The Thinking Dog Blog

Morris Foundation Launches Hemangiosarcoma Initative

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The Morris Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study started enrolling dogs more than 10 years ago, a few months before Cali was born.

The Foundation recently sent an update with the sad news that they’re nearing the original endpoint of the study: 500 cancer diagnoses in Study dogs. They’re extending the endpoint and continuing the study.

Additional news that was a shock to me, despite close experience with hemagiosarcoma — three-quarters of the study dogs who have died had cancer … and 70% of the cancers were hemagiosarcoma.

So the Foundation is launching a ” multi-year, multi-million-dollar endeavor to dramatically change the story of hemangiosarcoma from one with an ending of almost certain death to one with a new beginning.”

Researchers can submit grant applications beginning in January.

Though Study Exam Day has never been a favorite day for Cali (or most of the “Heroes,” as participants are called), the study has gathered a vast amount of data that will help dogs of all breeds in many ways.

I’m hopeful that this initiative will find new ways to extend the lives of dogs with hemagiosarcoma.

Is Koala ‘Quiet Quitting’?

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Koala, a black Lab, studies her iPad
Sometimes, a girl just needs a day off

Koala is ready to retire. She’s not enthusiastic about going to work lately, especially when travel is involved. I definitely empathize.

She might be part of the “quiet quitting” phenomenon — what managers have dubbed the increasing number of people who are showing up and doing their jobs, but no longer taking on extra work, making themselves available 24×7, and consistently going over and above what they’re being paid to do. It’s an offensive term, especially since many organizations are short-staffed and/or haven’t given many raises or promotions in the  past couple of years. Irritating or not, it’s definitely a thing.

But I don’t think that’s what Koala is doing.

She is, to be fair, doing her job but not eagerly offering new services or thinking up shortcuts, as she used to. So it looks a little like a mini quiet quit.

But her job has gotten a lot more challenging and stressful. She’s spending far more hours at the office than ever before; working more late nights when she’d rather be at Rally class; and hanging out under far more of the nicest restaurant tables in St. Pete until past her bedtime.

I don’t think she’s quiet quitting so much as pushing for a better work-life balance. And she’s not worried only for herself; she knows that Deni is also stressed and exhausted from the frenetic pace of their work life.

Some might say that she’s “mirroring” Deni or taking on some of her stress. But I don’t think that’s it exactly, either.

I think that Koala, a sensible and extremely intelligent dog, is doing what dogs do, far better than most humans: She’s living in the moment. And when she doesn’t like what the moment holds, she pushes for changes the only way she can. If she needs to slow down, she slows down … and (she hopes) pulls Deni into the slow lane alongside her.

 

Orly Meets Her Match

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Two similar-looking golden retrievers smile for the cameraEver since Orly hit early adolescence, I have been looking for a playmate for her who matches her play style. (Secretly hoping that if someone played with her as roughly as she goes after Cali, that might convince her to tone it down a bit …)

I have found her!

Spirit is our house guest while her dad deals with some health challenges. Spirit is four and a half years old, but otherwise could be Orly’s clone (Orly just turned one). They look astonishingly alike, down to the identical worry lines around their same-shaped eyes. Sprit’s coloring is a shade lighter than Orly’s, and she’s a little wider in the body, but that might just be because she lacks a built-in playmate and regular hiking group.

Orly grabs Spirit's neck in play.The similarity extends beyond their looks. Their play style is identically obnoxious — basically lots of jumping, crashing into one another, wrestling, tugging on ears and neck fur, and chasing one another around the yard. Spirit particularly likes to grab the fold of fur/skin at the back of Orly’s neck and spin her around … not so different from how Orly used to try to spin Cali around by her ear, tail, or anything else she could latch on to.

They can both get deep into chewing on a bone, though, and love to play ‘tug’ with soft toys (gently so far …) while ignoring the actual tug toys. They are both very oral, grabbing things, including human hands, as a primary way of communicating. And they both have to work really hard to remember not to jump on people.

Alas, my secret hopes have been dashed. Rather than realize how off-putting her play style is, having her moves returned with interest has apparently reinforced Orly’s approach. The two of them tumble out the door in the morning and start playing, often forgetting their key mission. After they come back inside, I have to let each of them out separately so they can pee… Then breakfast: a highlight in everyone’s morning.

More play follows, ceaselessly, until they collapse for power naps. That cycle repeats throughout the day.

Cali, who was not at all welcoming to Spirit, has come around, realizing that two nutty dogs who tire each other out translates to more peace and quiet for her. Though she sometimes tires of their antics and barks at them to calm down. Or maybe she’s worried that Spirit might actually pull Orly’s ears off?

Orly and Spirit, both golden retrievers, play

Energy Boost Ethics

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Cali sits on grass holding a green disc toyAs I mentioned several weeks ago, Cali is taking magic mushrooms (not that kind!) to boost her immune system and slow tumor growth. Between the mushrooms and the chemo, Cali is still — as far as we know — free of large tumors.

She also has a lot of energy, which she wants to expend — incessantly — by playing with her flying disc. What she wants, specifically, is for me to toss it so that she can leap acrobatically — yes, stocky, elderly Cali — into the air and execute heroic catches. She’s quite good at this, and it is very entertaining to watch. You’ll have to take my word for this since I have no photos (because I am of course tossing the disc…).

So, the first, and more minor, ethical question is whether I should “allow” and enable Cali to do something where she might get hurt.

She plays the cancer card a lot, and uses her large, soft, brown eyes to convince me to let her do whatever she wants … and I think that’s mostly OK. She’s happy and playful, and I want her to stay that way for as long as possible. And if playing with her disc keeps her happy, well, I’m going to keep tossing it gently, not too high, and letting her leap to catch it.

Then there’s Orly. I am giving Orly a smaller dose of the mushroom blend. (I’m using it too…) I don’t know whether the immune boosting claims are real, but I do think that the blend boosts energy. Orly’s and mine, though there is nothing in the world that could enable me to match Orly’s energy level.

And that’s the issue.

Orly is a healthy adolescent golden retriever. The last thing she needs is more energy. I cannot keep up with her on a good day (no mushrooms, a long hike with her dog buddies), much less on a mushroom day when she does not go hiking.

Would it be ethical to deny her the potentially significant (but unmeasurable) health benefits of the mushrooms … so I could get some rest?

I’m pondering that, as I sit for a moment, catching my breath.

Meanwhile, I am recruiting all of the young dogs within shouting distance — there are several — as playmates for Orly. On hike days, on non-hike days, at the same time, one after another — it doesn’t matter. Anything that will tire her out. Wait; that’s impossible.

I’ll settle for anything that will burn off a tiny fraction of her boundless energy!

Better Than Therapy

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Golden retriever puppy arcs her body to grab her tailYou’ve probably heard that dogs can smell fear — that is, they know if you are afraid of them by your scent. It’s increasingly accepted that dogs can sniff out all kinds of physiological changes, ranging from detecting tumors to identifying when a diabetic person’s blood sugar is dropping to cuing in on impending seizures.

So it’s not exactly surprising that your dog can tell if you are stressed — just from your scent. The Washington Post recently described a study that found that dogs are extremely accurate in detecting stress from the scent of a person’s sweat or breath.

Just knowing that their person isn’t enough for most dogs, though. The reason they’re better than therapy is that they nearly always want to do something about it: Offer comfort, make you laugh, do something naughty to distract you… (hi, Orly!).

Speaking of making people laugh, dogs do seem to recognize laughter as positive and try to get their humans to laugh. Orly likes to make me laugh by chasing her tail. She doesn’t just run in circles, though; she grabs her tail, tugs on it until she tips over, then does a little somersault, going ears over tail like a furry doughnut. It’s hard to capture this, first of all because I am laughing too hard, but also because when she sees me get out the phone/camera, she stops doing it. Here’s my best attempt so far:

Dog On a Mission

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Golden retriever Cali holds a tennis ball
Cali’s ready; where’s the bus stop?

A special, brilliant dog passed away recently: Eclipse, the most famous passenger to regularly ride Seattle buses.

Eclipse, a fun-loving black Lab mix, took herself to the dog park on the bus a couple times a week. She’d board the bus near her home … and somehow always knew where to get off.

Like most Labs, she loved her playtime. Unlike most, she was determined to get out to see her friends, no matter what! Truly a dog on a mission.

It’s cute and funny, but also revealing. Was she recognizing the stop by scent (likely); by watching for specific landmarks; by amount of time on the bus? We’ll never know for sure. The story points to yet another of the many areas of hidden talent and intelligence in dogs that we humans so often fail to notice, understand, or appreciate.

More mysteries to ponder: How did she know when the bus would come? And when the bus home was due? How did she pay her fare (or are buses free in Seattle, as they are in Missoula)? Should I teach Orly to take herself to the park by bus?

Sadly, aged only 10, Eclipse was diagnosed recently with cancer and passed away soon after.

I’m sure she’ll be missed by her human family and her co-riders.

Freedom!

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A black poodle and 2 goldens run through a field of purple flowers
Maisy, Cali, and Orly love visiting Packer Meadow. Here, they enjoy the spring camas flowers.

I love watching happy dogs running free. Letting her run and run and run is also the only way I can get Orly tired enough that she calms down … for a very short while.

So, over the summer and fall, we’ve gone on lots of dog adventures to places where dogs can be off leash. This can be tricky, since many off-leash places around Missoula are wilderness and, you know, full of bears and coyote … and millions of acres where a dog could get lost.

In her youth, Cali had a tendency to wander off. She did not get many off-leash hikes.

I did a better job of teaching Orly to come back when called (or, more likely, just got lucky). She comes instantly, collects her high-value special hiking treat, and zooms off to run circles around more trees.

That works out well. It means that I can send her out with her doggy hiking group a few times a week. It also means I can take nice hikes with both girls. Cali is now old enough that she doesn’t wander far, and Orly regularly checks in and demands a snack break. Cali has learned to check in and ask for snacks as well. Sometimes when she hasn’t even left my side.

Watching them run through the woods, splash in the river, or run huge circles in a meadow is beautiful. Their joy is contagious! (Until, of course, Orly finds a muddy ditch and decides on a soak …)

Golden retriever Orly runs through a snowy meadow
A late-fall trip to Packer Meadow gave the dogs a chance to play in SNOW!

 

Orly Is 1!

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Golden retriever Orly plays with a huge, soft, blue and orange ballOrly celebrated a significant birthday over the weekend: She is 1 year old! All grown up … I wish.

The day started off in typical adolescent-golden fashion: She wanted to go see her friend next door, so she decided to dig a tunnel under the fence. Hmmm. That resulted in an impromptu rinse-off by a very annoyed human.

Puppy Orly licks ice cream from a pink bowl; and gets some on her noseAll that happened before breakfast, so there was still a lot of time for more suitable birthday activities. It rained all weekend, so our traditional birthday trip to Big Dipper was put on hold; instead she had friends over and got lots of presents and a small amount of ice cream at home.

She played with her new toys, ate far too many treats, and had a great day. That was Saturday, her actual birthday.

The fun continued on Sunday, when I took the girls, along with their friend Maisy and favorite aunt (Maisy’s mom) to Packer Meadow.

It wasn’t raining there … it was snowing! What a special treat.

When the rain stops, we’ll head down to Big Dipper to cap off Orly’s birthday marathon.

Golden retriever Orly tunnels under snow with her nose

Checking In on Cali

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Cali and Orly, both golden retrievers, snuggleCali is done with her first round of chemo, so I thought I’d give everyone an update.

She did really well with the first two infusions. A little tummy upset, not wanting breakfast the day or two after; some indigestion. Tired. But she rallied after a few days and was back to her usual appetite and energy levels. Most important — even on the “down” days, she was cheerful, silly, and playful.

Golden Cali holds a pink stuffed toy and wags her thin tailThe third infusion hit a little harder. The digestive stuff stuck around for longer … and I started noticing clumps of fur everywhere. Now, flying furballs are a daily hazard when you live with two goldens, but this was different. Her once-magnificent, full tail is a thin wisp (but it still wags just fine!); she has bald patches on her throat and near her ears, and thinning fur all over. I’m looking into getting her some fleece sweaters for the looming Montana winter.

Fur loss is an unusual — but not unheard of — side effect of chemo for dogs. Also skin discoloration (dark pigment). Cali is experiencing both. She’s also more tired. On our off-leash walks, she’ll still run and play with Orly … for the first 10 or 15 minutes. Then she walks more slowly with me while Orly bounds through the forest. These walks are getting shorter.

I conferred with Cali’s medical team — her regular vet, her specialist vet, and her chiropractor vet (who is an emergency vet here in town). We did some bloodwork and a scan, and everything looks good; she has no visible tumors. Even so, we decided to skip her fourth infusion, since side effects tend to get progressively worse.

We’ll soon move on to the next chemo, which is two daily pills: A chemo pill and a pain pill. If she tolerates it, she’ll be on it for the rest of her life. They are very low-dose pills and have to be sent from a compounding pharmacy, so I am waiting for the info on how to get them.

Cali’s still taking her magic mushrooms. We’re working through the bucket list and squeezing in extra ice-cream dates with friends whenever possible, And Cali and Orly continue to wrestle, play, and gobble treats.

Unacceptable!

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2 golden retrievers run in a huge meadow with tall grassesTo say that Cali is a “good eater” and not at all fussy about food and treats is to vastly understate. Which is why I was astonished when she rejected proffered treats recently.

We have a hierarchy of treats. This is an essential element of training and motivating dogs to do the right thing. The harder the “right thing,” the better the treat. High-value treats — treats that dogs will do anything for, must be reserved for the most challenging situations, or they lose their value.

I have special treats that I use only for off-leash recalls. This can be practice in an enclosed area or, more commonly, when we’re hiking in the wide-open spaces around our Missoula home. For more ordinary moments, and for walks in familiar places, I use doggy trail mix, a try-your-luck mixture of second-best treats like freeze-dried liver, lower-value, but still delicious, treats we find at the local holistic pet store, and “filler” treats — Charlee Bears and Cheerios, usually. These take on scent and taste from their better cousins in the doggy trail mix jar and are usually accepted eagerly by Cali and Orly.

I would have said “always accepted eagerly” until yesterday.

The weather was dicey, and I wanted to get them out for a run. When the rain paused, I grabbed girls and leashes, and off we went. Astute readers will note no mention of grabbing the good treats. Indeed. The dogs noticed that too.

I always have a handful of doggy trail mix in my coat pockets, and a reserve supply can usually be found in the car. So we’re walking along, dogs off leash, me periodically calling them back and offering treats Continue reading →