American Made Yes

Staph - A Dog Killer
By Ruth Graham

This past summer, staph nearly killed my dog, a big beautiful German Shepherd. It all started a few hours after we picked him up following a three night stay in the kennel.

When we arrived home, he was reluctant to jump out of the car. It is a long way down.. But eventually he did, wobbling as he climbed the steps into the kitchen. From then on it was a slippery slope. He slept and slept and slept, showing no interest in anything. The only thing he did to was lick his back right paw a lot. I called the kennel. The person who had cared for him had gone for the day. Again, I examined his paw but saw nothing. I called the vet but the office was closed for the weekend.

That evening, he ate a few biscuits and managed a short walk.. The next morning, the kennel phoned to say the person who cared for him noticed he hadn't eaten his breakfast. I told them about his paw and they suggested warm compresses which I tried, with 15 minute applications all morning. Gradually something started to protrude. Several hours later, a hard bit of tissue about the size and shape of a pencil eraser popped out. We thought our troubles were over. We were wrong.

As the day wore on, Big Dog remained listless, disinterested in eating or moving. The only thing he did was drink water. We left him with his water bowl full and went out for some supper. When we returned, he hadn't had a drop and didn't get up to greet us. In fact he didn't have strength to move or lift his head..

We had to carry him into the SUV. At the emergency animal hospital, blood samples were looked at and treatment, an antibiotic was started. His temperature was found to be 105'. This was 11PM.

The next morning, his temperature was unchanged. A different antibiotic was tried and blood samples sent to a lab for analysis. Although intermittently his temperature would go down, it wouldn't take long before it went back up again. Finally, a third antibiotic was tried, as we awaited results of the lab's attempt to find an antibiotic that could be effective against his particular strain of staphylococcus. .

They found one. We brought him home to continue the medication for six weeks, trying to get him back to normal. Our gentle giant couldn't climb up or down the steps to go in or out of the house. He couldn't run. He had to be lifted into the car. All he seemed to do was sleep.

But slowly over the six weeks, his strength began to return. And now, a full three months after the whole thing started, we have Big Dog back, jumping easily onto the passenger seat, almost flying through the air after sticks, and devouring each meal as though he'd never eaten. It seems like a miracle.

2007,Ruth Graham

You can see him on http://www.american-yes.com

The best way to go shopping is to know what brands you want, then look for them on the web or in the stores. But you need to know which ones are made in America, sport socks, a wooly hat, a project to keep the kids busy on dreary winter days, a fantastic jig saw puzzle, or how about a new Jeep? Ruth's been busy on your behalf. Take at look at what she's found. It's a happy experience. She even tells you the state and sometime the town where it comes from. And you can't pay to be there. http://american-yes.com/ Are we forgetting the rest of the world? Of course not. How about some deleriously delicious Belgian chocolate. And you don't have to fly over to get it.

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German Shepherd 101 - German Shepherd Puppies
By Jan Ryan

There are fewer things in life more irresistible than a German Shepherd puppy. But you should never bring one home on impulse. This needs to be a careful decision. Bringing a German Shepherd puppy home is the same as bringing a human child home (except German Shepherds mature faster and are more loyal). Although German Shepherd puppies are a big responsibility, they are priceless in their friendship.

German Shepherds, on average, will cost about three thousand dollars a year in food, grooming supplies and vet care. This is far less than your car, but still something to keep in mind. Because of how fast they grow, German Shepherd puppies need their diets to be closely regulated to avoid many potential health problems. They will also need positive reinforcement from day one. Never train a German Shepherd puppy by force. Most dog bites are from dogs that are scared, not dogs that are attacking.

Never buy a German Shepherd puppy from a pet store or from an Internet sight that will ship a pup to you without asking you any questions beyond, "Check or charge?" These puppies will be from puppy mills. They will not only be sickly, but they will have missed a major learning period for basic training and will be harder to train and more uncontrollable. The best German Shepherd puppies are from breeders, from animal shelters or from German Shepherd rescues. One of the times German Shepherds are most abandoned is when they are six months old and past the cute stage.

Encourage the German Shepherd puppy to lie down and sleep to lessen the shock of a car ride. Go to the vet within 24 hours of bringing the puppy home, even if the puppy has passed a vet's inspection at a shelter. When you get the German Shepherd puppy home, take it where you want it to relieve itself. Praise the puppy highly when they go in the right place. Keep using that place for toilet training and use verbal commands.

Small puppies have small bladders. They will need to go outside to try and toilet every two hours until they are about six months old, when they can start holding their bladders for seven hours. When a German Shepherd puppy has an accident, it is not trying to be bad. They often can't hold it. German Shepherd puppies usually walk in circles sniffing when they need to go. However, once they learn, it's learned.

This might sound like a lot, and it is, but it can be done if you are committed to raising a German Shepherd puppy. You will find training easier by giving your puppy a German Shepherd name that easily attracts the puppy's attention. Don't have it sound to similar to commands they hear all the time like "Stay" or "Heel". German Shepherd puppies are smart enough to respond to name changes. Don't use their registered name - it's too long and won't grab their attention..

Jan Ryan has written hundreds of articles on all things canine, including dozens about German Shepherd Dogs. The German Shepherd has a great personality, which is better than most humans. New dog owners should know basic German Shepherd information before bringing home a German Shepherd rescue dog.

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Big Dog Saves a Life
By Ruth Graham

This is probably a story that is played out daily somewhere in the world between humans and a dog but when it happens to you it is a humbling and unforgettable experience. It happened not so long ago during a patch of below freezing temperatures in January, typical of a New England winter. On this particular day, we awakened to three inches of new snow. It was about 10 degrees outside and the air was crisp and clean.

The woods. the trees, the undulating terrain, were beautiful with the new fallen snow. But beneath the pristine white cover, the earth was frozen and the roads were icy. It's an ever present danger up here during the New England winters, hidden from sight and waiting for the unwary. I decided to walk out with our dog and suggested that my husband might put on the coffee and when I returned I'd fix the sausages and eggs and we could have our breakfast in front of one of the nice roaring fires he loves to build.

I thought that was pretty diplomatic, not wanting to remind him of the old knee injury or the bad hip he'd been struggling with lately. But he disagreed. He thought the two or three inch snow layer provided a fairly secure footing if you walked with care. He decided he would be the one to walk out with Big Dog while I stayed home, busy with the sausage and eggs and coffee. So, into the boots and the jacket and the wooly red cap and off they went, the dog bounding ahead up the driveway toward the woods as I watched them go.

Then I got busy, building the fire, making the breakfast, enjoying the smell of the wood fire. the aroma of the coffee. The sausages were sizzling in the pan, almost done and I thought how nice the house was going to smell to my husband when he walked in and how good the breakfast would taste after the walk in the snow with our dog.

Every once in a while looking out the kitchen window to the driveway and the woods beyond, I kind of expected to see them returning. Everything was ready except the eggs and toast and I couldn't help wondering why they weren't back. I guess I was setting the table when I heard a light bark.

Surprised, I went to the door, to see Big Dog standing there, not moving through the doorway, just staring up into my face. I looked up the driveway expecting to see my husband but no one was there. I waited for the dog to come in with me. He didn't. I talked to him, as I usually do, and he turned himself around to face the driveway and then looked back at me. Clearly, he wanted me to walk out with him. I did, and he led me down the porch steps where a biting wind made me realize I'd better be properly dressed to withstand that freezing wind.. Big dog would not come in. He just waited on the porch, outside the door.

With my hat, my down anorak, boots and gloves on, I followed him up the driveway and turned left with him when we got to the road. Then he started to run, stopping now and then to make sure I was still following. Up ahead, in the distance, there was a figure lying on the snow, a little sprinkling of blood where his knees had suffered abrasions right through his heavy corduroy slacks and more blood where his hands had broken his fall. He told me what happened. Big dog had been running in the woods when my husband fell and could not get to his feet. His hip was dislocated. He had called the dog and when he ran over, at first he just stood there, over my husband, licking his face. Then he had laid down next to him.

There they were were, the two of them lying in the snow and my husband telling the dog to go back to the house for help. After about fifteen minutes, the dog got up and ran off. You know the rest. He's a magnificent creature. He could have run into the woods, done anything he wanted. He chose. It is a humbling experience.

The best way to go shopping is to know what brands you want, then look for them on the web or in the stores. But you need to know which ones are made in America, sport socks, a wooly hat, a project to keep the kids busy on dreary winter days, a fantastic jig saw puzzle, or how about a new Jeep? Ruth's been busy on your behalf. Take at look at what she's found. It's a happy experience. She even tells you the state and sometime the town where it comes from. And you can't pay to be there. http://americanmadeyes.com Are we forgetting the rest of the world? Of course not. How about some deliriously delicious Belgian chocolate. And you don't have to fly over to get it. The brand we found is readily available.

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