Next Sunday, August 28 at 6:30 pm Eastern, Tripawd Talk Radio is hoppy to host renowned dog behaviorist Sarah Wilson of MySmartPuppy, speaker, instructor and author of numerous books about everything dogs.

Tripawd Talk Radio Chat with Sarah, Sunday 8/28

Join us for a fun discussion about how to maintain postive behavior in dogs after any major surgery.

Learn how to adapt training techniques for recovering dogs, how to handle pack-mate interaction, and much more!

Date: Sunday, August 28, 2011
Time: 6:30pm Eastern (4:30 MT, 3:30 Pacific)
Duration: 30 min.
Call In Number: (310) 388-9739*

Tune In Here: Behavior Training Tips for Dogs After Surgery

Share Link: bit.ly/ttr082811

*You do not need to call to hear the show. Listen live here and join us in the chat room or call (310) 388-9739 with your questions.

About our Guest:

Sarah Wilson is an experienced professional dog trainer, behaviorist and an expert in the human-animal bond. Since 2000, she has run one of the most active dog training and care communities on the the Internet, MySmartPuppy.com. Sarah loves working with all dog/human teams but has a special place in her heart for the shy/sensitive/deficit dogs.

She appeared alongside Tripawds founder Spirit Jerry, founder of Tripawds, in PBS Nature’s “Why We Love Cats and Dogs,” regularly contributes to New England Cable News “The Secret Life of Animals,” Comcast’s Pets on Demand and Nick Jr.’s “A Pup Grows Up.”

With eight books to her name (including My Smart Puppy; Good Owners, Great Dogs; Childproofing Your Dog, Dogology: What Your Relationship with Your Dog Reveals About You) and a ninth on the way, she is a prolific and popular writer.

An engaging speaker, she has taught at Tufts-Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, American Council of the Blind, Pet Sitters International, International Association of Canine Professionals, The Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers, Puppyworks, The ASPCA, Groomers Expo, and many more.

Join us in the Tripawds Live Chat during the show or post your questions in the discussion forums.

Reply to this topic with any brief questions for Sarah. This Topic will be updated with a program podcast after the show.

Recommended Reading:

Sarah Meets Tripawds Spokespup Wyatt Ray: Tripawd Confidence Starts with You

Join the forum discussion on this topic.

For years you’ve seen the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul books, and you’ve probably seen the Chicken Soup pet foods too.

Perhaps you’ve wondered if their foods are as good as they sound. Well, rest assured, both Whole Dog Journal and our friend Mike Sagman, AKA, the Dog Food Advisor, think that the Chicken Soup For The Dog Lover’s Soul foods are good for Tripawds who can eat a grain-based diet.

Dog Food Advisor recently reviewed the Chicken Soup series and gave it four out of five stars. He said “Based upon the ingredients alone, this Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul product appears to be an excellent kibble.”

Enter to win a $20 Petco Gift Card

Dog Food Advisor’s review and Whole Dog Journal’s endorsement gave us the confidence we wanted in the Chicken Soup dog food, which is why we are holding a contest sponsored by the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul people.

Chicken Soup For The Pet Lover’s Soul is giving us a $20 Petco gift certificate to award to one lucky Tripawd pawrent.

Entering the contest is easy. Tell us in 100 words or less:

“What is the funniest reaction you’ve heard from a kid who has just seen your Tripawd?”

To qualify, just share your story in the comments section below, by midnight on Tuesday, May 11th. All entries will be posted in the Tripawds News Blog, and a winner will be drawn at random by Tripawds Spokesdog Wyatt Ray Dawg.

Stay tuned for the winning entry!

Join the forum discussion on this topic.

That Admin Guy is ferociously working on troubleshooting the Discussion Forums and sporadic speed issues happening right now. This is as close to rocket science as things get and it’s trikier than a Kong stuffed with peanut butter and biscuits.

The Forums are up, but you may be experiencing issues. We thank you in advance for hanging in there with us, and hope to have things back and running smoothly again today.

Please contact us with any questions, concerns and issues. Post any upgrade issues here too. You can also find us on our Facebook page.

Hang tight Tripawds, we’ll be back up and hopping around ASAP!

Join the forum discussion on this topic.

Once again, our friend Calpurnia has her paw on the pulse of canine news. . .

These pretty pups aren’t Tripawds, but we wanted to help spread the word about them. Last week they were saved from a terrible dog hoarding situation in rural Park County, Colorado.

Calpurnia and her Mom are working hard to help find donations and homes for these dogs. Here’s what they had to say:

“We are dealing with a horrific case of a musher ‘hoarding’ dogs, resulting in 100 dogs (6 mos to 14 yrs) that are now in desperate need of homes. Here is a local news story about the discovery.

Luckily, another musher who lives in the area discovered the situation before it got any worse and contacted the authorities. Amazingly, the dogs seem friendly and well socialized.

All the dogs are “somewhere” safe for now.

I asked what the critical need is right now, and it is money.

Park County is not a big county, and very low on funds. It is costing them to bond these dogs, plus medical care for the critical ones, plus checkups, shots, spay/neuters for the rest.

If people want to donate, they can send it to the Park County Animal Control, flagged for the Sled Dog Rescue efforts.

They can also donate to one of the shelters (listed below in order of need):

If someone wants to adopt a dog (someone with an active lifestyle, with a 6′ or greater fence and lots of patience and time to help these dogs adjust to being pets), they can contact the shelters directly.

The more doggy people I can get brainstorming on this, the better we can get these dogs homed and the love and care they each deserve.”

Please contact:

• Ark-Valley Humane Society, Buena Vista, CO. Tel: 719-395-2737
• Lake County Animal Shelter, Leadville, CO. Tel: 719-486-8951
• Denver Dumb Friends League, Denver CO. Tel: 303-751-5772
• Longmont Humane Society, Longmont CO. Tel: 303-772-1232
• Boulder Humane Society, Boulder, CO. Tel: 303-442-4030

Join the forum discussion on this topic.

When it comes to dogs and the people who love them,words cannot describe how thankful we are for having our furry companions and their humans in our lives. Thank. You. So. Much.

Our friend Eve just sent her incredible Thanksgiving poem to us. Nothing more beautifully expresses the love we all share for the canine species. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

“north above tree line

between snow slow thaw

glacier scoured ground

mating season

nips, lips grazing muzzles

bed

far from looking eyes

limbs entwined genitals so

closely clasped the pair

unmoves until swelling ceases

breath quiets in earthen cavity

of home

squirming young a pound more or

less of defenseless flesh

blind, deaf able only to breathe

suck from teats

patient eyed splayed on one side

mother a sweet shelf of warmth and

food her teeth cut cord and sac

noses them to nurse

food spit to hungry mouths

offspring learn

play, fight hunt elders

know skills are sure

young depart walking ley lines

encoded in time”

Author: Eve F.W. Linn

But we really don’t know who you are, and what you really think of this site, or how we might be able to make it better for you. So its high time we asked!

Please take a moment to complete this brief survey and you will be entered in a drawing to win a free bottle of Synflex glucosamine supplement for dogs. And better yet, you might just help us make this an even better place for those facing amputation for their furry friend.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Deadline for entry in Synflex drawing is March 15, 2009 but please complete the survey anyway if you read this after that. We appreciate your feedback anytime. Read this post for complete information about Synflex glucosamine supplement for dogs, or visit the Synflex website.

These biodegradeable beads are being implanted at the time of the limb-sparing surgery, with the goal of preventing tumor regrowth in the leg, through a gradual release of cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug. This type of treatment can possibly reduce the recurrence of tumors in dogs who have had limb-sparing surgery instead of an amputation. An article in the Annals of Surgical Oncology describes the treatment.

Jami wrote to tell us about her dog, Miss Gretta, who underwent the implant surgery at age 12. Jamie has generously offered to explain the procedure, and wanted to share Gretta’s progress with Tripawds.

August 26, 2008

Cisplatin biodegradeable beads have recently been approved for use in smaller animals (see Royer Biomedical).

The cisplatin beads are useful for solid mass tumors in tissue (such as nerve sheath, muscle, skin) which can be surgically removed, and then the beads prevent the regrowth of the cancer at that site. The beads have been tested specifically in spindle cell tumors (nerve sheath), sqamous cell (skin), melanoma (skin) basal cell ( skin), and a handful of other solid mass tumors.

Gretta had spindle cell tumor (the originating tissue was likely a nerve sheath)… the tumor was about the size of a grapefruit at the time it was removed.

Previously used in horses, these beads can be surgically implanted after removal of certain types of cancers, and provide release of chemotherapeutic agents directly into the tissue. Since this allows the concentration of drug to be highest at the site needed to attack the remaining cancer cells, this is an effective way to treat cancer without exposing the dog’s entire body to high concentration of chemotherapy.

Ultimately, there may be less side effects related to the chemotherapy, and a greater reduction in cancer cells at the site of the tumor removal.

There is little publicly available related to dogs, either on their website or on the internet. I do understand that they have just recently been approved for the smaller animals, and their representatives are starting to talk with veterinarians. It is an expensive treatment, but for certain types of neoplams, it is life and (in our case) limb-saving. We hope, at least.

Here is a technical presentation on their website, related to horses.

August 28, 2008

Gretta came through the surgery just fine….we’ll bring her home later this morning. She required 32 beads, which is a record right now. I spoke with Dr. Royer himself yesterday morning (he is the PhD who invented the Cisplatin bead), and he gave me some information that I will summarize.

Apparently, there has been a large study in California; 80-100 small animals (mostly dogs, cats) that have received the treatment with tumor removal. They have had a 90-95 percent success rate, with only one case of tumor regrowth. In general, these are results that are typically not seen in clinical trials, so with that said, it is a very viable option.

While the Cisplatin is a very potent anti-tumor drug, the delivery system places it right on the tumor site and thus requires a fraction of the medication that would be given through more traditional methods (by mouth or through injection).

To put it in perspective, if every bead released every drop of medication at once, it would be less than *one* oral/intravenous dose of cisplatin previously used in treatment for animals. The release of the capsules is 4-6 weeks, just to add to the safety picture.

Dr. Royer mentioned that they have just completed the small mammal study and will be taking this information out in this seasons’ round of veterinary medical meetings, and this fall to the Vet schools. He personally had come to the Surgical clinic where my dog was to undergo amputation because it is one of the larger and more reputable centers on the East coast. I did know before I had called him, but he had personally consulted on my dog with the surgeon. What a stroke of luck!!!

She is a record… 32 beads implanted in a dog. The most that has ever been done in total is 40 in a horse. (Gretta is a petite Rottie at 82 pounds…still not the size of a horse!!!). My surgeon has another Great Dane scheduled tomorrow, so he’s getting a handful of experience this week!

Lets see how Gretta recovers… she’s still got some recovery over the next 2-3 weeks.

September 13, 2008

Just a quick update. Gretta is recovering from the surgery, but has some post-op complications with infections. She is 16 days out, stable. Her prognosis is good, but right now she is still limited in her mobility, and we are challenged by managing her with the open wounds and infections from the surgery. Still, a huge difference from loss of a limb, but it has been challenging.

November 17, 2008

We had a bit of a set back. Gretta had pretty serious infections following the surgery, and about day 14 she became immobile and non-responsive. With all that said, we were able to pull her through just fine. She did develop MRSA (which is an antibiotic-resistant infection). She required 30 plus days of antibiotics, and Day 14-28 she was on 4 antibiotics, including treatment for the MRSA. Dogs don’t get MRSA very often, so I had to convince my vet to treat the MRSA (he wanted to wait to get cultures for 5 days). I believe if we had waited for the culture to come back, we would not have Gretta with us right now.

With all that said, she is now post-op 90 days, and is recovered from the surgery. The next test will be whether the tumor comes back.

February 10, 2009

We’ve been holding off to see what the real outcome of the surgery will be…. while it saved her leg, the real issue is whether the tumor comes back.

She has follow-up in a few weeks. We do think there is already something that might be growing back, however, we should have the vet check it before we say it is the cancer.

The overall surgery and follow-up cost about $4,000.00…. not too much for a dog you love, but if the beads don’t prevent regrowth, then we are back to the reality of removing the leg. She almost died once in the post op period (as my note says below). If I weren’t a medical person, with access to high end infectious disease consultation, she would have died.

The real outcome is prevention of regrowth, and we are still watching her closely.

Jami, thanks for sharing your story. We wish Miss Gretta a full recovery, and give she and Jame “paws up!” for participating in this new treatment, which we hope will continue to help more dogs affected with osteosarcoma.

Lucky us, we finally got to meet her in Oakland. We tried to get her to slow down and say a few things on camera, but she wouldn’t have it. After all, there were just too many scents to sniff and so much space that needed to be checked out at the dog park!

Codie Rae, brother Smokey, Momma Martha and Daddy Ralph, you guys are awesome!

(Continued from Part 1.)

The next day we headed north to Yellowstone. It was just like the old days, traveling and hanging my head out the truck window.

I even made it up to the Continental Divide, for about the eighth time in our journey. Only this time, walking a few yards to the sign was all I had in me.

We took lots of pictures. As we got to Yellowstone, I was feeling OK, but very subdued from the bad episode the day before.

When we first started traveling with Jerry, we knew that his time would eventually come. If it happened while we were on the road, our biggest nightmare was that we would have to cope with it in some place we didn’t want to be in, some busy city with an unsympathetic vet who didn’t know anything about Jerry.

A few days before we got to Yellowstone, I called Calpurnia’s Mom, TC., whose sister lives just outside the park. She gave me the name of a vet there, in McAllister, Montana. I tucked it away in the “just in case” file.

That night, my breathing was a little raspy, and my heavy panting continued. My legs felt like jelly, and I was having a harder time getting up and turning around in bed.

Mom and Dad slept in the next morning. At 8:30 am when Mom woke up, she thought it was strange that I hadn’t made noises to go outside. I heard her get out of bed, and as she walked over to me saying “Morning Jerry!”, she looked down, and saw that I had wet my bed.

“Oh nooooooo! Jerry, baby!” Mom cried out. Our eyes met, and as I lay there, I looked up and told her; “Mom, I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t get up to tell you. Mom, I’m tired.”

Dad got up to see why Mom was crying. She hovered over me, tears running down her face. I was still laying there. I could not find it in me to get up out of my wet bed.

“It’s time,” Mom said to Dad. “This is it.”

We knew it. This was the sign that we needed to know that his dignity was slipping away.

We always knew that if Jerry’s health was going to decline because of this stupid cancer, we would measure his dignity by whether or not he could get up to go potty on his own.

We realize there are many dogs out there that need help in this area, but are still living otherwise healthy, happy lives. In Jerry’s case, we felt that if the cancer’s effects coincided with incontinence, he would not be living the kind of life he was born to live.

The events of the previous few weeks, along with the incontinence, was the sign that we needed to call the vet in McAllister.

Making that call to the vet was the hardest thing we ever had to do. Explaining our traveling situation to total strangers. Detailing Jerry’s health problems coherently, without going into hysterics. Asking them to help us say goodbye. Luckily, Dr. Cashman was incredibly sympathetic, and agreed to help us that day.

We cleaned up Jerry, put him in the truck, and drove away from Yellowstone. It took everything we had to stay calm and centered, for his sake.

We drove quietly for two hours through the beautiful mountains. The vet’s little office was located at the end of a rural country road, in a setting that felt like home. Puffy white clouds floated across the big blue sky. This was the classic picture of Big Sky Country, Montana.

We went inside to meet Dr. Cashman. Our fears were put aside as we met a wonderful group of women who run the Meadow Creek Vet Clinic. Showing a great deal of compassion, they understood our situation as traveling fulltime RVers, and took the time to explain the euthanasia procedure to us.

Dr. Cashman would use two injections: one to sedate Jerry, and then a second drug which would be responsible for saying goodbye. She gently suggested that we allow her to use a catheter for the injection (a nominal extra fee) as dogs who have been on steroids typically have collapsed veins that are hard to locate. A catheter would make the injection go a little smoother, and be less stressful for everyone involved. We are so grateful she told us about that, and followed her advice.

Mom and Dad went inside for a while, then came outside. I was surrounded by an adoring fan club, and Dr. Cashman was one of them. She was wonderful!

Dad helped me get out of the truck, and got my Barney blanket and some of my favorite stuffed toys. I plopped down on the lawn next to the office, and everyone loved and cuddled me.

Some dogs were barking out back, in the boarding kennels. I hopped over to them, and said “See ya on the other side, guys.” I plopped down tired, then went back to lay down on my blanket with my Dad’s help.

We spoke to each other in dog, that language that only pawrents and their furry kids understand. Mom and Dad’s eyes were all watery, and they thanked me for all that I’d done for them. We made promises to meet up again some day.

Then, Dr. Cashman and her assistant held me close, and gave me lots of love. I felt a tickle on my leg, but I wasn’t scared at all. I was just so tired.

One needs to be totally prepared for the final vet visit when the time comes. There is no second guessing at this point. We decided to remain with Jerry during the procedure, keeping our promise to be with him until the bitter end. Not knowing what to expect, we did the best to prepare ourselves for the worst. And though the tech had a difficult time finding a good vein for the catheter, once it was in, his passing was quick and peaceful. 

“You’re going to be OK,” Mom told me. “Thank you Jerry,” said Dad. Tears began to flow, but they feigned strength as they stroked my fur and held me close.

Within a minute or two, I felt so much better. All of my pain was gone, and I was free again!

Up I went through the sky, my spirit soaring high above the big puffy clouds! I was running again! Chasing rabbits and chickens! Swimming! And then I saw Lalla . . .

Some harsh realities do exist that one must also be prepared for, if they choose to know. Being the first time for us, we found it therapeutic to know.

Once  I was released from my broken body, my pawrents laid with me quietly for nearly a half hour. My muscles didn’t move as the vet mentioned they might. But my eyes didn’t close either, as she said they wouldn’t.

In search of total closure, my dad requested that he carry me inside. The vet cautiously told him that I would be kept in a freezer until the funeral home could pick me up the next day. He acknowledged the fact, and also understood my limp body must be put in a bag. He helped the vet do this, then gently laid me to rest, knowing that at this point I was free and my body was but a shell. A broken shell at that.

My pawrents made the smart decision to pay for the visit up front so they could just leave afterwords. And it was probably the least expensive vet visit I ever had! While they silently drove back to Yellowstone, my dad swears he sensed me running through the sky along side the truck, all the way.

As hard as it was, we were extremely fortunate for this to happen in such a beautiful place, with such wonderful people. Even the sweet folks from At Home on The Range pet cemetery helped make this more bearable than we ever thought it could be.

We said goodbye to Jerry on a Friday. When we inquired on Monday about his remains, they said he was ready and offered to meet us as we passed through town to deliver a beautiful tin in a velvet bag.

Jerry will keep traveling with us until we find that special piece of land with the large shady tree to call his forever home.

But we heard from some people about how this site had certain layout issues. Issues, never problems, as I like to say!

So I sat by while Jim worked away, knowing that it was for the good tripawd lovers everywhere.

You might first notice my new picture in the header. Charming, ain’t I? That was at Bottomless Lakes State Park in New Mexico. It wasn’t a very long hike, but I finally got to go hiking like I used to – scrambling up rocks while René freaked out. A good time was had by all. Hopefully you will also notice the new Random Tripawd Pics in the header. Send us your photo and you might just find yourself in the loop!

We’ll get around to updating my gallery page with this new album feature eventually. For now, it has some pretty still old pictures. But we have some serious Frisbee time to catch up on. In the mean time, here’s a slideshow of recent pictures…
[[Show as slideshow]]

The rest of the recent site changes might be a bit less noticeable, but none the less exciting. Schyeah, right.

There is now a thingy in the sidebar that shows the most recent posts in the Tripawd Discussion Forums. This I actually do find exciting. It shows that other tripawds and their people are sharing their questions, comments and concerns about cancer in dogs. And that’s exactly why my people developed this online community!

Anyway, if you’re one of the few who had trouble with our sidebar overlapping content on some pages. That should be fixed. It is fixed if you use the Firefox or another worry-free web browser. This site is best viewed using Firefox. Internet Explorer may still cause some of those pesky “issues” – mostly aesthetic though.

If you are still using IE for some reason, there’s still hope … those new tiny little icons in the upper right can now be used to toggle display of the sidebar on and off, or collapse the post/page content.

Oh well, this has got to be one of my most boring blog posts ever. But if you’re still reading, you must really care more than I do. Like I said, we’ve got some serious Frisbee time to catch up on … but I may need a new one. I’ve been chewing on mine real good, since no one’s been throwing it for me lately.