TICK CONTROL, FLEA CONTROL

Posted on July 13, 2017 by BigFootClub

A recent discussion about Ehrlichia prompted a reminder that topical control is important, but there are multiple steps that you can take to reduce exposure to ticks and fleas.  Some tick products don’t work fast enough to kill the tick before it can transmit disease, so using additional measures is valuable.

TICKS:

1.    Keep your dog in mowed areas.  (This is always a good practice, as it helps avoid burrs and grass awns.)  Be sure that weeds and tall grass aren’t growing along a fence.  When you travel, choose stops where the grass is kept short to relieve your dogs.  When you camp, a maintained site will be better when that is an option.  Cedar trees are tick havens, so some distance from Eastern cedars is best.

2.    I use a home-prepared mint spray (mainly spearmint with some Eucalyptus – not peppermint) on their coat when we camp.  This isn’t a stand-alone defense.  I also will bathe with diluted tea tree shampoo before leaving, and will use the diluted shampoo in a quart-size nozzle bottle if clean-up is needed during the campout.  Note:  if you are in a trailer or RV, a solvent-based spray of any kind will cause your propane alarm to sound, over and over, so spray outside and let the solvent evaporate.

3.    Grooming – using a high-speed dryer after a walk or a swim when the Newfs are where there may be ticks will help remove loose ticks.  We travel with a portable dryer.  It is easier to see down to their skin with the dryer.  As you move the nozzle, you may notice a tiny dark spot and you can use the dryer to see whether that is a tick.  Combing and brushing will help you find some loose ticks or recently attached ticks.  Feeling their coat regularly lets you recognize even a tiny bump in the wrong place.  Often ticks move to their heads, where they are easier to find.  Loose ticks riding a dog in may find a human during the night.

4.    Observe:  Your Newf may begin scratching, panting or rubbing it’s head on something.  It may suddenly reach toward its leg and chew.  This could be due to a tick, a flea, a burr or something else.  Chewing quickly leads to secondary problems, so that behavior always merits quick attention.

5.    A very miserable experience for a Newf (or a human) is exposure to hatchling ticks.  These vary in size, and the worst exposure is to the ones so small that they look like finely ground black pepper moving up a bare leg at a rapid pace.  On bare human skin, those are easily removed with tape.  Gorilla tape is an essential travel resource, so it is usually in our van.  (found 3 rolls on Saturday!)  For Newfs, if there is a swimming point or a hydrant, that will eliminate most.  In our area, this stage is commonly on tall brushy plants during the hottest, driest part of the year, usually late July through August.  Making a slight contact as you pass will allow hundreds to crawl up your leg very rapidly.  If these get down to a Newf’s skin, it can cause an itching frenzy.

6.    If you have livestock, sulfur salt blocks will reduce the presence of ticks.  Ticks can migrate from adjoining pastures or be carried in by livestock.

7.    There are many pathogens carried by ticks, some still unknown, some for which they acquire immunity.  Taking your dog to an area where there are new risks requires more attention to prevention.
FLEAS:

1.    Fleas typically have about a 15-day life cycle.  If any creature living inside your home may be or may have been exposed to fleas, a whole-house floor and bedding cleaning and dog grooming on the same day within two weeks is a good management practice.  Along with a regular preventive, this has worked well for us.  “Flea bombs” can eliminate a problem, but preventive control is better for indoor health when those can be avoided.

2.    Treat all animals that may be exposed or may harbor fleas with preventive.  There are several over-the-counter immediate remedies if you need to treat a lost dog in order to prevent problems with your dogs.  These are one-time treatments, not standalone methods of prevention.

3.    Flea exposure can occur at any time of the year, and fleas or ticks may be carried onto your property by wildlife.  Fleas can get into your vehicle when you visit a dog event, a fair, a shelter or a friend where there is a problem.  During the hottest periods of summer, inside vehicle temperatures may eliminate a problem, but vehicles will also need to be cleaned and treated if there has been an exposure.

4.    I use the mint spray for this purpose also, but it has been less effective with fleas.  There are some commercial sprays also.  For a “pet-safe” spray intended for direct application, I spray the outside of the coat directly, I spray the under-side of the bedding and I spray the inside of the vehicle.  Some solvents may damage some types of surfaces, so read the label http://thebigfootclub.com/travel-camping/carefully.

I am conservative about the use of materials that treat grounds or pesticide sprays applied inside the house.  Choices are a matter of risk management:  the severity of the risk may lead you to choose more intense control methods.  “Natural” doesn’t always mean safe.  Some natural products are very effective with less risk.  Read the label and research the product online through non-promotional sites.  The NIH PubMed site is a good place to find abstracts of articles by entering the chemical name on the label.  If the inside of a vehicle must be treated, you can decrease risk of exposure by ventilating after the treatment period and not using the vehicle for a few days, if you have an alternative vehicle or can avoid use for that long.

I’m also a fan of camping with Newfs.  It’s important to minimize risks, but it’s also important to enjoy life.  Be sure to take a battery-operated fan if you camp in a primitive spot, and see the Travel & Camping link in the top menu for additional travel information.

Posted in Travel & Camping | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

CONNECTING THE DOGS

Posted on May 21, 2017 by BigFootClub

“An eventful life;” this comment was made by a friend once.  I would never want to be without some eventfulness, but sometimes the number, frequency and sequence of events is hard to reconcile.  The value and necessity of flexibility and adaptability have been apparent for a very long time, but there are times when we need to be stretched, hypothetically for the benefit of maintaining and extending our strengths and managing our weaknesses, and sometimes any trait can be both.  And sometimes, when it rains, it does pour.  Sometimes events occur out of risks taken and sometimes those occurrences seem completely arbitrary.  A short segment in the recent cycle continues below.

While we are still trying to find ground after losing Jade, there are challenges emerging, some resolving, some escalating, and new ones still arising, some small, some larger.  On Friday, while on a call, a tornado warning sounded on my phone.  I left the call and went home to get the girls.  I got Emily’s old crate out and set it up in the van, took each one out for some quick relief and put them in the van.  I opened Whippoorwill’s gate to give her some escape room and before I closed the gate again, the fiercely blowing wind and rain arrived.  That morning, I had taken Banner for a walk in town.  She thoroughly enjoys her walks again, and it has been an uplift for her and for me.  We also stopped to visit an artist who helped me clean up a digital image of Jade.  On the way back, I noticed that the gas gauge showed that the tank was low.  Since we weren’t at a convenient place to fill the tank without turning around, I decided to do that the next morning, for the next walk.  If you hear the sound of regret forming, you are following my path.

It probably took a total of less than 7 minutes between the time the alarm went off and the point at which I closed Whippoorwill’s gate.  The loose pile of rocks from the recent incomplete work to move the water lines crossed the path, and I stumbled and fell running back to the van.  I called Greg to tell him that I was driving away with the dogs, going west.  He said that the people at the plant were moving to the shelter.  Driving in a tornado isn’t generally a good practice, but since the house was was partially dismantled, we didn’t have a storm shelter, and the tornado shelters in town don’t accommodate dogs.

NOAA’s radar showed that the storm was following the I44 corridor and diminished quickly toward the west, but I had to turn back toward town to find a gas station, not knowing how far I would need to go, whether the direction of the storm would change, and how long this would take.  The pumps at the first station were not working, so I had to go further into town.  The pumps at the next station were taped off.  At the third station, the pump worked long enough to reach about 7/8 full.  This was the west side of town, and the storm wasn’t as bad there.  Within a couple of miles further, the rain was little more than drizzle.  We finished filling the tank at the next town and waited for a few minutes for the storm, or the worst of the storm, to pass.

The next morning, there was an additional 2″ of rain in the rain gauge.  We took Banner with us for some errands and a walk.  Our first stop was the Farmers Market in Webb City.  While Greg collected items for dinner and the band set up, I took Banner out for some social experience.  Being calm is one of her challenges, rooted in a good trait:  an enthusiastic response.  She was full of bounce and well-energized.  Dogs are allowed inside the shelter (a roof over a concrete pad), but most are ankle-height and calm.  So, Banner and I stayed along the outside, peering in at times to see what Greg was doing.  Banner scored a few new friends, and earned some cautionary glances from others.  One lady emerged and asked to pet Banner.  She was older and had a cane, so I was hesitant, but gathered the leash and held her tightly.  The lady said that a friend of hers had just passed away who had Newfs.  Tears emerged.  She asked if I knew the lady, and I didn’t recognize the name at first.  As we started to walk away, I realized who she had been talking about, and turned to visit again.  It was a lady who had a female and a male, whose female had been bred before she was spayed.  So, she kept all of the puppies.  She and her husband divorced, and she moved to this area, buying a three-bedroom house and turning one bedroom into a “dog room” with their own television.  She worked at a vet clinic in town when I met her.  Her friend was still in a state of grief.

We said goodbye and walked down the outside of the building looking for Greg.  Then we took Banner for a short walk.  At this facility, there is a long asphalt-covered path, a good place to walk after a rain.  Banner bounced ahead, spun around into position, then surged ahead again, back to her full normal mode.  It was a long path, and while Banner needs some regular walking, she is still on restrictions, so we turned after a while and went back to the van, to finish the rest of the errands, which included a cupcake stop.

After returning we worked on the van cabinet drawers, then went back for the newest episode of Guardians of the Galaxy.  Humor is more than entertainment, it is also good therapy, once you are ready for it.

We went back to work on the cabinet drawers and discovered that the knob position, based on the template, was too high for the closure, so we will need to implement an adaptation.  We went back to have dinner and fall asleep to a DVD about language and communication between humans and aliens.  Developing communication between humans and Newfs seems so much simpler.

Today, Sunday, is lovely, with the sun shining.  The smell of breakfast is emanating from the kitchen.  Banner can’t believe that humans are so slow.

Posted in Everyday, Final Departures (Loss) | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

UNIQUENESS AND INDIVIDUALITY

Posted on May 17, 2017 by BigFootClub

This morning, Banner is almost back to the full Banner.  She’s been readjusting slowly since we lost Jade.

But today, when we went to town for a walk, she got into the van with very little reservation.  This time we went to the square.  I needed something from the old True Value store.  This is one of those places where you can find almost anything, if you look hard enough.  Rather than being based in fad, they tend to have odds and ends from way back, and I needed a pair of window latches for the bed cabinet in the new van and a barn door type handle, to help me get into it from the back doors.  Yes, they had both, and much, much more.  Stuff that I don’t need but could find a place for, stuff that would be good for future projects.  It is an old store with an upstairs and a basement, one of those narrow buildings that adjoin other buildings around a square.  There is an array of tall buildings (not skyscrapers; this is Carthage after all) around the square.  I decided to take Banner out there for her walk.  Being back to full sass, she barked at me with depth and emphasis to chastise me for being in her way and not moving fast enough.  I closed the door.  After a moment, I opened it again.  She hesitated but then barked at me again.  I closed the door and waited a moment.  After a few iterations, I was able to open the door with her in an iffy Wait to get her out.  Some of this is funny, but if she knew I thought it was funny, there would be a much bigger battle, every time.  Like wanting to sleep in, I’ve developed some talent for hiding my reaction, which is useful for training, or not being trained.

As we walked, I thought about how much more volume she used when she barked this time.  She had discovered that there was an echo.  <g>  She was pretty impressed with this.  In thinking about it, it seemed very familiar, déjà vu.  Parker went through this in his younger years also.  He was a vocalizer.  He used his voice in a range of creative and unusual ways, but differently than Banner.  Banner uses her voice in unusual ways, but often with “dirty language”.  Different but similar minds arrive at different outcomes.  Of course, when you walk, it is a time to think, and I began thinking about similarities and differences.  Banner’s eyes and nose are different.  Her sense of humor is similar to Parker’s at that age.

There are other differences and similarities too, such as slime.  Yes, there are differences in characteristics of slime as well as coat, structure and minds.  Brit had the thickest slime, or water bucket residue, but it didn’t have extensibility like Banner’s.  When I give Banner a bite from a spoon, her slime will form a long thin thread, stretching two feet, longer than you can “spin a thread” while cooking a sugar base for a dessert.  It is a unique trait, one that will be memorable because of its uniqueness.

I do appreciate their uniqueness, and their similarities.

Posted in A Little Humor, Communications - a two-way art | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ADJUSTING TO LOSS

Posted on May 16, 2017 by BigFootClub

Its’ a tough adjustment time when you lose someone, for the other Newfs as well as for us.  They are all individuals and don’t react in the same way.  Banner, who is usually high-tilt, sometimes spinning off her axis, has been progressively quieter since her four rounds of treatment for the TPLO infection.  But she was beginning to re-emerge during this trip, back to her more typical self, including back-talk.  Once Jade was gone, she went back into a quiet state that I can only describe as depression, and for an ordinarily exuberant young Newf, that is hard to see.  She walked to work with me one day, but didn’t want to stay.  She turned around and pointed at the door, showing me that she wanted to go back home.  She also used to love “go places” (in a vehicle), but was a lot less stimulated about this now.  (See the “Moving Windows” story)

We took her out a few times just to try to cheer her up.  We bought ice cream.  We shared burger treats.  However, she remained out of sorts for a long time.  This past weekend, she began perking up again.  I took her to town for a walk last Saturday, and she enjoyed that.  Still, she didn’t want to get into the van to leave the next time.  The cooling system in this van isn’t as good as the last one, but that one didn’t begin to cool quickly either, and the ride to the park takes only a few minutes.  We both need the physical conditioning, even though she can’t walk very far yet, so I’m making this a daily practice.  And, she seems to be turning the corner.  Yesterday she was a lot more enthusiastic again.  She watched me carefully to ensure that we were walking together, as partners, looking up and smiling.  Most walks with Banner are on-leash training sessions where she takes one or two steps and is back to “speeding in a no-passing zone”.  She bark-argued a couple of times and bark-shouted her enthusiasm a couple of times.  Today, I made a burger stop first, and on the way to the park, she couldn’t have cared less about the smell of the burger, with treats to follow.  She was mesmerized.  She looked out the side windows of the van and vocalized her excitement, a crying sound that almost sounds like she is having pain, but the only pain is the pain of her containment at watching activity through the windows and not being able to rush into the middle of it.  When we got to the park, she got her treat, then I opened the door.  This van is still new, and the dog containment panels have not been installed yet.  (And using the ex pen was worthless.)  So when the door is opened, you have to be prepared to catch a 106 lb. flying Newf in mid-air as she launches out.  Of course, it would be the same whether it was opening the van’s side door or opening the containment door.  She is one of those that, when you release her confinement, you count out loud, “1 . . . 2 . . . 3”, and you must be prepared to catch on “2”, or  “1”.  The counting is to help her with self-restraint, a routine to teach her to wait long enough for you to prepare.

Banner is full of enthusiasm, usually.  She is related to Banker and Parker.  Her great-grandfather, on her mom’s side and her dad’s, was Banker’s sire.  Broker passed on his intelligence, energy, enthusiasm and humor to most of his offspring.  Banker was quite a bit softer, but Banner has a lot of similar personality traits, and for that I’m grateful.  Banker was equally enthusiastic about going for rides and taking walks, as was Parker.

She is back to passing frequently, to which I stop and back up a few steps if needed, while she re-collects herself and spins backward into position.  And sometimes she complains about it.  But she is clearly energized and happy, enthusiastic about going for walks.  This was something I enjoyed about the boys (Banker and Parker).  There are also clues at home that she is recovering.  She is more tuned-in still, but sometimes doesn’t respond immediately when a scent has caught her attention.  This is ordinary for Banner, so it is good to see her regaining interest and confidence.  The world shakes when you lose a loved one.  Our loved one was quiet, but with a big presence, leaving equally a large void in her absence.  It’s taking us both a while to get back up to speed, but it’s nice to have a buddy to help you through the process.

Posted in Final Departures (Loss), Therapy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment