Pet Friendly Hotels?

It has been a while since I have traveled with my pets, since my adult dog, Lexi, hates the car. She shakes and trembles, lies on the floor of the back seat and then throws up. It may be anxiety, since her only car trips now are to the vet or to the groomer - both not high on her list of places to go.

"Herman" / Photo: Rod Moser

Two of my Shelties loved the car. One would actually chase cars while IN the car. We had a van at that time, so she would sit on the front seat until she saw a car, and would then run all the way to back barking at it as it passed. This was annoying. Herman, my late buddy, would try and come with me all of the time; even when I was going to work. As soon as I would open the door, he would jump in. He would lie on the front seat and lick my right hand which rested on the center console. His fearlessness around cars lead to his injury a few years later when his big, bushy tail got caught under my rear tire. He was not able to recover from his injuries after extensive surgery and had to be humanly euthanized. This was one of my saddest days.

About a week ago, I had to take a few days off to put, Cali, one of Lexi's six puppies on the plane to Maryland on Pet Airways. Since the flight left from Los Angeles, about a 7-8 hour drive, my brother and I had to leave the night before. Finding a pet-friendly hotel was a bit more challenging than we anticipated.

There are dozens of hotels near the Los Angeles airport, as you might imagine, but the surrounding communities are not the safest places to stay. We did find a hotel that allows pets near the airport but the reviews were not good; scary in fact. One reviewer referred to this hotel as worse than the Bates Motel. Another advised us to lock our car and doors at all times. We figured that this pet-friendly hotel may have also been crack-friendly and prostitute-friendly, so we canceled our reservation.

There are lots of Internet sites that list pet-friendly hotels, but pet-friendly does not necessarily imply that they are wallet-friendly. Some were terribly expensive, including one pet-friendly hotel that has a one hundred dollar, non-refundable pet deposit! That is $700 in dog money! The lowest pet fee was fifty dollars. Since we were only staying there for about nine hours, we felt those fees were ridiculous.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

We finally found hotel (one of the chains) located two hours from the airport that allowed pets and did not charge an extra fee. What would this one be like? It turned out that this hotel was one of the cleanest, nicest, reasonably-priced, safest places that I have every stayed - The Hampton Inn Santa Clarita. I think they deserve a plug for being pet (and human) friendly. There were many dogs there, including some scary-looking, but well-behaved pit pulls, but not one was barking or running amok. We did sign an agreement to pay for any pet damage, which of course, there wasn't any. I would stay at this place again, even if I didn't have a pet. They even had a hot breakfast in the mornings that was darn good. I blogged about The Dozen Dirty Places in the past, listing hotels high on this list. I can truly say that this hotel is an exception. If I did the list, I would put my living room or my home office on the list instead.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

Cali made it safely to Maryland after her thirty hour journey; a longer flight than we originally anticipated. My latest report from Maryland is that she is excelling in house-training and has already been fitted with her life preserver for the boat. It is good that she is house (boat) trained quickly or you could have a whole new meaning for the area on the boat called the Poop Deck.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

Unlike most of my other dogs, Cali is the one that does not seem to mind car trips. She has already visited my elderly mother (she will be 88 next month) in the nursing home and has made many local car outings without the least bit of car-sickness or anxiety. Out of the six puppies, it seems that my brother got the "good one", although I think all of them are wonderful.

When we go out of town, we hire a house/pet-sitter. In a few years, we would love to buy a tent camper and tour our own country, hitting the best of our National Parks. I would love to take the dogs; not that they would enjoy the trip, but so we wouldn't have to leave them. My brother and sister-in-law do many car (and boat trips) so having a travel-friendly pet is essential. I am glad they got one. Since we have accumulated a menagerie of sorts - three dogs, two cats, tropical fish, and 14 non-egg laying (so far) chickens, we will need that pet/house-sitter for a long time, I am sure. We fantasize with the idea of retiring pet-free, but neither one of us can imagine a life without having a dog (or three) to love and pet.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter

Sad Endings. New Beginnings.

Sad Endings: Yesterday, our 15 year old Sheltie, Maggie, died. She is buried in our backyard under a beautiful flowering plant. She was a wonderful and gentle dog; a loyal friend, companion, and mother, and she will be greatly missed. These are always sad endings. The love a dog is something we should never take for granted, but like all life...it has an ending. The good memories will continue to live.

"Maggie" / Photo: Rod Moser

She was aided in her transition by the veterinarian who "put her to sleep." I really don't like that expression. She isn't asleep, although she was comfortably sedated and asleep before the euthanasia procedure. We have done these three times now, to three different dogs: two very elderly and terminally-ill, and one, Herman, who was tragically injured. This NEVER gets any easier. I sure wish there was a way to do this easier and more compassionately by the dog-owners. Having it done by the vet seems so cold and clinical, but at least it was painless for her. Some euthanasia experiences are not as easy and uncomplicated, so I am grateful for that.

The pain of Maggie's transition has been eased by some new lives - new healthy, active, happy puppies. We decided to keep two from a recent litter of six. As they jumped up and licked our faces, they helped wash some of the tears away.

New Beginnings: We were not sure how the puppy would handle a long car trip. Some dogs vomit due to the motion sickness or anxiety, so my brother and I were prepared. Towels were on the seats. She was in a pet carrier (open, so she could come out), and we had a ready supply of paper towels, wet-ones, and even a can of air freshener. We were prepared. What we weren't prepared for was her adaptability. Not only did she tolerate a seven-hour car trip, leaving her puppy siblings/mother, and a night in a pet-friendly motel, she thrived! Most of the time, she just slept in the back seat with her head periodically on the outside to watch us, but she would come up front to sit on our laps, kiss us, and then voluntarily go back in her carrier to sleep.

The puppy did not particularly like rest stops. They were too noisy from the trucks and I am sure, smelled scary to her. She loved the quiet grass of the pet-friendly motel where she quickly and appropriately relieved herself. She played in the room, didn't whine or pee/poop on the floor, and seemed to enjoy sleeping with us. At first, I put the puppy on the bed with me. She quickly curled up and went to sleep. When my brother woke up in the middle of the night, so did the puppy, so he put her in bed with him. At 5 AM, when I woke up, they were spooning! I took her out for her morning constitutional, fed her some breakfast, and it was off to the airport - another two- hour drive.

Photo: Rod Moser

Cali (Her name; short for California) had reservations on the 11 AM flight to Baltimore, with stopovers in Denver and Chicago. She was flying first-class on Pet Airways, a specially-configured executive plane just for pets; complete with their own pet-flight attendant. My brother paid an extra $50 for a larger pet container; equivalent to being upgraded to first-class. We briefly met some of her traveling companions: two loudly-meowing cats and their worried owners moving to Virginia (traveling coach, I am sure), a pampered poodle, and a big, goofy-looking, lab-like dog not fully-comprehending what was about to happen. I hope they don't put her next to those whinny cats. I always get the human equivalent of that when I fly.

Photo: Rod Moser

We said our goodbyes to Cali; got our face-licks, and saw her leave with the flight attendant, along with her carry-on - a one gallon plastic bag with her stuff. Her "stuff" was food for three meals (Pet Airways does not serve meals), toys, a sock full of her mother's hair, and one of my brother's t-shirts (stinky) to sleep on. She was trembling a bit, so we would feel even more-guilty than we already were. This cross-country ordeal is not cheap; about $300 for the flight alone, not including the cost of the health certificate, hotel, and airport transportation (800 miles!). When we discussed all of the options, like driving her across the country, or jamming her under a seat for eight hours on his flight, we felt that this was the least-stressful for her, even though it was going to take 30 hours! My brother had a very early AM flight the next day to meet her on the other end.

The duration of this flight - with the puppy being penned up most of the time in a pet carrier - listening to those bitchy cats that were probably pushing the call button all of the time, troubled us. We were informed that Cali "seemed nervous" during the overnight layover in Chicago. My brother said that he gets nervous when he is in Chicago, too.

Cali arrived safely in Baltimore and was very glad to see my brother. The cats weren't there; either picked up earlier by their owners; or jettisoned somewhere over the Midwest (Cats land on their feet, even from 30, 000 feet. Just kidding! I love cats, too. I have two of them, and I am sure they are happy to be off of that plane as well). After some highly-appreciated face-licking (the puppy to my brother, of course), they made the two-hour drive to Eastern Shore Maryland where she will happily live. I miss her already.

It has been a long time since my brother and sister-in-law had a dog. They have a garage cat. Don't' get me wrong, it is a nice, heated garage. It used to be a house cat until he decided that my brother's briefcase or suitcase made a convenient litter box. This decision on the cat's part resulted in his eviction a few years ago. His unfitting name is Lucky. Compared to the responsibilities of owning a dog, cats are easy. They are independent, come and go as they please, and are quite adaptable. I think Lucky likes having his own place.

Cali will be trained to be a boat-dog. My retired brother loves to sail his boat on the Chesapeake, and will no longer be jealous of all of those other boat-owners that have dogs. She will have a life-preserver and be tethered, once the sailing season begins next year. I am taking a little perverted pleasure in knowing that my brother's once-neat home will soon be converted to the puppy day-care center that we have here. I am envisioning dog toys all over the place. There is nothing like the heart-stopping thrill of stepping on a rubbery squeak toy in the middle of the night, or the even bigger thrill of having puppy poop ooze up through your toes. Still, this is a small price to pay for the love of a new puppy. It will truly be a new beginning.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter

Raising Puppies - The Dark Side

Anyone that has home-raised a litter of puppies knows the tremendous amount of work involved. They are just like children - they sleep during the day, but want to play at night. They get up early in the morning and want to eat. As soon as the mother dog weans them, it becomes a non-stop Poop Fest. As gross as this sounds, the mother dog does all of the clean-up for the puppies, including licking up pee and eating their droppings when they are nursing; but as soon as they start on puppy food, that all abruptly stops.

Six puppies can pee about a hundred times a day and poop about half that much. Their droppings turn from odorless, cute-little, easy-to-pick up ones to huge cow patties. They hit the papers on the floor only half the time; the rest ending up on the carpet...somewhere...like Claymore landmines waiting for innocent, human bare feet to find them. And, they stink! Malodorous puppy-poop is not necessarily a bad thing, since the odor is a good location device.

Mike McCune / CC BY 2.0

Sheltie puppies love to run. They run from one end of the house to the other. They were only a month or so old when they mastered the steps, something that I personally, have problems climbing. We have a big deck outside that has become a day-care facility, complete with hundred of toys, cardboard boxes to play in, soft beds (that they pee on), and several pairs of my socks that they have commandeered.

If two of us are home, we can take them outside to play. Think of having six pet bees. You let the bees go and then try and keep track of them, hoping they will stay in one area. It doesn't happen. Lexi, the mother dog, does her best to round them up, but they take off, either alone or in little packs to all ends of our unfenced property. We are constantly counting them, making sure we can locate them if we spot turkey vultures circling above or a crafty coyote lurking about. They like to head for the chicken enclosure and bark at them. They run in and out of our thick landscaping; happy and literally smiling, as they carry off sticks or leaves in their mouths. After about a half-hour, we round them up; one or two at a time, and carry them back to the deck enclosure. We try and exercise them at least twice a day like this. Today it is raining, and the puppies are driving me crazy.

Perhaps the most difficult part of raising puppies is sending them off to new homes. Three of them were born under the desk where I am typing this post. We can't keep 'em all, of course. Two have been adopted by a single man who lives about two miles from us. Tomorrow, Emmy goes to her new family about a half mile away. On Thursday morning, Cali will fly on Pet Airways to her new home with my brother and sister-in-law. This is going to be a stressful trip for this little puppy who is used to having the run of the house. She has never been confined to a pet carrier or really been with strangers. We will send her with some familiar toys, one of my stolen socks filled with the mother dog's hair, and some snacks. Unlike people airlines, the puppies get snacks. No booze. I plan on taping a monetary "tip" on her travel bag for the pet flight attendant for some extra loving on this 30 hour trip. I will post on this trip next week after she safely arrives in Maryland.

As soon as we are down to our two, Ellie and Zac, it will be Puppy Boot Camp. They are house trained now - they pee and poop in the house. We just have to get them yard trained. We also need to work on behaviors - coming when we call them, no biting toes, no digging in the plants, and the importance of not chewing stuff that isn't theirs.

"Maggie" / Rod Moser

Sadly, our oldest dog, Maggie, born in Michigan fifteen years ago, and the mother of my late best friend, Herman, is dying. She was diagnosed as having cancer, and is now in transition. She sleeps all of the time, isn't eating, and has started to pant. She does not seem to be in pain, but dogs do not exhibit pain like humans. Perhaps the panting is her way of coping with discomfort. She goes to the veterinarian next week and I am sure the vet will recommend euthanasia. Euthanasia for a dying pet is very humane, but a sad event nonetheless. We will pay the extra fee for the vet to come to our home - her home - so that she can be as relaxed as possible. In the hands of an experienced vet, this procedure is fast and painless. For the grieving dog owners, this experience is unbelievably painful. I am sure there is a Dog Heaven. Who would want to spend eternity without the love of a dog?

This is really a cross-section of life. There are births and there are deaths. We live and we die. It is really up to us to make the best of the precious time in between.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD!
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter

Puppies Off to New Homes

Photo: Rod Moser

I think it was easier to send the kids off to college than it was to send two of the puppies to a new home today. My wife was sobbing, until she realized, of course, that we have reduced our puppy poop by 33% now! We still have four of them left - one will go to the neighbor's in about a week; one will go all the way to Maryland's Eastern Shore to live with my brother and sister-in-law. The other two will live with us. We are keeping Ellie, a hyper little girl who is teaching the others to bark; and Zac, a quiet little boy that has totally bonded with my wife. I guess I get Ellie....

The new owner is a retired, widowed man who lost his dog about 9 months ago. He initially wanted one puppy, but quickly jumped at the chance of getting two when another person changed her mind. He has been actively preparing for their arrival, including getting them a dedicated room in his house (I don't even have that), and has read up on caring for Shelties. Although it was sad to see him drive away with two of our puppies, they will be going to an excellent home. We know, we drove by and checked it out. My wife prepared a nice puppy pack that included the recipe for the food we are giving them now, one of my old socks filled with their mother's hair, a new collar/leash, and some of those smelly stuffed animals they have been sleeping with since they were born.

We also have an older Sheltie, soon to be fifteen. She is deaf, arthritic, and has teeth like a British methamphetamine user. She is unbelievably sweet, but sleeps about 22 hours a day now. Yesterday, when we decided to give her a bath and brush out her heavy coat, we discovered a mass. She has a walnut-sized tumor on one of her front legs. I took her immediately to the veterinarian that afternoon. The vet said it was cancer. The good news is that it is not painful for her; the bad news is that it would be too risky and painful to have it removed. Excising this malignancy will not change the inevitable, unfortunately, and surgery is a bit risky at her age. Sadly, after experiencing the utter joy of having six new little Shelties, we are going to lose our oldest one. I know that euthanasia is compassionate, but it still sucks. We hope we will not have to do this anytime soon.

Dogs have relatively short life-expectancies, unlike humans. Fortunately for many of us, we may live well into our eighties or beyond if we take care of ourselves, and are spared from life-threatening disease or accidents. Assuming dogs live about 15 years (some live longer); our life span is about six dogs, assuming you get one at a time.

My good friend drove up yesterday to see the puppies. He, too, has a very old dog. He stated that he has no intention of being without a dog, so like many people, he is looking for a back-up dog now. We have been friends for so long, that I remember at least six of his dogs. He told me that he can't imagine his life without having a dog. This time, he wants an Australian Shepherd. In the past, he has had English Bulldogs, two West Highland Terriers, a German Shepherd, and now, a pit bull (although he calls it something else less-menacing).

My brother procrastinated and pondered this decision since the puppies were born. He wanted one desperately, but did not want to sacrifice his freedom and mobility. It took repeated conversations with his friends, both pro-puppy and con-puppy, before he made the decision to get one. Logistically, this is going to be a difficult move. The puppy has reservations on Pet Airways to fly (first-class) from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Baltimore. Pet Airways has a flight-attendant for the pets in transit; checking on them every 15 minutes. They fly in roomy cages in the cabin of the plane. It ain't cheap - about $250 for the one-way fare, not including the fact that we have to drive seven hours to Los Angeles to drop off the puppy. My brother is flying out for a few days prior. He will accompany the puppy to the flight, and then hop on another flight to Baltimore so he can get the puppy at the other end. Now, that is dedication. We both decided that having this little puppy in a cramped cage under the seat of the plane for eight hours was a bit cruel. This really is the best way, and a hellava lot cheaper than our other solution: having me drive the puppy to Nebraska (about three days), and him driving to Nebraska to make the switch. Of course, when you add up six days on the road, just for me, including fuel costs, hotels, meals, and wear and tear on the vehicle for 3000 or so miles, it would have cost each one of us about a thousand dollars or more!

Pets are good medicine, folks. I call it Petication! People with pets are usually less stressed (although I see a new pile of puppy poop on the floor) and happier. Pets are great listeners and relatively-good psychiatrists. They are non-judgmental, loyal, fun, and loving. Yes, you have to spend money on veterinarian bills, buy special food, and other pet necessities, but you don't have to send them to college. Pets will not steal your car, borrow money, or have parties when you are away. Pets do not smoke, drink booze, or take drugs. They will, however, chew your shoes, crap and pee on the carpet (at first), and wake you up at all hours of the night. The good things definitely outweigh the bad.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD!
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter

Dog Tired

Our clinic has been unbelievably busy, thanks in part to the H1N1 scare. We have set up a fully-staffed flu clinic just to keep on the demand for the seasonal flu vaccine. The new H1N1 vaccine is supposed to be here in about 2-3 weeks, assuming we get our allotment. At first, we heard that two H1N1 vaccines will be required, but now the word is "just one". Our multiple-provider clinic can see about 400 patients in any given day, and we expect the demand to be high.

In practice devoted to pediatrics and adolescents, the high-season is usually Thanksgiving to the end of February, but this year is different. Our schedules are completely booked and everyone is working to capacity. If and when the H1N1 hits big-time, I hope that we will be able to accelerate this already-busy pace. All of us are dog-tired. Of course, I have even more of a reason to be dog tired. At the moment, with the new puppies, I have eight dogs; about five too many.

Photo: Rod Moser

Our dogs have the newborn baby schedule. They stay up late; wake in the middle of the night ready to eat, poop, and play, and then get up early in the morning to repeat the process. It was nice when they were able to be contained in a plastic swimming pool "whelping box", but now they have taken over the house. Since I work 12-hour shifts, it is starting to wear on this old man. I worked to 9 PM last night. I stayed late to suture a 21-month-old who split her lip and to deal with a shocked teenager who I discovered was pregnant. She came in for something else, of course. This was just the icing on the medical cake. When they have sex and don't use birth control, I am constantly at awe that they are surprised when I tell them they are pregnant. How long did they think they could play sperm roulette?

My grandson is in a year-round school, so he is off this week, staying with us. I tried to take him to see a movie this afternoon, but I fell asleep in the theater. Since we were the only two people in the theater, it wasn't an issue. Apparently, I did not snore, or at least my grandson didn't hear it over all of the shooting and explosions in GI Joe. GI Joe was the only movie in our theater that was not rated R. He liked it. I will reserve a vote until it comes out in DVD and I can see it again for the first time.

My wife and I bought a huge, metal gazebo when we were in Mexico a year ago. We had it dismantled, tied it to the top of the truck, and drove it home about a thousand miles. When my turn came at the border crossing, the customs agent asked me if I bought anything in Mexico that I was bringing home. I had this huge, jumble of metal tied to the truck, sticking out in all directions, perhaps standing four feet taller than the roof. I looked at him and said, "No, why do you ask?" He smiled and wondered why I didn't get it painted first. In retrospect, he was right. We had our oldest son finally weld it back together this weekend. It's going to take another two weekends to paint it.

It rained a bit in Northern California last week, just enough to cause a few hundred lightning fires; no big ones, fortunately. A few weeks ago, about 80 homes and businesses were lost when a wild fire raged through our foothill community. We were able to tour the devastation. Lifetimes of memories went up in minutes. Some families only got out with the clothes on their backs.

In a weakened moment, I agreed to take a medical student in my practice for the next month or so. Usually, students will slow you down, but this one is a bit more experienced, so I am hoping he will be able to help with the deluge.

I took off five days in mid-September to speak at our annual conference in Palm Springs. My topic this year should be fun. I am speaking about bizarre patient encounters. Maybe it's me, but I seem to have some sort of magnet that draws the strange and unusual to my door - the foreign bodies in the nose and ears; the people with a confusing array of symptoms, the hypochondriacs, the drug-seekers, etc. They come to my practice and they stay because I am nice to them. Over the years, I have collected quite a number of them. With the utmost respect to odd human behaviors, I will be talking about them this year. No names, of course. I will be offering suggestions on how to deal with these most-challenging patients.

Someone once said that one out of five people are absolutely crazy. I thought of my four closest friends; and they seemed "okay", so it must be me. Or I am just dog-tired.

A puppy just bit me on the toe. I will probably get rabies.

Related Topics:

• Ear, Nose & Throat Message Board with Rod Moser, PA, PhD
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The Pitter-Patter of Two Dozen Little Feet

Photo: Rod Moser

Home-raising six active puppies is a non-stop job. My wife and I are now working opposite schedules just so someone is home with the puppies at all times. They are five weeks old now and are unbelievable active. For anyone who uses the cliché "herding cats" has never experienced herding Sheltie puppies. All of our children (five) are now adults and we have four grandchildren so far. Having puppies is hauntingly reminiscent of years raising children.

We keep them in a large laundry room at night, mostly because this room can be secured and it has tile floors. In the puppy morning (which can be anywhere from 2 AM to 6 AM), we open the door. It is a miniature version of the "Running of the Bulls" in Spain. A tiny herd of happy and energetic puppies will quickly run through the kitchen and into our living room. Although the mother has been trying to wean them, a few will usually jump up and latch on for a short ride and suckle. The rest will initiate the day-long poop and pee-fest. We are trying to paper-train them and they are doing pretty good, but still hit the carpets and hardwood floors about thirty percent of the time. It would be ludicrous to consider cleaning carpets until most are off to their adoptive homes.

We have decided to keep two puppies, instead of the one: a little boy (Zac) and a little girl (Ellie). Incidentally, we named our puppies and the mother after antidepressant drugs, since they are our living antidepressants. Lexi, short for Lexapro, is the Mom. Zac is short for Prozac; and Ellie is short for Elavil. Thinking about all of that peeing, maybe I should have named them after diuretics.

The pack will wolf down their breakfast of softened puppy chow, whole milk, and baby rice cereal and begin their antics - wrestling, yipping, pulling stuff around, and chewing on anything left at their level. In the last few days, they have learned to climb the four carpeted stairs in our bedroom. They run up and down the stairs, occasionally falling and frequently trying to jump. They weigh in about 3 to 4 pounds now, but think they are bigger...much bigger. They are making the transition from puppies to little dogs right before our eyes. I can't stop taking pictures of them, but like children, most of the photos are out of focus because they are always moving.

Shelties (Shetland sheepdogs) are a herding breed and we can already see that tendency. They will stare at each other (strong-eyed) and then leap and try to herd each other (or us). This chaos of eating, pooping, running, yipping, and playing will go on for an hour or so. Then, one by one, they will go to sleep in various places, or end up in a one big pile o' puppies.

Just like children, the work begins after they become mobile. At least in humans, we often have a few months before crawling, cruising, walking, and running begins. In puppies, they are physically active in about two weeks. The amount of work involved in home-raising puppies is difficult to explain. Only those people who have actually done it, can appreciate the time and dedication involved to do it right.

A few months ago, I witnessed a six-month-old (baby!) walking. He sat up alone from a lying position at four months, crawled at 4.5 months, and took his first step before he was six months old! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it. There he was - walking purposefully up and down our hall, stopping periodically to look at stuff or bend down and pick up some lint or paper to eat. At this rate of development, this precocious little boy is going to be running by 7 months, and maybe driving a car by his first birthday.

Photo: Rod Moser

One puppy is going to a neighbor, so we can see her often. Another is supposed to go to my brother on the other side of the country, but he is wavering - wanting a puppy to warm his heart, but not wanting to give up some of his present freedom. I am putting an ad in the newspaper to sell the remaining two (or three) puppies. When someone answers that ad, we will be scrutinizing them like the FBI. No puppies will be sold to "unapproved" homes, I can assure you. All pet owners need to be very aware of scammers and dog-nappers. Anyone selling a puppy will need to carefully and thoroughly screen unknown potential buyers and only take cash. I am becoming so paranoid that I don't really want strangers even coming to my house anymore.

I contacted Pet Airways today, a service that will ship animals, safely and humanely, by air. I am doing this just in case my brother decides to take a puppy. We were going to drive and meet mid-way on Highway 80, somewhere in Nebraska, but decided that was not ideal. Not only would it cost us each about a thousand dollars in gas, food, and lodging, but it would be hard on a new puppy to be cooped up so long in a car. Dogs often get carsick, just like people. Lexi, the mother, is a prolific car-barfer so I suspect the puppies may inherit this tendency.

Should my brother decide that a puppy can be a part of his busy, retired life, I think the best way would be to fly the puppy, first-class, by Pet Airways. One problem: They only fly out of Los Angeles, a 7 hour drive for us, but of course, we can always tie in a trip to visit our newest grandson in San Diego. I think an 8- hour, overnight flight to Baltimore will be much easier on this little dog than six days in a car. A one-way flight isn't cheap (about $250), a bit more than it would cost for ME to fly one-way. I am bigger of course. An attendant checks the animals every 15 minutes during the flight, so the level of service is better than commercial air. I guess I could fly with the puppy under the seat (about $100 extra), but how cruel would that be?

Over thirty years ago, when I first moved to California, we shipped our Poodle-Pomeranian mix dog, Jason, by air freight. Hearing those stories of dogs dying in poorly-heated and not-well-pressurized compartments, we constantly worried. He arrived safely, but I would never do this again.

I will miss this little herd of puppies, but it will be nice to have less pee to sop up...less puppy poop to pick up...and, get a good night's sleep again.

Right now, Zac is sleeping under my desk, lying against my feet and periodically sleep-barking and sleep-running. So cute! You don't take that kind of puppy love lightly.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD!
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Living Better Newsletter - Wellness news to keep you healthy and strong!

Puppy Scam Alert!

Our puppies are getting close to eight weeks old - the earliest time that they can be adopted. We are keeping two; a neighbor is buying one, and my procrastinating brother MAY be getting one, so we will have just two to sell. As responsible breeders, we are VERY careful about who will be getting our little dogs. When I bought my first Sheltie over 20 years ago, I was shocked that the breeder made a house inspection. Our family was required to "qualify" before he would consider selling us a dog. He wanted to meet all of the kids, see our fenced yard, and see how our children treated this test dogs - he brought four of his Shelties to play with them for a while. Obviously, we passed.

In addition to the unexpected home visit, we had to sign a five page contract that included, among other things, our agreement to spay, and that we had to return to dog to HIM should the puppy not work out. He insisted on puppy-sitting when we went on vacation, too.

Today, I received a very odd call. It was a RELAY PHONE call, a service used by people that are hearing or speech impaired. The operator stated that her client was interested in my puppies for her son. When I inquired where she (I am assuming she is a she) was located, she said that "she was in the States". I asked her where she saw the ad, she said "in the paper". When I inquired "which paper", there was no response. She wanted me to e-mail her immediately with the price and details. Interesting, since the price and the details are in the ad that she supposedly read.

I asked her a dozen questions, such as her address and where she saw my advertisement. This was another red flag, since the advertisement does not start until next Thursday. I am still wondering how she got my home phone number or knew that I had puppies. Hopefully, she is not a reader of the ALL EARS blog! I can't imaging that a scammer would read my blog, track down my phone number, and go to this much trouble. On a Google search for "puppies", there were over four MILLION hits. Of course, if you put WebMD on this search, you will find my blog posts.

We did register our puppies with the AKC and APRI, so perhaps these institutions release information to the public, just like birth announcements that used to appear in newspapers. I plan on calling them to inquire about their privacy policies.

About an hour later, I received a response. She wanted my physical address and assorted details. She wanted the final price for TWO puppies so she could send a business check or money order. When I received the check, I should cash it and wire the money to her "shipping agent" who will arrange to pick up the puppies and deliver them to her. The e-mail was filled with spelling errors and poor grammar, making me think that this person with an American-sounding name did not have English as her first language.

Good ol' Google. All that I did was type in "puppy scam" in the search engine, and viola! It was the exact, same scam - right down to the use of an untraceable relay phone, and wiring of funds to a "shipping agent". The scam alert even mentioned the poor grammar and spelling errors. A responsible puppy-buyer would (a) never buy a puppy sight unseen, and (b) never arrange for a shipping agent to pick it up. An alert consumer (me) would NEVER wire funds to a stranger, even if I received a money order or check, and even if that check seemed to "clear" the bank. Many times, the scammer will add one more zinger - they will send MORE than the asking price, apologize for the error, and ask you just to wire them the over-payment.

I guess it just doesn't happen with puppies. My brother listed his boat for sale a few years ago, and received a similar e-mail stating that they would send a check, and that he should forward the money on to the "shipper" so that arrangements can be made to pick up the boat. Yesterday, my son told of his friend that was scammed when he tried to sell a nice watch on eBay. The e-mail told of a man buying the watch for his son's birthday, so he needed it quick. He couldn't wait the week for the check to clear and asked that he be trusted. My son's friend actually dropped the box with the watch at the UPS Store, only to have second thoughts. He went back and retrieved his watch. As you might expect, the check bounced.

Traveling con-men and scammers are not uncommon in our area, or in yours. They run driveway resealing scams and roof coatings. I know, because two of them showed up at my door last summer. They just finished sealing the driveway of my neighbor "down the hill" and had a lot of material left; enough to do my entire driveway for a fraction of the cost. They couldn't remember his name. They had a spray trailer on a very nice truck with out-of-state plates, and proudly showed me a bag of their seal-coat - the "best you can buy". They gave me their business card; a very crudely-made computer generated card. While I was talking to one guy, the other was casing my place. They came up with price. They would recoat my driveway for eight thousand dollars! I laughed since it was more than I paid for the entire driveway. Of course, they negotiated on and on, dropping the price each time. Needless to say, I detected this classic scam early and sent them on their way. I reported this incident to the police, and for the next several weeks, I locked my driveway gate and put my neighbors on alert.

I even recognized the bag of seal coat. It was really special sand that is used for sand-blasting. I have a bag in my garage. The spray trailer is probably loaded with used motor oil; the same oil that they would use to spray and coat your shake roof. After they spray your driveway, they tell you it will take several days to dry (it will NEVER dry), giving them time to skip town.

I love these puppies. There is no way under the sun that I would have even sold those dogs to a legitimate person buying them without seeing them. This could have easily been a re-sale situation. They buy the puppies for a reasonable cost, and resale them for a profit to a pet store or puppy mill. Or they buy female dogs so they can set up their own puppy mill. I can't imagine a more cruel life for a dog than to be a puppy mill breeder.

I reported this scam to the ISP, but I doubt there is little that can be done. This scam may even be orchestrated as far away as Nigeria. In this case, they are not interested in the puppies, just the money wired to them via their "shipping agent".

It has been a dozen years since our last litter of puppies. They all went to good families. We even hosted a one-year Puppy Reunion, complete with a dog birthday cake (That was sort of odd, now that I think about it). Our goal was to see those puppies were loved and cared for by good families. This is our goal again.

ADDENDUM: Two days later, we received another "relay call". We refused the call this time. I suspect it was another scammer running the same scheme.

For more on this Puppy Scam: Puppy Scam Alert.

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• Living Better Newsletter - Wellness news to keep you healthy and strong!

Happiness is a Warm Puppy (Actually, Six Puppies)

In the week that I was gone, the puppies doubled in weight. They are now walking around, barking a little squeaky bark, and watching us with those dark eyes. My super-tired female, Lexi, is barely able to keep up with their increasing nutritional demands. With six puppies and only five nipples on one side, one puppy has to crawl in on her back, like an automobile mechanic. They nurse like a hungry school of piranhas, about every four hours, twenty-four hours a day.

Lexi , short for Lexapro, was my canine antidepressant after the untimely death of my other dog, Herman. My whole purpose for breeding Lexi was to get one male puppy. Lexi had six puppies - five girls, and my one little boy. His name is Zac, short for Prozac. I have also decided to keep one of the little girls, too. My granddaughter wants to name her Ellie (short for Elavil?). I don’t take antidepressants; I will have four dogs instead.

Today, we brought some puppy formula to help take the pressure off of the exhausted mother. Like infant formula, this one cost about $40 a can. In another week, they will be on some moistened puppy food, however. We bought them all collars so we can tell the girls apart. The one male puppy is obvious. We have three “big ones”, now nearly three pounds each, and three little ones, a little over two pounds. Doing the math, the combined weight of those six puppies are about half the weight of the mother already. Lexi is naturally eating us out of house and home, making up for the caloric loss.

We also bought some puppy chew toys today, hoping to take the heat off of our shoes – the traditional chew toys of young dogs. They are very curious about the toys and immediately sniffed them over. Their whelping box is really a plastic swimming pool, lined with a (washable) mattress cover. There are six little stuffed animals in there with them. When the remaining puppies go to their new homes, these well-worn and familiar-smelling stuffed animals will go with them for some transitional comfort.

I spent yesterday constructing an exercise pen for the yard. In about a week or so, they will make their first outside debut. I can’t leave them outside without supervision however, since we have some circling turkey vultures. The vultures have been hanging around since I got the chickens. I have no doubt that a turkey vulture can carry off a puppy. Not on my watch, however.

For the entire eight weeks that we will have all of the puppies, we have altered our work schedules. Puppy rearing is not unlike having a new baby in the house. They poop. They pee. They whine. They eat. They sleep. They play. They require adult (human) supervision.

Our cats, on the other hand, are as independent as animals can be. They come in at night to eat, but most of the day, they are doing cat things – eating lizards and moles, sleeping in some dark, cool place, and climbing trees.

My parrot, Dorian, laid an egg on the same day the puppies were born. As a matter of fact, she laid THREE eggs, infertile, of course. Today, the eggs went away. We allow her to sit on those eggs for about two or three weeks, but then they have to go. If we take the eggs away too soon, she will lay more. Birds do not eat very much when they are sitting on eggs. Dorian is in the room with the puppies, so she has been actively imitating the puppies little squeaks and whines. I am sure I will hear those sounds long after the puppies mature. Dorian also speaks cat, microwave oven, dryer signal, telephone, and English.

Clearly, we are animal people. We give up a lot of our independence due to our pets, but we get so much more in return. Much more.

Are you a pet lover? Visit our message board, "Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In" to chat with others and ask questions about your dog or cat.

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Breeding Lexi

Her little snout was sticking through a hole in the fence sniffing the air. She was frightened and whining; trying to get out. I felt like crap leaving her there, but if we are going to successfully breed our Sheltie, this is what has to be done. I called the breeder later in the day, and Lexi was hiding in their backyard, occasionally coming out to sniff the place where I was standing. That comment really made me feel super-guilty.

Lexi is a bit over two years old now and the younger of my two dogs. The older Sheltie, Maggie, is over 14 years old, blind, deaf, and arthritic, but still hanging in there. Maggie is the mother of my favorite dog, Herman, who tragically died about two years ago. I bought Lexi a few weeks after Herman died. Lexi, short for Lexipro, was my canine antidepressant and has served that purpose well.

Lexi went into heat about ten days ago. We wanted her to have just one litter of puppies before having her spayed. We have been waiting for the right time, and summers are the best time. We located a male, owned by the same breeder that we used so long ago for Maggie. His name is Connor, a very handsome, intelligent, and regal-looking male sable Sheltie. When Lexi and Connor are together, they look like twins.

Like in the past, we have our puppies (assuming the breeding is successful) promised out to family and friends. We are very choosy as to who will get one. My brother in Maryland has requested one. He almost took a puppy from Maggie's litter 12 years ago, but chickened out at the last minute. He even arranged to fly back to Maryland with the puppy. This time, I expect I will have to drive to Kansas and meet him half-way to make the exchange. I would not want to ship a little puppy by air. Our neighbor with three children would like one, too. He has a fenced yard with lots of room for an active dog to roam and the kids seem very nice. The kids are patients in my practice. And, of course, I will keep a puppy, even if there is only one. Maggie is getting very old and does not tolerate the energy of the younger dog, so a new puppy will give her a break and be Lexi’s companion.

Having a litter of puppies is not something everyone should do. It is a lot of work, but those little Sheltie puppies are so darn cute. I held Herman from day one and he was the best dog ever. I really want to do that again - pick out my puppy, or better yet, have the puppy pick out me. Herman had chosen me.

My medical assistant called me over the weekend. One of her four dogs, all pit bulls, had a litter of eight puppies. This was an unplanned, but not unexpected pregnancy, since none of her dogs are spayed or neutered. We have never had any problems finding good homes for our Shelties, but a pit bull puppy, although cute, tends to grow into a very large, often cantankerous animal. Caesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, loves pit bulls. Any dog, given enough love and care, will become a long-time companion.

I hesitated breeding a dog again for several reasons. Knowing that there are lots of pets at the shelter, I thought about calling Sheltie Rescue. Many of those dogs have been traumatized or not carried for very well. If I was retired and home full-time, I would adopt an unwanted adult dog. Adopted dogs often do have well-established adult dog habits, and those habits may not be compatible with my other pets. I have two shelter cats; one belongs to my wife. The other cat belongs to Lexi. Yes, my dog has a cat. They love each other hang out most of the day. At night, Lexi sleeps in our room. The cat sleeps where ever she wants. If she happens to be outside, she will peer through the window and call for Lexi to come out. They take turns chasing each other to the point that Lexi can now climb up certain trees.

Conner and Lexi successfully bred (twice), so 63 days from now, we should be having a litter of puppies. I will be prepared with a new whelping box and changing my work schedule so we will be home with them for the first month so they will be well-socialized. We have hired our 15 year old granddaughter for the month of August to be the puppy-sitter. She is in 4H and is thrilled to participate. If I can arrange it, I would like to bring the puppies to a local nursing home so they can be handled by lots of people.

It has now been a week since the breeding and Lexi is doing well; enjoying the enhanced prenatal diet (she is now eating like a horse) and the extra exercise. Prenatal care is just as important for dogs as it is for people.

I will keep all of you posted.


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Farting Dogs

Bella and Gordy Photo: Rod Moser

I may have reached a new low on Blog topics, so I apologize in advance. As a lifelong dog-lover, I think this is a topic that should be discussed. I am not the only one that feels this way, either. When I put "dog farts" in my Google search engine, there were 340,000 citations. Much to my personal horror, some of those citations were videos! Anyone that has ever owned dogs know that dogs will occasionally clear a room with an eye-watering, gassy ripper. Sometimes the dogs are just blamed by a shifty-eyed man sitting next to him, but sometimes it IS the dog, or in my most recent experience...two dogs.

Dogs have similar gastrointestinal tracts as humans. They eat and intestinal bacteria try to digest and break the food down into fuel. Depending on what is eaten, some foods are just more-gassy. Foods high in sugars, carbohydrates, and slowly-digestible fibers can produce quite a bit of flatulence. Notorious in the gas department has always been beans, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, garlic, potatoes, brussel sprouts, milk/lactose, and even pasta. Most people have identified foods that react in this way. This is why we don't feed bean burritos to dogs (or Grandpa) or why it is not a good idea to eat a big bowl of chili before a job interview. Much of dry or even wet dog food has a lot of grains, and most grains fit this gassy category.

Other things that fill our intestinal tracks with gas would be carbonated beverages, eating too quickly, and aerophagia - the medical term for swallowing air. Stomach gas will come out as a belch (eructation), but some of this unwanted air will migrate into the intestinal track where it blends and mellows with the gassy products of digestion.

Gas expands at higher altitudes, so this explains why air travel often causes flatulence. Most questions that I get on the Ear, Nose, and Throat message board involved ear pressure with air travel; not farting. Even with my tinnitus and decreasing hearing, I still hear (and smell) an occasional fart on my travels. The culprits are usually sleeping (or pretending to be sleeping).

I had a farting dog when I was about twelve. He ate mostly what we ate, and his name was Casper - an albino boxer. Not only would he sleep on my bed and lie across my legs to the point I was dreaming I was paralyzed, he was a big farter. Because of that, he spent most of his time sleeping in our basement. My mother was not a big fan of dog farts.

I recently read a National Geographic article on whales and they discussed foul-smelling, whale-farts. On a trip to Baja two years ago, I personally experienced a few of those, although the Mexican tour guide looked a bit guilty in my opinion. There were no dogs around to blame.

So, everyone and every mammal will fart from time to time, although a significant percentage of the human population will deny it. When I was in medical training, I was horrified one day when the lecturing radiologist suddenly stops talking and let out one of the loudest intestinal explosions that I had every heard. Naturally, a fart causes a reaction, and in this case, the reaction was laughter.

"Why are you laughing? Flatus is a normal, human response", he said.

We knew that, of course, but we were not expecting a distinguished member of the medical community to fart in front of the entire class. I hope this is not going to be on the final. Throughout the semester, he would fart at least two to three times per class - loud ones - and pretty much getting the same class response. After a few weeks, we sort of got used to them. I did try to come to class early so I could get one of the cherished seats toward the back. It is one thing to hear a fart. I did not intend to have a multi-sensory experience.

I went to visit my new grandson for the first time this week. I will blog about that "First Encounter" on a separate post. It seems sacrilegious to talk about your grandson and farting dogs in the same story. My new grandson lives with his parents (of course), a cat, and two Boston Bull Terriers: Bella and Gordy, the Farting Dogs.

Babies fart all of the time, much to the amusement of older siblings. Working in medicine, especially pediatrics, I have become accustomed to these random acts of innocence. I have encountered some of the more noxious and odoriferous smells known to man, but these two dogs can quickly clear a room. I am not exaggerating. Not only are they very sociable; jumping all over you, they will randomly fart a dozen or more times every hour. It was unbelievable. I once read that dogs have a sense of smell a thousand times greater than man. If this is true, then why did they not seem to mind the stench?

Photo: Rod Moser

They have even taken the dogs to see veterinarian specialists to no avail. The dogs are on a special diet (including duck!) and take special anti-fart food additives. Nothing works. One of my son's proud possessions is an air purifier (one of those expensive ones that are not supposed to really work). I now know why he needs it. There are cans of room deodorizers all over the place, including special ones that are sold for dog farts. If these were my dogs, they would be eating activated charcoal, attached to a catalytic converter, or spending a considerable amount of time outdoors. This was a real learning experience for me.

Inhaling dog farts cannot be healthy, but surprisingly, they have not been proven to cause tumors or respiratory problems. Or, do they? My son was diagnosed a few days ago with left lower lobe pneumonia. Is there a connection? If people can try to blame autism on vaccinations, then I can claim that dog farts cause pneumonia. I worry about my little grandson. He does seem to cry a lot. Can we really catch something from dog farts (other than nausea, of course)?

Farts are composed mostly of nitrogen with a little carbon dioxide. The rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide. The flammable gases of methane and hydrogen are also produced in varying amounts. For those of you that have not witnessed the fine art of lighting a fart - a memorable experience from my undergraduate years - it does work. You can get a little blue flame, not unlike a gas stove. My son and his wife had a lot of perfumed candles burning. Hopefully, there will not be an explosion.

I only had one patient over the years that specifically made an appointment because of farting. She had one of the original intestinal bypass surgeries for weight loss and no one really warned her about foul-smelling flatulence as a side-effect. We were able to help her using bismuth subgallate. I suggested this as a remedy for the farting dogs, but I don't really know if this is safe or will even work.

Probiotics used to restore intestinal balance are the new buzz word at the natural food stores. Perhaps, probiotics or some combination of digestive enzymes will help these dogs. Again, I don't know. We use simethicone in babies (and adults) to control gas but I don't think this will help with the odor. Simethicone does make larger gas bubbles smaller, so maybe a smaller dog fart will be more tolerable. If these were my dogs (unlikely), I would be actively experimenting on finding a cure.

My son and his wife love their dogs (obviously). For the health of my new grandson, I will continue my research. Maybe I will call my congressman to see if the new economic stimulus package has funding for research in this area.

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Dogs in the Examining Room

"Maggie" Credit: Rod Moser

If you have been reading my Blog, you know how much I love dogs. I have two Shelties now and would love to have one more. With this brief preface, I would like to share an incident in my office last night.

By choice, I work 12-13 hour shifts, three days per week. I know that people do not just get sick from 8 to 5, and that working people and those in school during the day need options. I, on the other hand, like to have some days off during the week; hence, this is my schedule.

I walked into the examining room to see a 15 year old girl with ear pain. She was accompanied by an entourage of three siblings (all girls), a mother, and a puppy. The puppy was actively peeing on my floor; on two of my examining gowns placed on the floor to be exact. As I stood their in awe as the yellow stain leeched onto the floor below, the mother proudly announced that this puppy paper-trained himself. She picked up the dog urine-soaked gowns and attempted to put them on the top of the waste receptacle under the sink. That is, before I stopped her.

"You allowed your dog to pee on my floor, on my examination gowns?" She paused with that comment.

"Babies crawl on that floor. People often walk in their bare feet on that floor. While I admit that examining room floors are not the cleanest places for those activities, dog urine is really not wanted. I would respectfully ask you NEVER to do that again. I will have my nurse provide you with some supplies so you can properly clean up that mess."

I am usually easy-going and tolerate a great deal of (human) body fluids in those rooms. It is not unusual to see a geyser of urine stream from a little boy arching through the air toward a startled (new) parent. Those things are expected to happen. I find those amusing and we all help clean it up…properly, followed by some sanitation procedures that go on after the patient vacates the room. Had I not walked in on an actively peeing dog (!), I am sure that nothing would have been said. Microbiologically, I suspect dog urine (like most human urine) is pathogen-free, but it still has a significant "yuck" quality.

We have patients with service dogs all of the time. These canine companions are well-trained, usually better than the toddlers I see. The law permits service dogs in virtually any area, as it should be. This puppy was cute (all puppies are cute), but this was not a service dog. The dog made it past our front desk receptionist contained in a pet carrier. If it were 105 degrees outside, I would not have had an issue (other than the fact that a responsible dog owner should not even take a dog out in the car under those conditions), but it was raining and it was cool, and there were plenty of kids that could have watched that dog…in the carrier…in an isolated corner of the waiting room away from children that may have a dog dander allergy. If our office starts allowing or not actively prohibiting animals in the exam rooms, it will definitely get out of hand, I can assure you.

I stopped referring patients to a local podiatrist when more than one person told me that he had a free-range cat in the waiting room. Most patients (apparently) did not mind - perhaps cat-lovers and owners themselves, but I had a problem. Cats can carry all types of germs on their feet as they walk around in their litter boxes. Some of the worst infections I have treated involved cats in some way. Some cats also carry ringworm – a fungus that is actively treated by podiatrists when it is on the feet and between the toes. I guess this would be convenient.

"Lexi" Credit: Rod Moser

My first Sheltie was highly-socialized, even before she joined our family. The breeder would take the adult dogs (and puppies) to nursing homes to be petted and handled. It was good for the residents and definitely good for the dogs. I suspect that the breeder has a pee-policy. Nursing home residents are mostly adults and the facilities are a bit different than a medical waiting room used by persnickety new parents.

Puppies also poop. Dog poop, unlike urine, is teaming with microorganisms and even worms. Granted, one of my kids (sorry, Alex) happily ate a dog turd when he was little. He did not get sick and is now an engineer. I step on a lot of dog poop in my yard, but I am not going to start stepping on it at work.

If you really love your dogs, please don't force them into places they do not belong. I don't want to see them sitting in shopping carts when I am at the grocery store, or poking their heads out of bags/purses at the mall. I definitely do not want to see them panting in hot cars with a window cracked one-half an inch. I don't want to see big dogs in the back of a pick-up truck barking at startled people walking by, or even tied to the back of a pick-up truck flying down the freeway. I don't like my neighbor's unrestrained dogs chasing my car; and I don't want other dogs using my self-manicured lawn as public toilet. My little dogs are okay but not the neighbor's behemoth and his impressive mega-piles. And, I don' really want dogs in my waiting room peeing on the floor. I don't really want "extra", uncontrollable kids in the examination room, but I don't want parents leaving kids in the car with the windows cracked either.

"Herman" Credit: Rod Moser

I have told my wife that if I were dying in a hospital bed, I would want my dog, Herman, lying next to me. Unfortunately, that role was tragically reversed. Two years ago, I had to lie next to Herman when he was dying. Friends do that for each other.

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