Saturday, July 26, 2008

Red Ribbon Ride

Heidi just completed the Red Ribbon Ride in Minnesota, and posted her travel experiences. The ride supports finding a cure for and informing others about HIV/Aids. Check it out! She's awesome!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Is Your Dog TOO Happy??

Happy Tail Syndrome. It exists. Even the vet said it did. I'd noticed Coda had been losing hair on the tip of her tail, and was worried it was mange... again. But she hadn't been scratching or chewing on it, so all was well! Until New Mexico. We got there, and Coda got so into the local art scene she decided to join in the fun! We were finding blood spatter as high up as some of the picture frames. When we finally identified the problem, Bob was a great sport and (multiple times) bandaged Coda's tail. She looked hilarious, as you can see below. Apparently, Happy Tail Syndrome is when a dog wags their tail SO MUCH and hits it on things SO OFTEN that it damages the hair follicles. This in turns creates very dry skin in that location. So dry, it ends up cracking and bleeding! And because Coda can't stop wagging her tail (she is a VERY happy dog!), she contributed to Mom and Bob's home with her own modern artwork. Don't worry, we cleaned it all up. But still. HAPPY TAIL SYNDROME?!?!?! Thankfully she's no longer a "mangy mutt".