Work Time!

Hey guys, I'm finally back to blogging! (fur now anyways...)
My raiser just wanted to make sure I was feeling my best, before I got back into the "blogging world" and she has finally given me the go ahead!
A quick update on my medical situation:
Most of my readers have seen the previous posts, keeping you updated on what's been going on with me (I spent 9 days at at Specialist - due to urinary issues I've been having - and all the tests/etc they did on me, including the results of all).
I've now been on these super duper antibiotics for 1 week & 3 days now for my UTI, each day is quite different. Some days I'll be doing great and can "hold it" for around 2 hours, but other days I have to go out every 15 minutes (my raiser is just very thankful that it's not the "every 5 min" as it was before I went to the Specialist). 
My raiser did talk with the school, and they agree (along with my raiser) that I should continue my daily dose of antibiotics, in hopes that I'll show drastic improvement over the course of the next week or so. But fur now, we are just hoping & praying that I'll stop having the issues all together :)
Back to the post now...

Our guide dog group's Area Coordinator (AC) told my raiser too try & keep my outings to a minimum for a little while, due to the fact that I'd been in a kennel for the past 9 days, I may have brought some bad habits home with me (nah...), and we wouldn't want to stress the cute puppy too much, while I'm trying to recover.
So my raiser has been very careful on how many outings she takes me on and tries not to over do it.
She's still been having me attend college classes/church with her, but is slowly building me up to more "regular" outings/etc (like shopping).
My raiser has been taking me out with her to quite a few places recently and has been very impressed with how well I'm doing (under the circumstances...). My raiser's sister tagged along to one of our last shopping trips, to not only grab some pictures of me working... but also to give me the chance to work with another person.

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've posted, and I know my raiser did a horrible job at keeping you guys updated... and visiting all of you :)
Please continue to hope, cross paws/fingers & pray that I keep on the recovery path and enjoy the shopping pictures below!

-Brandon

Picture of Brandon & I doing a slow forward in "Mary Joe's" (fabric store), Brandon is doing a great job at keeping a loose leash!

 

Picture of Brandon in a down-stay inside Mary Joe's, with me standing beside him

Picture of Brandon & I, again doing a forward walk inside Mary Joe's - Brandon is still maintaining a loose leash!

Picture of Brandon in a down-stay beside my sister at Best Buy; they did a great job working together... with me there to distract him!

Welcome Home Brandon! (and HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY RUDY!)

*(Written by Brandon's Raiser)*
Brandon was able to come back HOME yesterday afternoon, and boy was he excited to be back!
The vet said we don't have to monitor his water, since he's not over drinking (knew that already...) but he is on a very strong antibiotic, in hopes that it will keep the infection (if that's what's wrong) gone.
So far, so good - When picking him up yesterday, they told us since he's been on the antibiotics he's had NO accidents and that has followed through for now! It's amazing to have a dog that can wait a whole TWO hours, instead of needing to pee every 5min!
I'm hoping & praying that these antibiotics continue to work (he'll be on them for 3 weeks), since we don't have many other options to try, but of course, we'll have to wait and see.
With being in a kennel for the last 9 days, Brandon is doing extremely well. He settled in fine back at home, and even had to run some errands yesterday. My younger sister even took Brandon into Food Lion with her, to pick up a few things... and they actually worked WELL together! (This is quite a surprise to me, since Brandon doesn't always work well with other people... he tends to be a "one person" dog). I'm so happy he's settled back in so well, and I'm looking forward to working him again!
I will keep you guys updated about Brandon, and he hopefully will be back on the blog & posting shortly.

I also wanted to take a minute to wish Rudy a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Today (March 17th - St. Patrick's Day) is Rudy's SECOND birthday :) Wherever he is, I sure hope he's happy and enjoying himself :) Hopefully I receive some news on him in a few weeks.

On another quick note... I know several of my blogger friends have already noticed, yes my email account has been hacked and I'm so sorry about the spam email(s) that were sent out to any of you guys (sadly, all my previous emails/contacts are currently gone - and I'm unable to send out an apology email at the moment... hopefully yahoo! is working on getting them back for me).

Thanks for keeping Brandon in your thoughts & prayers over the last week, things still aren't for sure whether he'll stay better or not... but I'm hoping for the best!
Enjoy the cute pictures below of Brandon,

-Brandon's Raiser


Please know that in the below pictures, our puppies shouldn't be allowed to do this... but when (or if) it happens, you always have to grab a picture before giving corrections!! (otherwise you'd miss a really cute photo opportunity!)

Picture of Brandon sticking his front paws/face out of a LOW window

Picture of Brandon in almost the same position, just looking to his left instead of at the camera

Another cute picture of Brandon!

Brandon Update

*(Written by Brandon's Raiser)*
Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to give ya'll an update, I know you guys are all worried about Brandon (just as much as I am) but I've been waiting to give an update about Brandon, since we still don't know what's wrong with him.
So I'm including in this post just about all I currently know about Brandon (which isn't much!).
Please know in advance that not only are we not sure what's wrong with Brandon... but I'm not great with understanding all these technical terms/tests... and may miss use/type one!
Lets start with last Wednesday:
Brandon had an appointment with a Specialist on March 7th, shortly after he had an ultra sound down, they soon decided (after getting permission from the guide dog school) that they'd like to do further tests on Brandon and wanted him to stay there for a few days. Brandon is STILL currently being boarded at the Specialist and has been there since last Wednesday. They also determined that something didn't look right on his liver, and wanted to do more tests on that too.
Thursday: We got the results back for his "BUN #" which showed he had a REALLY low BUN number and they were afraid he had a serious liver issue (thinking it might be "liver shunts") so they'd do a "Bile acids test and liver ultra sound to determine if a liver shunt/etc is his problem.
* If Brandon did have a serious issue with his liver (or "liver shunts") he would most likely have to be released from the program*
Saturday: The test results came back from his Bile acids test normal, which means Brandon doesn't have a liver issue or liver shunt, though this was quite exciting to hear (since I'd rather him not be released from the program) I also am quite worried that we now have no idea what's wrong with him. We were told we wouldn't know more until Tuesday, which his personal vet gets back in town & can determine were we'll go from here.
Tuesday: Brandon's personal vet called on Tuesday (yesterday) to explain what the next steps will be. We are now back to square one and considering all our options (thinking it could be a serious infection... that wasn't noticed on all the tests). They will be starting Brandon on a more "powerful" antibiotic, decreasing his water intake (even creating a schedule for him), and monitoring him closely. The vet got permission from the guide dog school to board/keep Brandon there till (at least) Friday, so they can see how this works.

So that's the update about Brandon and that's really all I know at the moment... We still don't have any clue what's wrong with Brandon, but I'm going to hope/pray/keep my fingers crossed that the few things they are trying now will work.
Thank you for thinking about Brandon, being concerned, praying for him, crossing paws/fingers and PLEASE continue all this :)
I seriously thought after the Thursday results, that I would soon be doing a post on here saying Brandon was released from the program... but decided to wait a few more days to make sure. Then after finding out the Saturday test results, I thought Brandon might still have a chance.
So as you may have noticed, things can change in a matter of just a few days... I'm just going to hope it keeps changing for the better!
If all goes well, Brandon should be coming back this Friday, but I'll be sure to keep you guys all updated!
-Brandon's Raiser

Good Bye Fur Now

*(Written by Brandon's Raiser)
Noooo... we are NOT leaving the blogging world... please excuse the "interesting" blog title, but the title does pertain to the post.
Wonder why Brandon isn't doing this post? We'll, he's not here...
You see, Brandon has been having some "urinary track infection" issues for the last few months(peeing quite frequently - every 7-15 minutes and would start "dribbling" on the ground if he wasn't taken outside), but no matter the antibiotics, prescription diets, or anything we tried helped for more than just he first few days.
Last week it got so severe that Brandon just stopped "asking" to go outside and by the time I finished cleaning up one accident, I had another "trail" to deal with. Even with crated him, he'll still have accidents (and then lay down and sleep on it...).
Brandon had an appointment at a Veterinary Specialist clinic this morning, after they did an ultra sound, the Doctor come back and talked with us. We still don't know much, but it sounds like it's most likely not just a "bladder issue". She did notice something about his liver, but we really don't know what. After getting permission from the guide dog school, it was decided to leave Brandon at the clinic for the next few days, so they can go ahead and get all the tests done... and hopefully get something figured out.
So for now, I really don't know much of anything. But I just wanted to update all my blogging friends on what's going on.
Please pray for Brandon, not only to get better... but for us to find out what in the world is wrong with him. If it's a serious issue, he may even get adopted out (can't really have a guide dog needing to pee every 10 minutes...).
Hoping to know more in the next few days,

-Brandon's Raiser

Picture of Brandon & I in the waiting room... the poor puppy!

Meet Lauryl

My raiser is a horse fanatic, if she's not spending time with me - then she's probably outside riding her horse (sometimes she'll even be riding bareback... when she doesn't have time to saddle up).
Her current horse is slowly aging, and my raiser has been saving up to purchase another horse sometime in the near future. (she is also into jumping - and doesn't really want to jump her current horse for much longer).
She happened upon a beautiful 7yr old dapple grey horse a few weeks ago, located only a "few" hours away from us.
So off WE went to go look at this "perfect" horse.  When we arrived, my raiser also found out that the barn was a "dog friendly facility" so I was allowed to come out and visit too!
My raiser fell in love with the horse, and in no time at all, I soon found out we'd be bringing a new animal home in a few days.
We welcomed Lauryl to our farm on Tuesday, and though she's not another doggy fur me to play with, she still is really cool!
My raiser is looking forward to riding and working with her newest horse, and has already enjoyed the few rides they went on.
Enjoy the few pictures below of my raiser's new horse Lauryl!

-Brandon

Picture of the previous owner and Lauryl trotting

She's got such a sweet face!

Different angle of them trotting

Previous owner and Lauryl Cantering

Picture of Lauryl

Look how bored I was on the ride down...

Picture of Brandon laying down in the car