Another vet visit

My husband abruptly said "Cinnamon looks like a chow-chow", when we were cutting up branches of a pittosporum we had pruned recently. Turning my head to see Cinnamon who was sitting behind me, I was astonished to find her looking realy like a chow-chow. Both her eye lids swollen, I couldn't see her usually cute round eyes.

I quickly examined her and rang her vet to make an appointment for her. The vet said "It is most likely a bee bite. Good news is her breathing and heartbeat are normal. I will give her a couple of injections, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory. The swelling should subside overnight."

This photo was taken after the vet visit. The swelling was already a little better than it was when we first saw it, but, still, she looks like a chow-chow, doesn't she?

Two-spined spider in action

One of the reasons I couldn't find any information that would have helped identify the two-spined spider which I had found in my garden was that I thought, without any doubt, that the bug was immobile. I never saw it moving until the night after I finally knew what it was.

As two-spined spiders are nocturnal, I got out at night to see what the spider in my garden was doing. It was a spider in deed, with legs moving, hanging on a web it was making.

Two-spined spider

This is to follow up my previous post on Saturday.

The creature turned out to be a two-spined spider. After searching for information about it for several days, I gave up doing it on my own and inquired about it through an online inquiry form at Landcare Research New Zealand website this morning. Then, only a few hours later I received a reply as follows:

The bug in your picture is a two-spined spider, Poecilopachys australasiae (Griffith & Pidgeon)
It is an Australian one but not a problem. In fact it is considered beneficial as it catches moths and small insects which could be a problem in gardens and orchards.

It's good to know what the bug is and that it is not harmful, but what I am more grateful for is the responder's quick and kind response.

Western Springs

Yesterday we went to Western Springs for the first time. We went there, because we had to be out of the house while an annual pest control spray was being done and also we wanted to go to a dog daycare centre in Grey Lynn, which is not far from Western Springs, to buy K9 Natural raw dog food.

We had passed by the park many times before, on the way to and from Animal Emergency Centre, which operates as Specialist Veterinarian Group Hospital on week days, and Phyllis Reserve, where Cinnamon had lessons of Agility, but we had never entered the park.

What worried me most was that my beagles might pick up and eat bread, which people throw for birds, as well as birds' droppings. But, soon after we entered the park, I knew Cookie and Cinnamon would have no chance to find bread for them, as there were so many birds of so many kinds that there was a fierce competition for food among them. I still had to be careful about birds' droppings, though.

What's this?

I found a strange looking insect on a leaf of my kaffir lime tree. What is this? It looks really bizarre...

Buttercup squash

I make compost from food scraps using Bokashi. Usually you use a large black compost bin to make compost at home, but, with Bokashi, you only need a two-layered bucket system as small as ordinary plastic buckets.

One day I found some spouts shooting up from the soil, underneath which I had buried Bokashi compost for fermentation. At first I didn't know what they were but about a week later I realised that they were buttercup squash.

As I had never grown buttercup in my garden, I decided to wait and see how they grew. Before long, some yellow flowers began to bloom, but I still didn't know what to do, so I again decided just to wait and see. Several days later I found a flower with round ball-shaped bottom, which I reckoned a female flower. Remembering that we failed to grow watermelon a couple of years ago, I quickly pollinated it using a brush.

The pollinated flower shrank and fell soon. But, the round bottom of the flower grew bigger and came to look like a squash.


Baby squash - 5 January

The baby squash kept growing until it became about 10cm in diameter. Although I hoped it would keep growing, it didn't, so I finally decided to harvest it.

Voila!!


My first squash - 17 February

Hound racing

Cookie and Cinnamon belong to the Hound Racing Club based at the New Zealand Kennel Club Grounds in Ardmore.

Cookie has been a member of the club since he was ten months old. At first he always escaped from the course and never ran to the end. As we always kept him on the lead when he was a puppy, he was apparently enjoying his freedom being off the lead during the racing. It took almost a year before he finally learned what he was expected to do.

On the other hand, Cinnamon seems to be a born racer. From the first time, she not only ran to the end but also clearly followed the lure.

Yesterday, there was a meeting of the club. We had missed the previous one, as we had to take Cinnamon to the Animal Emergency Centre that day. We didn't expect to go back to the racing so soon, because we were told to keep Cinnamon in a crate for the next four weeks when she was discharged from the animal hospital. However, we attended the meeting yesterday, as Cinnamon was perfectly well already, or she looked so at least to our eyes. I just didn't let her run, though, thinking it was not worth taking a risk of worsening her condition again.

At yesterday's racing, Cookie ran very well. He was even leading his peers once or twice during the racing, which is wonderful considering he had a slipped disk 15 months ago and he still has a minor disability, although negligible.

Long-waited rain

It's been hot this summer in Auckland. It reached 32.4C at Whenuapai Air Base, Auckland on Wednesday and it was declared by MetService that it was the hottest day in the last 137 years.

It had not only been hot but also very dry ... until Thursday (two days ago). Today we are having the first decent rain in the last several weeks.

Although I welcome this rain as the soil had been too dry for trees and plants, it becomes an issue when it comes to dogs' walking and toileting. Cookie and Cinnamon wouldn't mind getting wet much, but I do mind it. If it were only Cookie, I could just open the door and let him out to quickly do his business. But, I cannot do that with Cinnamon at the moment, as I am still concerned about her health and don't want to let her off the lead.

So, today I had them wear their raincoats, wore mine myself, and took them out for a short walk. I don't remember when I last used those raincoats in summer, although I use them regularly in winter.

Actually Cookie loves wearing clothes. He has two raincoats and five tee shirts.

Active Cookie!

In contrast to Cinnamon, Cookie has been enjoying his new diet.



Although it is too early to determine the effect of diet change, I am seeing some difference in Cookie's behaviour.

Though he is still unwilling to walk most of the time, yet he walks with light and happy steps when he does. Usually it is me who has to pull the lead, but he walked eagerly pulling the lead forward this morning.

Don't say pulling the lead is a disobedient behaviour, as it is, for me, a preferable one, as long as he is pulling it forward, not backward.

Before I started using a harness for Cookie after he had an operation for a slipped disk, I used a collar called "Premier Collar", which works like choke chains but is made of nylon tape. I used the collar because an ordinary collar often slipped off Cookie's head when he suddenly stopped walking and pulled the lead backward.

He has always been an unwilling walker since he was a puppy. So, I am very happy to see Cookie walking happily like a puppy!

What is this food!?

Cinnamon showed an interesting response when she was offered her new breakfast.



She looked eager until having the first bite, but then she quickly spat the food out onto a rug, on which she always has a meal. Perhaps she was not sure what she was eating, as she had never had non-dry food before.

Come to think of it, she did the same thing, when she was given a piece of raw meat at my friend's house. Cinnamon repeatedly put the meat in and out of the mouth, and, in the end, her canine friend, a retradoodle called Kurosawa, came along, picked up the meat, and ate it. If it had been something she was used to eating, she would've been upset. But, she wasn't. She just looked confused.

This morning, Cinnamon ate all her food eventually. I am hoping that she will get used to it.

Raw food diet

I am trying getting Cookie and Cinnamon on a raw food diet from tomorrow morning. I decided to do so because I wanted Cookie to be a little more active and alert.

I found frozen products called K9 Natural on the Internet. They are produced in New Zealand and sold locally, as well as exported to several countries including Japan. As they are not available in our local pet shops, today my husband and I went over to a dog daycare centre in Kelston, about a half-hour drive away from our house, which sells the products.

A woman at the daycare centre explained what differences we might see by changing our dogs' diet, such as more active and alert dogs, which I am looking for, and reduced smell in the feces.

It's going to be interesting to see how they respond when they see their new breakfast tomorrow.

May nothing happen...

Cinnamon has been doing well this week. She looks completely back to her usual self.

However, we can't be assured as we still don't know what had happened to her. May nothing happen during the weekend! We cannot afford to take Cinnamon back to the Animal Emergency Centre, as they charge more than double the normal vet fees...

Laziness or sickness?

Cookie doesn't like walking much. It may be simply because of his laziness, but I often get concerned that he might be feeling pain or some other sort of discomfort.

Cookie had an operation for a slipped disk in the neck in November 2007. At that time, we were very upset as he suddenly started to limp. In the hind sight, he seemed to have had some pain for several weeks, as he sometimes yelped when I touched his body. But, I didn't think that it was a sign of a serious condition like a slipped disk.

However, it seems there are some beagles like Cookie. Yesterday I came across a message thread titled "GU-U-TA-RA (lazy) beagles" in a beagle forum of a Japanese SNS site called Mixi. Maybe I don't need to worry too much, as Cookie doesn't mind walking if her girl friend, Bertie, is with him.

Thank you, Cookie!

Now Cinnamon can walk as she normally does. She doesn't seem to have difficulty in balancing any more. However, she still has to stay in her crate most of the time, as, on her discharge, we were told to keep her strictly rested for the next four weeks; no running, jumping, or playing all of any kind.

Cinnamon has always been with Cookie since she came to our house at seven weeks old. So, she has never been left alone by herself for long hours. Although Cookie and Cinnamon usually sleep in our bed, Cinnamon has to sleep in her crate now. Cinnamon would keep crying or barking, if she had to stay alone all night. But, she doesn't, because she has Cookie beside her. Now Cookie and Cinnamon sleep side by side in their own crates.



Cookie seems to understand his role as her older brother. Thank you, Cookie.