Around With The Hound
About the fleas - When my dogs get fleas I give them a bath that also includes vinegar. Sometimes feeding your dog apple cider vinegar can help too, the fleas aren't super fond. It might also work on the kittens, if you can stand to bathe them. Bit of a natural remedy but it's always worked for me. Hope that helps. (p.s sorry to go through your blog, I just couldn't find the op's ask box)
Thanks for sharing! :-)
I have a huge problem and I need help. There's this feral cat that I've been caring for who had kittens and brought them into my house. Which is all fine and great except now we are being over ran by fleas. We can't flea bomb the house because of the kittens and now my SD is ripping out her fur do to her flea allergy and I am getting bitten too. Her flea meds haven't been working and I don't know what to do. I can't afford the expensive stuff or to buy any more right now, do you have any ideas?
Hmm, that’s a tough one. I don’t have any experience dealing with flea infestations, but my recommendation would be to put your SD’s health first. Call the vet and ask about alternate means of dealing with a flea infestation, and also call the local shelter and explain your situation and ask if they could possibly take the kittens off your hands. Also, be sure not to work your SD until she is completely flea free (it sucks, but you really can’t take a flea-infested dog into restaurants, etc). If you can get the kittens out of your home, you can use conventional means to rid the house of fleas. Good luck, I hope it all clears up soon!
A Letter For My Readers
Dear Readers,
If you read here regularly, you’ve probably realized I’m not posting as often as I once did. I’ve thought about it, and while I fully intend to keep the focus of this blog on service dogs, I feel I owe you a heads up on my current situation.
As stated in the description of my blog, I currently live with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (note: this is not at all the same as “CFS” - there’s a lot of mis-education going round about that topic). The M.E. that I have is progressive and deteriorating, and about a month ago a couple of doctors made the decision to put me in hospice care. Because of the severity of my condition, I am 99% bed bound and unable to safely leave my home, ever. So several times a week, hospice workers come into my home and deal out palliative care - primarily for pain.
For those who may not be familiar with the concept of hospice, a person is generally placed into hospice when a doctor determines they may have little time to live. In my case, hospice requires the doctor to state that you could die within the next six months prior to being admitted for care. Let me rush to say - this may or may not be the case with me. We know that my particular case of M.E. is terminal (all cases of M.E. take decades off a patient’s life, but some people lose more than others). What we don’t know is exactly how long it will take for the disease to play itself out. I could have hours, days, weeks, months, or even a couple years left. So many things are going wrong in my body that it really just depends on how much I rest versus exerting myself (which at this point includes every thought, movement, etc that I make throughout the day, as well as every sound, light, touch, and smell I am exposed to - all of which place strain upon my body).
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the illness here - as I said, this website is about service dogs, and my goal is to continue helping those who need them for as long as possible. If you want more information about M.E., the best place to look is The Hummingbirds’ Foundation for M.E. or, if you prefer a book, check out Caring for the M.E. Patient, a compilation of the best articles from the HFME website, available in print or Kindle format.
Let me make it clear, I do not intend to change the focus of this website to make it about my health or about M.E. in general. If you have questions about M.E., feel free to ask me through this website and provide a way to reply to you in private. I’ll do my best to answer any questions that you have. The only reason I decided to share this information here at all is that I felt I owed my readers a heads up and a bit of explanation about what’s going on.
All that said, I will, of course, continue posting and answering questions to the best of my ability. DeeDee is still here and working hard as ever helping me at home. She continues to assist me with balance issues in getting to the restroom and back, as well as retrieving objects that I need, opening and closing the bedroom door as needed, etc. Just her company alone raises my quality of life tremendously. At a time when it is painful more days than not to be around people, DeeDee is a calm, constant, friendly presence. Because of her, I never have to feel alone. She has not only kept me alive, but given me a quality of life worth living for. She is and will always be my hero.
To those of you who have followed us along this journey, thank you. I value every person who reads here, whether I hear from you or not. I’ve met many amazing friends through this site and developed friendships I truly wouldn’t trade for the world. It’s been a great journey, and it’s not over yet. :-)
So keep reading, keep asking questions, and keep sharing your stories. If there’s anything service dog related you’d like to see more of here on Around With The Hound, please feel free to let me know. I love you guys. You rock!
Sincerely,
Brooke and DeeDee
DeeDee loves to snuggle - and so do I!
Hey guys! A friend of mine runs a greyhound service dog program in Virginia. The dogs coming out of this program are retired racers trained to provide mobility and/or PTSD assistance to those in need. Most of these dogs go to veterans who are disabled as a result of their service to our country.
This program has been entered in a contest (click here for the link). If you would take two seconds to click on the link and vote for them, you could help make a world of difference in the life of a severely disabled veteran, not to mention that of a retired ex-racing greyhound who still has many years to live, love, and give to someone in need. It’s super easy - no registration is required, and you can vote up to once a day if you’re willing, though even one vote makes a difference.
Those of you who read here regularly know what amazing service dogs greyhounds can make. The dogs coming out of this program are top notch. Once placed, these dogs change their companion’s life forever. Thank you for being a part of this process. Please spread the word so others can help out too! Thank you!
Hey Brooke, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of thick, padded collars used for Greyhounds. My poodle is quite neck sensitive, and I want to train her to walk loose leash, but every collar I have used she has choked on. Thanks!
Hi! No problem. DeeDee wears a custom leather collar now, but prior to that I ordered her collars almost exclusively from 2 Hounds Design (click on name for link). Of course, a quick google search for “martingale collars” or “greyhound collars” will bring up thousands of retailers - some more expensive, some less so. The ones from 2 Hounds Design are priced somewhere in the middle and made to last forever, but of course you may want to check around to see if you like something else better as well. Hope that helps! Good luck with your poodle girl! :-)
How to answer the public’s most frequently asked questions when out with a mobility service dog. Based strongly off of a similar idea from my good friend over at “Accidental Pun.”
DeeDee does her best impression of a rabbit and wishes everyone a very happy Easter!
Sharing this again for those newer followers who are unfamiliar with DeeDee’s story. Enjoy the video!
(Source: youtube.com)
I had back surgery 10 years ago and because of that I trained a service dog that would help me get items I dropped and anything off the floor. Fast-forward 5 years and I got married and had kids. My SD did not adapt well to my twins and would snap at them, so I let her go to someone who could use her. I am now looking at a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and thinking of getting a Golden puppy to train as a SD again. Any tips you could give me as I work on this endeavor? Leta
Hi! Thanks for the question. My best advice would be to join at least one solid service dog group. There’s a great Yahoo group you can join by clicking on this link: groups.yahoo.com/group/ServiceDogs-FMS-CFIDS-Arthritis Or, if you’re on Facebook, check out this group for starters: https://www.facebook.com/groups/420879261299753
It takes a village to train a truly great service dog, whether the dog is program or owner trained. Getting involved in a good service dog group can make all the difference in the world. Good luck!
Hey guys! Here’s another meme for you. :-) I apologize for mostly posting memes the past few weeks. I’ve been super busy dealing with some new health care developments, but hope to be back to writing full posts very soon! Much love to everyone! DeeDee says hi!
