Behavioral Issues

After a wonderful week long vacation, I got the reports of how Ely did while I was away. Not good. She got into three different trash cans, ate numerous boxes of cereal, and peed in the house on the days the door wasn't left open for her. Last night we came back to find she had pulled a drawer open in the kitchen and ate a couple tubs of hot cocoa mix leaving a nice stain on the carpet. She's of course been nice and hyper this morning. Ely woke me up multiple times last night to go outside. Her and Tobey drank a couple of bowls full of water last night, they had to have been so thirsty! I know this isn't completely her fault, but it is so frustrating. I think I may have to start kenneling her inside or outside. This will be a long hard process because she is not fond of the kennel. I hope it makes her feel safer at some point. Frustration is running high in our house this morning, which I know is not helping her calm down. I'll keep working on my patience.

Now, off to rent a carpet cleaner.

Mostly Ups and Downs

Maybe Ely's antics are getting boring for some of you all, but I can't help but get excited when I see her acting like her old self! The down of yesterday and today (which made me laugh a little (I know, mean seeing eye human): I was sitting in the living room, wondering where she was at. I finally went to the back to the house to look and she was standing behind the open bedroom door, nose pointed towards crack, just waiting to get the chance to join the rest of us. She was just standing there, so alert!

Now, some ups:
Ely and I had some BB (before blindness) routines. One of these was that after her breakfast, she would lay on my bed and watch me get ready, while waiting patiently for pets. Or she would just lay there, look comfortable, and lure me back to bed. I've suspected she may have been on my bed, but doesn't seem likely, AB (after blindness). I was getting ready yesterday morning, she walks into my room very confidentially and jumps right on my bed. No hesitation! I squealed in delight, freaking her out a bit, but she soon got comfy and waited for her pets. She later jumped down with equal confidence.

BB, Ely typically slept in two places at night, on my bed or on a little rug about 4' x 2' by my bed. AB, she's only slept on the rug. Which makes total sense, she can feel it, etc. Yesterday, Ely was having a sleepover with her best dog friend, Tobey. When I went to bed last night Tobey had stolen Ely's spot on the rug. I didn't think much of it, Ely was laying in the hallway, half in my room. When I woke up in the middle of the night to make a bathroom run, I flipped the light on as to not step on a pooch. Tobey was still in his original spot and Ely laid down next to him, snuggled up on the little rug! So sweet!

Finally, this evening, Ely initiated playing with Tobey! I haven't seem them do that in awhile. So, mostly ups today!

Doggie torture

I started Ely on diet doggie food. I feel like a total shit. She just acts so hungry all of the time! But I figured she's exercising less and getting more treats with training, so it's a good idea. I'm waiting for her to bite me. That's what I would do if I was eating a third less calories a day. She's being pathetic, like I'm starving her, I would just bite someone. At least snarl a little. As usual she's a good sport. In solidarity (well maybe not wanting to get diabetes and die), I'm cutting some of my calories. I'll try not to bite anyone.

I put the child lock under our kitchen sink so Ely couldn't eat the trash. Well, I got home a couple of days ago and she had gotten under the bathroom sink and pulled out the bathroom trash (this is historically her favorite, mmm used tissues and feminine products). I cleaned that up and had to leave the house again. Came back and she had gotten into my bedroom trash. This little can is mostly paper stuff and has a lid on it so she can't eat the tissues. A lid! It was in a corner, behind a box fan, and my clumsy blind dog got the lid off and her face in the trash! Though, this whole trash thing is annoying and frustrating, I think it's good her nose is working so well. For a time, I'm not sure her other senses were picking up the slack.

Because of everything going on, we've had to postpone a few grooming appointments. While at the pet store, I picked up some of the waterless bath stuff for pets. Now, I know at this point many of you are thinking, "why doesn't she just give her dog a bath?" I'll tell you why. Our bathtub has shower doors. So I can't give her a bath because she just goes to the end of the tub, behind the shower doors, out of my reach. It also hurts to lean on the door tracks. Last time I gave her a bath (it was an emergency, she had gotten into some serious stink) I had to get into the tub with her. The tub is not that big and I emerged looking like I was wrangling a tiger. During this bath, she managed to nose open the closed shower door and scramble half way out. She can be quite agile when it suits her purposes. Moral of the story: Not giving her a bath now that she's blind. Freak out central. She didn't even like being sprayed with the waterless bath.

But, she's a bit cleaner.

Back to the Grind

I've been out of town a couple of days and just got back. She seems a little out of sorts, I think it's getting harder for her to be without me, at least while she's getting used to this blind thing. I've noticed her running into more things. Apparently when I was gone she had some trouble getting inside, she'd run into the closed side of the door. Ely does this thing, especially when she's upset or confused, and goes under the kitchen table. Then she pin balls around amid the chair legs until she gets out. Sometimes, like now, she's just lays under the table, snoozing. The blind book recommends having a safe space for her to retreat to, I think under the table is one of those spots.

The other humans reported that the dogs got into the trash (even with the baby lock!). Ely also went to the bathroom inside the house and wasn't sick. This is very unusual for her. She's hardly ever done this and only when very sick. This is concerning to me, I'm sure it's related, I just don't know how. I got and began reading Living with Blind Dogs by Caroline Levin.
She strongly believes that the Cushing's like symptoms the dog experiences (weight gain, increased hunger, thirst, etc) is actually related to some hormone imbalances. That's why SARD's dogs aren't testing positive for Cushing's. Ely's blood work did not indicate that she has Cushing's, but she just having so many of those symptoms! So, this explanation is helpful and may mean the steroid/anti-biotic treatment may be the way to go. Until reading this book, I thought this treatment would only help Ely regain some of her sight and was reluctant to put her on long term steroids because of possible side effects. Levine says that, untreated the hormone issues could cause more problems. I am at a loss! I don't know what to do. I'm going to keep reading and talk to the vets some more. In the mean time we'll start on our first new "command," "slow." This will help me guide her around obstacles.

Our First Walk!

Well, Ely and I went our first post I-know-she's-blind walk. I don't have any of my new blind dog training books yet, but I decided to give it a try. My plan was to keep her at my side on about a foot of leash. Unfortunately tomorrow is garbage day, so there were twice the normal obstacles. We walked about half the distance we normally do in the same amount of time, but all in all I would call it a success! Besides running into the back of my legs a number of times, she only ran into a trash can. I, on the other hand, ran into a trash can, stepped off a curb, walked into a low lying tree branch, and a pick-up truck's side mirror.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, I think she's realizing being by my side is the safest option. I spent much time looking for doggie obstacles, that probably explains me running into all the human ones. I enjoy walking and hiking as much as she does, but this adds some stress. I often just zone out and look at my surroundings or just mull things over I hadn't given myself time to think about before then. For awhile at least our walks will look much different, but hopefully things will get easier!

Treatment?

Yesterday I received a call from the eye doctor that did the retinal test thingie on Ely while we were at the specialist's office. I got the low down on the eye concerns from Dr. McDreamy without ever talking to Dr. Eye. It was nice to speak to Dr. Eye, but it was a bit technical. One thing she said was Ely's blood work didn't indicate that she had the doggie Cushing's disease, despite having many of the symptoms. This was good news. Dr. Eye also suggested that we could try some treatment that may restore a tiny bit of her vision. I don't know all the details, but with some dogs who get SARD's because of an immune response (I'm vague on this part as well), a course of intense steroids and anti-biotics has been shown to help their vision. This would in no way be a dramatic increase, but would help her see contrast a bit better. My concern is having her on steroids long term, I don't want to harm her in some other way trying to fix something that's not totally fixable but isn't life threatening.

In other news, I put child locks under our sink, where the trash is. She seems more and more driven by her nose, as well as just being hungrier. A couple of weeks ago she got into the trash and ate about a dozen hard boiled egg shells. Eww. Ely is known for her sensitive stomach! I remember the time someone gave her a potato chip and she threw up instantly. Now all of the sudden she has a stomach of steel! Egg shells, chocolate, pooh...

Ely is keeping up a great attitude, she seems waggy and happy. I've caught her smiling a few times! I've found it very sweet how she still looks out the window for me when I get home or go outside for some reason. She isn't looking at me, just out there. Maybe this is a good thing, she does look a little crazy in the eyes when she doesn't know what's going on. Could this keep those proselytizers away?

Barking

Ely has never been much of a barker. I think those days are over. When she barked in the past, it's been very directed. There's a evangelist at our front door and she's staring out the window at them, barking like she'll eat them if she gets a chance (I swear I didn't teach her that). This morning I came out into the living room to investigate her barking. Standing in the middle of the room barking up towards the ceiling. Our doggie house guest, Tobey, was just looking at her, then to me and back.

Everyone in our household dogs and humans have relaxed and are working on acceptance of the huge change that's happened. Tobey seemed to be really impacted and nervous around Ely last week (I'm sure that had NOTHING to do with the human anxiety) but is just fine now. All dogs and people actually slept through the night! Ely seems to be getting more confident and comfortable maneuvering the house daily. Yesterday she was running out the back door without pause! I can still hear her running into various things in other rooms, but it's less walls and doors and more chairs or Tobey.

I've ordered a stack of books about how to train blind dogs, blind dog health, and of course blind dog inspirational stories. I contacted a local dog trainer and am thinking about taking her to obedience classes. As many of you may know, she's not really trained. Luckily she's a good dog, so it's worked out, but let's hope you can teach an old dog new tricks. Yesterday Tobey's mom got treats out for them and told them both to sit and shake and Ely did that just fine! Of course, she was about to give herself whiplash moving her head around so much trying to find the treat. We all got a good laugh out of that.

I also ordered a harness for her that has a handle so I can help guide her. Dr. McDreamy was trying to sell me on Doggles (http://www.doggles.com/) to help protect her eyes. I'm not sure that's going to go over so well with the little Beastie. For now, we'll just keep to open spaces.

The Day After

Earlier this summer my dog, Ely, began acting weird. I took her to the vet and tried to articulate what "weird" meant. She became food obsessed, gained weight she couldn't loose regardless of the amount of exercise, and began eating pooh (we just assumed she was getting a lot of extra calories from the pooh). The weirdness had continued, she just seemed confused much of the time. She's 9 years old, a senior dog, so my vet, Joey, suggested cognitive dysfunction. And then it just got worse, she didn't want to walk when we were on walks, she stopped playing as much with her best dog friend Tobey, she was running into walls and other things. When my roommate, who left for the weekend and came back and said "I think she's worse," I called Joey again and described my concerns. At this point she recommended we go to a neurologist. Her, myself, and others thinking brain tumor.

As of now, every time I watched Ely walk into something, I'd get teary eyed. We've been through a lot together. She really is my best friend, confidant, and longest relationship ever. I was heartbroken. If she got so bad so quickly, her life expectancy couldn't be that long, right? I even had a few moments of hugging her and crying into her fur. In all honestly this isn't the first time this has happened (i.e., after reading Marley and Me, break-ups, Bush being re-elected). I know this does not help her! I get that she picks up on my anxiety! I'm not a perfect dog companion all the time people, don't judge me.

Yesterday, we trucked up to the neurologist in Portland. (This was after, my clumsy, newly blind dog managed to eat about a cup of M & M's off an end table. She has NEVER done anything like this. So after a frantic call to the emergency vet at 2 am, I woke up every hour to check on her throughout the night before our trip to Portland. She was fine.) We went to NW Vet Specialists in Clackamas to see the neurology team, who happened to be two very, very cute women! Ely was very patient as Dr. McDreamy checked her out. Being in the new space it was obvious how much of her sight she had lost. Dr. McDreamy thought right away it may be Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration or SARDs. After testing her retinal function by putting these contact lens type things on her eye balls and sending electrical stimulation to her optic nerve they determined that this was indeed the case. Bad retinal function.

Ely went blind in about 3 weeks. Believe it or not, this is the good news. No brain tumor. So yay! My dog is blind! Oh shit, my dog is blind. Now what?

First, things first, I found some books to help us. I have to get her some special gear and somehow help her navigate her sudden disability. As my roommate said, I am her Seeing Eye Human. Poor girl...