My New Shades

Calli has two pale blue eyes and she seems to have trouble seeing in the bright sunlight. We're trying these "doggles," but she's not sure she wants to wear them. We'll see how it goes.

Crews Lake Park

Sleepy Dogs

A Hike in Starkey Wildlife Area

Calli had her first encounter with this armadillo. She sat at the end of her leash and watched curiously, as the armored mammal pawed and stuck its nose into the sandy dirt.

Treeing a squirrel

Calli is finally starting to feel "at home" in the dog park, where we go nearly everyday. She has been shy and reserved and very clingy, but today, for the first time, she began to wonder off on her own and even chased and pounced on a few doggy friends. She also made friends with Mason, a three year old boy who loved throwing the ball for her. Normally, she doesn't want to "give up" the toy she has retrieved, but today, she gave it up willingly, for Mason. She even sprawled in front of him, watching him carefully as she waited for him to toss the ball a few yards for her to "fetch." A little later, Mason was knocked to the ground by a small "pack" of romping dogs. As his mother scooped up the crying three year old, I noticed Calli running to them from the other side of the park where she had been busy "treeing" a squirrel. Once she could see that her new friend was okay, she went back to exploring the park. She's such a great dog.

We have good and bad days with Calli's Megaesophagus. Whenever I begin to feel as if we have found a routine that works, suddenly it doesn't work and I'm left scratching my head. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the regurge, a difficult reality for someone like me, who wishes to have some control.

Calli's New Friend, Aspen

Proof-reading My Blog

First Trip to the Beach

"The beach is so relaxing."

"That dead fish didn't taste very good!"

Hmmm, chase the bird or guard the Frisbee?

"Take it - I dare you..."

New Pink Frisbee

"I Am Wolf" - Calli's Alter Ego

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

I love my chair, but I'd rather be running and playing

Calli is enjoying sunny weather in Florida. As you can see from this photo, her chair compliments the bright Florida colors.

Today she played hard, racing and chasing with a little, long haired Dachshund. We are finding that exercise helps with her digestion process. With Megaesophagus in dogs, feeding late in the day is often problematic. At this point, we are feeding her 1x daily, first thing in the morning. We are still experimenting, trying to figure out what works best for her. The goal is to keep regurgitation at minimum so that she will continue to gain weight and build muscle mass.

First Trip to the Dog Park

Calli is shy and a bit nervous around big dogs, but loves to romp and play with little dogs. She loves people and we refer to her as a "people magnet." These are images of her first trip to a dog park.

Calli in her feeding chair

I spent hours researching megaesophagus, learning as much as I could about how to help Calli become healthier. I discovered that megaesophagus was most likely the cause of her compromised immune system as well as the weakness in her hind legs. Her cough was probably due to aspiration and the antibiotics probably prevented pneumonia. The day after her diagnosis, I worked designing and building a chair for her to sit in during and post feeding. I looked at photos of the "Baily Chair"and using scrap plywood, built the first prototype, with the understanding that I would modify and rebuild it as Calli grew and together we figured out what worked best for her.

We found, almost immediately, that the chair helped. I feed her Blue Buffalo dog food that I put through a coffee grinder and then mix with water to create a "gruel." I also add a powdered supplement called Nupro. Although she is still quite thin, she has started to gain weight, and there are fewer incidents of regurgitation. It took a bit of time for her to get used to sitting in the chair, but now she sits in the chair 20 to 30 minutes after eating. To keep her occupied, I use a high calorie gel (Nutra-Cal) and molasses or honey smeared in the bottom of her dish . I also use the time she sits in her chair to brush her teeth and trim her toe nails.

The diagnosis

After a visit to the Animal Hospital for a "check up," I was horrified to discover that Calli had Demadex Mange (although she had no symptoms). My Vet explained to me that mother dogs pass the mite on to the puppy and that most puppies immune systems deal naturally with the demadex mange. Calli probably had a compromised immune system which was most likely the cause of the "mange." She had also been "regurgitating" or vomiting several times a day so my Vet decided to do a barium enema. The X-ray showed Megaesophagus.

Thanksgiving Day

Calliope(shortened to Calli), in her new home in West Virginia, was neither blind nor deaf. She did, however, have a cough and seemed to have weakness in her back legs. Although it was clear to us that she wasn't completely healthy, she did adjust to her new family and we fell completely in love with her.

Double Merle, Australian Shepherd puppy

Three days before Thanksgiving, 2009, after a month of searching the internet for a rescue puppy, I discovered this Double Merle, Aussie, and saw that she might possibly be blind and deaf. After doing some research, I learned that "Merle" is a gene and that a "Double Merle" is a dog with two Merle genes. Double Merle puppies are born when both parents are Merle. The thought of partnering with a dog that could be both blind and deaf was daunting, yet, the thought of this adorable and sweet puppy, living life blind and deaf in a shelter with 150 other dogs was horrifying. I immediately emailed the shelter with my application and expressed my desire to drive to Georgia, asap. I didn't sleep much that night, and I got up in the morning absolutely convinced that this blue eyed beauty, would come to join me in the mountains of West Virginia.

Later that morning, I received an email informing me that the adoption had been approved. An hour later, I was on my way to Georgia to pick her up!