas (out of 4 dogs!). Watch the experts here– I’m just super amazed at these dogs and trainers!
are we ready for class today?
practicing stay with distractions
Whiskey’s half-sister Millie was one of those Vizslas, and we would usually meet up for a romp at the park before heading to class so they were sufficiently tired enough to concentrate. Our first classes we started with some obedience training (heeling, staying with distractions) before trying out the course. We also switched to short leashes that didn’t trail when they went into tunnels.
I dunno about this!
our first classes had the ladder on the ground
gets raised as we go
flying Whiskey
The hardest obstacle was the weaving poles. It’s not a natural movement for these hunting dogs, and I would venture to say that herding dogs would have an easier time with the movement. Tunnels and jumps were super easy though, and we’ve had Whiskey balance on logs so often as a pup that the see-saw wasn’t a problem at all. The biggest challenges were when the tunnels got longer, or had a sharp bend in them. Also, Whiskey found the chute and sharp corners in the course (two jumps at 90 degrees) difficult not to veer off course. Our instructor changed the course several times a lesson so we never got bored.
weaving is hard!
you must tell them which way to go
see-saws can be hard for lots of dogs
waiting our turn
this chute business isn’t so easy either
One of the things worth considering was that our lessons were held indoors on a hard surface (the green was a thin layer) and a 10 month old is still developing so jolts and jumping and running shouldn’t be encouraged much. We thought once a week was ok (we only walk the course a couple times and our speed couldn’t be considered a ‘run’), especially since we do all our training and practicing in the forest. It was also great to get in the obedience training and realize our “stay” was pretty poor with distractions. In the end we were able to run the course mostly off leash (except for the weaving poles. Did I mention our class uses no treats? That’s not easy for Whiskey! We were also the youngest by far and we did pretty good, if I may say so myself.
