Girl Dog Fight

Here is a photo of my sweet sister girls that fight. They look like bookends against the bamboo chair they destroyed when they were pups. Yes, one morning I looked down into my living room and it looked like a foam factory explosion. They (seven puppies) had torn up all the cushions and pulled off the decorative roping on the sofa and chairs. I've since replaced the cushions but what a shock that they could do so much damage in one night. I now put pieces of chain link fencing on my furniture so they don't hang out on it when I'm away from home.

Now, the three pups I kept, try to destroy each other. I am learning from Cesar Millan how to control their aggressive behaviour but I have problems with the two sisters in the photos. They are best buddies until something scares them, like when aggressive Max (their brother) sees another dog, and then they turn on each other.

I wanted to let you know that the treatment for ehrichia I posted on "Dog Debacle" is NOT ENOUGH. Please read what a friend sent to me in the comments section under that post. So, it's back to work to get my dogs cured. Thanks Katja from the McKee Project for your suggestions.

Macha, Max, and Mela - Brindy's puppies

Mama Brindy, not looking all too happy. She came with me to CR from Florida. Poor ole girl, she's been around a long while.

Dog Debacle

Lots of things have been going on with my dogs that I have not mentioned on my blog. The first was a HUGE dog fight about three weeks ago. It was all triggered over a pit bull tied up right next to my fence on the outside. The dog was sick and waiting for it's owner to take him to the vet. I didn't know the dog was sick or I would have taken him to the vet for the guy. After a few hours, my dogs snapped and when I let them out, they locked up on each other. The other dog died later that day at the vet. He had Ehrlichia.

I'd never heard of Ehrlichia before coming to Costa Rica. It's pretty common here with the ticks transmitting the disease. It's a sad state for a dog if left untreated. Usually, it goes undetected without blood test.

I got through that dog fight with major stitches on my sister dogs. It's all about nervous aggression and my boy, Max, always starts the fights by being aggressive to the nearest dog barking. The usual anti-inflammatory and antibiotics were administered to the sisters, Mela and Macha (as always, see dog fights). Yes, I watch Cesar Millan and he has really helped me with this problem and gaining control as THE PACK LEADER (me).

Two weeks later, again, another fight. I take the sisters in AGAIN for stitches and all is healing great when I notice one of the sisters, Mela, is leaking urine. Yesterday, I take her to the vet to remove the stitches and check the healing on both sisters and both dogs have a fever. The vet gets a blood sample, has it analyzed and it comes back EHRLICHIOSIS!! I was shocked. Yes, I had a tick infestation in my house about three months ago but resolved it almost immediately. I've been through THAT before and knew what to do to delouse my house. (previous posts) I did not consider checking their blood. What you don't know, CAN KILL your dog...
I only takes one infected tick.

I am telling you this so you know that if you have a dog, in Costa Rica, be sure to check once a year (during the hot months) by doing a blood test on your dog. Check out this site if you'd like more info. It is horrible in the final stages and I was very lucky to have caught it in time. Just one more reason I love my vet, Dr. Jose Manuel at Jaco Vet. Dr. Jose prescribed Imidofin 60mg, 2 tablets each for the girls and three pills for big Max. Repeat dosage in 15 days.

Photo is of baby ticks picked off my dogs at one sitting. I know, GROSS!!
Check your dog's blood. After reading some of the comments, I'd better get my blood checked TOO.
Little earthquake here in Hermosa - Wed. 11:25 a.m. my house was swaying.

UPDATE March 29th: This above treatment IS NOT ENOUGH!! Read the comments for the recommended treatment.

Louse in my House

If you live in Costa Rica, you probably have dogs. If you have dogs, eventually (especially during rainy season), you will have ticks. I have not had a problem for almost five years but two weeks ago, I had an EXPLOSION of ticks in my house.

Macha (one of my dogs) was watching a dot on the wall and it sparked my curiosity to see what had caught her intense interest. From my perspective, it just looked like a black dot until IT MOVED. Well, the hunt was on. She had found a big fat momma tick. I found two more big fat ones. Then I noticed tiny, tiny dots on my white curtains. They were baby ticks still in a cocoon of sorts (not moving). I tweezer picked them all off and then started inspecting the dogs. Surprise, surprise! They had baby ticks stuck in their ears and between their paws. I was totally creeped out! The WAR WAS ON!

Canine Ehrlichia is serious stuff and A TICK can be deadly to a dog. The solution is to act fast and furious. First, I took my dogs to the vet and Jose Manuel gave them a shot for ticks and fleas. I haven't a clue what medicine it is but it keeps ticks off for 30-45 days*. It's not recommended as "a permanent solution" because liver damage is one of the side effects. It takes about three days for it to kick in. In the meantime, I had to kill the fleas on their bodies. I used the Banol dip (diluted) and cotton swabbed their ears inside. They all have touchy toes so I had to use the squirt bottle to soak their paws (underneath, between the pads, I used a syringe to satuate the skin). These were all baby ticks so they were in all the soft spaces. Under arms, belly - places like that. I gave them all a tick shampoo bath and then sponged on the dip (all over). They have to drip dry. For the house, I vacuumed with my beloved Rainbow vacuum cleaner OFTEN. I also sprayed inside the house and the entire grounds with this great pesticide, Peretroide. I had let the grass grow too high and hadn't sprayed in a LONG TIME. That is probably the root of the tick problem. During rainy season, creepy crawlers flourish.

I have had all sorts of vermits in my house when I purchased it. The house had open-brick (and open windows) in some areas and was 'Open to the Public'. I had bats that wouldn't give up their day spot until I glassed-in the area, a momma rat and nine of her babies, crabs, frogs, spiders, you name it. They all lived in this house before I bought it and I finally ran 'em out renovating.
The rat was the most amazing. My dog discovered her. She had dragged a dishcloth into some stack concrete blocks and made a pretty comfy nest for her newborn. No, I didn't kill them... they were transported over to the river to live. Pura Vida.

This whole process of getting a grip on the tick invasion has really been a battle. The only other things that are equally amazing are the crabs when they are laying their eggs (they go to and fro from the mountain in masses) and the ants. One special type of ant comes and sweeps through your house. Things that multiple quickly amaze me.

Gotta love it to live it - 'in the jungle'.

* The injection for ticks/fleas is Ivermectina (Thanks Wolfie for the info)