They’re an unlikely pair. Juno and Mr. Wild Dingo. He prefers goofy, gruff, manly dogs and she prefers me. But every Sunday, the one day per week the four of us are together,  she’s his and he’s hers for the day. The ritual of taking her leash each Sunday has bonded them in ways beyond my imagination.

The other night, he called her up on the sofa for a snuggle. A snuggly dog she is not. But she stayed. For a long time. And her face revealed complete and utter bliss.

Yesterday morning,  she woke me up, tapping the hard floor in the bedroom with her paws, letting out a small cry. A signal that she wanted to explore the events outside the bedroom door. We were alone in the room. I got up to open the door, but it was open already. She could have easily left at her own will. I heard Mr. Wild Dingo’s voice below, sweetly talking to Loki. Loki responded with soft groans of delight.  I told her to go out if she wanted to and went back to bed. Yet, she never left the room. Later Mr. Wild Dingo entered the room and knelt down to snuggle with her. She let out a loud groan and growled deeply.

He was taken aback. ”Why is she suddenly growling again,” he asked.

“You cheated on her,” I told him. “And she knows it.”

She’s come so far. Sometimes it’s hard to believe. We still have strong memories of her growling and running away from Mr. Wild Dingo and insisting on her aloof ways. She still growls from time to time at him, sulking because Mr. Wild Dingo may have given Loki attention before giving it to her, or gave him more attention. You have to live with her to really understand her growling patterns stem from jealousy.

Sometimes in the early weekday mornings while I sleep in, Mr. Wild Dingo will have his breakfast in office and Juno will catch the pastry scent and get out of bed to join him, expecting a bite of her own. On other mornings, when she knows there’s no pastry, she’ll sleep in.  But a few mornings ago, Loki got up with Mr. Wild Dingo and though he didn’t have any pastry or food, Juno could not handle her man giving more attention to the cracker than to her. She got out of bed that day, not for pastry, but to ask for love.

But don’t point that out to her. She’ll just deny it.

Last week we celebrated Juno’s 3rd anniversary of adoption and her 4th birthday! We were coming home from Istanbul so we delayed celebrations until the weekend.

“Are you talking about me?”

It’s been a fabulous three years with Juno. From a sullen, disinterested dog she was those first few months, she’s risen to be exemplary of her breed: engaged, eager to learn and “mostly” trustworthy! She’s an absolute joy to be around.

“You can’t buy this type of beauty in a jar.”

When I went looking for a second dog, I didn’t envision a Husky. I’m not sure what I envisioned. I wanted a 40 lb dog, smart with medium to long coat. And though I prefer herding breeds, the minute I saw Juno, I knew she’d be mine. She hopped up on her back legs and pawed the air with her front paws that day and I fell hook, line and sinker.  And while she completely ignored me when I took her leash, I just couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her character and beauty.

“Juno Phos!”
“Whatever Pop. I’m only in this for the bag of goods you have there.”

It took her some time to build a relationship with me first. It wasn’t easy even with me, it was even harder with Mr. Wild Dingo. It took many loafs of raisin toast and many of his coveted Saturday mornings, usually reserved for bike riding, to win her affections. But it was worth it. The more aloof she was, the more he was charmed. The more she rebuked him, the harder he worked to win her affections. Typical man. She must have been special to him,  because he wouldn’t give up those mornings even for me!

“I won’t chase donkeys or horses. But cats? They’re not part of the contract.”

No matter how many Dansko’s she eats, how many times she raids the trash cans, how many cats she chases, or how many times she provokes Loki into misbehaving, all three of us love Juno. Exactly the way she is.

“Read the Nordic dog hand book. No snow? No trot.”

“Why yes, I’d be delighted to look pretty and walk while you hand me some treats.”

Mr. Wild Dingo and Juno head out for some tricks and training time. As usual, Juno is delighted for one-on-one time with him. But then the inevitable happens.

“Juno, platz.”

She rebells and does her best to convince him otherwise. ”But I don’t want to platz, Pop! And here is a wee nibble to show you how cute I am.”

He insists. Reluctantly, she complies.

Voila! Stink Eye in 6.5 seconds.

“I can do this with my eyes closed!”

She’s an entirely different dog from her first days and months with us where she showed no interest in training, or tricks and least of all, Mr. Wild Dingo. Now, nothing makes her happier than when Mr. Wild Dingo pulls out the training treats. She puts on airs and struts her sexiest heel. Sure you can say it’s for the treats, but honestly, they aren’t that great. Not that I’ve tried them. Nothing makes her happier than one-on-one with Pop while Loki is forced to look on.

Sometimes there’s no better motivation than sibling rivalry.

“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”

Notice anything different about Juno? She lost over 3 kilos (6 lbs) since March. She got down to 26.7 kilos (59 lbs) just after getting back from Provence last month. But that was likely from the stress of staying at the kennel. She climbed back up and holds steady at 27.0-27.5 (59.5-60 lbs).

To compare here is a photo from October last year:

I’ve never had a husky before so it was really hard for me to recognize when she gained weight because of the fur. Plus the raw food books really over estimate how much a dog of her breed and her size needs because their calculations were far too much. Now I watch her food intake religiously and it’s helped a lot in how she feels. So she and Mr. Wild Dingo, who loves to spoil her, call me “The Food Nazi.”

Ha! Like I’m so bad. She still gets plenty of treats from bully sticks and stuffed Kongs to raw meaty bones and second dinner (last 2 bites of our dinner) every night. I’ll bet Jenny Craig doesn’t have yogurt and salmon-stuffed Kongs in her diet plan.

“Hey lets go for a walk by the bacon, err, I mean, piggie farm Mom,  I’d like to give them a Siberian hello.”

Now that she’s blown her coat, it’s really easy to see her waist line. Unfortunately, you can also see how thin her back leg muscles still are compared to her front body. I jog her 3 times per week for muscle building and she does gain a bit more muscle back there but it’s quite dramatic how thin she is in her back legs. And unless he’s walking or running, she won’t stand much. I had to set up this shot above several times before I got one that would work because she lays down so quickly.  Still, she soldiers on and she runs and plays and carries on with little or no pain.

And the reward I get for all I do to keep her strong and pain free? She let me furminate her blowing coat this month with very little protesting. Snaps for me.

“Come a little closer, Big Boy” she innocently said to the skeptical Formosan,
“I promise it won’t hurt—much.”

I made a mistake and didn’t get Juno vaccinated. She caught it from Loki.

 And now she looks like this. 

Internet: save your doggie and yourself. Vaccinate against crackery-nosinous.

“She’s perfect,” said Juno’s Physical Torturer, Therapist, Mme. Gauthier. She noticed Juno’s walking gate was a perfect long, stress-free stride.

Juno rolls her eyes. “Sibes don’t come any other way lady.”

The Dansko’s are still alive. It’s day 182. I made it! I had a few close calls and Juno had a few masticatory substitutes.

My prize winning? Another pair of shoes of course. I have shown that I am worthy. So the moral is: Mr. Wild Dingo loses when I lose the bet. And Mr. Wild Dingo loses when I win the bet.  And Wild Dingo players always win. The two runner-ups probably ate all their Swiss chocolate by now.

Thanks for playing. And for all those who had no faith in me and bet on the Sibe: better luck next time suckhas!  But seriously, did you think I was going to make easy for her?  

In other news, Juno is down to 28.3 kg. She lost a total of  1.7 kg (3.7 lbs). She’s feeling fiesty. The other day, she jumped up on the bed without an invitation. She’s feeling pretty good to be able to do that and be naughty enough to ignore the “no dogs on furniture without an invitation” rule.  

“Daddy O, this photo shoot is lame.”

“I think it’s time we bust-a-move.”

“Yeah, I know the drill. Woo torture the husky by drowning her jodhpurs. And I walk the hydroplank. ”

“Madame Gauthier seems like a nice lady. But don’t let her fool you. She enjoys torturing poor huskies.”

“Hydrotherapy? My jodphurs don’t need hydrotherapy. I will get even with you Madame Gauthier. Woo shall see!”

“All I need is a cavalier I can run with like I did last month. That fella and his nice horse were great company for an afternoon jog!”

“This is a long workout. Pass me an energy bar!”

Juno’s had 6 hydro-treadmill sessions. She’s made huge improvements and she’s better than I’ve seen her in the 2.5 years I’ve had her. Some of it due to the three-times weekly jogging in addition to the treadmill. This particular treadmill PT is slightly different than last years as Juno’s PT, Madame Gauthier, recommends going slower rather than faster. She has much better range of motion in her back legs than I’ve ever seen before. After last year’s treadmill therapy I assumed letting her run at her own pace was good enough exercise on off-leash hikes. Not so. Forcing Juno to “jog” rather than run or walk for a specific interval of time is exactly the motion she needs.  Now her normal walking gait has less waddling.

Her back leg muscles are huge now. I can actually feel them. She’s so much more stable on all surfaces and rarely wipes out which was once common for her. She’s much more playful with Loki, jumping more and laying straight down on her belly with both hips at full flexion rather than plopping instantly to one side. She sits squarely much more often than sitting to one hip. She also scratches her ears and shoulders with her back legs like a normal dog. I’ve never once seen her do this as long as I’ve had her. 

After last year’s treadmill workouts she always needed acupuncture to deal inflamation and muscle soreness from the workout. But that’s not necessary now probably due to the gold beads doing their thing in keeping inflammation away. Madame Gauthier also has noticed she’s gaining longer leg movements and is less stiff each session.  While the gold beads alone weren’t enough, they make PT much easier this time around.

Instead of bicycling each dog seperately, I’m now trail-running off-leash with them a few times per week, so I can combine my workout with theirs. I can tell the bike helps more because uninterrupted interval of repeated trotting is better for muscle building. We’ll go back to biking them again soon when they are more predictable around horses. 

Here’s the video of a recent water torture, err, therapy session.

Looks like Juno found her Inner Woo! 

Click on video below to hear her sing.   (Warning: turn down the volume if at work!)

“I’m so documenting this in my memoires of the abuse and traumas I’m subjected to.”

One of the nice things about Siberians is that they rarely need baths. They just never get dirty or if they do, the mud and dirt sort of just falls off them. Not having to bathe Juno too much makes up for the twice annual coat blowing and the never-ending army of Siberian dust bunnies collecting on the floors. Usually twice per year I give them both a bath. Even Loki doesn’t need much bathing. He stays pretty clean too. Lately, we’ve been going for lots of off-leash forest walks where they plow through some muddy, stinky areas of the river banks. And Juno actually stunk.

So Saturday night’s fun activity was bath night. Oh yeah. You can see how exciting life in Europe has been. Well, at least for the dogs.

Loki took his bath like a man, reluctant, but quiet. Juno? Her protests and dramatic cries for help could be heard throughout the neighborhood. The autobiography, “Siberian on the Edge: Bullied by a Formosan and Bathed by a Human,” is due to hit bookstores this spring.

Herding Horses is Hard Work!

Juno PupDate
Juno’s horse adventure wasn’t the only thing panicking me last week. 

After the Neuro Vet gave her a clean bill of health for her spine, he basically said he couldn’t think of anything neurological causing her muscle loss and weakness in the back legs. So I did some research on the hip dysplasia forums and asked why her symptoms wouldn’t be considered hip dysplasia. Someone mentioned degenerative myelopathy (DM) because her symptoms seemed to be consistent with it (weak back end, loss of muscle and one episode of a weird kicking motion).  So naturally I panic and start google-diagnosing her.  The Neurovet later dismissed the idea because her symptoms included pain and sensitivity in her back and hip areas (to touch) and DM is not a painful disease.

We headed back to the Ortho vet with the MRI report and he concluded that she is much too healthy for total hip replacement  (“she’s too good for surgery”) because she is not showing signs of which hip is giving her the pain. He would not want to operate on a hip that looks worse via the x-ray, but rather the one that feels worse. Since she does not limp or indicate which hip is bothering her and neither hip showed arthritis in the x-rays, he didn’t feel surgery was necessary now. He drew blood and is running various tests for infection, but ultimately, surgery is not in her near future.  He was pleased to hear about Juno’s horse adventure  and said: “Good for her! It’s good for her to run like that!” (Geez, doesn’t anyone thinks she’s a bad dog for that?) He also dismissed DM for her age and symptoms and agreed Physical Therapy would be good for her to build muscle.  The Physical Therapist is a part of the acupuncturist and osteopath practice so it’s all-in-the-family. That’s so Swiss!

Juno’s PT begins in two weeks but I’m impatient. Really long walks do nothing for her muscle building. I would leash- walk her as much as 2.5 hours per day and she still lost muscle. I see what trotting off-leash can do for her. The day after her horse adventure, she even looked stronger, happier and more balanced. Unfortunately, the Canine Surgeon General does not recommend horse chasing for patients who need exercise. I can’t imagine why! So I’ve already started cycling with her just 10 minutes every other day in addition to her normal one-hour walk until she builds up a little muscle and we’ll build from there.

Juno’s osteopath was thrilled to hear that for a dog with hip dysplasia and muscle challenges, she had no pain after her horse adventure.  I get the sense that both her hips affect the way she moves and it’s not ultimately the hips that are in pain, but the result of how she moves that causes her muscular pain. Jogging is better for her than walking as it forces the dog to use the forward back motion of the hip flexer and core strength. 

The vets here no longer recommend swimming for hip dysplasia. Apparently the way the dog kicks the back leg to swim is not good for building core strength which is what it needs. They also feel it puts too much stress on the neck too. Water treadmills are recommended, as are other PT exercises and trotting.

Because I’m a hypochondriac, I ordered a gene test to see if she has the genes for developing DM. There are no diagnostic tests for DM. Since it was very inexpensive to do the gene test, I ordered it.  Either way, the only thing we can do for her with or without it, is lots of exercise. And that’s just fine by Juno. She loves the bike already.

Now in cooking news.

I opened up a can of worms sharing photos of the dishes I create as I explore my culinary talents (or lack there of). You’re all pestering me for for the recipes. Geesh! What do you think this is? A cooking blog? Ok, since I cook out of cookbooks, I don’t feel right about posting recipes that belong to someone else. So I will share the books I use and let you know which recipe came out of which book. And I’ll share all my personal recipes.

1. Joy of Cooking: A staple in any kitchen or to learn about buying, storing and preparing foods in general. A good go-to book for definitions, measurement conversions, etc.
2. Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan My main cookbook at the moment. I’m Italian. I was born to cook like this. Most of all the recipes came out of this. Some are easy and some are difficult. All the pasta dishes, risottos, bitter veggies, roasted chicken and pork braised in wine.
3. Gastronomy of Italy. Out of print but the TravelMarx found it for me used. New versions are $400! Great way to learn about regions of Italy through tastes and dishes. Not mainly for recipes, though there are some.
4. Mastering the Art of French Cooking: What can I say? The movie inspired me to cook. Though I’ve tried many of the recipes, including the famous Boeuf Bourguignon, and they were tasty, I’m not a skilled French cook. I’ll continue to use this masterpiece and keep trying!
5. Just 4 Things : Bought this from Whole Foods years ago when I was trying to figure out fast ways to cook, but honestly, the recipes are hit and miss. The pears braised in wine and beer braised beef came out of this book.
6. Simply the Best Italian: A Weight Watchers book! WTF? Seriously not half bad. It minimizes use of butter and oil and some recipes are very good, but really rich dishes like risotto are best coming from Essentials or Gastronomy books above. Some of the roasted chicken dishes came out of this book as does the excellent Chicken Marsala.

Now, Here’s What’s Cookin’:

Shrimp with Pink Sauce! If you like Shrimp and you like pink, this dish is dee-lish. It’s a very simple recipe  from Hazen’s Essentials of Italian Cooking. Based in olive oil and garlic, the shrimp is quickly sauteed in a mixture of white wine with a smidge of tomato paste. After they cook, some of the shrimp is removed, pureed and added back with creme and parsley.

Here’s what it looks like before taking out the shrimp to puree. Mr. Wild Dingo is such a cheapie that he won’t buy me a proper Vitamixer for Europe power so I had to make due with a chunky puree. That’s why I made this dish when he left for China, so I could eat it ALL MYSELF! Eat your heart out Mr. Wild Dingo.

The next night after he left, I made his favorite dish: Sausage Mish Mash, a Wild Dingo Original. I call it Mish Mash because it’s basically just Italian sausage sauteed with whatever veggies I can find in my fridge that I haven’t used. Sometimes its bitter Italian veggies, sometimes it’s onion and mushrooms or sometimes like this below:

The green beans were steamed first, the potatoes were par-boiled then sliced and added last. The other veggies are bell pepper and cherry tomatoes. 

Too bad Mr. Wild Dingo is in China probably eating Toblerone from the mini-bar!

“Hey, it was nothin’ Big Boy, why are you so worried?”
“Well, I was worried that they shaved your jodhpurs, but I see that they are intact, thank dog!”

Thank dog and praise cheeses! The neurologist found nothing, well , except a little too much fat between her skin and muscles. He took images of her low spine, front and back as well as her lumbar spine.Images of both front, back, and cross sections of her spine revealed no inflammation, no tumors and no disk protrusions. Her spine is in great shape. He was unsettled in hearing about her undiagnosed fever last year and wanted to rule out a meningitis that can occur in the low to mid spine as well, so he did a lumbar tap as well, which showed absolutely no abnormal cells. Last year during her hospitalization she had a cervical spinal tap and that was normal too.  The vet noticed she is wobbly, with very little to no muscle in her back legs. He couldn’t conduct a complete neuro-exam as she was very unhappy about the entire thing. But he noted that she does not walk properly,  and at this point, there is no neurological reason for this.  I can’t tell you how relieved I am that her spine is in good shape.

Like the orthopedic, he is not convinced it is her hip dysplasia because there is no osteoarthritis (bony protrusions growing from the hip socket or femur to cause pain). And he is recommending an ultrasound on her abdominal cavity to rule out any possible abscess or infection as he’s seen abscesses in spay operations that were result of something done wrong.  He also recommended more blood work to test for toxoplasmosis, a parasite that responds to the antibiotics that she was once given for her fever but could possibly not have been completely eradicated.

At this point we will be back with the orthopedic surgeon. I would personally like to look further into her blood work for possible signs of other infection or re-run Tick panels (which were done in 2009 when she was sick) just to give me peace of mind. Though she has hip dysplasia, she has regressed this year in her back legs and is more wobbly than ever. And I keep hearing that it’s not necessarily caused from the dysplasia. When asked, the neurologist confirmed that her pain can be exercised induced, meaning, her back muscles tense up and tighten after a lot of exercise.

It sure is hard to ask her not to play though:

“Hey stud, how about a little Husky noogy?”

“Ya, that’s what I’m talkin about. Get down and stay down, tough guy.”

“My name is Juno. Hear me ROAR!”

For now we’re certainly going to be doing a lot more of this:

“Hey sister, it’s off leash, woo hoo! Catch me if you can!”

“That’s sans-laisse en Francais, Big Boy! Talk to the Jodhpurs Baby!”

And a LOT LESS of this:

Pork cutlets braised in two wines with steamed broccoli in champagne vinegar with shallots. Oh my dog, that was to-date my favorite dish. The sauce on the cutlets was heavenly. Too bad for les chiens gras!

They’ll be doing a little more of this:

“Last one to Mom is a rotten egg!”

And eating a lot LESS of this:

Lentil soup with pancetta. Another heavenly taste.

I’ll continue to do more diagnostics on Juno because I’m not happy that she is regressing in her movement and she has this kind of pain. If everything is ruled out, I will definitely consider surgery for her hips if it is recommended. But for now, I’m happy to have a very cautious orthopedic surgeon rule out everything else.

Someone in this house is still on California time. I’m not naming names, but it seems someone thinks winter is over and spring is here. Even though I dress like the Michelin man in this miserably cold climate myself and the other is forced to wear a fleece coat.  This photo being the last of a 3-day brushing of the first blow of the year. 

Is she an optimist or just confused?

NB: those of you who say “that’s a lot of fur,” in the comments below, you crack me up. Let me add that this is only the last little bit. I brushed her 2 other days and filled the entire foyer twice and emptied the Dyson 6 times (it doesn’t suck it all up in one swoop). I’m not lying. Really.

Sometimes in life your journey reaches a cross roads.

And if you’re lucky, you have the support of a good friend and family to help you understand the choices.

Or at least to help provide a pleasant distraction from the decision that is looms ahead.

Sometimes it’s important to ponder at the cross roads and consider the possibilities, explore the options and weigh the benefits of all the choices.

Knowing that some choices do not allow you to turn back.

Sometimes you have to just make the decision,  knowing you’ve thought long enough.

So you close your eyes, and charge, full steam ahead.

For those who remember last year, Juno was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at only two years old, during her mysterious illness that was never really fully diagnosed. If you’d like to read about it, you can here:

1. Breaking Points and Invalids  (features the award winning photo of Mr. Wild Dingo in a cone)
2. Boring
3. Eight Days Batting Zero
4. Puzzling Jodhpurs
5. Exposed!
6. Juno’s Jodhpurs
7. Saving Juno’s Jodhpurs (my personal favorite)

This past month, I took Juno into the vet for her hip pain. She’s been using acupuncture to manage the pain for the last year, she’s now three years old, and it’s worked magically for her. We chose acupuncture for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, we’re not entirely sure if Juno has autoimmune disease in which her body cannot tolerate non-steroidal anti-inflamatories, such as metacam or even rimydal. So acupuncture has been the choice of pain treatment for her.

When we went to this vet, he looked at her x-rays which I brought with me, just hoping to catch him up with her information and get my referral to another IVAS-certified acupuncture veterinarian. The look on his face was grave. Oddly, I don’t remember having the news told to me so gravely last year, but that could just be part of that Swiss culture of seriousness that I’m feeling.

He told me her hips were very severe and he seemed quite shocked that she could even move around as much as she does. He then informed me of our options, acupuncture being one  of them for pain management. But then he told me this:  of the three options for hip dysplasia surgery, total hip replacement was recommended earlier in dog’s lives rather than later as they recommend in the US, when the pain is no longer manageable. Up until now, we had decided that we would put off any surgery until her mid life because we were informed last year that THR (total hip replacement) was not necessarily something that lasted a long time, only for about 6 years. Here, in Switzerland, the common recommendation is (if budget is not an issue for the owner) to do it earlier because younger dogs tolerate the surgery and recover faster. Also their spine is in better working order to be able to accept the surgery and there are no other structural complications they are facing. So far the vet’s here have not heard of THR not lasting the lifetime of the dog.  This was such a different opinion than the orthopedic surgeons and the advice of our vets in the US, whom I still love and respect dearly. I can’t help but wonder if total hip replacement is so uncommonly done due to cost if there is enough real research done on how long it lasts as well as the recovery and other effects from it.

Admittedly, I have not done enough research yet. Anything I’ve googled has only explained the procedure and has mentioned it’s success rate (good) but nothing about the long term effects, cautions or problems that could arise, which I have absolutely no way of really knowing except from those who’ve done it. And I just don’t know anyone who’s done it.

In the mean time, we’ve gone forward with our acupuncturist vet, Dr. Marmier, who we were referred to in Saint Prex. She’s highly recommended and wonderful with Juno. She too was very grave when she gave her opinion about Juno’s x-rays.  Juno’s been to her twice now and has felt better with each acupuncture needle.  Dr. Marmier works with both the recommended orthopedic surgeon for THR in Lausanne, and Juno’s primary care vet who happens to have an underwater treadmill for PT. Did I mention her primary care vet is within a two-minute walking distance from our house.? And did I mention how much I really like him and how much they really like our raw diet? Ya, I seem to jive with the vets here. I like the way they work together. Basically her primary care vet Dr. Tieche (who’s office is 2-minutes from our house), Dr. Marmier (the holistic and acupuncturist) and Dr. Vingerhoats (the orthopedic surgeon) are a team with separate offices and specialties but work closely together. I was told Dr. Vingerhoats (what a nice dutch name, eh?) was one of the three who does THR and when a THR is actually done, all three vets do the actual surgery together. I’m not sure why other than it’s probably not a surgery often done and that it’s a learning experience for all three of them. The benefit to the pet is having three heads instead of one.

In any event, during our visits with Dr. Marmier, she told me Juno was  a great candidate for “gold beads.” Thinking back to Juno’s mardi-gras yahoos, I’m like, ya, “Juno loves her jewlery, but she’s more of a silver and platinum girl than gold.” But that’s not what she meant. The beads are a microscopic gold piece of metal, inserted surgically at the acupuncture points. They serve as a permanent, life-time anti-inflamatory to help deal with pain. If there’s no pain, the dog can use the joint properly (forward and back motion rather than a swinging of the hips and spine to move the legs) and build up muscle to help hold the hips in place. Since Juno reacts so nicely to acupuncture, she thought it would be worth a try in order to avoid surgery if possible. Dr. Marmier has had a lot of success with gold bead treatment for hip dysplasia and often does not need to see the dog for 10 years after it is done. At least that’s what she told me. Dr. Marmier is not against surgery, and in fact recommended it as an option for Juno. However she also cautioned that some dogs reject the prosthesis. That was the first time I ever heard that. I actually need to do a lot more reading on this subject and fairly soon. You see, if we want to do the surgery, the time would be now, while Juno is young, and can tolerate the surgery, anesthesia and while she still has little other damage to her body. As it is, there is some issues starting to develop in her low spine due to the improper movement of her legs and hips. Her vertebrae are getting looser and trying to fuse to stay in tact. I can also tell Juno has some issues with going to the bathroom now and then that has little to do with diet. Speaking of diet, this girl who once would eat anything that didn’t move (or moved  for that matter) is now becoming a bit pickier about her dinners sending me a signal that things aren’t normal.

For now we opted with the gold bead surgical inserts, which were injected on Wednesday. She had to be under anesthesia in order for them to be injected. While she was out, they took more x-rays of her spine and hips. As expected, her hips are worse now and her spine is starting to show some bridging in the last vertebrae to help it stay stable. We plan to give this a month to see if the pain subsides enough for her to be able to use her legs properly. I”m supposed to “trot” her starting at 5 minutes and build up to 15 or 20 per day. I’m not so sold on that being what will build up her muscle since I’ve been walking her daily from 1.5 – 3 hours. But then again, we don’t trot or jog.

So we have a month to see how things work out. After that, if she’s not moving better or if she’s still in pain, or shows compromise in her spine, we have to decide if we want to move forward with THR. And that’s not an easy decision. The cost is not an issue. For us, it’s the fear of making Juno’s life worse after wards. What if she rejects the prosthesis? Did we make the wrong decision and shorten her life? What if we DON’T do the surgery will that be the wrong decision which inevitably leads to a shortened lifespan due to other complications that will likely arise due to structural damage? The fear I have of NOT doing surgery are all the other things we will face from the complications of the severity of her dysplasia.  I already see a decline in her movements. Though I love to write stories about her “taking down the Big Boy” in wrestling matches, the truth is, Juno is so dainty and often shrinks away from Loki’s playful advances as if she’s afraid of getting hurt. Loki for the “MOST” part has been good. Occasionally he’s a butt head and will chase her to engage her when she’s in no mood, but for the most part, in order to play he ALWAYS handicaps himself and flips upside down in order for Juno to get a good hold of him. It makes me sad to see Juno unable to do what I’m pretty sure she’d love to do… run and tackle him or at least not shrink from his advances. I don’t fool myself into thinking she’ll ever be able to be quite as strong or normal as he is if we do have the surgery and it is successful. But I would hope it would restore enough movement in her to  do some of the things she loves. All that aside, doing the surgery would not be easy on Juno’s mental or emotional states, nor would it be on ours. We’d likely face a year of recovery, 6-months per hip as they are done separately. I would do that in heartbeat if I knew it had a very good success rate.

Right now, the three of us are still in the pondering of the options and we could use lots of input. If any of my readers out there has any opinion of THR, or any knowledge of it or experience with it, please leave it in the comments section. I’d love to find out more about it from experience mainly, not from Wikipedia or vets who are invested in performing the surgery. I’m willing to hear your opinions as well: good, bad or ugly. Feel free to tell me “are you crazy?” Right now, Mr. Wild Dingo and I need to hear it all.

In the mean time, here are some photos from our outpatient surgery of the surgical gold bead implants. I know, I know:  let the “surgical implants” jokes flow! Go for it. Make us laugh!

After the one-hour surgery, Dr. Marmier holds Juno while Mr. Big Bucks pays the bill.

“To think I liked Dr. Marmier before all this! Hmph!”

“Pop! Are you crazy? Don’t pay them! You should see what she did to my beautiful jodhpurs!”

Three incision points on her low back and 2 or 3 on each hip. No floof. It’s so wrong.

I have to admit, I liked Dr. Vingerhoats, though I barely spoke to him since Dr. Marmier was handling our case. AT this point, Dr. Vingerhoats is serving as our radiologist and possible surgical consult.  To give the shot for the anesthesia, they had us hold her (while muzzled because it’s painful) and stay with her while she goes to sleep! I’ve never done that with any of my dogs at any of our vets in the US. Here they say it’s better for the dog so she stays calm while she falls asleep.

“Finally heading home from that dog-awful place!”

“Are these LEATHER seats in Poppy’s car? Don’t you have to make a stop somewhere and leave me alone in the car for 5 minutes Mom? Tee-hee-hee.”

Loki was happy to see her when she got home. On Wednesday she didn’t eat at all. I just hope it was the effect of the anesthesia. On Thursday we had company she did eat a little but her belly let all our guests know she wasn’t feelin’ so well. A wide variety of unusual aromas surrounded her.  So we braved the cold and left the windows open while everyone ate dinner. Because dog-fobid (according to our gracious guests) that I should put the dogs in another room.

“Princepessa, I made a little room over here for you if you want it.”

“Maybe later Big Boy. I’m feelin’ like I need a little space.”

“Anything else I can do Princess?”
“How about getting me a tray of frommage and du pain… BEAUCOUP du pain, Big Boy. Comfort food is what I need right now.”

“Jodhpurs or no jodhpurs, you’re still my Princepessa.”
“Don’t you forget it, Studly.”

Tonight when Mr. Wild Dingo and I got home from our shopping, she was much more chipper. I bought boiled chicken for her as I was planning to just feed her simply for a while. But she seemed back to her usual “I’ll eat anything you got” self. And she was standing a lot more than usual. Who knows? Maybe the implants will work.

“They say historians cannot fully explain the rise or fall of Rome. Soon, they will say that about Siberian mastications.”

“I’ve had better antipastos than this.”

“Hey Princess, how come you didn’t eat Pop’s sandals?”
“Looks like the legions saved them. This time.”

“I found these like this.”

All the rooms in this house have doors, including the living room and kitchen. We basically shut all the doors except the kitchen and “dog room” and leave them to the foyer, dog room and kitchen. Seems safe enough, right? Well, until Mr. Wild Dingo forgets to take his sunglasses off the window sill where the dogs love to watch us come and go.

“Nobody needs this many pairs of sunglasses mom. I’m helping Pop out here.”

“And this pair? Let’s just say I did him a huge favor here. The style is so five-minutes ago!”

To punish her, I took her and Loki on a long walk through the farms and vineyards. We got to see goats, donkeys and more horses. I got stung by a bee. Teaches me to punish a Sibe I guess.

Later, I rushed out of the house to go do some errands. The parking situation completely stressed me out. There’s more room to park a Hummer in a pack of sardines than there is to park a Smartcar in a Swiss parking spot. If I gain 3 more pounds I won’t be able to get out of any parked car in Switzerland. It took me 10 minutes to park in a spot, shuffling the car back and forth while a polite person behind me waited.

I came home completely exhausted from the ordeal. (O.K. so I’m jet lagged too. Anything is going to exhaust me.) And I came home to find this:

“Mom, I know you’re really upset that you can’t get the wireless router working so I let Linksys know how Siberians feel about technology that doesn’t work.”

Ooops. Looks like I forgot to shut one of the living room doors (there are two).  Sadly, this is not her first Suisse masticatory destruction/mischief. Her first mastication was with a bottle of T-9 bike lube in the basement. So now the nice cool basement is off limits to the Sibe.

I sure hope Mr. Wild Dingo doesn’t need to return that router.

“Hey Handsome, how about you and me paint this “cat” town a little canine before we blow out of here?”
“Cupcake, you crack the whip, I’ll make trip.”

First stop is the tree farm for a little off-leash time.  Juno  gives me ‘the paw’ one last time when I call her to come.

“You know what happens to the photographer who falsely cries ‘cheese,’ right Mom?”

“Princess, do you think we’ll get a spot on Dancin’ with the Stars?” 
“Stud, your paw choreography is workin’, but the tongue needs to hang a little more to the right.”

For a quick break, they make a stop at their favorite market and proposition the passerby. Summit market is very close to our home and whenever we go out for hikes, these two are always begging me to stop there. It’s not hard to see why.

“Hey Mister, we’re starving and could use a little meat.”
“No, we have no idea who that lady taking pictures is. Never seen her before in our lives.”

“Big Boy, stop looking so intense. You’re killing my helpless, in-desperate-need-of-juicy-deli-BBQ act. How are we gonna score any tri-tip with a face like that?”

Next we stop for a final visit to Dogtor Hilary, who gives them their final exam and a round of acupuncture needles for Juno.

 ”Look Dr. Hilary, until you hand over a couple of treats, I’m not going to cooperate.”

“Hey Princess, if you need me, call, I’ll be right over here, protecting you from afar.”
 ”Thanks Big Boy. Um, I feel so much safer. Not.” 

“Stop being such a tease Dogtor Hilary. Hand over that treat this minute.”

 ”Ooo, Dogtor Hilary, shouldn’t you buy me dinner first?”

“Well, ok, I’m a cheap date. I’ll take a treat instead.”

Next we head over to the Infamous “Cat’s Hill,” a 23% hill grade.

Every year, a famous bicycle race, the Cat’s Hill Criterium, is held on this course. In a 45-90 minute race, racers will climb that 23% grade 10-30 times.  In addition to the grueling climb, the course has plenty of technical elements from tight 90 degree turns to pavement cracks, bumps and lifting cement slabs that add to the adrenaline.  I raced it once. I like watching the race better.

“Hey cupcake? Why do you think they call this Cat’s Hill? I don’t see no stinkin’ cats!”
“Why don’t you tune in those ears to the local Wi-Fi and wiki-pawdia it, Big Boy?”

Next Loki and Juno stop by to pick up the mail. One good thing about having a ridiculously evil and stupid post-master who won’t deliver our mail, is that we are able to pay non-postal people, like the nice lady in this photo below, money to deliver our parcels to Europe. And US postal workers wonder why they don’t make enough money.

 ”Hey Lady, do you have a package that will hold a 67-pound product from Formosa? We’ll need bubble wrap for those ridiculously large ears.”
“Ha-ha Princess! Very funny.”

Later, they run into this black little fella who looks like a contestant for Dex’s Black Lab contest.

 ”Hey Big Cheese, that black labradog looks suspicious. I don’t like the looks of him.”
“Princess, I think he’s stoned!”

 ”Never mind him, Big Boy. I think I just discovered where we can get some fresh cat-iar.

  ”Hey Mom, why don’t you inquire within to see if they need some live models for Bow Wozer?”
“Ya, that black labradude over there isn’t much of a super model, is he?”

Loki and Juno sure have had some good times in a town named for cats. Many of the shop owners and shoppers have enjoyed meeting them and they always enjoy the attention.  But that doesn’t mean they haven’t had a few indiscretions. After all, one is a Cujo-cracker and the other is a Siberian. Trouble is in their DNA.

“Hey Mom, remember, What happens in Los Gatos, stays in Los Gatos!”

 See ya later LG! The cats can come out now.