Sad news

It has been too long again since my last posting.



I have to report very sad news, Jess went to cross Rainbow Bridge on March 25th at 09:30. She had been ill for a few weeks prior, sickness off and on, had been tested for pancreatitis - all clear, also her faeces were tested as she suffered intermittent diarrhoea. I took Jess into the vet on the 24th as she had collapsed, she was kept overnight and put on a drip overnight, she did rally very slightly by the next morning but sadly her heart was enlarged and she was in pain so in her best interests I held her in my arms while she slipped away.



Having sadly lost a few dogs over the years, mostly old age I didnt realise how hard it would be to lose a little girl that stole my heart, a girl that I expected to have for a month or two and who stayed with me and Billie for over a year.



Rest in peace Jess you have surely earned it and I thankyou for the love and trust you gave to me in your time with me



God Bless

8th February 2010

Now I really have to hang my head in shame, is way too long since my last update on here.

Quite a bit has happened, Billie my other dog had an infection in her spine just before Christmas and I thought I was going to lose her over Christmas, she was almost unable to walk and it was awful seeing her in such discomfort. Whenever I thought it was time to call it a day she picked up. I am pleased to say that she is much better now and although is still only able to go on short walks she is improving all the time.

Jess has also given me major scares, which are still going on. Jess has been going through a period of being sick and I cannot find out why. I am in the process of changing her food, she has been tested for pancreatitis and thankfully is clear. I know she has a disgusting habit of finding cat poo and eating it YUK !! but do not think it is this. It seems to have abated at the moment but am worried with not having found out what caused it.

It seems impossible but it is 1 year today since I brought Jess home for what I thought was a month or two of TLC before her time was up!!

In that time Jess has settled completely into my home with my other animals and I would miss her so much if she werent here now. She has developed quite bad arthritis in her front pastern (ankle) joint, where her front legs are twisted in, possibly from deformity or from poor growth. I believe she spent a lot of years confined to a small area - I can only surmise this from the lack of any muscle when I got her, also hard skin on her elbow joints and sides possibly from living on concrete. I believe she was chained but obviously I cannot be sure of any of this. I only know that she is suffering for it now. Jess has been on Carprofen for her arthritis which did seem to really help until the vomiting came along.

The vet bills seem to be mounting but Jess is worth every penny although wouldnt say no to a small or even large windfall to pay for it all !!

Jess did not like the snow at all and does not like cold full stop. My Bernese of course loves and and would lay out all day in it given the chance but dont think it would help her arthritis!! Jess was a lot happier when I invested in a waterproof dog coat for her and was quite proud 'strutting her stuff' in her coat on walks and just seemed a lot happier. Did not have the hang dog look and the giving me dirty looks for 'making' her go out in the cold/wet !!!

Hopefully I will have 'my girls' for some time to come yet but at the same time I fully accept that their time may be limited and I will not allow them to suffer unecessarily.

With summer hopefully on its way I will have some happy photos to put up again of the girls enjoying their walks and lazing in the garden.

Happy New Year to all even if it is a little belated !

November update

Hi,





I have been slacking badly and have missed an update completely for September and October, hangs head in shame !!





Jess is still doing very well and recovered well from being spayed. She did develop a slight infection in one of the stitches but this has now all healed.





One thing has made me laugh quietly, Jess has been used to my Bernese Billie sleeping on my second sofa (as far as Billie's concerned it is her sofa !) but Jess's face when Billie got up next to me for a cuddle was a picture. Jess then tentatively slithered up next to me after Billie got off, she looked like she was expecting to be turfed off very rapidly but when she realised it was ok and she even got cuddles she has now decided this is the space for her every night. Jess will wait until Billie has got off or if Billie is asleep on her own sofa then Jess will come and stand by the sofa and wait until I tell her she can get up.

As you can see from the photo she is very much at home with me on the sofa. If I lay on my side with my legs up she will snuggle down behind my legs with her head on my leg.


Jess seems really content now and I am thankful that I have discovered that Jess is not petrified of fireworks. She barks at the loud ones but other than that does not seem to be affected by them. I add rescue remedy to their water from a few days before bonfire night and if Billie is stressing a lot I use it directly in her mouth. I have not invested in a T shirt for her as she pants so much and gets so hot when fireworks go off I would worry that she would overheat.

I went to Paws in the Park again this year and there were even more interesting stalls. I was hoping to get to Discover Dogs in London as well next week but unexpected bills have put paid to this. Jess recently suffered with a bad sickness and diarrhoea bug but seems to be all ok again now.

This is a short note but I hope to do better next time and have more news for you all.

Bye for now

August update

Hi there,

Things are still going very well with Jess, I was a bit worried about her after her spay operation as it took a while for the swelling to go down and she had a slight infection with one of the stitches. This has all healed now.

I have yet to make it to Black Dog Tan training as my shifts have been all over the place recently and a new rota is due to come in on 14th Sept, hopefully then I can look at organising at trip to the dog training.

Not long now until Paws in the Park dog show, depending on the weather I may take Jess, Billie would not cope with a dog show all day. Last time we took Linda's border collie and discovered 'mekuti' harness, Jay was a consistant puller but after using the harness a few times changed to a more pleasant dog to walk. If you have a dog scared of fireworks or other stress I can recommend a Mekuti T Shirt - I picked one up for Linda while in Wales as my sister lives not far from where they are sold (you can get them online - http://www.mekuti.co.uk/about.htm - if I had not seen it with my own eyes I wouldnt believe it, Jay when noises are about (fireworks, guns, even doors banging) was petrified and would pace, pant and shake constantly. When we put the T shirt on him within half an hour he was laying down and fell asleep. He still gets stressed but with the t shirt on he is nowhere near as bad. Linda had previously used a mekuti wrap with worked but it is not advisable to leave them alone with one on whereas with the t shirt it is ok.

Will pop back and add a bit more on this and post some recent pics

July update

Hi There,

A lot has happened since my last update. On June 14th I attended a Companionship Dog Show in aid of Rottweiler Welfare in Crowhurst. I was so pleased with Jess she behaved herself beautifully and it was lovely to meet up with Roni Parish who's name I found in a Dog Magazine as a contact for breed advice on Rottweilers. I spoke with Roni in general about Rottweilers before I made the decision to take on Jess. It was nice to put a face to the name.

Jess excelled herself and as well as winning the Veteran class and Best Rescued Rottweiler ( see pic below of Jess with Judge when she won the Best Rescued Rottweiler)

She took part in her Bronze good citizen award and passed. I was so proud of her, she still has 'a thing' about small white terriers i.e. seems fascinated by them and if not watched will attempt to 'mouth' them, there is no sign of agression she seems to try to pick them up, almost like a bitch with a pup - sadly little dogs dont seem to appreciate this and it is very easy to nip in the bud as I have got to read Jess's body language and know when she is about to try this and a quick 'No' and she doesnt attempt it. Anyway - guess what dog I was in with for the good citizenship !! Yep you guessed it a white Jack Russell !!! well Jess was sooo good and ignored it beautifully and did the recall without diverting to the Jack. I wasn't sure that Jess would handle the minute down stay at the end of the lead but she did not move a muscle.

Once my shift pattern is settled (they are talking about changing my shifts yet again !!) I am looking at a dog training class not too far away from me that is aimed particularly at Rotties although does also offer training for other breeds. It is a club called Black Dog Tan. I would love to carry on with the good citizen and get to gold level. Jess's training is still ongoing on walks, her recall is getting better with dogs in the distance I no longer have to put her on a lead as soon as I see a dog in the distance, Jess is also meeting up with more dogs on walks. We have a regular gang we walk with (see pic below)

As if this wasnt enough going on for Jess, she went in to be spayed on Friday 10th July, was very groggy all night after and a lot of the day after. I stayed downstairs on the sofa overnight on Friday as Jess was very wobbly but slept soundly. If you have read earlier blogs you will see that I was unsure about having her spayed but wanted to be sure she would not suffer from Pymetria.

Before I sign off for this months update I just wanted to show you a few pictures of Jess with one of my cats Tabetha, taken in the garden - another testimony really to how it can work out when you take on an older dog.

That is all for now, will update again soon

June issue of the updates

Well here we are in June with the warmer weather upon us, Jess does not like the heat and will find shade wherever possible. In the other extreme if it is raining she likes it even less - has to be forced out in the rain. This morning we all went to Capstone at 07:30 in the pouring rain !! oh the joys of dog ownership lol. Please note that the pics shown were of course taken on a lovely sunny day, not this morning in the monsoon !!

On the plus side there were only a couple of cars at the park - I wonder why!!! so Jess was off lead all the way round and happily chasing Jay with his ball. I sometimes take Jess's chucker and ball but she is not really interested it is obviously not as good as taking Jay's off him. But then Jay is a bit dense as he walks up and puts his ball down right in front of Jess!!

I have taken a couple of pics from the park of the dogs together

I will update more this month as we are off on our hols in a couple of weeks time, we are going to stay with my brother Chris and sister in law Lyn in Wales, it will be the first time they have met Jess, and I normally stay with my sister Gerry at her and her partner John's kennels and cattery (we stay in the house I hasten to add they dont make me or the dogs sleep in the kennels) As I am taking Jess for the first time we thought it better for me to stay with Chris and Lyn as my sister Gerry has 3 Bernese (Billie's brother Merlin, her half sister Morgan and Morgan's son Luka) and 5 dogs in the house might be a bit too much. I am not sure how Jess will take the holiday but hopefully we will be able to find some nice 'sheep free' areas to walk her or she might try to round them up !!

Will keep you all posted !!

bye for now

3 months down the line

Sorry it has been so long since updating Jess's blog. Time has flown by...

Well it has now been 3 months and things are still going well. I am learning new things about Jess all the time, likes and dislikes. Still have some 'quirks' which are not all just her but I think are traits of the breed.

Having met up with a few Rotties on walks now some of Jess's behaviour - like the freezing when spotting another dog and looking like a 'gonna pounce on it' mode seems to be part of their makeup.

Jess has had a season while with me and was very clean, She has just finished and now the wait for 6 weeks before I can have her spayed. I did debate whether to or not at her age but it was hell not being able to walk her properly and I do worry about an older girl getting Pyometra especially after her being used for breeding. I have talked it over with my vet and her condition is much improved since she came home with me. She has put on 3 kg and has muscled up with being walked twice a day. It will cost £150 and although not something I was thinking would be done but that was mainly because I was expecting to have Jess for a month or two before her time had come, a nice comfortable home to end her days but she has come on so far, she looks younger than her given estimate of 8 yrs old, she bounces like a tigger out on walks bless her.

Jess has also learnt all about how to play with a ball - has been out with Linda's dogs many times with Jay chasing the ball and then one day 'boom' she had to play with the ball and kept picking it up when Jay dropped it and running off with it. Jay is the cornish border collie and is so good with other dogs, no possessivness just leaves her to run around with it and then pinches it back when she drops it or I retrieve it from her. She now has her own ball and 'chucker' but I have found she cant chase it too much as her wonky front legs let her down and if she turns too fast she falls over. I tend to let her chase Jay for a while as she doesn't twist so much then and I throw her ball a little way for her so she feels she is getting her own ball.

Mine and Linda's friend Suzi with her husband James have been over this week from Tennessee and they have come walking with us too. Jay is smitten with James and follows him about and get the ball thrown in the garden. Jess is not fussed one way or another if Jay has his ball she just follows him about.

I have yet to take Jess with me to Linda's as her collie x spaniel Meg is quite frail and elderly but we are going to time it so that they have been for a lovely walk/run to Capstone the large country park and preferably on a warm day so they just want to flake out as they do when they get back and so it will be a calm visit - that is the plan anyway.

We got back this afternoon from a nice walk at Capstone and I thought I had better mow the lawn before I sat down or I wouldnt get up again !! I had help and supervision from Jess and Billie as you can see from the photo above ....

It is so lovely to see her in the evenings curled up in her bed sleeping so contentedly, snoring for England - stereo with Billie. They seem to be very happy together and will share the same bowl of water after a walk and lay side by side, they have even been seen to give each other kisses but never when I have a camera handy lol.

I did think long and hard before I took on Jess and am so glad I took the decision to take her, I cant say that every older dog will work out as well and there have been downs as well as the ups .... Like the time that Linda came over to let the dogs out for me while I was working and text me to call her - when I phoned her Linda let me know that Jess had decided that the VERY full kitchen bin (it was due to go out that night for bin day) would be much better if all the contents were spread throughout the downstairs in the house !! Linda never knew my bin held that much !! it took her 45 minutes to clear it up, I still had more to clear up when I got in bless her, she did have the decency to look shamefaced when I got home. the bin is now kept in the outside toilet lol. There have been teething problems with Jess in respect that she is the first full Rotty I have owned and I was wary of taking an older dog without knowing any history but she has such a sweet temperment and has not put a foot wrong when meeting people - apart from the incident with the Kennel owner and I feel there was good reason for her reaction and still blame myself for that incident (see earlier post re that)

That is all for now but will try not to leave it so long before the next update.

Just a word to anyone thinking of adopting an older Rotty - Please give an older dog a chance you may find that you gain so much.

It is definately something I would do again in a heartbeat, I would fully expect there would be adjustments to be made and I try very hard to adopt a Cesar Milan attitude of not feeling sorry for her for anything that may have happened in her past but being positive in outlook for her future. The look in Jess's eyes when she is laying beside me indoors and rests her head on me and gives a big sigh and snuggles into me is reward enough and when she is out with Billie and doing her funny crooked bunny hop when chasing the ball or Jay.