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Lil' Liliko'i Pineki


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So....it's been a little while.....sorry.....

 

Lili - May-2013.JPG

 

Squint has moved into another phase of life & I must say that we are so completely amazed by this dog. It's been a little over a year since she came into our lives (Feb - 2012) and she's matured amazingly fast & still has retained a very large portion of her puppy side in her playfulness & willingness to party.

 

She recently (last week) had her annual physical at which she tipped the scales at 27.3 pounds! Amazing considering the fact that when I met her she weighed a whopping 5.4 pounds! She checked out good to go so I thought I'd bring the boards up to speed in the world of Lili.

 

Her BFF Ida has learned to love her, albeit grudgingly afterall. She tips herself off though when we come home from work as she's not all that interested in us at first, she wants to see where Lili is .... Once that's resolved then she comes to greet us....funny little turnaround that. Ida's twelve now & she seems more energetic & 'up' than she's seemed in years since this puppy has arrived.

 

Ida - May-2013.JPG

 

Lili has come to work with us from day one, all day everyday. She's grown so accustomed to this routine that she was out of sorts on the weekends wondering why we weren't going anywhere & getting anxious but that too has subsided as she's learned the big picture routines including time off. She's learning that not every noise or visitor is a threat & has been working on her vocalization while at work. We're mindful that there are other businesses sharing our building so we don't want to disturb their operations with yapping dog. She's caught on to the idea and only barks when there's deliberate reason to. The doorbell though is a steep learning curve though luckily ours isn't a retail business with lots of pedestrian traffic.

 

She's increased my level of activity significantly since coming to us. I now walk between 15-20 miles per week (sometimes more!) during the day to break up my schedule a little & get out and stretch the legs. The result is that Lili is thrilled & I'm fitting in clothes that haven't done so in quite some time! Happy that! Our most recent walk was about 5.4 miles through suburbia & she's so accustomed to it now that little phases her any longer. When she was a little phart she used to chase motorcycles & bikes but that's tamed down quite a bit now that she's mostly growed. She'll still get the urge to go after something but that's pretty much controlled now.

 

Most recently (the last 6-8 weeks maybe) I've been letting her off leash more and more often. I do not do so on very high traffic areas which in truth is the majority of the area around our business so there's limited space to do so but she's perfectly behaved off leash when she is & very mindful of my location, direction & speed!

 

Monday I had to run to the bank which is usually a cue for her to jump into the car (bank is not walking distance away unfortunately) so we headed down there & did that and on the way back I was asked to grab some turkey jerky for her & Ida so I stopped at the PetSmart around the corner from the shop. I realized after I'd parked that I didn't bring a leash! Oh well, let's try an experiment.....Lili thought it was Christmas day & her birthday all rolled into one! 'Your actually letting me walk with you to the PetSmart through the parking lot without a leash?' 'Oh God! This is Great!!' She was perfectly behaved in the store, following me no more than a foot behind me wherever I went (which was one place & out) but at one point a little girl was freaked by her because Lili just couldn't resist running up to say 'HI!!!' I apologized to her mom but she commented how amazed she was watching me walk through a store with dogs & cats everywhere & this dog doesn't even seem to notice them. That wasn't 100% accurate though as she did wander off to say hi to a poodle & the little girl thing but all in all minor problems both!!

 

She sleeps with us every night, since about the third week after getting her home. She's slept on Julie's feet since that night out of the crate. We no longer use the crate unless we're going to be gone for over four hours as we're able to leave her in the house with Ida unattended for short periods of time. One time we went out for groceries & came back to find her sound asleep on our bed! Such the guard dog.

 

The eating thing has been an adventure with this dog. Recently I attempted the raw food idea but rushed the process too much and created a problem with Ida where she refused to eat anything for several days. Our schedules are just to hectic to have the dogs on two different foods so I dropped the raw food idea for the time being. Took Ida to the vet just to make sure that I didn't jack her system up with a shock like that but all was well. We haven't returned to the raw food thing since then but I intend to gradually incorporate the Sojo's dehydrated products to their regular kibble...key word being GRADUALLY. They're currently eating Blue sensitive formula (no grain) and Ida's so much happier since we've switched to this food (actually prior to the raw food debacle) so we add some ground beef to the meal on occasion but were advised by the vet to brown commercially ground beef as there's a higher risk of e-coli & other little critters that could wreak havoc with an older dogs digestion especially after a lifetime of kibble. So...lesson learned....

 

Everyone Lili meets is so very taken with her. There are several ladies that work in the same building as us that have developed a 'relationship' with her during our routine walks everyday. Seems like they schedule their day to try to see Lili. It's funny because Squint goes running to them like they're long lost cousins or something! The ladies are thrilled! She's so friendly & outgoing with everybody that she meets and especially other dogs! Which is nice because it's so refreshing to have her interact well with other animals because we've grown used to little miss antisocial Ida. Admittedly, it's our fault for not having forced the issue & suffered some dis-agreements with other animals over the years which would have led to a more social Ida but it is what it is. We didn't know then what we know now about how dogs interact & communicate. Sadly, Ida bore the brunt of our ignorance but she's coming along nicely with the assistance of her little sister! It's a work in progress.

 

Lili is thrilled that spring has sprung. She spends hours just laying out in the backyard arguing with squirrels.....and her sister!!

 

I'm ready for my closeup Mr. DeMille!!

 

Lili2 - May-2013.JPG

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I had kind of been wondering about you. Had not seen you on for awhile. Glad all is doing well. My oldest daughter is up in Chicago for a week. She has not got to me little Chaska yet though. If we ever get to have the chance to get up your way (only about 3 1/2hours) maybe we will see about meeting sometime. Have not been up that way in years. I have wondered what Lili looked like all grown up after seeing her puppy pic in your avatar. She is a pretty girl.

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Hey China, So good to hear from you. Wow! little lili is so grown up. She is beautiful. It's amazing how quickly they change in such little time. So glad to hear that she is being the "perfect"...well almost :) ...little canine girl. Your trip to Maui looked like....as the kids would say..."hella fun." Whales, turtles, great food, ocean, etc. Too bad you couldn't take Lili to her name sake land of Hawaii....ya, I know she is an AIDog, but you did name her in the Hawaiian tongue. A beautiful name at that! Hope spring comes soon to Chicago and you enjoy good times out side as I know, only you can. Don't be a stranger, we miss you and your wonderful stories of Lili.

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  • 7 months later...

Guess what?

 

guess what.jpg

 

I'm 30.2 Lbs!!!

 

(two years into the program!)

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These dogs have eyes that look into YOUR eyes and see your soul. Lili's eyes are so expressive....beautiful.

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So, we went ahead and did it. We've changed vets. The old vet was pretty good but in recent years it had become a vet factory and seemed to me to be only interested in revenue. Seemed to be that is. Our regular vet, who we've known since 1998 is still there and still the same but there's been some changes since we met him. First off, he bought the store when the owner decided to retire.

 

At first we thought that this would be a good thing as we liked him and he seemed to be oriented toward the idea of pets first, revenue second. As time went on however it became more and more apparent that the store had shifted in its mission. We had the opportunity over the last few years with Ida developing more problems to see other vets when our guy was unavailable or on vacation so this gave us some insight into the policies and execution of them through different doctors. Not good. In fact, I was reprimanded (gently and with alleged empathy) that American Indian dogs don't actually exist and therefore they can't be a breed because they're not recognized by the AKC. Our vet had never heard of them before but he didn't brush aside the breed like that when we brought her in for visits.

 

The other big thing was the Giardia event for Lili early in our time with her. They prescribed Panacur which didn't work (twice) and said that it would be very dangerous for the pup to try a natural med that we'd found (through the boards by the way) for her problem called Kocci Free and we should trust in their judgment only. That was a huge warning signal for me and we began looking around for a new vet.

 

When we lost Ida it was at an emergency clinic near the house so we didn't have to take her back to that facility again but that triggered our search for the new vet because up 'til that point things were good with both dogs

 

It's been a while but we found a vet that is closer to home, has a more thorough practice and believes in the holistic natural approach to veterinary care and management. It was a breath of fresh air to have the doctor ask what I believe in relative to canine health. Very interested in the AID breed too! Very good.

 

The old vet didn't do a bad job per se it's just that their philosophy and our's no longer aligned now that I've been indoctrinated into the world of the American Indian Dog. This new arrangement just feels better and more natural.

 

Our new doctor, Dr. Kelly, was very pleased to meet Lili and gave her a very thorough exam. She spotted a very slight heart murmur which is cause for concern obviously but her counsel was this, 'it's a one on a scale of one to six and chances are pretty high that it's blood pressure related because elevated blood pressure will cause this murmur to show up too. When she comes in from now on they'll listen for this to see if it's gone or getting worse. Her gut feeling is that it's not a problem and due to blood pressure elevation which happens in humans at the doctors office too.

 

The other thing that she discovered is a luxating patella in her left rear leg! Never a mention of this (or the murmur) from the prior vet. I was pretty surprised by this as she'd never displayed any reactions to pain in the leg at all since she's come to us! Nothing!

 

Until last night....

 

We were playing 'conquest of the tennis balls' and she raced around an ottoman in our 'wreck' room and skidded to an immediate halt! She turned toward me (I was sitting about 4 feet away) and lifted her left rear leg into the air and held it there. She was terrified. I went to her and pulled her close gently feeling the knee to see if I could notice anything but I was unable to tell what was going on. She put her leg down after a minute or so and walked off, gingerly to the other side of the ottoman and lay down. I let her rest for a few minutes and after that she jumped up, grabbed a ball and nudged it to me again signaling 'I'm good....let's play'. I tossed the ball and she took off after it again without any sign of discomfort or pain. She did not display that problem again last night.

 

Interesting that we've had her to the old vet at least 6 times since she came to us but they'd never detected a murmur or a knee problem in her. The new one examines her once and she displays the results of the knee indication within a day or two! I think we have the right vet now.

 

Oh, that and Liliko'i wanted to go home with the doctor! Ha!

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When your pup wants to go home with the Doc, you know the doc is good in the pups eyes. :D

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called Kocci Free

 

‹a very slight heart murmur which is cause for concern obviously but her counsel was this, 'it's a one on a scale of one to six

 

The other thing that she discovered is a luxating patella in her left rear leg! She turned toward me (I was sitting about 4 feet away) and lifted her left rear leg into the air and held it there. She was terrified. I went to her and pulled her close gently feeling the knee to see if I could notice anything but I was unable to tell what was going on. She put her leg down after a minute or so and walked off, gingerly to the other side of the ottoman and lay down. I let her rest for a few minutes and after that she jumped up, grabbed a ball and nudged it to me again signaling 'I'm good....let's play'. I tossed the ball and she took off after it again without any sign of discomfort or pain. She did not display that problem again last night.

 

Kocci Free -- excellent....

 

Draco was diagnosed as a pup with a similar L1 murmur. No one has noticed it again since. The last new vet Draco mentioned heard nothing. The only negative we could find was that the diagnosis eliminated him from any pet insurance having to do with his heart -- labeled as genetic and from birth......

 

Best wishes with the subluxating patella.... Wicca had that. Spent months exercising to overcome and eventually had surgery -- a difficult procedure. Not an easy recovery or rehabilitation but ultimately doable.....

 

Wicca's story is on the forum. It's a long and not easy process. It's been a long time since Wicca has had any issues. We seem to be passed the big woes..... It is truly wonderful to see Wicca chase, jump and fly after her ball & frisbee after all she's been through.

 

I learned quickly how to find the patella when it's out; how to gently stretch her (right) leg backwards; how to gently roll the patella back into place.

 

You are in our thoughts....

 

 

Edited by Gib
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C,

 

Here are some links on squidgy knee caps. I'm betting you have a 1.

 

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/01/11/recognising-floating-knee-caps-in-pet-dogs.aspx

 

http://www.vetinfo.com/dpatella.html

 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=457

 

Keep her on the thin side. Keep her strong and talk to your vet about joint supporting supplements. That makes a big difference. Having a pup to play with will help the keep her strong part.

 

Miss Tara was a 4 until she blew her knee out. Hers was from a bad hip on the opposite side of the knee which we learned from the specialist is not an uncommon reason for serious knee problems and not uncommon for GSDs.

 

Here's another idea...http://abcnews.go.com/Health/laser-therapy-staves-off-pets-arthritis/story?id=12974694

Edited by Sherab
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Thanks guys, when life slows a bit over the holidays I'll catch up on my reading.

 

@Gib, my heart sank when speaking with the vet because the only thing that I could think of when she was explaining the situation to me was the trials & tribulations that you had been through with Wicca. There's some wonderful advice, insight and research available in those posts and I intend to revisit them often.

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There is a place in town here that does dog physical therapy for knees and hips. My old vet had something to do with in. I am sure in Chicago they have to have the same if not 1000x better of a program there.

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Thanks guys, when life slows a bit over the holidays I'll catch up on my reading.

 

@Gib, my heart sank when speaking with the vet because the only thing that I could think of when she was explaining the situation to me was the trials & tribulations that you had been through with Wicca. There's some wonderful advice, insight and research available in those posts and I intend to revisit them often.

 

I found an online program for the recovery process from the kneecap surgery. It's very thorough. I showed it to the vet who did the surgery and she contacted the online source to see if she could incorporate it into her practice.

 

It has a series of increasingly difficult exercises that slowly rebuild the dogs muscles in the right way after surgery, but it's also very excellent, I would think, for the "preventative" exercises.

 

It's closing in on Christmas so I don't know how my time is going to go, but I'll try to find the link and get it posted.

 

Lot's of controlled stairs. Lot's of going up and down curbs. Lot's of "Sit" and "Down" (over and over again -- sitting, we learned, is one of the best knee building exercises)

 

~~~~

By the way, Wicca's knee popped out one week after surgery but never again.

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Gib, you're a Gentleman and a scholar! Thanks so much for the kind words and guidance.

 

Right now, she seems fine. Like I said, she'd never displayed anything like this at all since she joined our family and she's with us 24/7 usually. If we are apart from her it usually for no more than 4 hours at a time so there's always someone around.

 

We're fortunate in that we can take her to the office so she spends all day with us both at work and home. She's never displayed even a hint of a limp or lame tendency at all. I was very surprised to hear this diagnoses and even more surprised when she came up hobbling the other night after her visit with the new vet! Never happened before and hasn't happened since. Weird. That's the only explanation I can offer.

 

I'm keeping a close guarded eye on her and we'll see how this proceeds.

 

Bodhi, I'm hoping we don't have to go to that extreme but if so I'm sure we'll manage okay with the support of the boards! :)

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Hey Chinatola! We are very sorry to hear about this knee problem. :unsure: Recently I have started to use supplements from a company called springtime inc(springtimeionc.com). Right now I am using the "longevity" product with great results. They offer others for natural bug repellent and joint and tendon health. Following is a review made from someone who seemed to have avoided multiple surgeries. Not sure if this helps but just wanna put it out there. Best of luck! :D

 

 

 

Surgery Prevented.

Dear Springtime,

I just want to thank you because I feel the Fresh Factors and Joint Health Chewablestogether helped to prevent a 3rd surgery on my dog's luxating patella! Mason is now walking without a limp and even running with us again. Also, his coat is amazingly beautiful! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping to make our dog healthy again!

Debbie Shearer

Ponte Vedra, Florida

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Very Cool! Thanks so much! I'll check it out.

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  • 1 month later...

It's been an interesting winter....Is that what you guys call it? Winter? Weird word. I call it Grrr.

 

resting3.jpg

 

so...it's been pretty snowy and blustery around here and big guy says that he's sorry because he's not walking as much as last winter. Claims that it's harder to do since there's so much snow and ice. I guess I believe him....c'mon, he has to sit down and rest when we're out and about in nice weather so when it's like this I guess I can cut him some slack. You know, he's not as sturdy as he thinks he is...I see it.

 

He thinks that I'm getting bored sitting around the house all day playing ball and he wants to get me outside for some exercise but these extreme temperatures have been brutal. Even for this place that we live...according to him anyway....he says he's lived here a long time and that there used to be lots of snow.

 

I guess I believe him. I'm not a big fan of cold...it's, well, cold! I know that they don't want me messing in the house so I go out but only to pee and poop and come right back in.

 

snow.jpg

 

You'll notice that there are very few tracks out there....just mine. And I'm digging a nice rut where I go... I guess that other dog ain't coming back after all. Big guy misses her I think. I hear him mention her name when they talk that language they use to each other, whatever it is. I miss her too....a little. It is nice being able to relax though....still, when she was in a good mood she was fun to play with. I hope I'm not running solo from now on...that would suck.

 

snow2.jpg

 

He took this picture through the back window. Look at the ground....it's like the wilderness! Untrampled! Like I want to stay out there and freeze my tookus off. Get out there, do your business and get back in I say!!

 

It is brutal. He says it's been like this for a long time and granted I'm only two years old but I don't remember this last winter.

resting2.jpg

 

Naps are fun though.

 

Until he shows up with the picture taker thing.

 

resting.jpg

 

resting4.jpg

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Nice snow pictures! We have been getting some of that action here in Jersey. Poor Catch doesn't understand why the snow reaches her neck and why her sister seems to revel in tackling her into it. :P

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  • 4 weeks later...

My son built a snow ramp (is that the right term snowboarders?) in the yard and Lili has been rather reluctant to conquer the mountain for some reason (she's a little skittish especially since one day it wasn't there and then the next it was...no explanation, no warning, no memo, no meeting....nothing!)

 

theascent.jpg

 

So she went out this morning and slowly started up the side and before she knew it she was at the summit!

 

moreascent.jpg

 

she stayed up there for a fairly long time, surveying her domain, then some varmint made some noise off to the side of the yard and her epic climb was in the history books!

 

 

 

thesummit.jpg

 

kingofmountain.jpg kingofmountain2.jpg kingofmountain3.jpg

 

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Really nice to catch up on her. Wow! That snow!

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