Sunday 21 September 2008

Its not my fault this time.

The delay in show report etc is all Minx's fault!
Ive just got home after having a dramatic few hours involving a mad dash to the vets with Minx.I was at the farm sorting the boys out was all done so called for the dogs to put them in the car Minx came staggering over her head was waving from side to side and he legs were all over the place.
I ran and picked her up and put her on the back seat covering her head with my coat as it looked like a fit of some kind her head was bouncing from side to side and her eyes were rolling around,I also had blood all over my hands from somewhere.After a few minutes she was still the same so I put her on the front seat phoned the vet all while reversing and holding onto Minx by the scruff to stop her from falling off the seat,it was very violent and she was panting heavily!
Im not a panicky person usually and used to work at a vets many moons ago so have seen it all but i'll admit to seriously panicking how I didnt crash I dont know. The surgery is about 25mins away but I think it took me 15 mins.I use the same vet practice that I use for the horses as they still have that country vet feel rather than the money grabbing business of most,but it does have its drawbacks at times like these.
A few minutes out from the vet's she started to come out of it ...huge relief!

The vet gave her a good look over checking her responses,heart,eyes,reflexes and everything seemed to be back to normal,the blood was from a tiny nick on her ear which she probably did thrashing around.
The other thing was she absolutely stunk and had obviously been eating something seriously nasty.The farm was an old pig farm and it still has a huge metal drum that they used to put the slurry in so I reckon its been leaking out,probably with all the rain we've had,and Minx decided to eat some of it-gross eh.
Had good chat about it as Minx has had a couple of these 'turns' in the past ,this was definitely the worst by a mile though.The last time was about two years ago when she was stung by a wasp so Angus reckons she has a low threshold which sends her body into a type of shock.
He decided it would be best to make her vomit to bring it all up so she had some lovely salty water and brought up the most disgusing looking and smelling crap ive ever seen.
I mentioned Buster was with her so after smelling his 'delightful' breath he also had a salty drink and brought up even more of the stuff than Minx!
Mouse must have sighed with relief that she isnt into such disgusting behaviour she did however tuck into my Foxes Mints while left in the car so her breath was lovely:)
Angus said he has to make his Border sick at least once a month for eating things it shouldnt and told me how to make them sick for the future oh the joy of terriers...I may have failed to mention they have this not so pleasant side.
Anyway they are all sitting next to me on the settee after their baths seeming okay.

Back to yesterday if i'd realised how far away was I doubt i'd have gone it was near Blackpool so meant to be 2.5/3hours,took me a bit over two, all the driving of the past few weeks has really worn me out plus im going to get 'done' for speeding if I havent already be caught!:0
He didnt get placed which after talking to Peter (breeder)im not suprised about.The judge prefers smaller fine boned types she definitely wasnt placing 'faces' so thats fair enough as far as im concerned.
It was really funny she was spaning the dogs then lifting them off the table when she did Buster she said to me "oh my he's a heavy boy" I grinned and said its all muscle:)
Peter did very well his puppy dog got placed as did one of his older bitches but his puppy bitch got a first in a huge class beating some big names so that was excellent.
Had a good chat to Peter outside he said I had to get Buster stripped as his coat was finished plus all that excess coat is making him look much bulkier and heavier framed than he is.He reckons because Buster is top end size and already has a correct head nothing needs to be exaggerated with him so I probably wont be able to get away with showing him in 'full jacket' as they call it.
I'd been hanging on incase stripping now would mean it wasnt right for Crufts but as Peter pointed out Crufts is still 6months away (you really do have to think that far in advance) and as we've still got a few Champ shows to go it would be a shame not to show him at his best.
Peter did his head there and then and some of his neck,his undercoat is through so he was obviously ready to be done he gave me some chalk to help grip.
Peter also said he could drop a touch of weight even half a pound could make all the difference,the pics up are from the early shows when he was in puppy classes so he has filled out more since then and is probably carrying more weight.
To be honest I think ive gotten a bit lazy and not been on the ball as I was with the girls probably because he was doing so well without really trying.With the cost and time travelling,entry fees etc its stupid not to put the effort in beforehand to make sure he's at his best so wrist slapped it wont happen again.
I spent ten minutes today stripping him the chalk makes a HUGE difference still have his legs and chest to do he looks very different although I love them with a bit of coat he does look more ready for the ring, will get some posh pant pics up when ive finished him.
I was approached by a couple of different people at the show about him one lady admired him and said how devoted to me he was I had to admit its mostly due to the food in my pocket:)Another guy said he was looking for a Border and Buster was his 'type'. I mentioned I had pups and thought he was going to come back to me after he went back to talk to his wife but I didnt hang around much longer as I wanted to get home for the pups.
Anyway ive probably worn you all out with dog talk:)

I was straight out on the town last night with my friends so havent done much horsewise other than the basics.Thankfully the mare went today and before the Minx saga I managed to extend the boy's paddock so fingers crossed things should be settling down and I can get back to my routines and crack on with them a bit more... famous last words!

4 comments:

Claire said...

i saw an unstripped border yesterday - it didn't in fact look like a border at all, coat clearly hadn't been touched in years, i had to ask what breed it was .... no excuse for that, even for an old dog (which it was...)

Jean said...

Glad to know Buster and Minx were OK after eating the nasty stuff. Dogs must just have different tastes than we do. They seem to love really horribly smelling stuff.

However, you may be luckier than some owners whose dogs eat socks and such and then have to have surgery to remove them. Making the kids vomit is a heck of a lot easier.

Isn't there some kind of tonic you could give them regularly to help counteract the nasty eats? Kind of like the stuff you can give cats for hairballs? *G*

Every show teaches you something. Maybe stripping Buster's coat will take the half pound off. *G* I like the pups fuzzier too, but they surely do look elegant all stripped and groomed for the show ring.

Muriel said...

hmmm how do you strip their coat? Do you pull their hairs like we do for mane???

I am glad Minx is okay. Gosh waht a panic. I would have been a bit scared too.
How do you make them throat up? Does it work for cats?
Always useful to know that kind of things.

cptrayes said...

oooh nasty turn with Minx - how can they eat that stuff!

C