Wild Flowers blooming in Texas

Whitley in the Texas Blue Bonnets

Dog Health Care on a Boat

 

I am eleven years old Golden Retriever and have had allergies for as long as I can remember.  My food and grass allergies give me canine atopic dermatitis.

Canine atopy is likely to be a polygenetic condition (Shaw et al 2004) but no genes have yet been identified. The heritability of atopic dermatitis was around 0.47 in a group of guide dogs the majority of which were Labrador retrievers but which included some Golden retrievers and Labrador-Golden crosses (Shaw et al 2004).  That is, about 50% of the likelihood of the occurrence of this disease can be attributed to genes.

Beside the broken wrist from jumping out of SUV because I got Bud's leash wrapped around my paw, I have been in great health.

We returned from an afternoon sail from Moody Gardens in Galveston back to our home port by Clear Lake.  I was thirsty since I do not like to drink much water away from shore since  I will not pee on the boat!

Well I ran up to pier to the bathroom and drink some water.  I returned to the boat and drank some more water from the hose.  After some encouragement I ate a little dinner and then something horrible happened.  My stomach began to swell to the size of a small pumpkin.  I went to my matriarch to tell her that I needed to throw up.  She quickly got me to the head to throw up.  She then notice my enlarged stomach and rib cage.  Papa came on board and he carried me upstairs.  They rushed me and Bud to the emergency Vet on I-45.  Bud did not want to go in.

They x-rayed my insides and made sure that my stomach had not twisted.  Thank goodness it had not twisted and was just gas.  They put a big, long tube down my mouth into my stomach to release the gas.  You could hear the gas being released.  The pressure went down, and I felt so much better.  I had bloat without torsion (twisting) also now as gastric dilatation.   No one understands why this happened.  Probably from drinking too much water and getting air in my stomach at the water hose.

Before leaving, make a bloat kit for your dog.

Know First Aid and CPR for Dogs.

Dogs Sharing the Boat

Two dogs that share everything love the bigger SUV with the big Bud bed.

Bashful Bud, yellow lab, cuddles under Whitley's head while driving across Texas in a smaller SUV.

Bud, yellow lab, sure does make a great pillow for Whitley, golden retriever.

Learning to share tight quarters with a growing puppy.

First sailing trip, everyone finds the best spot

The perfect sailboat for our dogs

Sailing to Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX

So easy to sail, even I can take the helm.

Update: We changed sailboats to a 34 foot Catalina sailboat in May 2010, and loving the wind in my ears at Galveston Bay and playing with the dolphins in the ICW.

Bud on the Hunter 27