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Post by odnarb on Dec 13, 2011 2:14:34 GMT -5
I joined a while ago but rarely post. I was Nic, Odnarb, and or Stafinois on various boards. I see lots of blasts from the past here!
I'm down to one dog. Buster the Evil Pug passed in 2004. When my ex and I split several years ago, Brando the APBT (who just turned 15yo) stayed with him while I took Grant the AmStaf and Harry the Malinois. I lost Harry unexpectedly in May at age 7 of laryngeal paralysis.
Grant will be 11 in May. He goes to work with me in a public library. Kids come over from the elementary school to read to him.
I lived in Portland, Oregon last time I talked to many of you. I am now in rural Iowa. I have a husband and 4yo daughter. We also have a fat house cat.
So, hello!
Sent from my DROIDX using ProBoards
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Post by odnarb on Dec 13, 2011 2:17:56 GMT -5
Here is Grant from about an hour ago.
Sent from my DROIDX using ProBoards
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Dec 13, 2011 2:56:12 GMT -5
Post by johnr on Dec 13, 2011 2:56:12 GMT -5
I joined a while ago but rarely post. I was Nic, Odnarb, and or Stafinois on various boards. I see lots of blasts from the past here! I'm down to one dog. Buster the Evil Pug passed in 2004. When my ex and I split several years ago, Brando the APBT (who just turned 15yo) stayed with him while I took Grant the AmStaf and Harry the Malinois. I lost Harry unexpectedly in May at age 7 of laryngeal paralysis. Grant will be 11 in May. He goes to work with me in a public library. Kids come over from the elementary school to read to him. I lived in Portland, Oregon last time I talked to many of you. I am now in rural Iowa. I have a husband and 4yo daughter. We also have a fat house cat. So, hello! Sent from my DROIDX using ProBoards Hey Nic! Blasts from the past indeed! Boy, do I remember Brando and especially Buster the Rvil Pug! I guess I lost touch before Grant and Harry came on the scene. Sorry to hear of your losses. If I recall correctly, you were originally from Iowa. (This came up in some private discussion we had post-9/11.) Did you move back to your old home town or somewhere else? Is Aimee your real name? Is that what I should call you instead of Nic? (I can't quite see calling you Odnarb!!!!!)
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Dec 13, 2011 9:25:27 GMT -5
Post by RealPitBull on Dec 13, 2011 9:25:27 GMT -5
Hey Aimee! So good to have you back I didn't know you lost Harry! I am SO sorry to hear that. Really made me sad. He seemed like such a great dog, and he was beautiful.
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Dec 13, 2011 11:27:29 GMT -5
Post by catstina on Dec 13, 2011 11:27:29 GMT -5
Welcome aboard! I "like" Grant on Facebook. I love the work you do with him! He looks AMAZING for his age, I would have thought he was 4 or 5!
I am so sorry for your loss. Harry was a very handsome dog.
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Dec 13, 2011 11:34:01 GMT -5
Post by RealPitBull on Dec 13, 2011 11:34:01 GMT -5
I wanted to mention that Grant was bred by a wonderful friend of the breed, Lora (Bauer) Brashears who is still sorely missed, 5 years after her passing.
And Grant's grandpa on the botton is Luca's daddy.
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Dec 13, 2011 12:32:40 GMT -5
Post by johnr on Dec 13, 2011 12:32:40 GMT -5
I wanted to mention that Grant was bred by a wonderful friend of the breed, Lora (Bauer)Brashears who is still sorely missed, 5 years after her passing. And Grant's grandpa on the botton is Luca's daddy. I was just thinking about Lora last night. Sorely missed, indeed. Btw, Nic, I couldn't see the Grant pic posted here. Not sure if the problem is at your end or mine.
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Dec 13, 2011 12:35:29 GMT -5
Post by loverocksalot on Dec 13, 2011 12:35:29 GMT -5
I cant see the photos either. And without photo I am not sure if I know you from forums I had been on in the past.
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Dec 13, 2011 12:36:06 GMT -5
Post by RealPitBull on Dec 13, 2011 12:36:06 GMT -5
^ Check out Aimee's website for pix.
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Dec 13, 2011 13:17:04 GMT -5
Post by johnr on Dec 13, 2011 13:17:04 GMT -5
Oh, I didn't pick up on the detail about laryngeal paralysis when I first read through this and responded. That is exactly what Pablo currently has, and he's maintaining okay for now at circa 14yo. So sorry you lost Harry that way. I know it won't be long for Pablo one way or other, but we are still managing day by day with his condition.
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Dec 13, 2011 13:52:16 GMT -5
Post by odnarb on Dec 13, 2011 13:52:16 GMT -5
Hey Nic! Blasts from the past indeed! Boy, do I remember Brando and especially Buster the Rvil Pug! I guess I lost touch before Grant and Harry came on the scene. Sorry to hear of your losses. If I recall correctly, you were originally from Iowa. (This came up in some private discussion we had post-9/11.) Did you move back to your old home town or somewhere else? Is Aimee your real name? Is that what I should call you instead of Nic? (I can't quite see calling you Odnarb!!!!!) Yes, call me Aimee! Embarrassing, but when I first joined the internet world I was a bit paranoid and didn't want people to know who I really was. Now I really don't care. My middle name is Nicole. And yes, I grew up in Iowa and moved back to my hometown. Married a guy I went to high school with. Now midwest winter is approaching and I will again be wondering what the hell I was thinking. LMAO Hey Aimee! So good to have you back I didn't know you lost Harry! I am SO sorry to hear that. Really made me sad. He seemed like such a great dog, and he was beautiful. Harry's death hit me harder than any other dog that I've lost. We would go to the park every morning to play fetch. That morning was like any other, and he suddenly started gasping for air. We rushed to the vet, but by the time we were in the door and in a room being seen, he was blue, barely responsive, and had a temperature of at least 109. It was horrible. Almost 7 months later, I still have a hard time thinking about him without bursting into tears. And yes, Grant is my Hartagold boy. He's MeMe's son, and a littermate to Doodle and Junior. Sadly, they are all gone. You can see pics of Grant on his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/grantlibrarydog
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Dec 13, 2011 14:00:56 GMT -5
Post by johnr on Dec 13, 2011 14:00:56 GMT -5
So sorry again to hear of your loss, Aimee (glad I don't have to call you Odnarb! ;D). Pablo seems to have a much milder form of this laryngeal paralysis and really doesn't have trouble getting enough air, even with all the hacking up of crud that gets into his windpipe. We manage with antihistamines, care in feeding (I hand feed him main meals - he does better with treats) and not overdoing it. But the coughing and hacking are getting worse and even if we are spared the major respiratory issue, aspiration pneumonia is ALMOST a "not if, but when" issue. It'll kill me to lose my #1 pal out of all the many dogs I've owned. But it's all part of the deal.
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Dec 13, 2011 14:48:58 GMT -5
Post by odnarb on Dec 13, 2011 14:48:58 GMT -5
In retrospect, the signs of LP were there, but never enough to make me think that something was wrong or to connect the dots. He had suddenly developed a major phobia to his crate, and we were treating him for the anxiety. Now I wonder if perhaps he had an episode in his crate when we weren't home, and it scared him to death. The anxiety wasn't true separation anxiety or claustrophobia. He was fine if I left him in my car or other enclosed spaces.
He was always a panter. I did think that he was panting a bit more than normal, but I attributed it to his anxiety issue. He was a noisy eater. He gagged when he ate more often than most, but he also inhaled his food. Anybody would gag if they ate like that. A couple of times in the last few months, I remembered thinking that his bark sounded slightly hoarse, but he was a major barker and that wouldn't have been out of the question. He had never shown any signs of exercise/heat intolerance. In fact, he did better in hot weather than most dogs.
I know that I shouldn't feel guilty for not seeing it coming, but I do. I often wonder what I could have done differently. He was on the high end of insanity even for a working bred Malinois, so I couldn't have kept him quiet. But, maybe there was something that I could have done.
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Dec 13, 2011 16:36:49 GMT -5
Post by johnr on Dec 13, 2011 16:36:49 GMT -5
In retrospect, the signs of LP were there, but never enough to make me think that something was wrong or to connect the dots. He had suddenly developed a major phobia to his crate, and we were treating him for the anxiety. Now I wonder if perhaps he had an episode in his crate when we weren't home, and it scared him to death. The anxiety wasn't true separation anxiety or claustrophobia. He was fine if I left him in my car or other enclosed spaces. He was always a panter. I did think that he was panting a bit more than normal, but I attributed it to his anxiety issue. He was a noisy eater. He gagged when he ate more often than most, but he also inhaled his food. Anybody would gag if they ate like that. A couple of times in the last few months, I remembered thinking that his bark sounded slightly hoarse, but he was a major barker and that wouldn't have been out of the question. He had never shown any signs of exercise/heat intolerance. In fact, he did better in hot weather than most dogs. I know that I shouldn't feel guilty for not seeing it coming, but I do. I often wonder what I could have done differently. He was on the high end of insanity even for a working bred Malinois, so I couldn't have kept him quiet. But, maybe there was something that I could have done. Try not to beat yourself up. If this had affected Pablo back when he was younger and all go, go, go, it would have been a lot harder to keep him out of crisis. He also loved to swim, but didn't really stay high in the water and he could have drowned if I had him out in the water after his first symptoms but before diagnosis. The first thing I worried about was his gagging after eating. He went on antihistamine before LP was diagnosed. Then he seemed better for awhile, then it got a little worse and then it got way worse. It was only then that LP was diagnosed. The last time Pablo went swimming was in the ocean at Sandy Hook. He always gagged somewhat during/after swimming because he rode low in the water. So the fact he gagged a little extra this time didn't really raise any flags with me, since the water was rougher and of course salty. So I'm just kinda lucky that we moved away from his favorite fresh water swimming areas quite awhile ago (and indeed my schedule left little time for such things the last few years in Bordentown). Death is always hard to deal with. Just celebrate the fact that you gave him a great life.
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