April 30, 2012

Frustrated

Well, it's been one week since the accident & Riley is healing much slower than I had hoped. She has started using the injured leg again, but just a little... mainly for balance. I read online that for every day the limb goes unused it takes 3x as long to rebuild the muscles. So, we are currently looking at about 3 weeks rehab (if there is nothing else wrong with the leg). She is going in for a follow up appointment this week and I am petrified at the thought of dealing with ligament damage. The surgery for a torn ACL is around $3,500 and that's not including therapy. *sigh*

We are currently searching for a pool we can use to help strengthen her leg.
If you (or someone you know) has a pool we can use in the CA Bay Area please let me know!

April 28, 2012

A Typical Day

Wake up
Lightly massage leg
Ice-Pack
Hot-Pack
Epsom salt bath
2 Primal raw patties
Meds
Work (daily txt updates from the family, they feed 2 Primal raw patties + sweet potato & green beans)
Home
2 Primal raw patties
Meds
Ice-Pack
Hot-Pack
Lightly massage leg
Sleep
Multiple potty breaks throughout night

We've been in kind of a holding pattern for the past few days. The lack of sleep is similar to what we experienced when she was 9 weeks old and we brought her home from the breeder. The good news is that the swelling has decreased significantly. She still won't put weight on the leg, but we're hoping she will start using it soon. The vet will be re-evaluating her knee next week. *fingers crossed*

April 26, 2012

Recovery

We're on day 3 of recovery & things finally seem to be improving little by little. Riley refused to eat kibble & then turned her nose up to wet canned TOTW, so I tried offering her raw Primal formula and she loooooved it! We are feeding her 5-6 full patties a day (highest recommended amount) and we are already seeing a huge increase in energy along with some good weight gain. She still won't put her foot down, but she is carrying the leg slightly lower. The knee is swollen, but the laceration seems to be healing perfectly. We are using cold/hot compresses on the knee all day. This morning we soaked the leg in warm Epsom salt water.  Our #1 concern is ligament/nerve damage, but we will have to wait for the swelling to go down before that can be determined. She did put her foot down for 2-3 steps outside on her potty break. We're just taking it one day at a time and looking forward to our future hikes! :)
Sleeping... she does this a lot lately.
"But, I want to be outside!!!"
Check up with the vet - healing well!
Workin' those baby eyes. <3

April 24, 2012

Home again, home again, jiggety-jog!

Due to an unfortunate accident, my sweet Riley girl had to come home early from bird camp. Right now she's soaking up all the love and attention and enjoying being pampered. We are hoping for a quick recovery so she can get back to what she loves best - hunting birds! :)


April 22, 2012

"Dog Rules"

- The dog is not allowed in the house.
- Okay, the dog is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.
- The dog is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture
- The dog can get on the old furniture only.
- Fine, the dog is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with the humans on the bed.
- Okay, the dog is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation.
- The dog can sleep on the bed whenever he wants, but not under the covers.
- The dog can sleep under the covers by invitation only
- The dog can sleep under the covers every night.
- Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the dog.

From "My Dog is the World's Best Dog" by Suzy Becker.

Hike - minus the Vizsla

We went for a hike today at Pfeiffer State Park. It was fun, but not nearly as entertaining without my crazy redhead running around. I did get some good pictures. Counting down the days until my sweet Riley comes home!

April 19, 2012

Quiet

The house is so quiet without Riley. I took a bath without worrying about a puppy jumping in with me or a bully stick getting dropped into the bath water. It was.... boring. I even blow-dried my hair without once having to utter the words "leave it" to keep a nosy puppy out of the trash. I will be glad to have my crazy little red devil back!

"Bird Camp"

Just dropped off Riley with Ken & Janet at Willowynd Ranch for a professional evaluation! (I'm calling it "bird camp".) She had some fun this morning with a Chukar & met a few new V friends. We're going to miss her, but I'm excited about getting a few projects accomplished with all the free time we'll have! :) I'm looking forward to seeing her again on the 28th and it should be fun to see how her exposure to more birds helps in the trial!

For more info on Willowynd Ranch, check out their website:

http://willowyndranch.com/

April 16, 2012

Coyote Peak Hike - 4/15/12

We had a great hike yesterday at Santa Teresa. About 3 miles from an elevation of 600ft to 1,155ft at the peak. The weather was perfect & Riley was in Vizsla heaven. She found a vulture and started chasing after it, which made us laugh. Her recall was perfect & she responded every time I called her. If I could quit my job & do this every day, I would! :)

April 15, 2012

AKC Registered!

I *finally* registered Riley (late, I know!) and I am proud to announce that her official AKC name is "Living the Life of Riley"! She was up this morning at 5 expecting another hunting trip, so I had to remind her that it's not a daily occurrence and I needed to sleep in today after the long day we had yesterday. We're going to enter her in the VCNC field trial in the "Amateur Puppy" stake, which is on April 28th. Wish us luck!

April 14, 2012

Fun Field Day - 4/14/12

Sunburn? Check.
Muddy clothes? Check.
Wet shoes? Check.
Exhausted Vizsla? Check.

Best experience I've had with my Riley to-date? CHECK!!!

Riley did much better than I expected.
She exploded into the field and found both birds very quickly. Her constantly wagging tail was a good sign that she was in Vizsla heaven. She was so excited about the birds that after the 2nd one flushed she launched herself off the ground and caught the bird in mid-air. I am proud of my baby girl & looking forward to continuing her training & possibly entering some actual competitions!

The 4hr, 224 mile round trip trek up to Hastings was worth it... I'm officially HOOKED! :D

Here are a few preview photos taken on my phone. I will post the rest soon after I load them off my camera.

Additional photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleynr/

April 13, 2012

Field Day Nerves!

Riley's "Fun Field Day" is coming up tomorrow... we will head out at 5AM (yes, you heard me right) and pick up sister Penny and her human on our way. The entire journey up and back is a little over 4 hours and 224 miles. I asked my friend today if I'm insane for doing this and she said "a little"... haha!

I am SO NERVOUS about this whole thing! I know, it's silly, but I have a feeling I'll be the same way on my child's first day of preschool. I mean, it's just for fun and there's no pressure, but still I'm hopeful that Riley does well. In the end, the most important thing is that she enjoys herself. :) I can't wait to post pics and a little summary of our new adventure. Stay tuned!

April 10, 2012

Recall Training

Does your V need to brush up on his/her recall skills?

1. Go find a nice, big field of grass at a park

2. Take someone else with you

3. Each person should stand about a hundred feet apart with treats

4. Call the dog back and forth and give out lots of treats

(If your dog has questionable recall, please do this with a 30ft long-lead attached to your dog's collar and let them drag it. Riley's recall is about 95% on a bad day, so we trust her off-leash.)

Reuben and I have been brushing up on Riley's recall skills, plus we throw in some extra commands to keep her interested. You can see Reuben having Riley do some sit-stays in the video. :)


April 9, 2012

Easter Hike

What do you do on Easter when you are sick, don't want to infect anyone else, & the dog needs exercise? Sit in the car while the hubby takes the dog for a hike! It wasn't a *great* way to spend my Easter, but Riley was happy & tired afterward, plus Reuben took a few pics for me to enjoy. :)
More panting = more sleeping!
Running up the trail
Something smells delicious!
Happy Easter, sweet pup <3
I call this her "Whatcha lookin' at???" face.

April 4, 2012

Not guilty!


I found this cartoon floating around facebook and I thought it was adorable and SO TRUE! I tell all new puppy owners - when things start getting frustrating, pour yourself a glass of wine and repeat after me: "This too shall pass!" :)

More where this came from:
www.barsotti.com!

April 2, 2012

Almost 7 months + Nail Length

My baby is almost 7 months old! Only 3 days left... I can't believe how quickly she's growing up. She stayed at my sister's house over the weekend because the hubby and I were in a wedding. My sister's friend and her 15 month old baby are staying at her house and Riley did SO well with them! My sis said she gave lots of gentle kisses on the baby's face and hands and when it became a little overwhelming a simple "leave it" made her back off immediately. She never knocked the girl over or scared her in any way. I am SO proud of my girly! I came to pick her up on Sunday morning and the little baby was in her highchair eating grapes. Riley was standing on the back of the couch next to the chair staring intently at the grapes. We said "leave it" and she laid down and didn't even try to take one. :D Chelsea gave Ri a frozen yogurt in her bowl on the back of the couch and had the baby pet Ri's ear as she ate. Her tail wagged the entire time and she showed absolutely no signs of aggression. To top it all off, my sister said she was very well-behaved and followed all the commands they gave her. She enjoyed having Ri at the house so much that she didn't want me to leave with her! Needless to say, I am really looking forward to having children now that I know Ri does so well with them. :D

Okay, enough blabbering... here are some new pics from our park trip yesterday. I love how she is starting to fill out. She had another big growth spurt over the weekend.

I'm amazed at how far she can lean!


She really is filling in beautifully.

Looking less and less like a puppy every day!

Stick?!?

Say cheese!

One last pointing picture.

I also wanted to post some pictures of her nail length. A lot of other V owners have been asking me about what length I keep her nails at, so here are some pics that show her current nail length. I would prefer her front nails were a little shorter. We will be dremeling them this week. :)

Front nails... *almost* touching the ground.

Back nails... perfect length right now.

Front paw when not flexed.