mangey mutt...

So Gracie has had this red spot on her right temple for over a month, now. I just thought it was where she was brushing against the corner of the brick when coming in the back door from the yard. I've seen her do this quite a bit. We 'padded' the brick with duck tape and assumed it would heal and go away. About 2 weeks ago, a red spot similar to the one on her temple appeared on the top of her back foot. It is kind of up by her toes so I thought again, she must have scraped her foot. Well, last week one of the spots appeared on the back of her head. Since I'm fairly sure it would be difficult for even her to scrape the back of her head on something, I knew it was time to see the vet.
We've gradually transferred her care to Dr. Kevin Marcum in Frisco. We love him and he is so good with her and 'the twins', Maggie and Miley. He took one look at it and said that '4 letter' word that I was afraid of...mange. It just sounds ugly! The good news is that it is demodex and not sarcoptic. For those of you not educated in the matters of mange (as I was prior to our introduction to sarcoptic mange with Tucker, another weim puppy we fostered), demodex is the the lesser of two evils. Sarcoptic is contagious and makes the dog miserable...at least it did to Tucker. That poor little guy's tummy was bright red, had bumps all over it and he just scratched and whined all weekend til we could get to the vet. Then we had to treat M & M and worry about the girls because it's apparently transferable from dog to human.
Anyway, demodex is fairly easy to treat and not contagious. Dr. Marcum invited me back to see 'them' in the microscope following him scraping the red spots on Gracie. Really? I'm game...I've always been interested in the weird and gross stuff. I love the Discovery Health Channel and this can't be any worse than that. I go look and as I'm walking back to the exam room, I notice I've begun to itch...
So Gracie is on an antibiotic and another med that we apply topically (much like Frontline) to her back between the shoulder blades and lower back. The topical goes on once a week for 3 weeks and it really smells! My car smelled like that for several days.
Other than that, she's doing great! We weighed her and she is now 32.6 pounds! Which explains why my arms were asleep by the time I got her out of the car and into the vet's office. We are definitely going to have to get going on her training. I can't keep carrying her if she is unsure of the surface she is walking on. And we are definitely going to have to figure out a way to get her comfortable with jumping into the car on her own. But again, not sure if she would be able to do this considering the weakness in her back legs. We'll see... Anybody know of a trainer or behavioralist that has actually worked with a blind dog? I'd love to talk to them.
That's it for now...Gracie sends sloppy kisses to all of you! :o)

video of gracie playing...

This is such a cute video of Princess Gracie. She got out in the rain and just started running circles around all of us. She was prancing and splashing in the puddles and just jumping around. Plus, this shows how she picks up her hind legs together when she is running full speed.
Remember too, she is blind and manages to not run into one thing in our front yard...and they say my gray girl has brain damage. My dogs with sight run into things all the time!
...talk to the hand...

the inevitable...

Well, I've used about every excuse possible to get out of writing this post so I guess I just need to get it over with. We went to the neurologist a couple of weeks ago and had Gracie evaluated. This was a much less emotional visit than the ophthalmologist and David was with me so I was well-prepared. I think I knew in the back of my mind what the results would show. Gracie does have neurological damage. It's not so much the fact that she has the damage...that I can deal with. We know Gracie and how she is. We are fine with the way she is and wouldn't change a hair on her. It's more the fact that we don't know definitively what happened to her before WRNT rescued her. That is the truly frustrating part. The doctor would ask us a question about Gracie and at least half of them we couldn't answer because we just don't know. When we were talking about the seizure that her former owner said she had but we aren't even sure if she had one. The doctor asked if she has had any more...no. Well, that is apparently good. The longer she goes without one, the better. Plus, the fact that she has steadily been improving since we got her is also good. However, apparently some seizures don't start until after they turn 1. So, long story short, we just wait and see. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that since having Gracie. David and I were told "wait and see" when she was first pulled from the shelter and we didn't know if she would be able to make the trip from Houston to Dallas. We were told "wait and see" when we didn't know if she would make it out of her anemic state of weakness and just survive. We were told "wait and see" if she has neurological damage until after she regains her health and strength. We were told "wait and see" when we were unsure if she would regain any of her sight. I'm such a solution-oriented person and this does not compute! Give me a problem and I will figure out a way to solve it on my own or 'google' an answer. But God gave me a lesson in humility and acceptance when he plopped that scrawny gray puppy in my lap. I can't fix Gracie. I have nursed her back to health and shown her what a good life can be in a loving family. But there are problems that I can't solve. I can't make her see again although the thought of her being able to put faces with voices brings tears to my eyes. I can't fix the damage done in her brain. These are the things that I have both accepted yet still hold out hope that something will change. On the one hand, I can accept that she is blind and has the symptoms that go along with neuro issues. What I can't accept is that, in this modern world, there isn't something that can be done to help her. Or why something wasn't done to prevent this from happening in the first place. Both of which I had/have absolutely NO control over! Remember, the ophthalmologist said that he was sure she wasn't born blind. If only... I won't even go there.
Enough lamenting...
Here are the facts from neuro: her circling, weakness in hind legs, clumsiness/falling over are all attributable to the brain damage that she sustained early in her life. We can't tell she has an abnormal gait until she runs full speed. She will start pulling both hind legs up at the same time when running fast. I think she looks like a jackrabbit. She will more than likely not regain her sight, although she does have some ability to distinguish light from dark and is responsive to light. We are unsure of the weakness in her hind legs. I would love to say that we can build her strength but we just don't know. She will probably always do, to some degree, her 'Gracie Circles'. But then again, would she be Gracie without the Gracie Circles?

gracie's weim tail debut...

Video of Princess Gracie's newly docked tail. She looks like a real Weim now!

gracie singing video...

Now that Gracie has discovered here 'voice', she is using it all the time. She barks when the big dogs bark at something. She can be in the back part of the house and Maggie and Miley are at the front of the house barking at someone on the sidewalk and she will start barking just to be part of the group. Obviously, her hearing is more sensitive since she is blind so sometimes she hears things that M & M don't and she will start her barking. David will make noises and she just cocks her head to the side with her 'gracie stare'.
Recently, she has started to howl and it is the cutest thing! Her little mouth makes an 'o' and she just sticks her head straight up in the air. LOVE IT!! This video is just a sampling of the 'music' we hear in the Walker home every day.

Gracie 'drinking' water...

No one could ever say that Gracie does anything half-heartedly. With her usual enthusiasm, this video shows you how Gracie likes to 'dive' into her water while drinking. It's even worse when she is hot and thirsty. She will put her entire nose under water while drinking. Then, she tries to breathe and gets a nose full of water which, in turn, triggers a round of sneezing. Once that is done, she's right back at it for round two. Oh, and don't even get me started on the amount of water that is dribbled, coughed up, flung around and spilled onto my floor/walls/self. :o) This video doesn't even show her doing her finest work!
...all in a day's work for a Weim!

the eyes have it...

Well, today was our tiny gray girl's appointment with the ophthalmologist (notice the extra 'h' and 'l'? I've been misspelling it all along!). I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was a bittersweet experience. I had tears in my eyes more than once for several different reasons, and maybe some I don't even know.
First of all, let me say that Dr. Studer was incredibly knowledgeable and nice. He was gentle with Gracie and didn't rush her through the testing. He took time to explain things to me and answer my questions. The Animal Ophthalmology Clinic is on Trinity Mills and the Tollway and is basically a 3 story building with all kinds of veterinary specialists housed there. I never knew we had all of that available to us! Good to know for future reference. Anyway, at first I thought that the entire building surely couldn't be all for animals but judging by the occasional pile of poop (of which some had been stepped in and tracked) I figured only animal people would allow that. Don't get me wrong, it was exceptionally clean and free of animal 'odors'. They just had some accidents on the main crosswalk to the parking lot. Apparently, the owners of those dogs missed the 'Please walk your dog on the grass' sign. Anyway, I digress...again...
Gracie and I went to the second floor, which was her first ride in an elevator. She was a little scared but did great. I had to carry her in or it would have taken us forever. She's still learning to trust us on a leash and when we are in new terrain, she is especially cautious on where she is walking. And if you attempt to encourage her by pulling gently on the leash, she just locks up her front legs and leans back; refusing to go anywhere. Once again proving that Princess Gracie likes to do things at her own pace and prefers that they be her idea and not ours. I guess in a way, you have to be somewhat passive aggressive when you have a handicap you are coping with. After finding out she weighed 30.5 pounds, I didn't feel so bad that my arms were tired after carrying her from the car to the office on the 2nd floor! Our tiny girl isn't so tiny anymore!
She wandered a little in the office but she knows that if she hovers in front of me enough, I'll pick her up. So there I am, trying to fill out paperwork with a 30 pound Weim on my lap. Oh, and all the way in from the parking lot, at the elevator and in the office, we heard the usual 'oohs and awes'. She just eats that up! This girl can work a crowd! Oh, and I did get asked if she was going to grow into those ears...I'm not thinking so. They just keep growing with her and that's one of the things I love about her!
The girl that takes us back to the exam room knows our rescue well. She said she sees us at all the dog events she attends (yay for WRNT!) and that she thinks we do great work (yay for WRNT!). Then she asked if the small female with the crooked spine was doing well. I told her yes, Dollie is alive and thriving in the home of one of our volunteers. And, not only did she have a home, she actually had two since Pam and her daughter share her. It's SO nice to meet people in the healthcare field who actually remember patients and are interested in how they are doing.
Sorry, got off track...
That girl and another assistant performed a few tests on Gracie and then took history from me about her blindness. I told her we had very limited information and explained the story we all know too well. When Dr. Studer came in, he listened to the story again and asked a few questions, most of which I didn't know the answer since we've only had her a short time. He explained that he would do his exam and then discuss the findings with me. Long story short, he did multiple tests with the room lights on and off. He spent a lot of time looking into her eyes and testing her reflexes. By this time, my 'nervous mommy' feeling in the pit of my stomach is kicking in and I'm tearing up. I just want the best for Gracie and it's frustrating not to know what that is.
He finishes up and sits down (can you believe that?! he actually has time to sit and talk to me!) to share his results and opinion. I realize I'm holding my breath and getting light-headed so I'm having to remind myself to breathe. He tells me that Gracie's eyes are in perfect health. Her eyes have everything they need to function normally. I'm holding my breath again...breathe...this could be really good or really bad... He said that it's something behind her eyes, either the optic nerve or something (here comes my least favorite word when it comes to Gracie) neurological. He can't say what because he doesn't know enough about that area of medicine but he can say that her eyes are in perfect health. I asked about her not flinching when he put his hand to her eyes and he explained that that reflex isn't a good indicator at her age because it doesn't really start functioning in puppies until they are about 6 months old. And then he said, "I can definitely say she wasn't born blind." (There went my theory.) Not sure why, but that stirred up some emotions and I teared up again! It's so frustrating when you are trying to be an adult in a situation and your emotions get in the way. I guess it just makes me more angry to think her blindness might have been prevented.
Anyway, I can tell he has more to say and seems reluctant to say it. He basically tells me that we should have her evaluated for neurological damage. Can your heart sink and break at the same time? Dr. Studer has concerns about her circling behavior and abnormal gait. He called it ataxia. From my limited medical knowledge, I know that this means lack or coordination and balance. Due to my Type A / obsessive-compulsive personality tendencies, I have spent time today researching ataxia on the internet, specifically in dogs. It was a little unsettling to read about some things that Gracie does...her high-stepping walk, tight circling, wobbly gait, falling over when turning sharp corners, weakness in hind legs and slipping on smooth surfaces... We had been attributing much of this to her physical weakness and recovery early on and lately, her being a gangly and uncoordinated Weim puppy. After all, it's been 10 years since Maggie was a puppy and we can't remember HOW uncoordinated she was. But judging by the reading I've done today, Maggie was not this uncoordinated. Don't take this wrong. It's not like she can't stand or is falling over constantly. She is just basically weak in her hind legs.
So now I'm half listening to the doctor because my head is spinning all of this information around and trying to make the pieces fit together in some logical way. He mentioned something about "needing to know where she is neurologically for placement purposes". Placement? God has already 'placed' her where she needs to be. More talk and then something about seizures. What? She hasn't had any since we have had her. But then out of all that talk soup comes something I can wrap my heart around..."the neurologist can tell you if there is anything that can be done to improve her sight". This is too much to hope for and not even neccessary but would nonetheless be another miracle to add to this crazy journey!!! He did not say that she would, or might, ever get complete sight back. But the thought of her getting anything back and being that much more independent makes me smile.

opthamologist update...

Nothing to report on this front. We missed the appointment!!!
I had made a Thursday appointment and David asked if I could change it to Friday so that he could go. This sounded good to me, another person to help remember what the doctor said. I'm always up for that. Anyway, apparently I had already made the schedule change in my mind because I was all set to go on Friday. Problem was, I hadn't called to change the appointment with the opthamologist's office. As David and I are deciding when to leave on Friday morning, we look at the calendar to double check the time of the appointment and realize we've missed it completely. Frustrated does not begin to describe the feeling!
Long story short, David talked to them and we are scheduled (again) for this week. As always, I will post any information we receive!

Gracie 'tries' out swimming...

As the title suggests, this was an attempt at introducing Gracie to the water. Although not a complete failure...she does have the doggie paddle instinct...she made aqua circles. She did not seem scared, just a little overwhelmed. We had taken her to David's brother's house since he has a pool. We were thinking this would be a quiet environment where we could test her level of comfort. I guess we forgot that we have 2 children who are definitely not the quiet type. They, along with our 2 nieces and their 4 month old lab, made for a loud pool party. The lab loves the water, obviously, and tends to jump on people when they are in the water. By now, I'm playing the nervous mother role really well and just waiting for the screams from my girls when Buddy jumps on Gracie. This is why this responsibility was left in the hands of David. I did not even venture out onto the patio to watch or video the spectacle. Sorry... David is not in the water very long with her when he brings her back to me looking very much like a drowned rat, albeit a very cute one! She was unsure at first so David held her and took her out into the water. She had the paddle thing down so he let go. He said all she would do is her 'Gracie circles' in the water. The pool was a little busy for him to really try to work with her so he took her out.
The poor girl was worn out! Buddy, the lab puppy, had been trying to get to her all day. He's not aggressive but reminds me of a bull in a china store. He would not leave her alone. He slimed her several times, tried to mount her repeatedly and nearly sniffed all of the fur off my little girl's body. I am trying to be positive and look at all of this as an experiment in the socialization of Gracie but I can't help but 'save' her and pick her up when it gets to be constant and a little much. She was really very docile and submissive. She would just roll over when he was pushing into her. I'm not too sure I want her to be like that. I'd like for her to 'stick up' for herself just a little bit. I probably worry too much about her but, in a way, she will always be that tiny little gray girl we nursed back to health.

video of Gracie's journey (so far)...

Hi all...I know it's been awhile and I do apologize. Last week was the first week of school and let me just say it was 'eventful'. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. We are all fine and the girls made it to the 2nd week of school and that's all that matters...right? :o) I'm back on track now and Gracie has been busy! She is into everything and getting quite bold in her adventures. Last night I had her out in the front yard with us while the girls were riding bikes. Miss Gracie decides she is bored with the front yard and takes off trotting down the street! She has no fear, which is good and bad. But I'll have to get into that later. I wanted to at least post this video slideshow of Princess Gracie. I made it for the Weim & Cheese event and have just now gotten it up on You Tube. It tells her story from when WRNT (and us) got her until now. I apologize that some of the slides with writing go by fast, we were under a time constraint and my original selection of music didn't work out so we had to compromise. Just pause the video, they are worth the read.
I'll post more later about Gracie's latest adventures and her upcoming trip to the opthamologist so tune in...