After a very long year...Daisy turns 3!

And her world is a much happier and safer place to be in these days. Sorry for the hiatus, we were really busy getting her to a better place!

Happy Birthday to our little Craisin Daisy!

Daisy turns 2!

This was a big weekend for Daisy. She had no idea of course, but she turned 2 years old today. And this weekend marks 3 months since we began fostering Daisy. It is only fitting that she got lots of love, treats, challenges, stimulation, and gifts!

Down stays took some work this week

A romp at Fort Funston

I'm about to eat this birthday hat

Birthday accessories gone wild

More puppy class moments

It was sprinkling and wet on Saturday morning, but we stuck it out to get more "stand/stay" and "heel" practice.

Our trainer, Mike Wombacher, was quick to say "the Vizslas will definitely not do down/stays in the rain". So true!

Daisy is the spectator

Alba "rooing" to the class

Doing the best stand/stay they can muster up

Rediscovering Fort "Fun"ston

SAND. Lots of it. Permeating everything. That's what happens at Fort Funston. But you just have to go with it and have a great time. This video and photo tell the story.

View of Twin Peaks and Mt. Davidson in the background

Puppy II Class

They say you should socialize your dog early and often.

Since Daisy missed out on most of that early socialization and training we are determined to give it to her so she can develop confidence and conquer fear. We loved Mike Wombacher's training with Alba, and got in touch regarding Daisy. He immediately slotted her in his puppy II class which started a week ago. He knows the Vizsla drill and is careful about what techniques to use on Daisy.

Today's lesson was all about stay and heal. With Alba as her lead, Daisy did very well for her first sit/stay, down/stay and stand/stay exercises! Heal will take more time and we'll try the sensation collar Mike suggested to work on that a lot more since it is critical for our neighborhood walks.

Just getting their attention before class (Alba on left, Daisy on right)

Daisy and Alba working on their stand/stay

The grass is not always greener

Wow, it's been a while since our last post. The silence has certainly not been due to a lack of activity on this end. Daisy is making many strides (more on those later), but she did hit a bump in the road two weeks ago and it has taken a little while to get back on track.

We took the girls to Crissy Field on one of those gorgeous Sunday mornings at the end of February, where they ran like crazy. The grass was green and they munched in between fits of chasing each other. We ran into another group of Vizslas and stopped to chat while the dogs munched on more grass. Sensing a theme? Early spring grass always seems to attract dogs, and theories abound on why dogs eat grass. Some say they eat it to settle an upset stomach, but even vets can't seem to agree on exactly why grass is appealing to dogs.

It all seemed innocent enough at the time, but fast forward to the next afternoon, when Daisy throws up after a bully stick, and much of the contents of her stomach included undigested breakfast and a whole lot of grass. Ok, the episode is over, don't give her any food until dinner (and then bland chicken/rice watered down), but around midnight, the vomiting began in earnest. And diarrhea. In waves and even a couple hours apart. She was completely restless. Of course this was the morning that Erik had an early flight to the East Coast. At 2:30am I called SFVS and gave them symptoms and general update. They said to monitor Daisy and if it kept happening to bring her in. At 4am, things weren't improving and I took her to the emergency room. She was actually excited to get in the car (she always is). But poor thing was dehydrated and needed help right away. She looked as green as the grass she had eaten.

Daisy looking a little greener than usual

Lots of heavy duty meds, sub-q fluids, and no food/water for the next 12 hours. Then another late morning vet appointment to check status and healing of stitches from spay (another pesky and lengthy healing time), lots of sleep, and staying low key for several days. No grass! She got better, than it came back, tested for giardia which was negative, but more bland diet, meds, and recovery. Let's hope we don't do this again soon!

Time flies with a friend!

Wow! Today marks 1 month since we began fostering Daisy. Time has flown given all that has changed in her life since January 20th. Daisy is making tons of progress.  Some real and fun milestones:

• Building muscle climbing stairs to do everything and anything around here
• Learned to finish her food before Alba swoops in on her bowl
• Got spayed and figured out how to avoid the dreaded e-collar for 10 days
• Willingly gets out of the car rather than gluing herself to the floor
• Added about 3lbs since we picked her up
• Peacefully enjoys her curly bully stick while I work out on the treadmill
• Entered Pet Food Express with Alba's encouragement
• Walking the streets of San Francisco with A LOT more confidence

They were mid-play and stopped to pose for this photo

You just can't resist that smile! 

Taking a break from their antics

Conquering her fears will still take more time (our vet said she has only 1 confident Vizsla in her practice!), but she has so much love to give and is a quick learner. Training and more socialization is really the next major focus for Daisy, but she's ready to learn!