Amazing Grace ~ Weimaraner Rescue of Texas

Don't ask if you don't want to know...

2011-04-27T08:24:00.002-05:00

So we've been to the vet and I have to say, GETTING to the vet is as stressful, if not more, as anticipating what the vet will say. Gracie does NOT like riding in the car. If you even try to pick her up in the front of the house, she goes immediately into her 'defensive stance'...front legs braced straight out with her entire body leaning as far back as possible (plus she is completely dead weight at that point). With her not being so tiny anymore (60+ pounds!), it makes for an interesting show for anyone watching. You also can't leave the car running because she automatically thinks you are going to put her in it and will assume the 'defense stance'. For a dog with neuro damage, she's pretty smart! :o) I finally get her in the car, all the while stressing because I'm now running late due to her antics, and we are on our way. She used to just lay wherever you put her, which was great. Now, however, she thinks she should stand up and rearrange herself. This isn't the best idea when you can't see and compensate for things like turns and braking/accelerating. I had put the seats down so she could be behind me and I could reach around to pet her. Not a good idea. She nearly fell between the seats. Mental note to self...put seats up for ride home; she can get all the petting she needs at home. Safety first! :o)
We get there and I'm trying to wrangle her up the steps to the vet's office (not the best plan for a vet's office, but it's in an old house, what can you do?) and almost fell myself because of her flailing around. I'm sure when I got in the door, people in the there were wondering why I looked so winded. If they only knew.

Anyway, after giving the vet all of the dirt on what's been happening, he says he's not surprised that she's started having seizures. He also said that for every seizure we see, there is one that we haven't seen. That breaks my heart. We had gotten Gracie her shots the weekend before and he said that would be her last set of yearly shots. Apparently, stress can bring on her seizures and the vaccinations are stressful to her system, especially when they are given all at once. From now on, she will get rabies every 3rd year. On the other 2 years, she will get distemper in one and parvo in the other. Bordatella is safe for every year as it goes under the skin and not directly into the bloodstream. Apparently, depending on where you live, the rabies vaccination can be good for 3 years and luckily, we are in a safe area. Plus, he is willing to write us a letter about the reasoning behind this if ever needed. Of course we have considered the pros and cons of not vaccinating her regularly. Without yearly vaccs, we can not take Gracie to dog parks and other dog-frequented places as she will be immune-compromised. Plus, we won't be able to foster any other Weims while she is with us (not a problem now, as 3 dogs is our limit, but would have in the future). Not sure how this will play out but the risk of increasing the frequency and severity of her seizures isn't something we are willing to do. We won't be starting any medication now as her seizures are relatively mild. She doesn't lose control of her bowels or become incontinent (a blessing!) when she seizes and they last under 2 minutes. They are also spaced well. The meds given have side effects and one of the main ones is liver damage. Given her age, barely 2 years, we do not want to start damaging her liver now. So, we wait. He said eventually we will have to start medications but we are hopeful that that will be on down the road. For now, we are to keep her as stress-free as possible. (Really, he obviously doesn't know how good the Walker Weims have it!!!) Gracie would be happy to know that she now only has to get in the car to go see the vet! Unfortunately, she won't be able to attend any more Weim Rescue events since there are so many dogs there (not to mention the stress that puts on her). I'm sad about that because I love to show others just one of the awesome happy endings that organization makes possible!!

So that's that. Which brings me to the title of this post... In my infinite (or dumb) curiosity, I asked him if Gracie will live a normal lifespan for a Weim. He said no. He said with neurological damage, it will start to show itself in different ways as she gets older and basically get worse. At some point, we will have to make a decision regarding her quality of life. NOT what I wanted to hear. But, for now, her quality of life is damn good and we are going to keep it that way for as long as possible! Prayers are always welcome for Miss Gracie. Thank you so much for all your well wishes and comments. She is truly lucky to have all of you behind her! God Bless! :o)

The Way It Works...

2011-04-18T10:41:00.003-05:00

Isn't it funny the way it works? We reach out to those who care in times of trouble or need. We don't call or write (or blog) when things are going great. We get caught up in 'life' and stay wrapped up in our day to day patterns until something throws a curve ball at us. Well, Gracie's pitching up a storm at our home! She has started having seizures. We were told by the neurologist that the further out we got from her 1 year birthday, the more chance she had to live her life free of seizures. A little background, in case you forgot, Gracie had a seizure shortly after being strangled by a wire and had oxygen loss to her brain. She bit off a little chunk of her upper lip on either side of her mouth during the seizure. You can see it if you look closely at her pictures. To us, it's just a part of what makes Gracie look like Gracie. Anyway, we were thinking we, and more importantly, Gracie, had finally had some good luck and weren't going to have to deal with seizures. This was obviously not part of God's plan for Gracie and, as usual, we will take His plan and work with it the best we know how. Now, for the details. David thought she might have had one in November (hindsight always brings more to light) but he hadn't seen it so he wasn't sure. He told me she came into the living room and seemed disoriented and acted strange. It passed and with so much of Gracie's behavior, we chalked it up to the 'Neuro Damage' (we pin alot on that! :o). Nothing happened again until March. On March 13, she was sleeping on Sydney's bed with her and at about 11pm we heard a loud crash. When we got to Syd's room, Gracie was on the floor but was not seizing. She had fallen off of the bed. She was foaming at the mouth and panting. She was also pretty disoriented and restless. We got her in the living room but she wouldn't lay down. She wanted to walk around and kept panting for about 5 more minutes. I documented this on the calendar and prayed she had just been dreaming and managed to fall off the bed. On April 2nd, I was in bed reading at about 11pm and heard muffled thumping through the wall. I immediately thought she was having a seizure and ran to Addie's room where she was sleeping on the bed with her. David was already there with her and had witnessed the end of the seizure. She had managed to move from the foot of the bed up to the head of the bed. Again, more foaming at the mouth, panting and restlessness. After we get her calmed down, she sleeps hard for the rest of the night. There was no denying this one had been a seizure and definitely made us think the other incident had been one, too. Again, I was praying it was a fluke since we had only witnessed one true seizure but this weekend she seemed to have something happen. It was late at night again but she actually came out into the living room. She didn't seem nearly as disoriented as before but did have some foam around her mouth and was panting. The decision was made then to take her to the vet today. We are going at 2pm so keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I will let you all know what he says. More thank likely, she will need to be on meds for awhile, if not for the rest of her life. David and I look on the bright side...we don't really have to go through testing to find out why she is having seizures. With her health history, it's a wonder she hasn't had them sooner. I was just really hoping our tiny gray girl (who isn't so tiny anymore!) wouldn't have this additional issue to deal with. But, we know she is in God's hands and that he has a plan for her. This picture is of Miley and Gracie. Gracie is the one in the top of the picture. She has gotten big...about 60 pounds now. They are always together. Miley looks after her and Gracie seems to take alot of cues from Miley. They are a pair!

the long haul...

2010-06-10T10:29:00.002-05:00

Well, we've been back to the dermatologist for a re-check. She agreed that the sores looked worse and did a cytology tape to look at what is in the sores. Gracie has alot of staph and the yeast infection is back. I love this doc because she writes a discharge LETTER. It is so detailed and complete in diagnosis and instructions. So, here is Gracie's official diagnosis (alot of big words, some of which I'm familiar with now, thanks to Google):

Malassezia dermatitis (moderate) - relapsed of Keto
Interdigital folliculitis/furunculosis (deep pyoderma)
culture showed S. intermedius with minimal resistance
Open for pruritus / predisposing factor for infection
Differentials: Atopic dermatitis more likely. Food allergy less likely.
Tape Cytology reveals clusters of cocci bacteria and a relapse of Malassezia (cluster of 6-10 found).

Dr. Liska changed her meds and they are now as follows:
1) Restarting Ketoconazole - this is for the yeast infection
2) Doxycycline - this antibiotic replaces the Cephalexin
3) Pentoxifylline - this is the anti-scar tissue med
4) Prednisone - steroid to reduce inflammation and give her some comfort

We are on the antibiotic and Keto for awhile. Everything I've read says the treatment with antibiotics is long term to completely get rid of the bacteria. I didn't really want to do another round of steroids, but it is a short course and we are doing them to make Gracie comfortable. I can't stand to see her in pain and she was. In fact, with just 3 doses in her, I'm seeing improvement in the inflammation. She's not favoring her front paw anymore. That alone is worth being on steroids again.
We are continuing the epsom salts baths 2X/day. Poor Gracie is about done with standing in the tub for 10 minutes per soak. She is all legs EVERYWHERE when you are putting her in the tub but settles down pretty quickly. Then, she is very patient and just stands there. After about 5 minutes, she starts to whine and whimper a little bit. We pet her and talk to her the whole time so that helps. We aren't doing the benzoyl soap for a few days because it was stinging when I put it on. Another challenge with giving her medications...she has become a spoiled brat about her food. She often refuses to eat her dry food unless something is mixed in with it. At first, warm water would work, but now she is holding out for better things...like little pieces of chicken or hamburger. If she doesn't want to 'settle' for the dry kibble, she will stand at her bowl and bark 2 times. She waits and if you don't respond, she barks 2 times again. This can go on and on and on. She is very patient. Yes, I've created this monster...just like David said.

I've started to write down everything just to keep up with it all. When you've got 2 people caring for her, med administration / foot soaking can get confusing! Plus, I'm keeping track of how her feet look day to day so the doc has a good idea of how the meds are working and when there are changes. Dr. Liska kept asking questions about 'when'...when Gracie was off the antibiotics, when the sores came back, when she got back on meds... She can't help us if we can't give her good information, so this is my solution. I'm sure David thinks I'm going overboard, but this is the best way I know of to keep track of all this information. He suggested we get a pill box dispenser and put her meds in that. It's a great idea, so I'll be picking one of those up today!

Anyway, this is getting long and I'm sure you all have things to do other than listen to me ramble. I really want to get some good pictures of Gracie to post. She's gotten so big! She's still on the smaller side of the breed standard, which is fine with us. She's a petite little girl. I'm assuming that might be due to her being so malnourished and ill when she was so young. I'll get some pictures soon and post them. Maybe even a video of Miss Gracie!
Ya'll take care!

Gracie needs some prayers...

2010-06-10T03:57:00.006-05:00

First of all, let me apologize for the length of time between posts. I'm really trying to keep up but 'life' keeps interrupting! So, unfortunately this post is not great news. We have been dealing with this issue since last fall, but recently it has gotten alot worse. It started with a couple of toes on her front paw being swollen. The way she bumps into things and uses her front paw as a 'feeler', we just figured she had hit it on something. This progressed to sores in between her toes and a few of them opening. Over the months, we have been to our vet 3 times and done several rounds of steroids and tried a couple of different antibiotics. Finally, he sent us to a dermatologist...ironically enough, just one floor up from the opthamologist we went to see last year!

Anyway, Dr. Liska at the Animal Dermatology Referral Clinic was AWESOME! She doesn't think it's an allergy so we aren't doing all the allergy testing, which I hear is expensive, unless we have to. Dr. Liska came back with a diagnosis of Interdigital Folliculitis and also Malassezia Dermatitis. The folliculitus is what we are fighting. It causes scar tissue the longer you have it and is deep in the tissue of her paw, making it harder to fight off. Her having it on her feet is also making it worse because there isn't alot of room in the tissue there to swell. So any swelling is causing issues for her. Dr. Liska took a sample from some of the open sores and sent it to a lab in Arizona to be cultured. This was supposed to take 1 week but it took 2. The reasoning behind doing this was to find out what drugs the infection was resistant to and what would kill it. She had put her on Cephalaxin as a starter antibiotic with the thought that if it wasn't responsive, we would switch her, but if it worked then we would be ahead of the game. She is concerned about Gracie being resistant to some antibiotics since she's been on so many. The bacteria came back responsive to the Cephalaxin so we are supposed to be on this as a long term treatment...like 2 months. We are also putting her on an anti-scar tissue med. We've also been doing 10 minute soaks in Epsom Salts and washing her feet with a benzoyl soap. You can imagine how much she loves that! Last night she kept trying to sit down while standing in the tub soaking and every time she did her butt would touch the water and she stood right back up. Funny, but sad, too!

So, it initially went away (just like every other time) but came back because we were off the antibiotic for several days while waiting for the culture results. Back on them now but they are still swollen and some are open. And, yes, it is painful to her. She favors the front paw that has had the most problems and holds it up alot. The skin has split in one area due to the swelling, I think. I've got a call in to Dr. Liska on what we can do at this point. Just needing some good thoughts for my little girl. We are coming up on a year since her arrival in our hearts and home and I really thought we were done with all the medical issues!

a month of 'firsts'...

2010-01-26T03:49:00.004-06:00

After all of the fun we had with the broken toe, we got to see Gracie have alot of 'firsts'...first Thanksgiving, first snow, first boarding, first Christmas... All of them were so special, knowing where she came from and just how much she has overcome to get this far.
I've mentioned how heightened her smell is due to her lack of sight. Well, Thanksgiving brought so many new smells (all of the interesting ones relating to food) for Gracie and she couldn't contain herself! We deep-fried the turkey in the backyard so no dogs were allowed out there while the oil was even remotely hot. I mean, come on!...my dogs are known for getting into everything at exactly the wrong time. That was not a risk I was prepared to take! So all weims were taken to the front yard to relieve themselves. We also had ham baking along with all the usual sides so our little gray girl was spending a ton of time in the kitchen with her nose high in the air! She attempted to counter-surf several times and almost pulled plates of food off of the counter a few times due to the way she just throws her legs up at the counter but can't really plan where they are going to land. It's quite comical to watch!
Anyway, she got to taste all the good stuff and was so excited! Her sisters, Miley and Maggie, sat nearby...drooling...and they got their samples, too. All in all, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving. We all talked about what it was we were thankful for this year and while I am always thankful for my family, this year I had one more thing on my mind. David and I were given a very special addition to our family...Gracie. We wouldn't have sought out a handicapped dog but apparently God knew our home is where she belonged...long before we did. I thought about the first time I saw her and how I felt a pull towards her. The picture of her didn't show how bad off she really was. Her body was so tiny that her head managed to hide it in the picture. She looked pitiful and, most of all, tired. No living creature, human or otherwise, should look that tired at such a young age. I just knew that if I could get my hands, and love, on her she would be fine. And while she is not a 'normal' dog, she is just Gracie to us and that is all we will ever expect her to be.
So...upon further reflection...I guess we have one last thing to be thankful for this year. The Weim Rescue, because without it, I wouldn't have found Princess Gracie and she probably wouldn't have survived.
Thank you, WRT, your work is so important. Please keep saving those that can't save themselves.

P.S. The picture in this post is of Gracie after Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm guessing she had too much turkey? :o)

toe update...

2010-01-26T03:04:00.005-06:00

First of all, I want to apologize for my lack of posts. As I'm sure all of you were, I was focused on my family during the holidays. So, now that things are back to normal, I can catch you all up on the Walker Weims!
Gracie was a fairly decent patient throughout the splinting of her broken toe. She didn't chew on the bandage hardly at all but she pulled it off by scraping her foot against the ground (like a bull) MULTIPLE times. Plus, it was rainy for several of the weeks when she was wearing it so we had a couple of instances of her soaking the bandage with her constant running in the yard. Now, keep in mind the vet charged about $28 per wrapping so I was not going to keep paying for them to re-wrap it every time there was a problem. So, I gave myself a lesson in splinting and did pretty well! I ended up re-wrapping it several times and we finally stopped wrapping about a week short of the target date. She just kept getting them off and it was getting pretty expensive. Plus, a couple of the times she managed to get the wrap off, it was when we weren't there so she had been running around with the toe unsplinted so we figured any damage was already done. Gracie wasn't favoring that foot anymore, either.
Gracie is 100% again and going full speed!

the broken toe...

2009-11-18T04:16:00.005-06:00

So first thing Tuesday morning, Gracie and I were at the vet's office for her bandaging. The vet showed me the x-ray, which clearly showed a fracture in her toe. It started as a hairline on the outside and then curved straight up to the joint and on that end was a complete split in the bone through to the joint. Granted, this was all magnified like 75 times, so it looked much bigger than it was. But still, it was definitely broken.
Short term reality... 4-6 weeks to heal with a pressure bandage on it to keep it stabilized. No splint because it is so low in the leg that we would risk another break from her trying to walk with the splint. Tramadol pain killers for 4 days (yay!) and then anti-inflammatory meds. Stopped the Prednisone and added a calcium-rich supplement to help with the bone healing. Still on the antibiotic. Bandage on most of that leg with instructions to keep it dry and Gracie calm (really?! that should be interesting). Oh, and we have to keep her from messing with the bandages. That should be REALLY interesting. When they brought her back to me after bandaging her leg, she wouldn't put it down and kept pawing the air, occasionally hitting herself in the chin while doing this. She was biting at the bandage, too. Poor thing has no idea what is on her leg and was trying to shake it off.
Long term reality... She could develop arthritis in the joint that the break affected later in life. One more thing to add to her list.

We got home and I was quick to get the pain pill in her so that she would settle down a little bit and sleep, especially since I had worked the night before and was on again that night. The quicker she sleeps, the quicker I sleep.
She was biting and tearing at the bandage later in the afternoon. She does not like it and was determined to get it off. She has torn pieces of the purple bandage off already. We've tried spraying some bitter apple on it with no success...doesn't seem to phase her. We are trying desperately to keep her out of the 'cone of shame', aka the E-collar. If we do have to use something to keep her away from it, I'm thinking we will try the donut (a version of the E-collar but it is only an inflatable ring around the neck).

So that's where we are. Poor Gracie has only one good leg right now but she is a trooper. She's not letting it slow her down too much. Please pray for her to heal safely and quickly.

the beginning of a long relationship...

2009-11-17T05:23:00.002-06:00

I knew with 3 Weims that David and I would have a larger than average vet bill. This week was the start of that.
David was walking Gracie last week and accidently stepped on her right front foot. This is nearly impossible to keep from doing as she is ALWAYS underfoot! Anyway, when he got back home, he noticed that her toe was bleeding. On further inspection, we noticed it was inflamed around one of the toenails. I remembered that this was the foot that had been bitten by fire ants so we decided to have it looked at. That was Wednesday. I made an appointment for Friday afternoon.
On Thursday, she began limping on her front left leg. David and I couldn't remember her doing anything to that leg but decided to have the vet check it out while she was there on Friday. I couldn't go to the vet appointment due to a prior committment. I'm sure David was not looking forward to this because no matter how many questions he asks, I've always got a couple more that didn't get asked. $230 later, he comes home with Prednisone, an antibiotic and a receipt for the x-ray of her left leg they did and kept in her file. Her toe was infected but easily fixed with the meds they put her on. The poor little girl had a fever, though! While drilling him with questions, he said we didn't see our vet and that another vet in the practice had worked on Gracie. Automatic suspician on my part. I want anyone dealing with her to have all the info on her background. David gave her the short version and we are thinking she just zoned in on the 'neuro damage' he mentioned. She was all too willing to contribute the limping the neurological issues Gracie has. We were skeptical, since this had come up suddenly, but were willing to give the steroid a try. The vet read the x-ray and said nothing was broken. The film included the entire leg.
On Saturday, I decided to leave the princess at home with her medical issues and took Miley instead to a rescue event. I got home after 1pm and David said the limping was worse and she was spending alot of time sleeping or laying down. Mommy instinct kicks in and the worry level goes up. We agree to wait til Monday and see how she does. By Sunday morning, she is non weight-bearing on that leg. Poor Gracie has enough trouble with weak back legs due to neuro issues, but now she only has one good leg since the left front is hurt. It was pitiful to watch. David noticed that her outside toe was swollen and VERY tender to touch. She did not like us touching it. We left her alone and decided to call the vet back in the morning and let them figure out what to do.
David called yesterday morning and told them all that we had noticed. The vet FINALLY called him back late in the afternoon and said we could bring her back in. David told her about the swollen toe and asked if she would just review the x-ray one more time to be sure nothing showed up. She said, AGAIN, that she hadn't seen anything but that she would look again and call us back. She all but said we would be paying for another office visit, which we felt was wrong. She did seem to bear a little more weight on it Monday so we decided to wait until Tuesday morning. We just kept thinking that if it wasn't broken, there must be a pulled muscle and that only time would heal that. Well, the vet called back and stated that on further review, that Gracie DID, in fact, have a broken toe! She said for us to bring her back in this morning and that they would look at it again and splint it and make sure she was comfortable.
As for how she did this? Not completely sure, but David said he did hear a loud thump and her yelp in the hall earlier in the week. There is a 'doorway' in the hallway that has juts out into the hallway. We are thinking she brushed it with her foot, not seeing it, and bent the toe back. That's our best guess. I'm sure we are in for more of this as she grows. I've always thought about getting pet insurance but hadn't done it yet. Guess what I'm researching this week?

And so our long relationship with Gracie's vet begins...

more gracie antics...

2009-11-17T04:36:00.002-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! Time gets away from me and now the holidays are upon us. Gracie's first fall, winter and holiday season. I can't tell you how many leaves she's eaten. I'm just thankful she hasn't discovered acorns, because they are all over our front yard.
I took her with me to a WRNT event a couple of weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised at how big and spacious the park was where the event was located. There was a large open area amongst the trees that was perfect for Gracie to run around in. She was definitely in need of burning off some energy due to all the rain. Our yard has been a swamp and every time we let her out, she comes back in just caked with mud. Not a fun thing to bathe her either...she does NOT like baths! She had mud splattered all over the bathroom and me. Anyway, Gracie and Frick had lots of fun playing at the event. If you haven't heard of Frick you're missing out! He is an 18-month old Weim in rescue right now. He is smaller than Gracie and so cute! We dubbed him a 'sample' Weim. He came in with his brother...can you guess his name? Frack! I just love that! Well, Gracie was LOVING playing with him. She just pranced around him and would get in her play stance with her butt in the air and then attack him, or where she thought he was. Then she would just run in big circles in the grass. All was well until Jennifer (another rescue fanatic) and I turned our heads for 10 seconds. Next thing I heard was a loud yelp and turned to see that she had run, head on, into a tree! I'm pretty sure I lost the nomination for 'Rescue Mom of the Year' in that 10 seconds. Poor thing walked away from it with a limp and squinting one eye for a couple of minutes. But she does not want to be coddled! I was trying to inspect her for permanent or vet-required damage and she would not sit still and eventually wiggled out of my hold. I figured if she was good with it, so was I.
On to her next performance. She has had an on-going battle with the large kitchen appliances, specifically the dishwasher. The refrigerator is a lesser focus. She does not like it when we have anything hung on it. I usually put some of the girls' artwork or projects on the fridge with magnets. Well, this is another time when I would swear Gracie can see more than we think. If there is stuff hanging, she will pull it off with her teeth if she can reach it, or jump up so that she can reach it and pull it off. The girl likes a clean fridge...what can I say? So on to the dishwasher... She attempted to chew on it at first and when she realized it was a flat surface on the front, she found the edge at the bottom. She managed to get off the piece that holds the front panel on and from there it was game on! We hadn't put that piece back on so she was finally able to get the front panel off. There is an insulating piece on underneath that and she got that off the other day. After chasing her down to retrieve this before she ruined it, I put both pieces up so that David could put it all back together that night. Never short on determination, Gracie comes right back looking for something else to take off of the dishwasher. She tries to bite at it and realizes there is only the hard plastic part left and that seemed to really make her mad! She jumped back at first and then just started to bark at the dishwasher like crazy!!! It was hysterical. I have posted a picture of this in the latest album.
Act 3... This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table and she was attempting to bite/chew on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. I kept telling her 'No' and finally it got quiet. Okay, I need to describe the chairs. They are the kind with an 'X' shape in the backrest portion. At the bottom of the 'X' is a piece of wood. The end of the table that she was at is close to the wall and there is a dog bed there. Well, I look over to see why she is all of a sudden quiet and there she is with her head stuck in the chair!!! She had pulled on it enough that it tipped over backwards but stopped by leaning against the wall. She was sitting on the dog bed and her head was between the bottome part of the 'X' and the piece of wood underneath it. She wasn't at all upset, either. She was just looking at me. It took a bit of manuvering to get her out, though. She did not want to stretch her neck out so that I could remove her head. With some coaxing, we both came out of that unscathed. (Note to self...in the future, buy only 'solid' furniture without Gracie traps.:o)

A weekend with Gracie

2009-10-25T12:07:00.002-05:00

Gracie

Taking on the task of watching Gracie for the weekend had many
unknowns. I have raised 2 puppies myself and even worked with others
on picking out the right puppy for their family. Yet a blind puppy
raises some questions. As mentioned in the previous post I have had
the pleasure of meeting Gracie before but now she is on my turf.

Day 1 - The Drop Off

Kelly showed up friday afternoon as expected a worried mother. I felt
as if she was dropping Gracie off for her first day of school. After
receiving the Gracie to go bag and introducing the other royalty
(Princess our current WRNT foster) in the house to Gracie, the
adventure begun.

I made sure to take time to properly introduce each dog to Gracie.
Princess was curious. Jack the puggle wanted to play and made his own
version Marco-Polo. We will come back to that. Jase and Torro gave a
sniff and walked away.

Gracie had tons of land to survey and didn't waste any time exploring
the house. Once she got the lay of the land we headed outside.
Outside was prepared for Gracie's arrival. We put up the fence around
the pool. We watched as the other dogs lead her around the pool and
once confident the running began. Jase and Torro fled to dad and laid
down to watch the excitement as Jack, Princess and Gracie started to
play. After an eventful day and a hearty dinner Gracie passed out for
the evening.

Day 2 - Let the playing BEGIN

The day would normally start with a subtle nudge to head outside.
Today you could hear the jingle of collars and a puggle howl. Gracie
started the morning by trying to cuddle with a puggle. The pack ran
outside did their business and they waited patiently while each member
was fed. As the other weims settled down for their morning nap, Gracie
had other plans. As she weaves in and out of dog beds you could she
her starting to rile the troops up. To try and maintain the normal
routine, I headed to another room with some toys to entertain Gracie.
Well Jack just couldn't handle it and wandered in to observe. After
moments of watching, Jack had seen enough. He ran in the room and
stole the one toy that squeaked. As he ran out of the room Gracie
dropped to the ground as if in a play stance. Her butt was high in the
air as her little docked tail furiously wagged as if locating the
squeaking toy. Marco-polo had begun. She was OFF as if this was the
only toy left on the planet. Jack was at least 2 rooms and 3 turns
away. Gracie navigated these new rooms very quickly. Gracie was now
in the same room as Jack and the toy. He looked up and squeaked the
toy then ran out of the room. As you can guess, this game lasted for
almost an hour and ended with two sleeping dogs and one slobbery toy.

The day passed. There were some puppy naps on the couch while
watching TV. As dinner time approached, the dogs migrated to the back
door. I forgot how much a puppy can eat. I think Gracie could give
most dogs a run for their money in an eating contest. She seems to
enjoy her dinner and really appreciates the post meal nap. As the day
comes to a close another hide and seek game with Jack begins. Soon
the pack has settled into their beds and the night comes to a close.

Day 3 - Gracie heads home.

Today began the same as yesterday, a morning playtime gets the pack
fired up. Some mornings we have some of nature's wildlife in the back
yard. Normally I know the wildlife is there due to each of the pack
of four staring out a separate window at the invader in the yard. It
is fun to watch the pack shuffle windows as if getting this new view
will give them a leg up.

Well, with the new addition Gracie, this signal was missed. As I walk
to the back door, the pack follows. When I open the back door the
flood of weim's and puggle head in pursuit of a rabbit. Weims for the
most part seem to have a high prey drive which makes them great
hunting dogs. As the team heads out around the pool, they split into
three groups. Princess and Torro head around the pool to the right.
These two are very docile dogs but look at this as a game. Jase and
Jack take this job very seriously. These two will even bark at the
others if they fall out of line. As Jack and Jase creep closer to the
frozen rabbit, there was a forgotten variable. Gracie had wandered
behind the group confused about this new game. Gracie wandered behind
Princess and Torro and had no idea what was going on. As Gracie
wanders toward the rabbit, Jase begins to growl. Gracie, now concerned,
lays down about three feet from the rabbit. This event only took
about 30 seconds but seemed to last forever. As Torro lunges for the
rabbit and Jase and Jack move in for their prize, Gracie jumps up and
runs. The rabbit, this whole time, had not moved an inch. The rabbit
jumps up and slams into Gracie. You hear a squeal and the rabbit
doubles backs and heads out the small hole under the fence. All the
dogs sprint to the spot where the rabbit had once been and stop in
front of Gracie. Still confused on what just happened, Gracie jumps up
and starts trying to play with the other dogs. In disgust, Jase, Jack
and Torro walk away and head inside. Princess stayed behind as if
empathizing with Garcie and showing her own lack of enthusiasm for
this carnial game.

As the two girls take their time outside they finally wander back
inside. Jase growls as Gracie walks by, still upset about the flawed
attempt this morning.

As I write this blog, each dog is passed out on their bed and Gracie is
cuddling up on the couch. This was an eventful weekend to say the
least. Normally we have a low key house. Gracie had provided
companionship for Jack and Princess while the jury is still out for
Jase and Torro.

Gracie was fun to have. You find yourself watching and observing
Gracie as you are so amazed with her abilty to naviagate a new house
and interact wit the other dogs. You almost have to force yourself to
realize she is just another dog. You know she will get into trouble
or eat something she shouldn't just like any other dog. It was great
to help out and watch this little trooper for a weekend. Now I hope
Gracie's family is prepared to watch our four pups for the weekend :)

guest blogger this weekend!

2009-10-22T20:27:00.003-05:00

Hi Gracie fans! Well, it was bound to happen sooner than later...we are headed out of town this weekend and were faced with the decision of what to do with Princess Grace. I did NOT want to board her at a kennel with the twins and her usual babysitter was out of town so I was starting to stress. It's not even that my little girl is blind and neuro-challenged. It was more that she is a spoiled brat and has grown accustomed to being treated like a princess. Well, maybe I was a little worried about her challenges, too... Anyway, I put out the call for help to my wonderful friends in WRNT and once again, the rescue came through for us. Gracie will be in good hands with Jason and Ashley all weekend. They are weim-savvy and Gracie followers, so I know she will be spoiled at their home, too. Jason recently realized a dream of his...he went from the corporate world to self-employment as owner of Smarter Pups, a business with the goal of improving relationships between dogs and their humans through smarter, individualized training. I talked with Jason at length about Miley this past summer. She had been 'acting out' and tearing up stuff around the house. He had great suggestions and although we didn't go through his training program, the ideas and tips he offered were helpful and Miley is no longer in danger of spending some 'alone time' in her crate. Please check out his website at http://www.smarterpups.com/. He is a great guy and really likes what he does, and that makes all the difference in the world!
So, back to this weekend. We had many volunteer to keep Gracie but Jason was the first, and closest, to answer my call for help so he 'won'. By the end of the weekend, he may not feel so lucky! Gracie is BUSY all the time now and when she gets wound up it takes awhile for her to calm down. But cuddle time is always great with her, so who knows...
I've asked Jason and Ashley to 'guest blog' this weekend; partly so you all get a different perspective on our little girl and partly because I will be a nervous mother and want to know what's going on! (see, I can admit that I'm too attached...but can you blame me?) Hopefully, we'll get pictures, too.
So...2 nights without that warm little body snuggled up next to me (or on my head, which is how I woke up this afternoon when napping)...this could be difficult!

WRNT in need!!!

2009-10-21T05:07:00.004-05:00

Gracie's favorite charity organization, Weim Rescue of North Texas, is in need of help. Whether you blame it on the economy or not, the rescue has been over-run with abandoned Weims. The rescue has brought in many weims recently that have required expensive vet care. In addition, there are many weims in need of a warm, loving home to recuperate in so if you have ever thought about fostering, please consider acting on that now. It is expensive to board our dogs until they are adopted, plus they do SO much better in homes where they can learn manners and we can get to know their personality well enough to place them in the perfect forever home.

How can you help? Donations are needed...whether it be monetary or your time. We need homes willing to foster a dog until their forever family can be matched to them. Any donation of money, big or small, is so helpful in paying for vet care, food, medicine, heartworm preventitive...and the list goes on. Tell your friends about us, too!

Another way you can help is to buy your copy of the 2010 WRNT calendar along with extra copies to give to friends and family as gifts this holiday season. They are available on the website http://www.weimrescuetexas.org/ . Although Gracie is not in the calendar, her sister Miley is.

Gracie would not be here if WRNT had not stepped in to provide her life-saving vet care. I am so thankful to everyone who has made donations to Gracie's Fund. You can make a donation to WRNT in Gracie's name and help other sick Weims get the same chance at a wonderful life that she was given. Again, thank you for all your help!!!

halloween hounds...

2009-10-21T04:50:00.005-05:00

In the spirit of one of my favorite holidays, I purchased some Halloween collars for Gracie and 'the twins' (Miley and Maggie). Pam, who made Gracie her 'bling' collar and the collars with bows is incredibly talented and makes collars for all of the holidays. We were at her home picking up Gracie from Pam after she 'grac'iously babysat her for a day after her surgery while we were out and we got to see samples of the work she does. I was sold on what a great artist she is but Addie and Sydney were more impressed with the fact that they glowed in the dark! And don't think they didn't take the collars into a closet at Pam's to see for themselves that they indeed did glow in the dark. Kid tested and they passed. We love them and get compliments everywhere we go! If you are looking for some super special collars for your super special canine, please talk to Pam at Zamora's. She has much to choose from and she has agreed to donate a portion of your purchase back to WRNT when you tell her you saw her on Gracie's blog! And right now the rescue could use every bit of help it can get. If you are interested, email me through the blog and I will get you her contact information.

gracie antics...

2009-10-21T04:13:00.008-05:00

I'm pretty sure Gracie is going to start thinking her name is 'NO'. She is a MESS and getting into everything, not to mention irritating Miley and Maggie every chance she gets. Plus, she is as hard-headed and stubborn as Weims come so training has been an uphill battle. She is SO lucky that she is cute because I'm getting tired of the bruises on my arms and legs from her 'mouthiness'. She gets excited and nips quite a bit. The girls seemed to be immune and only David and I have been targets. Gracie has made this into a game in the backyard. If David or I are out there she will find you by scent and then chase you and try to nip. Yes, we are telling her 'no bite' with some success but like I said, she is a hard-headed Weim puppy and they usually don't start taking you seriously until the 500th time you tell them something.

She managed to find the toilet plunger behind the toilet in my bathroom (which is in the back of our bathroom in it's own small room) and get all the way out of our bathroom, bedroom and through the living room into the kitchen with the plunger in her mouth! (see pic to the right) She then carried it all over the house and did not want to give it up when I told her to 'drop'. I find it neccessary to remind myself that she is blind.

Just the other day, we took her out in the front yard while the girls were riding their bikes and she just took off running down the street! You would not believe she was blind had you seen her. She did not hesitate at all. David had to run after her and catch her!

Miley has given up pretending Gracie is not there and has started playing with her more. They were both on my bed one day and Gracie was laying in the middle with Miley running around her. Gracie would just listen for Miley and roll towards her and then bite at Miley. Miley then jumps up in the air and off the bed, runs into the living room and then back into the bedroom and jumps on the bed. It makes me tired to watch them. I was in my bathroom cleaning up (one of their toilet paper messes) and hear a loud crash. I come out to find Miley just looking at me from the bed and no Gracie. She has managed to roll/lunge her way completely off of the bed onto the nightstand and then to the floor. She ended up half under the bed but was fine and looking for Miley again once I got her out from under the bed. The picture to the right is from the day that Gracie was incessantly biting at Miley. Poor Miley just laid there and took it while Gracie bit at her neck, chest, face and Gracie's favorite...pulling on Miley's ears. This picture was taken right after I got onto Gracie and told her 'no bite' (for the hundredth time that day). This is her 'who, me? I wasn't doing anything!' look. Incidently, Gracie started biting Miley again as soon as I walked away. Eventually, Miley got fed up with the abuse and I caught her with Gracie's entire head in her mouth. Not that Gracie didn't deserve it, but Miley did get in a little bit of trouble. Miley never bites hard, though. I take that back, Miley did draw blood once when she was laying with me on the couch and getting attention from me and Gracie happened to walk up to us. Miley leapt over me and snapped at her. Gracie ended up with a small bite on her chin. But it didn't slow her down, she was back for more the next day!

mud puddle maniac...

2009-10-14T04:28:00.002-05:00

Okay, I love the rain just as much as the next person but I have had enough! Our backyard makes 'squishy' noises when you walk on it. This is not good considering Gracie loves to run on same path over and over again. Her little race track is getting more muddy each day but this doesn't slow her down. She seems to like the mud. Then, throw in the other two and my kitchen floor is one big smear of mud. I stopped mopping many days ago and am just praying for sunny, dry weather!
Gracie also has a special fascination with the large mud puddle underneath the trampoline. This was just a hole dug by one of our former fosters. It's about a foot and 1/2 across and 7 inches deep. Currently, it is filled to the brim with muddy water. Gracie managed to find this and we could not keep her out of it. She started by just running through it and splashing herself. She would go back and forth through it and was jumping around. At some point, she realized that there was grass at the bottom of the puddle. She was putting her head completely under the water and pulling up mouthfulls of the long grass. The first time I saw her head under water and saw the bubbles I panicked but then her head popped up and she looked so proud of herself! She would then jump out and run a complete circle around the yard, only to come right back to the puddle and jump in again. Then I realized she was drinking from this puddle, too! Yuck!!
Needless to say, the princess got a long bath following this escapade.
Everytime she went out after this, she made her way directly over to the puddle. David had to finally fill the hole so that she wouldn't play in it! She is determined, though, and kept going back to it when we let her out to be sure it hadn't reappeared. Seems our little princess has some tomboy in her! :o)

garage sale to benefit WRNT tomorrow! 10-3

2009-10-02T22:16:00.002-05:00

Hey Gracie fans!
If you have time tomorrow, please come by the WRNT garage sale. All proceeds go to the rescue and help our gray friends. We have had a lot of dogs come through the rescue lately that have needed medical care. This fundraiser will really help replenish what has been used to care for our dogs.
Here is the address:
3955 Davila Drive
Dallas 75220
There is TONS of stuff. I know, Gracie and I were there dropping off some things tonight and ended up coming home with some things! Everything from furniture to baby items. There's a little bit of everything.
Come out and support our cause! Thanks!

mangey mutt...

2009-09-29T06:20:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-09-28T06:43:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-09-28T05:25:00.004-05:00

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...

2009-09-22T06:16:00.001-05:00

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

gracie singing video...

2009-09-22T06:04:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-09-10T22:59:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-09-10T21:30:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-09-07T04:18:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-09-07T03:52:00.002-05:00

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)...

2009-09-02T06:29:00.002-05:00

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...

Gracie's found a furever home...

2009-08-26T06:14:00.003-05:00

I'm sure this won't be earth-shattering news to most of you...we have decided to keep Gracie. I think I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her broken body in Buffalo, Texas, that God sent this tiny girl to us. We always hear that God works in mysterious ways and Gracie is no exception. I would not have sought to own a blind Weim or felt that we were prepared or qualified to own one. But apparently God thought differently and dropped Gracie right in our lap. When I saw the email with her sad little picture stating she was in the shelter needing picked up, something clicked. The emails went on and it was said that we shouldn't take her unless we had a foster home for her due to her blindness and medical condition. A short discussion with David later and I was replying that if someone could pull her and keep her for a night or two that we would be willing to foster her. Things kept falling into place...another volunteer could pick her up and keep her for a couple nights, our rescue president was able to meet that volunteer and drive Gracie to a midway point between Dallas and Houston. And all of this was on the 4th of July weekend! I just love how our rescue works so well together.

I spent most of that night at work online researching blind dogs. I had a long list of things to do and ideas on training. Little did I know that it would be many weeks before her blindness would even be an issue. First and foremost, she was gravely ill. She had much to overcome but she was a fighter. I remember thinking that first day of having her home, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" But, there really wasn't time for that kind of thinking. As a family, we set about the business of healing Gracie. And heal she did. She has grown strong, stubborn and sassy...just the way we like Weims!

As she became stronger, I began to think, "what next?" Obviously, the goal of any successful fostering is to get the dog adopted. I know there are homes out there that would be more than qualified (maybe more so than us) to love and care for Gracie. But to think of that would bring tears to my eyes. I just kept imagining that moment of someone actually walking out of our home and taking Gracie with them. This just did not sit well with me. She has our house, backyard and family all mapped out in her head. She knows what the pantry and refrigerator doors sound like when opened and that it means there is food available for the taking. She knows that Miley will tolerate her bumping into her and biting more than Maggie will. She knows that my girls, even though they dress her in clothes occasionally, love her to death and would never be rough with her or hurt her. She knows that we will feed her, take care of her needs and love her unconditionally.

So, I guess the title of this post is wrong. Gracie hasn't just now found her home. She found it on July 3rd when she stole our hearts.

I will definitely continue this blog so please keep coming back! We won't officially adopt her until all of her medical care is completed. Plus, there will be plenty to learn and talk about as she grows and we begin our training of a blind dog. And, as with any Weimaraner, there will always be funny stories to share. This isn't the end...it's another beginning. Even though we won't be able to foster anymore (I think 3 Weims are enough for our home), we will be making Gracie 'earn her keep' as an ambassa-dog for WRNT. She will attend Meet & Greets and events to show what our rescue can accomplish with the help of volunteers and donors. That's the up-side of this. Had she been adopted by a family outside of the rescue, she wouldn't be attending all the WRNT events and you would never see her. This way, you will have more opportunities to see her in the coming months and years and watch her grow.
Like I said...this is the beginning of a new chapter. One filled with promise!

life with Gracie...

2009-08-24T23:39:00.002-05:00

A little word association on that title: never dull, funny, sometimes painful due to her teeth, snuggle buddy, learning curve...

Life with Gracie is always changing. We are learning something new about her personality or our lack of knowledge in the area of blindness nearly every day. Let me explain what I mean...

A couple of weeks ago, Gracie had to be de-wormed again. I was not happy and thought about how she had gotten them. The answer seemed so obvious I was kind of embarrassed for having missed it! She poops in the same area all the time. This area happens to be right off of our patio which, incidentally, also happens to be her running area. This is where she does her circles. She will poop, start running around and inevitably step in it. If we see her do it or it's bad enough to smell/see it, we will clean her feet. Otherwise, we just let her in. Well, she also has a habit of putting one paw in her food bowl when she eats. At that time, she was still too short to use an elevated feeder. We have her using one now and that's a whole other issue that I'll get to. Anyway, of course she got worms if she has been stepping in poop, stepping in her food and then eating that food! Like I said, it's so obvious with all this hindsight! We were so concerned with weight and health that we didn't even think about that. And I keep up with the poop-scooping in the backyard. We now have a small trashcan, the Walker version of a diaper genie, with a pop-up lid designated for dog poop in the backyard and when Gracie goes it is immediately picked up and disposed of. Problem solved...hopefully.

Next issue...I love my Ikea elevated dog feeders. They are metal and have three prong-like things that hold the bowls in place. It all folds down into itself. I was happy to get her into using this so that she couldn't put her foot in the food anymore. However, she goes into a frenzy when mealtime rolls around and literally can't control herself. She is so busy trying to get to the food that she hits the bowls with her foot or body and tips the bowls over, dumping contents out all over the floor. I've cleaned up tons of water and picked up thousands of pieces of dog food due to this. And, once she hears the dog food hit the floor, it's on. She switches into high gear and you can't hardly stop her. Then, if the bowl comes off the prongs, she will step into the feeder itself in her frenzy. This makes me nervous. I can just see her getting tangled up in that and snapping a leg. We are working on this issue. Maybe if we weight the bowls or attach them to the prongs somehow. Or, maybe we could figure out a way to keep Gracie from going into her hyperactive mode all together! As usual, any suggestions would be welcomed!

Teeth...thank the Lord above! Gracie lost her two bottom canines! All of our legs will be so grateful. She lost them both this past weekend and David said her adult teeth were already pushing through the gums. That's fine, at least those teeth aren't tiny needles. She is pretty mouthy right now, especially when she's tired but won't give up and go to sleep. We are working on this but it is a slow process. I know I shouldn't, but I feel bad disciplining her due to her blindness. Plus, I'm not sure of the best way to discipline her for the same reason. Thoughts?

Busy...this is her to a 'T'. She loves the refrigerator and the pantry. Go figure, they both store food; her favorite thing. She has the sounds of either being opened memorized and can hear it from across the house. If it's the pantry, she's there trying to climb into the bag of dog food. If it's the refrigerator, she's just trying to get whatever she can. Yesterday, I opened the refrigerator and she got past me before I could catch her. She tends to stretch her front legs out when she's unsure of where she is to 'feel' her way. She did this and caught the edge of a plastic pitcher with no lid on it that was half full of lemonade. Before I could catch it, she pulled it over on herself and it spilled all over the refrigerator shelf and floor. Then she's trying desperately to get into the refrigerator and I'm trying to keep her out without slipping in the lemonade. She's already slipped and has lemonade all over her. I yell for Addison to come help. What do I hear? "Just a minute" is lazily called out to me. "I don't have a minute!", I respond. Needless to say, I had a mess to clean up and a dog to wash but it all worked out. I'm sure we looked like a bad slapstick comedy. Just another day in the Walker home.

So, life with Gracie is a learning curve. Just when we have the 'kinks' worked out, another one pops up. We are taking her to an opthamologist on September 4th to get a good evaluation of her eyesight. I am not anticipating any miracles nor do I need any (more). Just the fact that Gracie is here is good enough for me. She more than makes up for these 'issues' with her puppy kisses and sweet nature. Gracie is Gracie...what else needs to be said?

gracie finds her voice...

2009-08-24T23:28:00.002-05:00

Okay, I've GOT to get this on video to share with you all. Gracie barked for the first time this past weekend and has now realized that she can do this at-will. David said he heard her bark once a couple of weeks ago, but it seems that this weekend was when she realized she had control of this 'power'. She was outside by herself, and we all know how much she likes to be outside, but decided enough was enough. I heard her whine a little and then she just barked several times. It was so stinkin' cute! I'm sure the cute-ness will wear off and we'll be telling her to be quiet soon enough but for now, we are enjoying this newly-found talent. Since then, she is taking her cue from her older 'sisters', Maggie and Miley. They don't bark incessantly but will bark at noises outside. Gracie was sound asleep yesterday and M & M started barking at something out front. Gracie popped right up, ran in the hall where M & M were and started her baby barking right along with them. She prances around when she does this and puffs up her chest. She's trying so hard to be one of 'the big girls'. She apparently has appointed herself a watchdog now and takes her responsibility seriously!

weims and cheese for everyone...

2009-08-24T23:16:00.002-05:00

If you missed WRNT's Weim & Cheese event, you really missed a great time! There was plenty of good food and conversation to be had. Gracie made an appearance in her formal bandage wraps (we specifically asked the vet for 'something in pastel' when they re-wrapped her tail and front legs) and princess collar. And, boy, does she know how to work a crowd! Her feet didn't touch the ground unless we took her out to go to the bathroom. I hope everyone who wanted a turn holding her had the chance. If you didn't, sorry! We'll catch you next time!
She had some friends there, too. Maggie and Jack, 2 of Sydney's mixed puppies were there. Sydney came into the rescue pregnant and has been a wonderful mom to her litter of adorable pups. Their feet didn't touch the floor, either. Nothing heals the spirit like a cuddle with a soft, warm puppy!
We had a great turnout and I think everyone had a really good time. I had made a slideshow of Gracie's journey up until now and those who were there got to see it. I will get it on the blog in the next few days. We've been busy at our house with back-to-school activities this past weekend so I apologize for the lack of posts. Believe me, it's not for a lack of material. Gracie is constantly giving me material to talk about...I just need the time to write!
Thanks again to all who came out to Weim & Cheese and a very special thank you to those who organized and ran this great event! It ROCKED!!! :o)

our good little patient...

2009-08-19T15:55:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if this dog can do no wrong. She has been the model patient in her recovery...she's been taking it easy, not messing with her bandages or the uncovered stitches in her belly and has showed no signs of needing any pain meds. She ate well this morning and went back to sleep with me (I worked last night) until noon. I hate to keep saying it, but here goes...Amazing! Gracie just seems to be appreciative of everything she receives and is able to do. I think we've heard her bark all of one time and she submits to the big girls, Miley mostly but Maggie, too, when appropriate. And she continues to be the sweetest, cuddliest (is that a word?) Weim! On a side note, Miley continues to be a jealous, mischievous sister. She was back to pulling Gracie's blankie out from around her last night. I guess she realized that Gracie's injuries and bandages weren't life-threatening so she could resume her bratty behavior. When this wasn't working, she pulled the pillow out from under my head twice! I could blog just on her quirkiness alone!
Anyway, I don't want to jinx us but it appears we might not need the inflatable collar. Gracie has licked her dew claw bandages a couple of times but that's it. I think she vaguely looked at her spay incision this morning and might have licked it once. She is just a perfect angel.
She must be feeling a little better because as I type she has Barbie's main man, Ken, pinned to the ground and is trying to amputate a leg. Better his leg than hers, right?
I guess that's the big news for now. It's looking good for her to attend Weim & Cheese this Saturday night. I'll put up a post about that later. Everyone is invited and it benefits the rescue and all that we do for the Gracies in Texas! She'd love to 'smell' you there!

gracie's home again...

2009-08-19T00:45:00.006-05:00

Gracie got home today at about 5pm. She's doing pretty well considering all that was done to her today. She came home with bandages on her legs and tail. Dr. Carroll didn't send her home with any pain meds but had given her an injection before she left so hopefully that will last for the worst of the pain. I've heard the tail docking is very painful so that is what I'm worried about. We will keep an eye on her and if she seems to be in pain the vet will give us something to make her more comfortable. I just can't stand to see this little girl hurting anymore. She didn't appear to be slowing down any tonight. When she first came in the house Maggie and Miley were sniffing her and licking her face...too cute! Maggie even let Gracie lick her face! Gracie wandered around for awhile and ate a small dinner. She finally crashed on the couch and slept the rest of the evening.
I was worried that her tail would be docked too short, something I see way too often in our breed. But Dr. Carroll did an awesome job! Her dew claws were removed, too, and she has some bright neon green wrap bandages on those. Between those and the tail bandage, David made the comment that she looks like a racehorse. She does, too! She's still the sweetest little girl, too. Even more so on pain meds! :o)
We bought something to use if she starts to mess with her incision sites. It works like an
e-collar but without the cone. It's kind of a blow-up doughnut that goes around her neck. Someone had mentioned it in an email or comment yesterday and David went and found it. We don't want to use anything unless we have to so hopefully she will not start licking or biting at the stitches / bandages. But, we are prepared!
Depending on her recovery time, she will hopefully attending WRNT's function, Weim and Cheese, this weekend with us as an 'ambassa-dog'. We'll see.
Thank you so much for all the prayers and well wishes today! Gracie is a very lucky little Weim to have so much love and support!

Be sure to check out the new slideshow. It has pictures of Gracie post-surgery and some other cute ones we've gotten in the past couple of weeks.

pray for Gracie...she's having surgery today

2009-08-18T05:08:00.006-05:00

Well, today is the day I've been dreading. Gracie goes back to the vet so that they can spay her, dock her tail, remove her dew claws and, hopefully, microchip her. It's alot but I'd rather we do it all at once so that she only has to be put 'under' one time. We might not be able to microchip her tomorrow, it depends on whether we can get the chip to the vet's office by the time they start surgery. (Long story and the details are not exciting so I will omit them.)
I don't know if you remember, but when we initially discussed tail and dew claws with Dr. Carroll he didn't want to do the dew claws. David feels strongly that they need to be removed. Gracie broke off a nail this week, although it wasn't a dew claw. I attribute this to the fact that her nails are somewhat brittle and thin due to her malnourishment. David feels that she is more prone to catching a nail on something because she can't see where she is stepping. I'm fine with either. I just hate to see her in any pain!
Some of you have commented that you love her natural tail and hope that she gets to keep it. The reason we are docking her tail is for her safety. It is really long and, again, due to her blindness she can't keep her tail from getting caught in something or hurt. I totally agree with this. That tail is strong, too! She's been knocking stuff over and 'hitting' us with it. :o)

Anyway, David will be dropping her off on his way to work at about 8am. I believe Dr. Carroll starts his surgeries at 10am. Not sure of how they order them, though. I hate to think of her in a kennel in a strange place without us! She is not timid, so I know she will be fine but I will still worry about her. The staff will be so excited to see how well she is doing, though! They haven't seen her in a month. I'll be sending her favorite blankie (which, incidently, Miley pulled out from under her again last night!) so that she feels somewhat comfortable. I do worry about how we are going to keep her from messing with the stitches in her tail and tummy. I can't see putting an E-Collar on her with her blindness. It will completely undermine all the mapping she has done in our house and confuse her, I think. The vet said we would just see how she does following the surgery. She may not even touch the stitches. That would be awesome!! The vet told us she would be ready to go at 3pm unless there are complications...God Forbid!!!! Guess who will be there at the stroke of 3!

Please pray for Baby Gracie today. She will be alone in a strange place with little, if any, sight. Pray that her surgery goes well and that she has a speedy recovery.
I will let you know when I hear something!!

this dog is blind...really? (video)

2009-08-17T06:01:00.002-05:00

I know she is, but I'm constantly amazed at how well she does! We took Gracie to a nearby area that has a mile track in it and tons of fields. I thought she would be scared since it was new and she didn't know her way around. We were going to have to walk on the gravel track a ways to get to the field and I thought we would have to carry her most of the way. But no, once again she proved I know very little about blind Weim puppies (not that I dispute this fact at all!). I was up ahead of David and Gracie because the big girls (Miley and Maggie) were off leash and LOVING life, romping through tall grass and trees, so I had to keep an eye on them. Anyway, David said Grace was a little unsure of the gravel track but once she realized it was fine she TOOK OFF! That girl is fearless! The track is bordered by cement blocks so they make an excellent tool for her to use and gauge where she is. When she felt one, she turned back. It was great! David and I both want to be able to walk her and have her trust us so this is a great start. I would love for her to run with me and Miley and this track may be the answer.
I've linked the video to some of this trip. I apologize for the shakiness, but it was windy and I was walking to keep up with David and Grace. It's a little long (over 2 minutes) but so worth watching. You get to see her do all the things I've talked about and she did stray off the track at one point. She was either a little confused or just being stubborn (which is entirely possible, this little girl is sassy!) during that part but we got back 'on track'. (Pardon the pun :o)
Like I said, it was windy and you can see her big gray ears flapping in the wind. David said that if everything lined up perfectly, she might go airborne!!! My sweet little gray Dumbo!

the eyes have it...

2009-08-17T05:29:00.003-05:00

I took this video to give you all a chance to see Gracie's eyes and how they don't look 'typical'. She does just stare at times, but other times she seems to be looking right at you. Her pupils dilate and constrict and you'll see in the video that when she's 'looking' at the camera, her eyes shift a couple of times as if she looks from one thing to another. Don't get me wrong, I don't think she is going to make a miraculous 100% recovery of her sight. I DO think that she sees more than we originally thought. She does SO much better getting around the house when it is daytime or there are plenty of lights on in the kitchen. She doesn't bump into as many things at these times.
We are waiting for a clean bill of health from Dr. Carroll and then we will take her to an opthamologist to see if they can determine her level of blindness. (I mean, hey, if she's only LEGALLY blind and can't drive, that's no big deal at all! :o) I know she can distinguish shadows at the very least.
On the flip side of that... Today I was in the closet of our bedroom and Gracie was on our bed chewing on her bone. Everything was fine, I left her in the middle of the bed completely occupied. Next thing I hear is a loud crash followed by another loud crash. I don't hear any yelping or even whining so I know she is either fine or unconscious. I run into the room to find her happily walking around my room and the nightstand knocked over along with everything on it including a lamp! Apparently, she was walking across the bed and walked right onto the nightstand which then flipped over. Not a scratch on her and she continued to get into everything. She is a mess!!!
Today, I left her out in the house with Miley and Maggie when I went to work. David was going to be home shortly after I left (which is the only reason I left her out of our bathroom). I walked the house and put up all the things I thought would be dangerous for her and closed off rooms. She managed to find one of the girls' purses on the floor and managed to get her body through the strap so that she was wearing the purse! David said she had one front leg and her head through the strap. She was fine and David said she was walking around with it on but WOW, lesson learned. Gracie Gray stays in the bathroom where I can CONTROL her surroundings!!!
This girl is into everything and an accident waiting to happen!
And so we learn another lesson about living with a blind dog (who apparently doesn't realize or care that she is blind)!

video of Gracie having her first ice cream cone...

2009-08-14T23:08:00.002-05:00

OK, this is BY FAR my most favorite video of Gracie to date! We took her to Double Dip for her first 'doggie ice cream cone'. Miley and Maggie get to go every once in awhile as a treat so we decided to introduce Gracie to ice cream. (Just a tiny scoop for those who worry!)
She was a MESS...literally! She got it all over her nose, ear (of course, how could she not with those big soft ears?) and even on her eyelashes. She managed to cover David in ice cream, too! It was a treat to watch and I LOVE introducing new things to her that I know she will like. She is like a blank slate with food. We are trying to keep it healthy, but everyone deserves treats here and there!
P.S. I know it's been awhile since I posted...too long. I wanted to at least get this up tonight. I will post a longer message tomorrow detailing her progress and what's in store for her this week at the vet. So no one worries all night, she is absolutely fine and lovin' life! Talk to ya'll tomorrow!!!

Princess Gracie...

2009-08-06T09:51:00.002-05:00

Man, is she living up to that title! This video is of her on her new 'throne'. We bought a couple of the Love Sac bean bag chairs this past weekend and haven not been able to use them much between the girls and the 'other' girls... a.k.a. Maggie and Miley. Gracie obviously can't jump on them herself but she fits nicely in them so we usually put her in one for her numerous naps.
She's also still enough in this video for you to actually be able to appreciate how cute she is. Usually, she's a blur of activity.
Enjoy!

video of Gracie is 'crazy' mode...

2009-08-06T09:42:00.002-05:00

I knew you wouldn't believe me if I just told you how energetic our tiny weim has become so I tried to videotape her playing. This video is too cute! She is trying to catch the girls as they run around the back yard. She is such a mess! She will take off running across the back yard! (Have I mentioned that she is blind?!)

jealous sister...

2009-07-31T19:52:00.006-05:00

So Miley has been watching the entire saga of nursing Gracie back to health with keen curiosity. But lately I think she's been getting a little jealous. If Gracie is on the couch with David or I, she will sit directly in front of us and more often than not, block our view of the television. I know she's a dog but I think she does this on purpose. Then, if you still don't give her attention, she will start pawing at you. First, your leg and then your arm. All the while moving closer and closer. She has no concept of 'personal space' and is constantly violating this unspoken rule. Eventually, she's got her front feet on the couch and is trying to slowly manuver herself between you and Grace. This, more often than not, means she's in your lap because there is no room between you and Grace. This routine worked for awhile but now she is getting more creative. Because she knows you will tell her 'no' when she tries to sit between you and Grace (unfortunately, this has turned into ON Grace occasionally), she has tried several different techniques. The first involved her attempting to lay on the armrest of the couch...keep in mind she's a 70 pound dog. After failing miserably (and occasionally embarrassingly) at this, she tried to feign indifference in a sad attempt at reverse psychology. For about a week, she spent nearly all of her time on the other couch and managed to take up most of it by stretching out on her back. This, I'm sure, was to show us that SHE had no room for US. Again, no response. This week, she's back to her 'hands on' approach. She is now putting her jealousy right out there and steals things from Gracie every chance she gets! It's not enough that she has 4 rawhides hidden in the couch and laundry basket. Nope, she's got to sit in front of Gracie while she's chewing on hers and wait until Gracie drops it for a second so that she can take it from her. She doesn't even chew on it for long! And, for her grand finale...she tries to pull Gracie's blankie right out from under her while she's sleeping!!! Or, sometimes, she will just do that Weim 'nibbling / pinching' thing they do when they are playing or frustrated to her blankie. I'm sure those of you with one of our little gray friends living with you in your home know what I'm talking about. It's the funniest thing to watch.
All to say, I'm trying to spend some quality time with Miley (in addition to the separate quality time I'm spending with the human kids). When do I get some quality alone time???
As I write this, Miley is sitting next to me looking at the computer screen and yawning. She's not very subtle with her opinions. Plus, the entire time I've been trying to type this, she's pawing my arm, nudging my hand away from the keyboard with her nose and has attempted to get on my lap a couple of times. I'm guessing she wants something...maybe a walk or playtime? On that note, I'll sign off and go spend some quality time with Miley outside while Gracie sleeps.
Have a great night!

come see Gracie tomorrow!!

2009-07-31T19:15:00.002-05:00

Hey! Just wanted to remind everyone that Gracie will be at Orvis in Arlington tomorrow from 10 to at least 12, maybe 2pm. She would love to meet you! She is a busy puppy right now so be prepared. Last time, she was content to be held all day. Now, not so much. She wants to explore and chew, chew, chew! She's a very happy little girl and would love to give you some Weimie kisses...and maybe a nibble or two!
We will have adoptable Weims there, also. So if you or anyone you know is looking for the best breed, come see us!

Gracie makes her own dinner (video)...

2009-07-29T19:17:00.003-05:00

I love this video of Grace. She is getting to be a handful and this video shows just what I mean. She is very curious and loves to get into things. We LOVE seeing her this active. It is such a big change from the day we brought her home (July 3). She could barely walk and had no interest in anything other than sleeping. If you get time, look at one of the first videos we took of her and you'll see what I mean. We are with her everyday so we don't see the differences as clearly as you all do. That's why I like to look at the 'old days' and see just how far she has come.
Her coat is shiny and she is finally growing in a new coat on her chest and underneath her chin. Her body had been conserving energy to keep the necessities running, i.e. heart, lungs, liver, kidneys...so her coat had suffered. You would never guess her past looking at her now. If you can, you have got to come see her this Saturday at the M & G. You will not believe how different she is. She's constantly busy and doesn't have as much time for cuddling (well, until she's tired...then she will find you and weave around your legs until you pick her up) so she's not as 'holdable' as she was at the last M & G. I can definitely see what Dr. Carroll was meaning by docking her tail for safety reasons. She's an accident waiting to happen with that thing waving around in the air! We are definitely Gracie-proofing the house so she can't get into anything that would hurt her.
We used to be able to scoop her up with one hand and tuck her under an arm to carry her. Now, she's a two-handed commitment and very wiggly. The girls are not going to be able to carry her around for much longer. That's a sad thought, they grow so fast! She had her first taste of ground beef and let me tell you, she's starting to remind me of a pirhanna! The combo of her needle-like baby teeth and the blindness turns her into a weapon when you are trying to feed her a treat that she doesn't get too often. She smells it and goes crazy! She is all over the place and when she gets near it, she just starts biting. I have yet another wound from that lesson learned. Moral: Put the food on the floor and tap by it so she can find it. Yellow caution tape is an option to be considered!
Enjoy the video!

18.4 and counting...

2009-07-28T03:43:00.003-05:00

We took Grace to Petsmart today to find more chew toys in an attempt to keep her from chewing on us. While there, we weighed her and she is now 18.4 pounds! We usually weigh on Fridays so this was a couple of days later, but still, that was a 4 pound gain in 9 days. Incredible, or rather...Amazing!
Grace is doing really well. She is more comfortable getting around our house with every day and does not seem timid about exploring at all. We have made our bathroom her area when we are out and she seems to do well in there. She doesn't whine or scratch when we leave her in there. She will just lay on her bed. She's also extremely comfortable with our backyard. She has been running (yes, you read right) around our backyard! I would not have guessed we'd be seeing that so soon. We have also started to 'scent' things in the house. We are using a specific scent for doors leading outside, starting with the back door. She will hopefully associate this with going outside to potty and finding her way to the door. I've also added a bell on a ribbon to the doorknob so that she will learn to hit the bell with her nose when she wants to go out. She's only had a couple of accidents in the house and both have been in the kitchen close to the back door. She is a smart little girl and is picking up things quickly. It's just up to us to present things to her in a way she can process.
I tried her on the leash today in Petsmart and she did okay. She is fine until she doesn't want to go where you are going or gets distracted. Then she will plant herself firmly and refuse to go any further. She can be quite hard-headed! She was pulling bags of dog treats off of the shelves today. Once again, she drew alot of attention. Only, today it was because of how cute she is instead of how skinny and frail she looked. That was an awesome thing! We will be working on her acceptance of the leash and trusting us to lead her when she is on leash. This will make walks much easier. We haven't been exercising her so that she can conserve all of her calories but I think she's at a point where we can begin. I thought that she might have an issue with something pulling on her neck but she did fine. We have a harness and might try this to just see if she does better on that.
We had some loud thunder this morning and Gracie did fine. She woke up from her napping on my lap but was easily calmed and went right back to sleep. She doesn't seem skittish with loud noises and seems to take everything in stride.
She is quite the princess in our house, too. She still has 'her' pillows that are on the couch for her to nap with 'her' blankies. It's crazy, I know! She is just too irresistible when it comes to babying her. We aren't carrying her around, though. She is having to navigate on her own and seems to prefer it that way. She did not care for the wet grass or the rain when she went out to potty today. Maybe part of it was that she didn't realize what the rain was. I mean, it hasn't rained for awhile and with her being blind, it may have been a little weird for her. So, I sent Addie out with an umbrella to walk with her so she wouldn't get the worst of the rain. Otherwise, she might have been out there for awhile just circling. I know, more pampering...
Anyway, keep her in your prayers, they are working!!!
Next step is to get her spayed and to an opthamologist and neurologist to get a good assessment of her sight and any neurological damage. I can't believe it's already been a little over 3 weeks since we brought home that skinny, gray puppy...

come meet Grace this weekend...

2009-07-28T03:37:00.004-05:00

Hey, just wanted to let everyone know that Gracie will be at the WRNT Meet & Greet at Orvis in Arlington this Saturday, August 1. The event will run from 10am to 2pm but Gracie will only be there from 10am to 12.
Come see our tiny girl who is not so tiny anymore!

bling bling for Gracie...

2009-07-23T17:35:00.004-05:00

Well, Miss Gracie got her first official piece of mail the other day. It was a package and my kids just could NOT believe that it wasn't for them! I'm sure you have figured out from the pictures that she received the CUTEST collars. They are a gift from a fellow volunteer in the Weim Rescue. I'm not going to publish her contact information right now since I didn't ask her if I could. But, I will tell you that she makes them herself and does an AWESOME job! She has tons of items to choose from and I'm pretty sure she does leashes too. Gracie highly recommends her work and will now only
wear designs by 'Zamora's'...well, and Tiffany if anyone is looking
for birthday ideas ;o)
They are a touch big on her now (they would fit nicely around her tummy) but as soon as she's big enough, she will be stylin'! I've uploaded some close-ups of the collars to her Picasa Web Album. You can just click on one of the slideshows, which I'm sure you will be visiting today, and go to the album page to see them.
If you would like more information on the collars, email me or just leave a comment and I will get that info back to you after I've made sure I can give it out. I know, everyone is protective of information now-a-days, but you never know...a kook like me could find out where you live! AAGGHHHH!

is there a tooth fairy for super cute weim puppies?

2009-07-23T17:19:00.003-05:00

I know some of you will find this totally gross...and that's okay.
I, however, have always been amazed at how tiny puppy teeth are! While showing David where Gracie's tooth had come out (this was the one I heard her crunch on and then, I'm guessing, swallow), we discovered another that was barely hanging on so we removed it. Trust me, it was really only barely still in her gum, she did not even flinch. Plus, I didn't want her swallowing another one. Anyway, I saved it because that's what I do, I save things. I wanted to post a picture of it for anyone who actually was lying awake at night wondering what a pulled tooth from a Weim pup would look like. So, now you know. They are super tiny so you start to wonder how the heck they hurt so much when they bite you!

And no, I'm not putting it under Gracie's pillow tonight. Mainly because that would mean the tooth would be under MY pillow and I find that somewhat disturbing. And yes, that means she is still sleeping in our bed and well on her way to becoming a spoiled little pooch! But honestly, don't you think she deserves to be spoiled????? :o)

question about toenails...

2009-07-23T17:12:00.004-05:00

Okay, I need some audience participation on this one. The other night, David and I noticed that there is a dark ring around Grace's toenails at the base where they are growing out of the toe. It looks as if they are growing in dark (like most Weims). Right now they are very light, almost translucent. All we can guess is that this might be due to her extreme malnourishment while very young. I've included a picture (the best I could do with the wiggle-worm) for you to see what I'm talking about. Any thoughts would be welcome!

cute video of Gracie with big sis' Miley...

2009-07-23T12:21:00.002-05:00

One more video! Gracie is really starting to interact with Miley. Maggie tends to steer clear of her at all costs so they don't interact much. Miley is very gentle with Gracie, too. They were lying on the couch this morning, head to head, and Gracie was biting at Miley. Miley mostly took it but occasionally put Miss Grace in her place so that she knew who was alpha. She had Gracie's head in her mouth at one point but never closed her mouth. She was just mouthing her. When Miley stopped, Gracie went right back to biting her ear and Miley just laid her head down. They are too cute together. I've got to get that on video for sure!

Gracie must be part baby alligator...video

2009-07-23T11:41:00.004-05:00

Gracie is getting more and more active, which is great. But, I've forgotten how sharp puppy teeth are! No blood, but lots of scratches. She just likes to mouth all the time, especially when she is tired and needs to go to sleep but won't. It's kind of like having our own personal 'Shark Week'!
She lost another tooth the other day and we actually found that one. I've got a picture of it. It's so tiny! It will be in the next group of pix. Enjoy the video!

P.S. Get a load of those ears!!!

a word about pictures...

2009-07-19T10:51:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to let you know that as I post new slideshows of Gracie, I'm going to remove the old ones. But, you will still be able to view them. When you click on the current slideshow, it will take you to Picasa Web Albums and to that particular album. Then, just click on the 'Grace.WRNT's Gallery' tab and it will bring up all the other albums.
Hope everyone has a great Sunday!!!

Gracie's pre-nap ritual

2009-07-18T15:25:00.001-05:00

I finally got some footage of Grace doing her 'I'm-tired-but-I-don't-want-to-settle-down-enough-to-go-to-sleep' routine.
You know the drill...title is the link. Enjoy!

14.6 and counting...

2009-07-18T14:18:00.003-05:00

First of all, let me apologize for this post coming so late after the last one. I really intended to get this up yesterday but time got away from me and now my house has been invaded by 'The Stripes'...you may know this as Strep Throat. That's the name Sydney gave Strep when she was 4ish. Anyway, things are never dull around here, that's for sure!
So yesterday, Gracie and I made our weekly trip to Dr. Carroll's office. The news was all good this time. Gracie weighs 14.6 lbs now. That's another 2 lb gain in 1 week! Yay for our tiny girl! She was awake when we went yesterday, which is new, so they all got to see how pretty her eyes are. Dr. C said she looked so good that we can stop the prescription canned food, which is great because it was starting to give her some REALLY smelly gas! She was rivaling her sister, Miley, and that is not a good thing. I finally found out what the 'prescription' part of the canned food is; an appetite stimulant. That makes perfect sense, too, because Gracie is RAVENOUS at every meal! If she misses a piece of food, it's best to just put it back in the bowl because with her blindness and the 'feeding frenzy' she gets into when eating, you do not want your fingers anywhere near her mouth! Anyway, she's on just Eukanuba lg breed puppy now and we are working our way up to 2 cups per day.
Gracie is a big girl now, too! She got more puppy shots and her rabies vac. We will administer the Advantage (heartworm/flea preventative) in a couple of days. He didn't want to overwhelm her body with the shots and the Advantage all in one day.
We were talking about her vision and I told Dr. C about how we really think she can distinguish changes in light. Thursday afternoon, she was out roaming in the house and I had left the front door open (we have a glass door, too, that was closed) which lets in a ton of light. She made it up to the front door from the kitchen which is about a 20 foot hallway. I was talking to a friend and half watching, but then I noticed she kept bumping into the glass door. She would walk around a bit and then try to walk through it again. I jumped on the chance to experiment with her and shut the door, cutting off the light. She immediately turned from the door and started to wander back down the hall! I really think she saw the light and thought it was a way out. She always migrates to the back door and will wander around in front of it. The back door is mostly windows and lets in a ton of light, too. Plus, she goes out that door to relieve herself all the time. I'm telling you, she is getting smarter and smarter every day!
I've been leaving her in our bathroom with doors shut and she is doing great in there. She's not confined by the crate and can wander. I leave her food/water in there and her bed. She knows where they are, too. David left her in there to get some water yesterday and he went back into the kitchen. Shortly after that, he said she came wandering into the kitchen! She had made it out of the bathroom, around a few corners to get out of our bedroom, through the living room and hall into the kitchen! She is amazing!
Anyway, I digress...again! Dr. C wanted to see her walk and said it didn't look like she was doing her high-stepping as much. He checked her eyes again with all the lights off. He said they are responding to light and a few other things about her retinas (don't ask me what, I was still euphoric from them telling me her weight and wasn't listening too closely) which I took to mean they didn't look extremely damaged. Maybe she might recover just a tiny bit of vision??? We will see. She definitely needs to see an opthamologist just so we will know. Then he had her walk around and left the door open to the back area of the office. She walked right through the doorway and around the hall. He commented on how she doesn't bump into everything like most blind dogs and she would walk up to a wall and stop. She did that a couple times until she came to a doorway and then went through that doorway. I'm not getting my hopes too high and I don't want you to, either, but it's SO hard not to!!! Please just keep praying that she continues to heal well.
I asked him about what kinds of toys we could get for her since she is definitely acting more like a puppy and starting to play more. You'd have to know Dr. C to really get the hilarity in this but he is so straight-faced all the time that I didn't catch it at first. Anyway, he said, "Well, I know there is a piano that they have for blind dogs...". My mind is making mental notes on where to get this piano made especially for blind dogs and then I'm thinking 'how do they play with that? it's not like they have fingers, etc'. Then it dawns on me that it could be a Stevie Wonder reference. Very funny! We stopped at Petsmart on the way home and got her some puppy chews and a puppy Kong in the shape of a bone so it can't roll away from her. We are really trying to key in on her sense of smell and hearing with everything we do with her. So far, so good. Miley, again, looked like I stabbed her in the back when I brought home new toys for Gracie and none for her. She just sat in front of Gracie watching and waiting for her to leave the new stuff alone long enough for her to snatch it.
We also talked about Gracie's pads and her slipping when she walks. She continues to get stronger every day and this helps, but her pad are so soft and smooth. Dr. C thought maybe the slipping was actually smoothing her pads, too. He didn't really know of anything to put on the pads and cautioned us about doing that. He mentioned booties, too, but then agreed that might make her more stressed when trying to walk and having something foreign on her feet. So, he suggested walking her more on sidewalk/pavement than the grass and hopefully that will roughen up her pads enough to give her some traction.
We got her scheduled for her spay surgery in one month and he will dock her tail at that time, too. We discussed removing the dew claws but he said that was really more for high energy dogs and he didn't think that Gracie was going to be that much of a high energy dog due to the blindness. So, that was nixed. He really felt the tail would be a safety issue for her. Again, due to the blindness. She could get it caught in something or knock things over. Good point, I hadn't thought about that. There goes my idea for attaching a little OU flag to it in the fall!
Well, that's about it for the vet visit. Good news all the way around! She is still really tired and sleeps alot but we are moving in the right direction. She knows us and is giving puppy kisses! She will rub her face on your face if you are holding her and give kisses (with tiny nibbles here and there). I thank God for getting Grace to us and watching over her. She is truly a blessed little Weim!

sticky paws...

2009-07-15T04:39:00.003-05:00

So, yesterday David embarked on a search for something to put on the pads of Gracie's paws that will prevent her from sliding on wood/tile floors until she is stronger. The poor girl desperately wants to explore but can't stay upright for too long. She inevitably winds up splayed out on her tummy. Then she just gets frustrated.
So, I've tried wetting her pads with water which works, but only for a short period of time. We've tried to come up with something to put on our floor with no luck (at least finding anything economical). David was determined today. He was online and finally came up with an idea he was willing to try. We have the hair remover 'Nads' which is NOT a wax that you heat (for those that are already wondering if we tortured her with hot wax). It is thick and sticky and does not require any heating. I attempted to hold her still so David could put just a tiny smear of it on her pads. She is a squirmer and will kick and whine if you are holding her and she wants down. Anyway, David managed to get some on all 4 pads and we put her on the floor for a trial. It worked great!...for about 4 steps. By then, her pads had picked up enough dirt off the floor to make the sticky factor null and void. The Nads rubbed off easily, Grace didn't even notice when it was on or when we were rubbing it off. And now we are back to square one! We have thought about booties but feel that's not a great idea considering her blindness. We don't want to make her any more uncomfortable with walking.
We would welcome any ideas! Have a great day!

Gracie sleeping...and dreaming

2009-07-13T21:24:00.001-05:00

Okay, here it is...just about the cutest video of Miss Gracie yet! I love this tiny girl!
Title is the link.

silly girl...

2009-07-13T19:17:00.002-05:00

Just had to share this cute pic of Gracie that David took today. She was sleeping and opened her eyes right when he snapped it. Her eyes are really pretty and you can see them well in this picture.
She's doing great today. Eating, sleeping, playing a little, eating, sleeping, playing a little...and on it goes. She is really starting to act like a normal 15 week old puppy. Yay!!!
She's got some sharp teeth, though. I have my first Gracie wound and I don't mind at all.
I'm going to put up some video of her dreaming tonight (hopefully, You Tube is down right now).

a word about donations...

2009-07-13T03:15:00.002-05:00

I've had several people ask where they could donate some funds to help with Grace's medical care. The Weimaraner Rescue of North Texas website ( www.weimrescuetexas.org) has a 'Donate' button on the right side of the home page beneath Grace's picture. This will take you to Pay Pal where you can make a secure donation to a fund set up specifically for Grace's care. She will likely be seen by a couple specialists once she is completely healthy in order to get a better assessment of her blindness and any neurological damage she may have. These specialists will cost money to see plus any testing they would want done. The donations will go towards paying for these doctors and her other vet care.

We have already received several donations in Grace's name. I want to thank you all for your generosity. Without you, our work would not be possible.

I've truly been humbled by the outpouring of concern, prayer and well wishes from all of you. Who knew one tiny gray girl could bring so many different people together? Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Three Dog Bakery appearance

2009-07-13T03:03:00.002-05:00

I was so happy to see faces at this Meet & Greet on Saturday that had come specifically to see Miss Gracie. It truly warmed my heart...unless it was the 100+ degree heat! Grace was freshly bathed and looking alert when we left the house. Of course, like any baby, she fell asleep in the car fairly quickly. When we arrived (late as usual, sorry!), Grace perked right up and let everyone hold her and love on her. She would never turn that down, she is an attention hound! Some would say she is spoiled when they see her 'baby blanket' that goes with her everywhere and all the attention she gets but if anyone deserves it, she does!
The nice people at Three Dog Bakery gave Grace samples of their best and she ate every bit of it. She found the bin of flavored rawhides and was trying to pull one out. She didn't realize that the rawhides were longer than she was and probably weighed more than she did. Pictures of this are in the new slideshow.
By the time we left, Gracie was worn out. She promptly crashed in the car and slept the whole way home.
Thank you again to all those who came out to see either Gracie or any of the other wonderful weims that were there. Also, a big thank you to Three Dog Bakery for letting Gracie sample the fare and just being so nice to WRNT!!!

Video of Gracie on wood floors

2009-07-11T15:11:00.002-05:00

I wanted to get this video up of Grace because she is getting stronger every day and I wanted everyone to realize how weak she was when she came to us. She was unable to stand on wood/tile floors due to lack of muscle tone. Every day she gets a little stronger.
Title is the video link.

12.6...

2009-07-10T22:59:00.002-05:00

What a magic number that was to see on the scale today at the vet's office!!! Gracie has gained about 2 lbs. in a week! Many of you have said she is looking better but when you see her every day, it's hard to see the difference. We are heading in the right direction with the weight, for sure.
I asked Dr. C about her right ear and explained that she kind of cocks her head towards the right sometimes when she's walking her circles, which incidentally are only clockwise. He watched her walk and gave me the look that says, "You're not going to want to hear this". Basically, Grace more than likely has some neurological damage. He said that her 'high stepping' is a sign of the damage. The vet said it was probably nothing huge and that it would be very livable, but it still stung. And it's not like we weren't expecting this. I'm pretty sure any animal wouldn't be able to survive a strangulation that resulted in a cessation of breathing without some type of brain damage. I just hadn't heard it spoken out loud by a professional. She will be referred to a neurologist at some point down the road for an official assessment. But tonight, I'm not going to linger on that bit of news. There is too much good news!
So, she's put on weight and she is able to stay upright on wood/tile floor more often now. She can kind of catch herself on the slide down to the floor. If she slides to the floor, she still can't get up on her own, though. She is eating great and bowels are on track. Dr. C said to stick to the current feeding plan for now. We got some drops for her right ear, just to be safe. She's been sneezing some in the past couple of days. That concerns me about kennel cough. Even though she was vaccinated last Wednesday, July 1, it can take up to 2 weeks to present symptoms. We will keep a close watch for nasal discharge and coughing (which we haven't seen at all). Kennel cough is treatable (is that a word?) but with Grace's health being in such a delicate balance right now, we can't afford any infections.
Dr. C made a comment about how long her tail was and that it must help her balance. I told him that more often than not, it throws her balance off and sometimes, when she's turning a corner, it can tip her over. David and I kid that we're going to put a tiny orange flag on the end of it so that everyone will know when she's coming through! :o)
She's starting to act more and more like a puppy. She's mouthing more and I had forgotten how needle-like their baby teeth are! Ouch! She was pulling on her blanket today and on the whole, just looks more alert. She is in to EVERYTHING. She wants to explore all the time and gets very frustrated when she doesn't get her way.
On the way home from the vet's, we stopped at Petsmart and were stopped several times by people who wanted to see Grace. I kept feeling like I had to explain her situation so that people wouldn't think I was the one who was starving her. One thing we hear over and over is "It's great that you can do this. I don't think I could." Rescue work is very rewarding but sometimes it is difficult. For every happy ending there are many more that aren't happy. Countless volunteers have lived through heartbreaking experiences and come out of them wondering if they will be able to do it again...only to see another sad gray face with those haunting eyes pop up in their email needing transport, vet care, fostering or just human attention. We wish that there wasn't a need for any animal rescues, but there is. We don't like to see sick dogs but we do enjoy seeing them come to life in our care. We love to see a dog come out of it's shell and learn to trust humans again. We feel a sense of pride and satisfaction when we watch one of our fosters leave our home with their new family. We do this because if we didn't, who would care for the Gracies in the world?

God bless every one of the people in this world who take time to care for something in need, whether it be animal, human or a cause.

Gracie's circles...

2009-07-09T20:03:00.002-05:00

Okay, I lied. Here's one more video. This is one of her doing donuts in our living room...plus a REALLY cute close-up of her sweet face at the end.
Remember, the title is the link. Enjoy!

video of Gracie...

2009-07-09T19:54:00.005-05:00

If you've been wanting to see Gracie in action, click on the link. The video is on You Tube. I apologize in advance for the shakiness of the video. If you are remotely prone to sea sickness, you might want to take a Dramamine before viewing. I was obviously over-multitasking. I have a few more to upload but this has been an adventure to get the pictures/video taken this morning, upload everything to computer/web and then get everything on the website. All to say, I'm a little worn out and I'm missing some prime cuddle-with-Gracie time so I will get the rest up tomorrow.

The title of this post is the actual link...click on that.

come meet Gracie in person!

2009-07-09T19:42:00.002-05:00

This Saturday, Grace will be at the Three Dog Bakery in Southlake from approximately 10am to 11am. WRNT (Weimaraner Rescue of North Texas) will be having a Meet & Greet at that location from 10am - 2pm. For those who aren't familiar with what a Meet & Greet is, the rescue brings out Weims that are currently being fostered so that potential adopters, as well as anyone who wants to experience the Weim in person, can meet them. Usually, all the dogs that attend are cleared for adoption. Obviously, Grace is not anywhere near adoption-readiness, so she will only be there for photo ops, signing pawprints and giving warm weimie kisses.
Sorry for the late notice, but after Monday, I wasn't sure if she would be able to make an appearance. But once again, Amazing Grace has defied the odds and is improving daily. It also doesn't hurt that when that girl gets tired, she just falls asleep on whoever happens to be near her.
So, if you've been lying awake at night wondering when you would get to meet this tiny weim, now's your chance!
Hope we see you there!

weim kisses and barbie houses...

2009-07-09T14:58:00.002-05:00

Last night, Gracie gave her very first kisses to David! I'm guessing that the only reason I didn't include this in last night's blog is subliminal jealousy...and yes, that is probably a real psychological term. It's just buried in some obscure Psychology textbook at Oklahoma State University (no offense, David :o).
But, this morning I got my first Gracie kisses so it's all good.
She is just SO much more alert when she is awake today. It's great to see. She was even biting at my shirt! It took me a minute to realize what she was doing. I'm just not used to her even remotely behaving like a true weim puppy. It's a beautiful thing!!!

I'm sure you are all wondering how a barbie house fits into this. Well, I'm in the office which is where Addie and Sydney's 'Barbie Town' is located. The girls are laughing so I look to see what Miley is doing (because she is usually the cause of laughter). Well, Miley has some competition because Gracie is walking into the Barbie mansion through the front door! She didn't even bother to ring the doorbell...how rude. :o)

photos to come soon!

2009-07-09T09:19:00.004-05:00

Alright, I had to post this quick message to let everybody know that I am diligently working towards getting some updated pictures of Miss Gracie. However, every picture I take is either completely blurry or blurry in parts...mostly the parts Gracie is in. :o) Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining that she is moving more, I just wish she would cooperate with the camera! After close to 30 pictures, I gave up worrying about what people would think about the quality of my photography.
I've got to run the girls (human ones :o) to an activity and then I'll be back at it later. I've got some video of her in the backyard and will put that up also.
Suffice to say, she is ALL OVER THE PLACE! The girl wants to explore all the time. Are their nannys for puppies?

round and round she goes...

2009-07-09T01:02:00.004-05:00

Good evening, all! Today marks 1 week since little Gracie was pulled from the shelter in Houston. Alot has happened to our little girl since then! She is still sleeping alot but with more periods of awake time and activity. And by activity I mean she is starting to act more like a puppy. She is getting more curious about her surroundings and is trying to get out of her little enclosure. She is "talking" to us alot, now. Especially when she is not getting her way! :o) David and I have decided that 'Sassy' would have been an equally appropriate name for Grace. She doesn't like to be picked up when she is outside exploring. She will squirm and kick with her legs all the while groaning and whining. Oh, and all that stops as soon as you put her back on the ground. She is a mess!
She has a unique way of getting around the yard. She walks in circles that gradually widen. She responds to our cue word 'careful' that we say when she is about to run into something and will turn. She pretty much covers our entire yard, too. At first, we kept her on a leash when outside so we had some control over where she went. But, to be honest, I was getting dizzy! She was circling me and I was trying to keep watch so I was turning, too. At the point that I became nauseous the leash came off. I don't know how she doesn't get dizzy. I do wonder if she has some neurological damage due to loss of oxygen during the strangulation but she is able to walk in a straight line when being led. I am going to video her walking in circles around the yard and put it up for everyone to see. Hoping to get that done tomorrow...if all the planets align / kids cooperate / no other crisis arises...
Grace is not fearful at all which is both good and scary. Good because she is not letting her blindness slow her down but scary because she could easily get hurt. Does that sound too motherly? I can't help it, she is so tiny and frail, I just want to hold her and keep her safe all the time. Everything I've read always states (in clearly bolded letters) 'Do Not Baby Your Blind Dog'. When I told David this, he laughed because I baby our dogs with sight! But, I guess Grace is taking care of this all on her own. She won't let me hold her unless she is ready to be held. She seems to be heading down the road of independence (and typical Weim stubbornness!).
As for her health...
Grace is eating everything offered but we are still pushing water. She just doesn't seem to want to take the time to drink alot of water from the bowl. She drinks a little and then wants to wander off. This is probably due to her short puppy attention span but with her condition, we don't have the luxury of saying 'oh well, she'll drink when she's thirsty'. So, we continue using the syringe a few times a day which she absolutely hates. We have one more day of antibiotics and will see Dr. C on Friday for a re-check. We're hoping to see a decent-sized jump in her weight. David and I both think her body is looking smoother and less like a walking skeleton. She has been messing with her right ear and cocking her head as if it is either itching or hurting. She will try to scratch with her back leg and end up falling over because, again, she has no muscle tone to accomodate this. We've cleaned the ears and put some drops in but will have Dr. C look at it on Friday. Her lip is healing well, too. We've discovered some sores in between her toes, likely due to her toenails being too long and scraping against the sides of her toes. She only had 2 bowel movements yesterday so we'll see what the vet wants to do about that. Otherwise, we are making slow, but steady, progress.
Well, that's it for now. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for God's Grace. She is truly amazing! Take care and I'll post again soon.

not so worried...

2009-07-07T10:04:00.003-05:00

Hi all, I truly had every intention of getting a post up last night with an update on her but the day got away from me. Sorry! We've made it out of the woods...again. I'm starting to feel like this forest we're in has small clearings with sun and blue skies but is still as thick and dark as it can be when you wander back into it. Grace is living up to her name, she is an amazing little girl. To look at her yesterday morning, you would have (as I did) thought she was at death's door but when David brought her home yesterday she just looked better. She still slept alot but some of the time she would pick her head up and listen to what was going on around her (usually chaos in this house). Her eyes opened at some loud noises but she just kind of took it all in stride.
From the vet...Dr. C said her anemia is what is making her so lethargic plus, he said her protein level is really low. He is having us double her dose of the vitamin gel (which she loves) and push water with a syringe if needed. He also sent off a stool sample to check for any remaining hookworms or other parasites. The water issue didn't turn out to be an issue at all. It was like a switch was flipped because she was one thirsty girl when she got home last night! We only had to use the syringe one time and she was not happy. She just pushed with her legs and groaned the whole time. I worked again last night but David said she ate her last meal at 10pm well and slept until about 6am when she started bumping around in her crate. Like I said, she made a 180 in a day. That is a bit scary, knowing that she can take a turn for the worse that quickly. Her system is so sensitive right now. We go back to the vet in a few days for a re-check unless she is just making huge strides in her recovery.
She was more interested in walking around the yard last night. She walks in circles when she's on the ground. We would love for this to be her way of mapping the area, however, we are not ruling out any neurological damage due to the strangulation. She doesn't do this when she's on a leash as much and will walk with you if you lead so I'm hoping that Amazing Grace will amaze us once more and prove she is intact cognitively. I know she is smart. She has already caught on to our word we use to let her know she is about to bump into something. If you say "Careful", she'll slow down and turn. I tried to get some video of her walking but my battery was dead. SO frustrating...we can put a man on the moon but we still have to use batteries. Anyway, I'll try to get that today and up for you all to see. It's interesting, though, she will do her circles and make it all the way over by the fence and when she hits the fence she will start working her way back.
She's doing great on finding her food bowl at meal time and eating. When we first got her, she had a hard time staying on task with eating. Her head would bob all around and she would lose where the food was. That seems to have fixed itself. Yea!
Earlier today, I let myself wonder what she will be like when she is healthy and strong. Then we will be dealing with a whole other set of issues! Addie and Sydney are loving how she will just lay in their laps and sleep. We all know how healthy puppies are...really busy, teeth that feel like tiny needles, nonstop energy until they crash, infamous chewing and general mischief! They might not enjoy that side as much. Once again, the health obstacle is overshadowing her blindness. But I know that issue is down the road (or waiting for us outside of these woods we're in) so we are preparing now. I, however, would gladly endure the razor teeth if it meant that Gracie was a happy, healthy Weim.
I have received lots of good suggestions and advice on working with a blind dog. Please know that if I haven't called or emailed you, I'm not trying to be rude. We just need to get Gracie healthy before we start tackling that issue. I can't say it enough...thank you, thank you, thank you for offering to help and believe me, I will be taking you all up on your offers!
Thanks so much for all the weim wishes and prayers! Keep checking back, I promise to not take so long to update the blog.
~Kelly and Grace

still worried...

2009-07-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

So I explained to the girl who answered the phone at the vet's office why I was calling and they said bring her in...the sooner the better. It's a rush to get kids dressed, dogs outside, fight tears back and out the door only to realize that I'm on empty and have to get gas. UUUGGGHHHH!
We get there and poor Grace looks like she was poured into my arms. The techs come in and one says, "Are you sure you want them in here?" about my girls. I'd been doing so good to hold it together, too. I manage to choke out, "You think it's that bad?" and she said, "I don't know. I just thought you might not want them in here in case...". I agree and she was nice enough to take them to the lobby and find some coloring paper for them. By now there's no holding back, but I'm working on getting it back together. It doesn't help that Grace is all snuggled up in the blanket with her big pink paws sticking out at the top. She is just beautiful. She doesn't have a fever...good...and her gums "look good"...better... I'm standing there holding her just praying. I told that tiny girl, "You have to fight now. It's not time. Don't you leave us."
Right in the middle of me focusing on reading the poster with all the different breeds of dogs on it in an attempt to not get upset, David walks in. Thank you! He didn't even have to ask, he just left work and came. Did I mention I love him?
Dr. C comes in and wants to run some blood tests and watch her today. So, no news yet. They will call David. That's good because he will not be emotional and actually remember the entire conversation. I'll let you know when I hear something.

Worried...

2009-07-06T07:52:00.000-05:00

Maybe this is the mom in me coming out, but after spending all night at work thinking about how much Grace slept yesterday, I'm starting to think it's too much. I know her body needs rest to heal, but David and I figured up how much time she was awake yesterday and I think we ended up with about 4 to 4 1/2 hours in a 24 hour time period. That seems like alot to me. She got up this morning, went outside, ate and went back to sleep.
Dr. Carroll's office isn't open until 8am so here I sit, counting down the minutes until I can call. David said she ate well and he gave her the vitamin supplement gel but she is just very lethargic. MK and I discussed her anemia last night and that's all I've been thinking about.
5 more minutes... Pray for our tiny girl. I'll let you know what happens...

Sleeping Beauty

2009-07-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

Good Evening!
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We are all worn out, I swear it's like having a newborn in the house again. Although, now I have two little helpers...Addie and Sydney want to help take care of Grace all the time and argue over whose turn it is to hold her! :o)
The rest of Sunday was fairly uneventful. Grace does her weim talking (those of you who have a weim know how they groan) alot, especially when she is upset. We are getting to know her better and I think she is getting to know us, too. The first day, she was very restless and would just walk in circles in her area whimpering and groaning. She seems to be more comfortable outside in the grass than she is indoors. She tends to pick her feet up, kind of a high step, when inside but walks normally outside. This makes me think she spent most, if not all, of her time outside. She tries to get out of her area alot. She is a very determined puppy! We let her out once, to see what she would do and she couldn't stay upright. She has no muscle tone due to her emaciation and doesn't have the strength to keep her legs under her on smooth surfaces. They will slide out and she ends up on her tummy with all four legs splayed out. Then she gets frustrated because she can't get up and just kicks all of her legs (I can see the calories we just put into her being wasted on this!) until we pick her up. At some point, I might get a towel or some material of some kind to use a sling and help hold her up so that she can explore a little more. But for now, we are trying to conserve every calorie we can.
Grace went to her first 4th of July fireworks display with us last night...and slept through the entire thing. (We weren't close enough for them to be too loud for her.) She was an angel and everyone around us wanted to pet her and hear her sad story. If I had a nickel for every time I hear "How could someone do this to a puppy?"... I won't even get into that because it does Grace absolutely no good. What's done is done and we are focused on her future. So, on the whole, we plugged the rescue's website and Grace was the perfect little ambassa-dog. By the time we pulled into the driveway Addie, Sydney and Gracie were all asleep in the back seat.
Grace woke me up at 4am this morning bumping around in her crate. I took her out to pee and was too tired to try and settle her in her crate so I just put her in bed with David and I. She curled up right next to his head and went immediately to sleep. I woke up at one point and she was curled up on my shoulder in the crook of my neck...it doesn't get much better than that!
She's eaten well today and had 3 bowel movements (this is what we were shooting for). We're a little concerned about her water intake. She drinks after eating and a little here and there but not enough so we are using a syringe to push some extra water. Her body is in such a delicate state right now that anything could set off the balance. She does not like the syringe, either! She pushes your hand away and groans and whines the whole time. It's good to see some fighting spirit in her!
Today, she has lived up to the title of this post. She has slept much of the day. She wakes easily to eat and will go outside to pee and explore a little but mostly, she wants to sleep. I'm hoping this is a result of her feeling more comfortable in our home and her body is now trying to heal. She is still on an antibiotic and we are supplementing with a high calorie vitamin gel. I think she is just flat worn out. Everyone got a turn holding her today except me!
Lastly, I wanted to give you some details on her appearance. She has part of her upper lip missing on both sides of her mouth, the left one is pretty decent sized and the right is small. Both are still healing with scabs, so they aren't too old. She has some scars and bite marks on her ears / face / chest. Her dew claws and tail are intact. You can see every bone in her skeleton right now...every rib, every vertabrae in her back. Even her tail looks bony. She has beautiful eyes and just looking at her, you wouldn't know she is blind. Her ears are big, beautiful weim ears and always get wet when she is eating or drinking. Her coat is in decent shape but a little coarse and sparse in areas due to the malnutrition.
Like I said, we're watching her hydration and will probably call Dr. Carroll tomorrow is she is still sleeping all the time just to be sure he doesn't want to re-assess her anemia.
Keep God's Grace in your thoughts and prayers and thank you for checking up on us!

We have poop!

2009-07-04T22:50:00.000-05:00

Hi all,Yes, it's true (and stinky :o), little Grace finally pooped this morning. And then proceeded to step in it and track it all around her small area we have set up for her. As I was happily cleaning the rug, my 2 weims were sitting there watching me and I'm pretty sure they were thinking, "How come when we do that she gets mad and yells at us?"

This is a big step forward for our tiny girl! It's a sign that her body is catching up a little. Couldn't see any worms and it was not loose. She got a bath, too, since she had stepped all in it. I put a towel in the bottom of the bathtub so she wouldn't slip. Worked out well and stayed in place once it was wet. Poor thing was worn out by the time all this was done and cold so we wrapped her up in a dry towel and heated another in the dryer to put over her. She fell right to sleep.

She slept all night in her crate and I woke up to her bumping around in it. Took her out and she peed right away and then wanted to walk around the yard for awhile. She bumps into Miley alot and Miley will just look at her. She ate breakfast well. She's on Royal Canine Recovery with Eukanuba lg breed dry mixed in. I got several cans from Dr. Carroll and was going to get the rest of the cans we would need at Petsmart but they wouldn't sell them to me without a prescription. I guess that's it for now.

Hope everybody has a fun and safe 4th of July! --

~Kelly Walker

Weimaraner Rescue of North Texas

http://www.weimrescuetexas.org/

2009-07-04T22:49:00.000-05:00

7/3/2009

Grace travelled from Houston to Dallas today to the Walker Family. It was a long trip, but she slept most of the way. Her short periods of activity wore her out, but her tail was wagging and she seemed interested in her surroundings.

From the Walkers:
We are home and tired but Grace is a trooper. She saw Dr. Carroll today and has gone from 9.8 pounds on Wed to 10.5 pounds today. I don't care if it is re-hydration, she's moving in the right direction! She is a sweetheart and once again, the Weimaraner proves they are able to forgive the horrible things that humans do and love us anyway.
I believe she is 'God's Grace' and He is watching over this little one.
Stay tuned...more updates to come!!
Kelly

Meet Grace

2009-07-04T22:45:00.000-05:00

The call came, as most do, from a shelter with a Weimaraner in need. But this call was different. This call was for a very special tiny girl. All of our rescue dogs come in with a story - usually it is a mystery that slowly unfolds as each day passes. This call was heart wrenching - a young puppy was brought to a shelter in bad shape. The victim of an accident. She was left outside on her own and became entangled with a chain or fence. When she was found, she was thought to be dead from strangulation, but she was revived. As usual, we did not receive the whole story about this girl. But we do know that she is blind. She is severely emaciated and had a horrible infection of hook worms. This little girl who after three and a half months of life weighs less than 10 lbs. There is more to her story and most of it we will never know. But the most important part of the story is just beginning......

The biggest challenge in rescue is to find a foster home for our dogs. Foster homes are the backbone of rescue and we would literally collapse without them. A plea was put out to our group and the Walker Family immediately offered to help this girl. After much thought, they came up with the name Grace for this little one. In the short time we have had her, there have been several incidents that have let us know that Grace definately has an angel looking after her.

Thank you to each of you who helped us find this girl who needs our help so desparately -especially the shelter workers who kept her safe in a crazy enviornment and called us to help her. Once she is stronger, she will need to see some specialists for assessment. For now, she needs some basic meds, some routines and training on how to communicate and acclimate to her new surroundings, good food and rest. The Walkers will update our site with Grace's progress. Please keep little Grace in your prayers