Farrier and a Little About Dogs

I think our search for a new farrier may have come to an end. Thank goodness. I would use the farrier that does every other horse at the barn, but we always have scheduling issues. He isn't one to be on a set strict schedule and we are. I like to have my appointments book out every 6-8 weeks so I know in advance when I have to take off of work. We had a farrier come out Tuesday evening (he was super nice and squeezed my four in at the end of his day) and we have our next appt set up for July 13 :) Willow and Navi are wearing their new trims without issue, but Jess and Pixie are a bit sore. However Jess was sore before the trim so that really isn't different. Wet weather makes what little sole he has soft and tender on rocks. And Pixie had to have her frog with thrush cut way down so I can treat it, which makes her tender on the rocks too. So they have a few days off of riding. Good news, he says I pretty much have the thrush at bay only a little left in her front foot, but now that we got the old dead frog cut away and the meds can get right to the thrush it should go a way...hopefully. I feel like it may never end (Its been a year of treating it. Granted it goes away and comes back it seems).  Overall I am happy with how their feet look thought, they are a good angle with no flares and he didn't chop away at the sole.

On to other topics. I decided to write a bit about my dogs. Often times I think I take their company for granted and it dawned on me last night they are all aging quickly and I may not have them around for many more years. Kylie is 16! Duel and Dakota are  9 1/2, Riley is 7 1/2, and Tigger is 6 next month! It has been 6 years since I have had a puppy, needless to say I some times think having senior dogs is like going back to puppy hood with potty issues. 

Kylie was here long before I was as she was my partners dog before I came into the picture. She is a sweet little terrier mix that is spunky and full of herself. She ran the house before she was old. She always kept the big dogs in place. Now she is aging and falling to the bottom of the pack, but still has her days.

 

 

Kylie rocking her mohawk :)

Duel and Dakota are my Siberian Huskies that I got just a few months after moving to Montana. They filled a void I had after having to leave my dog behind in Michigan. Puppy hood with them was trying at times, lol. They were hard to housebreak, hard to kennel train, and were runners. Lucky for me about the time they turned 6 months old is when I went to training to become a dog trainer :) So life with them got much easier! However for the first 5 years or so they were still runners! We had to be extra careful to not let them get out the front door or dig out of the back yard. Dakota was never and still isn't very social. She never did really like strangers. Her brother Duel loves everyone he ever meets! They are both aging well and just now starting to show their age. They have finally stopped trying to run :) Life with Huskies is never dull and I have enjoyed all 9 years with them and hopefully we have many more!

Dakota and Duel at 3 months

Duel and Dakota all grown up. Duel is red and white, Dakota black and white.

 Riley is my heart dog. He is my rescue Pitbull. In fact his face is one of my two tattoos. He came to us as a 6 month old very sick little guy. He was at the shelter we both worked at. His back leg was skinned and swollen to twice the size it should be and he was skin and bones. We spent hours soaking and bandaging his leg. Once he started feeling better he started coming to work with me and was put into training to become my demo dog for dog training. He proved to be a fast learner and spent the next 5 years coming to work almost daily with me. He was the store mascot. He had a hard time adjusting after I quit dog training and went to dog grooming. With my career change he could no longer come to work with me. He has now adjusted to staying home, but still loves to go visit! Occasionally we work and see what he remembers...to this day he still does all of his commands :) He had a hard start to life and still became a shining example of what Pitbulls are really like. He changed a  lot of minds in this town!

Riley and his best cat friend Merlin (who is now 16!)

Riley covered up as usual

Graduation from Advanced class years ago

On to Tigger. Tigger is my super special needs dog. The past six years with him have proven to be the most challenging and yet the most rewarding time in my life. He is a high percentage wolf dog. Besides being part wolf which is a challenge in its self he also has brain damage due to blunt force trauma done before the age of 2 months. Tigger came to us at 2 1/2 months old. We took him in while the vets did testing to see what was wrong with him. After testing it was decided all of his issues stemmed from trauma to the head and his brain didn't rewire its self correctly. He was partially blind, could only turn to the left and was very food aggressive. It was recommended that he be put down because there was no way of knowing if he would be safe when he was grown. So we decided we would take the chance knowing he may not be able to safely stay with us very long. We made a promise to ourselves if he became a danger to live with we would have him euthanized. Well here we are 6 years later and he is still with us. Has life with a 120lb brain damaged wolf dog been easy...nope! He has drawn blood on us more then once, luckily it has been only a few times. He has taught us patience and when to pick our battles. We don't ever give him anything we may want back and he has his kennel for quiet time when things get out of hand. Overall he is attached to us at the hip. He loves to sit on the couch with us and watch TV. I just told my partner last night, I will be absolutely heart broken when he leaves us. His hips are bad and we know that we may only have a few years left with him. But he gets 2500mgs of glucosamine daily along with other joint supplements. He is still playful and seems to be doing great :)

Tigger 4 months

Tigger 6 months

Tigger 2 months

Tigger now :)

Tigger and Dakota admiring their work, lol

Tig and Riley

There is life outside of horses and this is a glimpse of my other four legged best friends! Now I am off to go get hay for the horses :)