(No, I am NOT going to make nice!)

Any year that holds so much crap deserves to begone.  We had the endless sick for ConneryBeagle including repercussions from the miracle meds (and the further expensive, ongoing treatment that restricts him from all the things he loves).  One of us here in the household had an extensive laid off and the other is in an industry screaming “help me!”  Editorial transitions inserted half a year of unpaid delay into the schedule on top of endless on-spec projects.  The dog van got $2000 worth of work one week and was totaled by a cell phone driver the next.  (I am not even kidding.  One week later.)  The wonderful new job the other of us finally procured still managed to mess up the paperwork to create a month’s surprise layoff…starting the Monday before Christmas.  And those are just the highlights.

DO NOT WANT.

Not just crap for me…crap for so many people.  When you live on the edge for a certain amount of time, it doesn’t take much to tip you over.  There are far too many people in this country living in that precarious place.  The vulnerable 99%, as it were.

I EXPECT BETTER OF YOU, 2012!!

Don’t bother telling me that it’s all faint symbolism and not a real reboot.  Leave me my little delusions.

In the meantime, there are always the little things to look forward to.  Say, a certain Beagle finding an Important Spot on the treadmill belt that needs catching.

In order to enter the TD (tracking) test, a dog must prove he’s ready.  That means passing on an informal TD track.  Ours was scheduled for Friday the 23rd–but we spent Friday snowbound, digging out from under the third storm in two weeks.

insert random beauty

Sunrise, right before the start of the storm...

Thirty-six hours later, as the sun is about to set...clearing skies with lenticular clouds sitting on the Sandia Mountains

So we rescheduled for Monday.  But then the certifying judge had to reschedule something of her own due to that same weather, and suddenly here we are on Christmas morning, squeezing in the track together.

It was 15F when we left the house; marginally warmer when I ran Dart’s little starter track (a wee morale builder).  Eventually the sun came up and that helped a bit–when we ran the certifying track a little after nine, it was all blue sky, bright sun, and eager Beagle.

And for Christmas this year, the eager Beagle ran a picture-perfect track and found the glove. 

Now I am off to celebrate!

insert random holiday cheer

My view from the office at Horse Feeding Time

Duncan feeling a bit jaunty in his power red blankie

The dogs say "Happy Holidays!"

Well, count me in.

This is the time of year when all the hungry e-reading devices need to be fed.  New devices, gifted devices, well-loved devices in the hands of holiday-frazzled readers who just need a moment to get away from it all.  Naturally, we’ve got a sale coming up at Backlist eBooks: a slew of $.99 Try Me titles, easy to find and with all the buy links for various formats right there.

SEE HOW EASY:

December 23rd through January 8 > Backlist eBooks > Favorite author or genre > $.99 will be right there in the title!

And while you’re waiting for the day after tomorrow, here’s what happens when Tieg the Officially Adorable Dachshund heard Connery’s Monday video with his Sounds of Woe: A Rush to the Rescue!

Do you suppose he ever found Connery lurking behind that laptop?

(added note: in a vague sort of way, yes…)

Poor Spot Focswagon (my old Ford Focus) is laboring under a full load, valiently trying to do the job of the demolished dog van.  Well…a smaller interior heats up faster!

Back at home, ConneryBeagle is singing his song of woe with disbelief on his face.  He and Belle are cozied up in the giant Crate of Convalescence now occupying most of the kitchen.

Normally both would come along simply for the ride (am dog, will travel), but poor little Spot has his limits.

Connery’s just going into his second week of rehab for his stifles and is beginning to realize that he’s still Not Doing Things.  After today he’ll be sure of it.

Fortunately, he’s loving his treadmill work.  We’ve had the thing for a week and I have to keep the door to that crammed little room (reminiscent of Spot at the moment) closed so he won’t duck in when we go by. Recently he and Dart had a spat over who was getting the next turn.

Just as importantly, his gait is growing more confident and regular, and in spite of the steroid in his inhaler, he’s regained a little muscle.  (The treadmill, a cheapo little Sears thing, has also saved our sanity this past week when the snowbound canyon kept atomically vibrating Dart Beagle inside.)

The treadmill puts Connery in an adorable zen state.  He’s more cuddly, softer in expression, and more relaxed overall.  Ohmmmm.  However, he’s also begun to make observations about his Not Doing Things woe.  He’s always been a yodeler.  Let’s just say he’s getting in a lot of practice.

Five and a half more months, Connery….

There have been some changes in federal law affecting horse slaughter and here is a bit of information.  Click the title to see the whole thing. I then restate my views.

“The AAEP (American Association of Equine Practicioners) has prepared a summary of the status of horse processing in the U.S.

Congress Passes USDA Appropriations Bill – USDA Inspection of Horse Processing Allowed to Resume

A provision that had prohibited USDA funds being used for personnel inspecting the slaughter process at horse processing facilities was not included in the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science, and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bills signed into law by President Obama on Nov. 18. The appropriations bill passed the House on a vote of 298-121, while the Senate voted 70-30 in favor of the bill. The bill funds a variety of federal programs and agencies and is not solely a bill addressing horse processing.

What does the passing of this bill mean for horse processing?

It means that USDA can now pay inspectors to inspect horses and meat that may be processed for human consumption at U.S. plants.

This bill does not, however, appropriate any new money to pay for these inspections. The USDA would have to find the money in the funds appropriated in the FY’ 12 bill.

Is there a federal law that has been reversed?

No. There has been no law passed or changed dealing with processing itself. There is no current prohibition on the processing of horses in the U.S. The federal bills introduced in Congress to prohibit this are still before Congress. The only change is that for the past five years the USDA was not allowed to fund the inspection of horses at the plants – even though no plants were open – and now they are should a plant begin operating.

Will horse processing plants open?

While a plant could open and start processing horses, it should be understood that this appropriations bill is only good until September 30, 2012. In addition, as mentioned above, there are two bills currently in Congress proposing to ban horse processing in the U.S.: H.R. 2966 and S. 1176.

Due to state laws passed in Texas and Illinois, the home of the last plants to process horses in the U.S. in 2007, the processing of horses for human consumption in those states, even with USDA inspections allowed, will not be possible. Horse processing also is banned in California.”

The following is a recap (without the sarcasm) of my views on horse slaughter.

1.  Opposition to horse slaughter seems illogical.  Opponents argue that horses are pets and symbols of the west.

Symbols:  Hunting of all sorts of beautiful and iconic animals for food and for trophy is legal.

Pets: Being “saddled” with the ownership for the life of the horse regardless of the usefulness or need of the animal is unrealistic, as it is for dogs or cats. There are free options for euthanasia of dogs and cats.  I know of no such option for equines.

Animal slaughter in general: I think it is clear that I love horses. However, they are still legally classified as livestock, and to my mind that category does fit equines.  We slaughter livestock such as cows and pigs, ducks, sheep, goats and chickens in regulated facilities.  To me, it feels very reasonable to do the same with horses.

2. What happens to unwanted/ unusuable horses these days?  Many rescue facilities are full.  Humane euthanasia  is an option.  But it is expensive.   A vet has to come do the job and then someone has to come haul the carcass away.  In the past, you could actually make a little bit on a horse that was unwanted and the body was used for a purpose. Now if you can’t afford to keep a horse and it won’t sell (economy and all), you might not be able to afford to euthanize it either. The price of hay in NM and Texas has doubled since last year.  It is legal to shoot your own horse, however, in Bernalillo County, where I live, burying a horse is not legal, without building a crypt of sorts.  There needs to be a humane and economically friendly way to dispose of unwanted horses.

3. Unwanted and unusuable horses are being abandoned.  Is starving more humane than slaughter?  “In Colorado, for example, data showed that investigations for horse neglect and abuse increased more than 60 percent — from 975 in 2005 to almost 1,600 in 2009.”

4.  If I own the horse, I make the (humane, of course) decisions. I know there are plenty of horse lovers that oppose horse slaughter, but neither the American Association of Equine Practitioners or the American Quarter Horse Association oppose it. Also, horses are big and it seems kind of wasteful to let all that meat go unused if the horse is going to be put down anyway.

5.   Closing the  U.S. plants did not prevent horse slaughter, it moved it.  Export of horses increased over 600% to Mexico  and over 120% to Canada.  Did this change in slaughter location increase the welfare of the horse? About the same number of horses (138,000) were still killed, but the conditions in the Mexican plants is far less regulated than what we had here.

This issue is very emotional for many people, and to them the idea of slaughtering horses, especially for human consumption is repugnant.  I don’t have that issue.  To me allowing horse slaughter in the U.S. for glue or dog food or even human consumption is reasonable, practical, economical, and with proper oversight and funding, humane.

Story length, I mean.

Especially when things are busy-crazy, say…during a holiday season.  (Or say, if you’re me and all the crazy things are happening at once, between the repercussions of the recently totaled dog van, the intense snow and cold management that just descended on us, and one particular ConneryBeagle who just can’t catch a break.)

Lately I’ve been grabbing fiction of a shorter nature--little reading snacks that fit into my brain, my time frame, and my budget.  It’s nice, with all this turmoil around, to read something that resolves itself in one sitting, giving me a nice note on which to turn out the light and pull the covers up.  (Over my head.  Far over my head.)

In the spirit of such things, and because I am sadly desperate to continue spreading the word about The Heart of Dog, here are some short works to share.  From ME!  Also not bad as Christmas gifts, as it happens…

THE HEART OF DOG
Buy all Formats at Backlist eBooks
Sixteen stories, award-winning authors, and help for a sick dog…

Award-winning author Doranna Durgin has over 30 published novels and another 19 short pieces. Now her dog-themed stories are collected in THE HEART OF DOG, along with those by other award-winning authors: Jeffrey Carver, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, John Mierau, Fiona Patton, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, & John Zakour.

“If you’ve ever loved a dog, you will love this book…” 
~The Book Faerie

————————————————————————–

NIGHT OF THE TIGER

December ’11
Nocturne Bite e-novella
An installment in the Sentinels series

Nook
Kindle

Marlee Cerrosa turned unwitting traitor to the shapeshifting Sentinels, and Scott O’Brien paid the price. Now, with another traitor amongst them, Marlee hunts redemption, and Scott hunts what he lost…and it looks like they can only find the answers in one another.

=================

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that ConneryBeagle has been sick.

In fact, you probably know that for the last year, our lives have pretty much been all about the Sick.  Figuring out what’s wrong and going through a series of vets to do it, funding that whole process–the CT scan, the various meds, the early rhinoscopy–and then funding the meds. (Hey, did I mention that THE HEART OF DOG would make a great Christmas gift?)

Through it all, Connery just kept trucking–playing agility, training in tracking, just plain being a good boy.  He was on a slow and steady downward slide, but at every step of the way, did what he could.

At the end of the day, we learned that his sinuses are self-destructing in an idiopathic way, which means, “We don’t know why.”  No doubt it’s related to his lifelong auto-immune issues–the same ones that prompted his first and very wonderful vet to warn me I would lose him early, maybe very early.

The solution was a doggy Flovent inhaler.  (If you’ve never paid for Flovent out of pocket, then trust me when I say you never want to.)

Then came the steroid side effects, which weren’t supposed to happen at all.  In this case, Connery instantly shed every muscle he had, but hid the fact by bloating up with water retention.  So as we lowered the dose and the water came off, what it revealed was a weedy little guy with no muscle tone.  We lowered (and lowered) and LOWERED the dose, and finally realized that for him, there is no dosage level that takes care of the problem without affecting his body–but it’s a lot better than it was.  We walk a fine line.

Right at that time, he started showing reluctance to jump  into the car, and we thought he’d simply gotten too weak (I had a vet check him that same day).  In the days that followed, he saw a chiropractic vet (who helped a LOT), he regained some muscle (not all), and I gauged his progress by watching carefully as he ran agility.  His confidence and speed steadily improved, but his right hind muscling didn’t seem quite right.

As of Thanksgiving, Connery had his BAWH! back.  He ran with fierce glee for a three-times-Double Q weekend, and pulled together 82 MACH points.  (For us, that’s a once-a year kind of thing.) In the following week, we got the notice that he made AKC Nationals in Reno, and we started thinking about that late-winter trip.

Then on Saturday I went to the most awesome soundness clinic.  I signed up for it months ago, including an exam for Connery!  During the course of the clinic, the presenting veterinarian gave us the tools with which to identify problems in our dogs; it’s an elegant system.  Not that I’m a sudden expert–I’m just someone with more insight than I had before.

By the time we broke for the individual exams, I was pretty sure I knew what was coming: during Connery’s time of weakness, he’d done himself an injury–from which he’s now mostly recovered, but which is now shifting to a lurking chronic condition, maybe with another six to twelve months before it blows up big-time.

Some days, it sucks to be right.

So thanks to this wondrous vet, I know where the injury is (stifle) and I know how to treat it proactively (ultrasound diagnosis, prolotherapy, and rehab).  It means no agility, no play time, no tennie…  It means biking to keep him moving straight and strong (OMG it just turned into winter!), and thank goodness, he’s allowed to continue tracking.

But it’s this or we’re done.  No agility, no play time, no tennie…ever again.

ConneryBeagle: I AM NOT DONE PLAYING YET!

DogMom: Me either!  Still in there fighting for you, BeagleMine!

collage by Inside Hope’s Chest; altered by moi

Not exactly in the way I had planned, though.  More like in a Keystone Cops way.

This past weekend we went to an agility trial.  Also, we had Weather, to the tune of slashing ran, gale force winds, and brrrrcold.  And we started out with ground frosty and frozen over recent irrigation.

So on Friday, ConneryBeagle went flying…right through the double jump.

On Saturday, Dart Beagle went flying…blown right off the dogwalk.

On Sunday, which was calm, cold, and sunny, Dart Beagle headed across the dogwalk and went, “Oh!  Yesterday I went flying off this thing!” and promptly tied his legs in knots and flew off again.

On the other paw…

Connery ran strong this past weekend, and looked as good as he has since we started the merry-go-round of his magical inhaler vs the side effects of same.  It’s three months since he started using it, and it’s obvious that it’s not possible to completely resolve his idiopathic headaches, infections, and inflammation without screwing up the rest of his body.  It’s just a matter of finding a decent balance, and hoping for a shift toward overall improvement over time.

But hey!  He Q’d on all his courses except for the one on which he slipped, and he did it with happy vigor.

His jumping style is awry in this photo, but I love it for his soft, intense little expression

And while Dart was busy flying off the dogwalk on the standard course, over on jumpers he qualified every day–if not, shall we say, without a whole lot of wing & a prayer (just to stick with the flying thing). All the same, he had some lovely moments, and I’m slowly learning the things he needs to stay confident.  I’m changing my criteria for contact zone behaviors and I’m learning that he stresses when I decelerate, so I take that into account when I plan my course for him.  It’s unavoidable, but sometimes it can be minimized.

Normally these three qualifying runs would have earned him a title–and I thought it had.  Then I remembered that it takes three legs under TWO different judges, and at this particular trial there was only one judge.  (It’s quite unusual just for that reason.)  We’re traveling for the next trial, which may or may not explode his brain.  We shall have to see!

Meanwhile, I have to admit…although my license plate says Air Beagle (well, all smashed together in 6 letters), this isn’t exactly the kind of flying I was thinking of.  I hope that for a while, we stick to the flying that’s done ON PURPOSE!

PS BONUS VIDEO!  This is a 360 pan of the sky right before it really opened up.  At the time I was recording, it was raining lightly.  And of course, the wind…  (Note the clever movie file name.  Yeah, yeah.)

It’s been a very very long year.  And a long seven months since we started the Heart of Dog journey to fund Connery’s health journey.

We’ve come a long way.  The book and your help with spreading the word have gotten us through consultations, testing, and finally–although we never pinpointed a diagnosis other than generalized inflammation caused by his ongoing autoimmune issues–a treatment.

The good thing is, we’ve eliminated conditions that would have been devastating prospects.  The difficult news is, the expensive treatment is nearly as bad as the problem, and we’re having a very hard time walking the line between the two.  I can’t say that Connery is doing well; he’s clearly not thriving.  But I can say that he’s in less pain, and he’s cheerful.

It really sucks when an author has to wait a year to be paid for her work.  It sucks even more when a pattern of such delays add up to create the death of a thousand financial cuts…and when the little person who takes the brunt of that is a dog of huge heart and terrible luck.

But it’s a privilege to be part of a community that’s done so much to help me spread the word about Connery’s anthology.  The truth is, I’m terribly proud to have such a stellar collection of stories donated to Connery’s welfare; it’s more than a book to help a dog, it’s a collection of stories that deserve to be read.  (I get to say that, because there are so many stories that aren’t mine!)

Because you’ve all been such a big part of this, it’s time for an overall update.  His timeline is below, with the newest entries at the top.  This timeline is also always available at his Update Page.  And if that all looks a little overwhelming, the gist of it is…we’ve gained some ground, we’ve lost some ground, and we’re still trying to make things right.

(I had all the progress notes here, but some folks were having issues with the site, so I removed the notes in case there was some silly leftover code from when I snatched it from my web site.  They’re HERE, though.)
~~~~~~~

Sixteen stories, award-winning authors, and help for a sick dog…
Nook, Kindle, PDF, EPUB

Award-winning author Doranna Durgin has over 30 published novels and another 19 short pieces. Now her dog-themed stories are collected in THE HEART OF DOG, along with those by other award-winning authors: Jeffrey Carver, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, John Mierau, Fiona Patton, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, & John Zakour.

“If you’ve ever loved a dog, you will love this book…” 
~The Book Faerie

       

Some days, they just have to be themselves.