Category Archives: Atti X Stackhouse
Mouse
~ My First Year
Just wanted to pass along some pics of Mouse growing up this year.
He’s absolutely a joy–he’s sweet, goofy, and so so smart.
Thank you!
Rachel Pomeroy
Breeder Comment
We are so happy to hear things are going well. It took us quite a while to get you this Longhair boy–but the wait seems insignificant now.
Franny
~Keeping Active Together
Miss Franny is now 14 months old (12/30/2019) and is healthy and happy and thinks snow is the greatest thing EVER.
My vet says she is the perfect weight (currently 56 lbs) and she continues to thrive after that very scary incident last year – nothing to indicate it was anything more than a one time thing. Phew. With the virus, she has become a little house protective as we get almost zero visitors, but once outside she has many dog friends and she is well adjusted.
We are very fortunate to have a large field near us and when it is not a mud mess, we meet out there regularly with 3 to up to 10 other dogs! so much fun!! With the field mud, we have been walking 2-3 times a day through the neighborhood averaging 6 miles a day.
Franny wears a Fi collar, and it also tracks her daily activity. She is currently in the top 100 of ALL dogs (close to 50000) who wear the collar, she is the #1 Weim, #2 of all Oregon dogs, and #1 in Hillsboro. LOL At almost 61, I am pretty sure she will be my last puppy. I am exhausted, but a tired dog is a good dog!! I love this girl to the moon. She is smart and goofy and so stinking beautiful.
Thank you Cliff and Shela – I am so grateful to have found Owyheestar!!
Breeder Comment
I am happy you put so much into your relationship. Franny is keeping you super active–not necessarily a bad thing. Thank you for loving her so much!
Friendly Bart
~ His Voice and Tail make a Statement
Thank you for Bart, once more. Bart will be two tomorrow, Feb. 5th and it has been a wonderful journey. You made the perfect choice for us. Bart has lots of friends both canine and human.He barks a lot but is otherwise awesome! Cheers to you, Cliff, Christina and Atti X Stackhouse.Hope you are feeling better.
Dan, Polly & Bart
PS: Early AM Message
Bart & I shared an Old Fashioned doughnut with my mom, and dinner tonight is a bacon wrapped fillet.. An hour on the beach this morning and some play time with my friends…what a wonderful birthday.
Happy Birthday Bart!
Breeder Comment
Everyone wishes you many more excellent birthdays. You are an extraordinary Longhair OwyheeStar Ambassador. Thanks for everything –including the fabulous updates.
Franny
~ Our Frightening Event
I love seeing all the happy Owyheestar dogs on the blog, and I go their first if I have a basic health question and Cliff and Shela have covered so many topics! Wealth of information. But sometimes things happen to our pups and it can be cray scary. So, my sweet 10 month old Franny had a truly frightening pain event a couple weeks ago. We ended up at the emergency vet (and this is not a failure on their part, they can’t be expected to be specialists in all things) but they suggested her x-rays showed a specific syndrome indicating a scary, progressive back concern.
My regular vet, (Cornelius) and (after talking to Cliff, he asked their vet to look at the film too – thank you so much!) the Owyheestar vet also saw the xrays, but they saw something different. All recommended an expert review.
VCA is the closest site in Oregon with a neurologist, and from my research there are only a couple hundred vets in the country that do this specific work. I was pretty worried about how this was all going to shake out.
After their exam, it was clear that Franny does have a transitional vertebra (my vet and Owyheestar’s vet both agreed!). However, this vet thinks that wasn’t likely the cause of her pain. She said she thinks my little athlete likely had a bout of intense psoas pain. She had taken her first weekend at the beach and then spent the very next weekend in Central Oregon where she got to run leash free the entire time, doubling her normal daily activity, and then – the long car ride home where she was still for 4 hours.
Runners (as a former marathon runner, I can vouch from personal experience) know that not moving after a long run can tighten everything up and cause pain. Kind of makes sense now that I think it through. Also makes sense that the anti-inflammatory meds helped even more than pain meds.
Barring any additional events, specialty vet said keep her playing, stop any meds and just use anti-inflammatories as needed, and all should be fine.
She didn’t even recommend more imaging. She thinks the vertebrae issue is a red herring, not a current concern, and said unless things dramatically change, no surgery (the emergency vet thought she might have to have surgery) in fact, she said she wouldn’t perform any surgery outside of repairing trauma on a dog this young as she is still growing.
The neuro vet was personable, warned me her staff wanted to keep Franny (shout out to #owyheestar, they said she was one of the most beautiful pups they have ever seen), and I am so very grateful that they weren’t about upselling tests or treatments that aren’t needed.
Miss Franny is full on back to normal. I am so grateful to Cliff and Shela for being there for us not just for the cute pictures but for their support during the scary times too. I included part of Franny’s play group at night with their light up collars, a gorgeous shot of her in Central Oregon, and of course the one I cll “legs for days” – she is so tall and lanky.
Breeder Comment
Thank you for taking care of this lovely girl. Any number of things can happen with our beloved fur children–it can be overwhelming. Vets don’t always have the answer–and sometimes we have to talk to more than one to figure things out. The process can be exhausting, gut-wrenching, and scary. Thank you–for doing everything possible for this beautiful girl.
No Costume for Me
~Hello –it is me, Bart
Breeder Comment: We had a couple of blogs (about vaccine reactions) in the works when we received this lovely note from Bart, who lives on the Oregon Coast. It was a different kind of Halloween for many of us. Thank you, Bart for writing to us.
No costume just a pumpkins, bats & corn candy halloween scarf.
Trick or Treat! Bart 🎃
Cautionary Tale
~ From Kris (Luna’s close call)
As I watch you prepare to deliver another litter of pups to their forever homes, I can’t stress the importance to everyone about the vaccine protocols you provide to everyone and how they must be followed.
As you know when Luna received her first vaccination after coming home to us in January, she had a near fatal reaction. She was diagnosed with HOD. She was not eating and lethargic. At 10 weeks old, I knew this wasn’t right.
I immediately took her to the vet and she was diagnosed 2x incorrectly with a GI and UTI infection. The medicines prescribed did not work and I was getting more anxious and feared for her life. They simply did not know or were familiar with vaccine reaction or HOD in weims. HOD is an inflammation of the growth plates and very dangerous causing a high fever (Luna’s was 106 at one point) in addition to what I mentioned above.
It was an emergency vet that performed a simple test and squeezed her legs (Luna did not like it and whined) and finally got the right diagnosis. He took immediate action putting her on the right track.
If I could send any message to your clients and those getting new puppies, it would be to follow the protocols you’ve outlined. Be vigilant in observing for adverse reaction. It took 5 days for Luna to start presenting symptoms. More importantly, if your puppy starts showing symptoms, get medical help IMMEDIATELY! Your puppy’s life depends on it! Lastly, make sure your vet understands HOD and make sure they’re examining your dog if they appear sick after a vaccine. Time is of the essence with HOD.
With the right medications which are typically steroids over a period of time, your puppy will recover as Luna did. Now she’s living her best quirky weim life and we love her so much!
Here’s a pic of her after coming out of the hospital on the road to recovery and below is one of her now almost 1 year old. ❤
Click Here to read yesterday’s post if you missed it–it has a few informational links as well as our heartfelt message to those who are beginning a journey with a new fur family member–the Weimaraner in particular.
Breeder Comment
We asked Kris to write about Luna’s vaccine reaction from her perspective–hearing from someone who has experienced such an event means more than hearing it from us. It is not the first life-threatening vaccine experience we know about, but we hope it is the last.
About fifteen years ago, a fellow Weimlover (an Engineer in the Portland area) who picked up a pup from us succumbed to his Vet’s pressure. She gave his Weimaraner pup a puppy vaccination that included Lepto. She assured him there was little to no risk. Within hours he was back with her, and she was fighting to survive–she did, but he regretted the decision. The truth is many Weimaraners had the same puppy shot, and they didn’t have a severe reaction. Nevertheless, a percentage do, and a few will lose their life. Others who have vaccine reactions develop ongoing health problems — we suggest everyone errors on the side of caution.
Here is where we will make a full disclosure that we are not Licensed Veterinarians nor Vet Techs. We are speaking from the breed club recommendations and experience. Ultimately, you choose what is right for your pup. The Weimaraner Club of America (WCA) vaccine recommendations are similar to those we practice. Click here to learn more.
Bart
~ Oregon Coast Celebrity Status
We have been enjoying the puppy pictures; you must have very crazy and busy days.
The other day a woman stopped Dan & Bart on the 804 trail during their morning walk. She told them that she is a dogsitter and has seen thousands of dogs, then she said that Bart was the most beautiful dog she had ever seen. Bart weighed 88 lbs last week while having his mani pedi. We never thought he was going to be this big. He surely is a handsome boy and we love him so muchThank you! Dan Polly & Bart
PS – Bart gets to run on the beach everyday.❤
Breeder Comment
Bart is living the life that most people and fur family members can only realize in their dreams. He doesn’t know it is a charmed existence–to him, it is how it is meant to be. (Haha) Thank you for sharing with our readers and us.
Sassy Francis (part two)
She is SO energetic and if my last Weim was any indication, I don’t expect a slow down for several more years. She is finally accepting crate time easier when I leave for work (I am lucky to work at home part of the time so her longest stretches are 5 hours), and at night she prefers my bedroom floor to the bed – though at some point early in the morning she usually hops up and lays at my feet.
Next on my agenda is to get her in for a swim test – there is a dock diving spot near me and for some reason, I think she will excel at it. She is stubborn, smart as hell, an incredible athlete (you should see her jump!) and enjoys playing in sprinklers.
We fought over my blueberries, she loves when my plums fall on her side of the fence (fortunately the tree is in the front yard) and she is suddenly interested in my figs – I guess they must be ripening.
She is a stunner and training her is keeping me on my toes. She definitely tests me on a daily basis, but boy howdy – when they are getting it, and they look at you with trust and love there is not a whole lot better in life. I love my Owyheestar girl.
Breeder Comment
Many have written how their OwyheeStar pup has been their sanity during these crazy last few months. I love how you have continued to work and develop together –plan for the future. Oh, dock-diving would be so excellent. Have fun!
Sassy Francis (part one)
Franny the Kracken
Sassy Francis, Franny the Kracken, turns 9 months this week if my calendar is correct. (bd 12/30/19)
She has been with me 6 months and what a ride it has been. First, there has been no end to the compliments – even from smooth coat Weim owners. The longhairs are unique and they seem to know it.
In her first 6 months here, Franny has grown in so many ways – tall as can be, she is over 50 lbs now, but all legs. Sometimes she moves like a dressage horse with a lovely angled trotting step. Often, that is followed by a completely graceless tumble from trying to stop quickly after a full run.
I am so fortunate to have a maybe 4-acre field next to my house and many neighbors bring their dogs out almost every evening. Humans stand apart and our regular entertainment is watching their antics. Franny and friends, many of them are also young dogs, look for each other to wrestle and fetch and simply play chase. They welcome new dogs and are so fun to watch.
K Marie
Breeder Comment
Thank you, K Marie, for this lovely picture into your life together. I divided into a couple of blog posts–I hope you don’t mind. She has such a lovely life with you–so happy you adore her.
Julie’s Willow
This is a recent photo of Willow on her way to the vet to get cheatgrass removed from between her toes. We absolutely adore her and am very excited to add another OwyheeStar to our family. Thank you!
Breeder Comment
Hello, Julie–we are happy to see the photo of Willow–as well as to hear how much you love her. Sorry to hear about the cheatgrass–it is an evil menace waiting to happen. We are delighted to be working with you again.
Owyheestar Weimaraner's News 