West Highland White Terrier Club of Puget Sound—Winter 2010

A Westie Christmas Maryann’s house was aglow with all the charm of the season and welcomed the Westie families as they entered with food and then gifts for the party exchange. Here we are conducting my final General Meeting notice the friendly Westie crew on the couch they kept the meeting mov-ing right along even joined in with com-ments. After the close of the meeting let the festivities begin everyone has pre-pared a new or favorite recipe to share, sitting and catching up with old friends and meeting new members discussing past events or holiday plans – comparing the past and present antics of our Westie’s and then the gift exchange is always the high-light of the day. It certainly was a chilly NW day but we lucked out and no snow this year – be sure and view the party photos on www.whwtcops.com .

As you read this newsletter my term as President will be past but I’d like to say that these past two years have not only past quickly but have been educational and exciting for me. Of course nothing would happen without the Board, volunteers and member participation doing some of these events is like the best roller coaster ride you’ve ever taken and believe me your stomach doesn’t settle until the end of the day when you’ve packed the last bit of equipment into the locker, starting the engine of your car you lean your head against the steering wheel and swear you’re so darn tired you’ll never do it again, wrong, after a deep breath you head home and start working on refining the plans of the next event. Thank you for all of your support and assistance – The West Highland White Terrier Club of Puget Sound is a great club because of its Membership. Jeannette Melchior WHWTCOPS, Past President

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME IS HERE!!

For more information go www.whwtcops.org Email: whwtcopsmembership@hotmail.com

Page 2—Winter 2010

A HalloWestie Party – Oct 31 Witches, Gypsies, Pirates and a Cow, OH! NO! – Hey, wait a Cow? What a surprise! Yep, this year everyone got in on the fun – potluck, games, costume parade can’t forget the general meeting. The party got off to a rollicking start in the loft at the Carnation Christmas Tree Farm with a “Westie Party Pooper” – some of the other Westies thought this was part of the planned games and im-mediately started competing, sorry no prizes – let me tell you there was a lot of unsuspecting high stepping revelers spreading the “poop” around, common sense prevailed - everyone had to stand still identify where the scattered land mines were so the well armed clean up team could swoop in and remove them. Some of the contributors went unidentified but we have our suspicions. Beth Stro-Stern was the hostess again this year and her good neighbor Roger Thorson

owner of the Farm generously allowed us to use the loft again this year. The afternoon was a howling suc-cess and we even got home in time to greet our own neighborhood trick or treaters. An early group picture taken by Karin Parish – l-r, Fran Reardon, behind her Maryann Guerry-Buck, Ed Hunt (Carnation Cow), Sandy Davis, Beth Stro-Stern, MaryAnne Hunt and Jeannette Melchior – be sure and check out all the costumed party members at www.whwtcops.org , have fun and review all the events of this past year 2009.

\

Membership Renewals are due

January 1st

If you need a renewal form mailed to you please contact Leisa Dott at the email address below.

Page 3—Winter 2010

Book Nook Reviews – Cyndee Lockwood

November 15, 2009

Dog On It: Spencer Quinn, 9/09 trade paper. If you love dogs and enjoy mystery stories, you should dig this. This new series begins with the Chet and Bernie novel. Chet is the dog, a failed K-9 school pooch that is now dedicated to his owner, friend and PI, Bernie, owner of the Little Detective Agency. The story revolves around an investigation into the disappearance of a teenage girl who may or may not have been kidnapped, but who has definitely gotten mixed up with some very nasty characters. No matter that the girl is found and lost again, and Bernie is fired from the job, he and Chet the Jet doggedly stay with it – something about a cash flow problem.

I don’t want to give a lot away because it’s such a fun read. Chet the Jet, is a non-judgmental, unsentimental, ready to eat at every opportunity kind of dog; he lives in the moment, loves his fresh water, riding shotgun in the car, a good nap, yet tends to think that sometimes he is smarter than Bernie. If you haven’t already guessed, the story is told by Chet’s observations of Bernie and what is happening. Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm: Jon Katz, hardback, August 2009 Jon Katz has touched my heart in all of his previous writings which I have reviewed here. This one is no different, except that it might mean more to me personally than all the others. My husband has said for years that I tend to anthropomorphize my rela-tionships with my animals, but then, I feel particularly close to mine (not that he doesn’t and he has changed his way of thinking over the years) and feel I understand how they are when sick, sad, lonely, happy……..etc. (ok get the net). Yea and they talk to me too, and yes, I answer back………. This book explores the complex relationships between humans and animals and the profound question as to whether or not ani-mals have souls. It delves a bit more deeply into the decision making process of animals, philosophical questions of whether they are capable of making moral decisions and does conscience exist in their world. If you have ever read Jeffrey Masson’s’: When Elephants Weep: The emotional lives of Animals, you would have no doubt. I had the opportunity to meet Jon Katz a few weeks back, interesting fellow, not pretentious, basic, informed, loves his dogs and all the animals on his farm. It was an open mic and of course, I had to put my foot in it, asked him what he thought of the movie that was made about A Good Dog with Jeff Bridges? He turned the question around and asked me what I thought……..I said I thought it sucked (it did not follow the book AT ALL)………he agreed. My kind of guy. Read it, make me happy, we’ll dis-cuss. Additional Contributor: Dog Owners Home Veterinary Handbook by Debra M. Eldredge DVM, Liisa D. Carlson DVM, Delbert G. Carlson DVM, James M. Giffin MD. 4th Edition This book should be in the library of every dog owner, there is also a comparable book for Cats. This book is divided into chap-ters covering everything from Emergencies, parasites, skin, ears, nose, mouth, etc., it is written in easy to understand language, with an easy to use Index of signs and symptoms, so you can look up what you see happening with your dog. It defines possi-bilities and whether or not the problem may warrant a trip to the Vet or not, or whether you can treat the problem at home. New in this new and updated edition is current information on Treatments for Cancer and Kidney Disease, Raw Diets, Canine Influ-enza, Vaccine Protocols, Drugs and surgical techniques, supplements, Arthritis Medications, Holistic treatments, and much more. I have used this book since the first edition came out and have found it to be of immense help in making informed deci-sions about my dog’s health care. This book is available through www.Amazon.com or through www.DogWise.com as well as other bookstores.

Sandy J Davis, Lanarkstone Kennels

Page 4—Winter 2010

Page 5—Winter 2010

As President I was contacted by the Westie Foundation of America www.westiefoundation.org requesting a Liaison to represent WHWTCOPS. I brought this to the attention of the Board and we have asked Ella Selfridge-Neumann to fill this position. In ac-cepting Ella thought it would be helpful for the membership to know her better and her commitment to the health of the West High-land White Terrier. Jeannette Melchior WHWTCOPS, President

WHWTCOPS Medical Liaison to Westie Foundation of America

Introduction Although I have spent most of my life studying science and medicine, the fact is neither of them brought me to this position. My passion for science and medicine drove me to earn academic degrees and co-author scientific publications but all this happened long before Westies entered my dreams. On a bright sunny day, nearly 8 years ago, sitting on the side of the road was a little white dog. She was staring intently at a hole in the ground, her snout blackened with dirt. As my future husband and I drove by, this little dog did not move its head or even twitch a muscle. I asked my husband to pull over as we passed by. There was something about this little dog that I was irresistibly drawn to. We later learned that her name was Eloise, a six year old Westie. She was the master of her neighborhood, wandering freely, keep-ing everyone safe from varmints. From that point on, my future husband and I dreamed of getting a Westie. We dreamed of a little girl, named Bella. Within 6 months of purchasing our first house, our dream came home to us. Bella, our pride and joy, became severely ill at 2-years of age. She was hospitalized for 4 days, while the veterinarians stabilized her and ran tests. It was her health crisis, the diagnosis of Addison’s Disease, that merged my professional and personal passions. Addi-son’s Disease was covered in my endocrinology class in graduate school, and as a clinician, I had seen it in humans. Interestingly enough, the treatment in humans is the same as it is for our canine friends. Bella is healthy, stable, and her Addison’s Disease does not significantly effect her life. About a year and half after Bella’s health scare, we decided that getting another Westie would be a wonderful addition to our family. We carefully researched breeders and decided to go with a new breeder, hoping to avoid any major health issues. We found a won-derful breeder in Eastern Washington with a litter. We went to visit the puppy 3 times to make sure he was the perfect fit for Bella and our family. Last November, we brought our little baby boy, Henri, home. In February of this year, at 5-months old, Henri became unusually lethargic. We initially attributed it to teething. However, one morning he could not even climb the step outside the kitchen door. It was clear, this was not teething, something was very wrong with our baby boy. I rushed him to the vet who quickly diagnosed him with hemolytic anemia. Henri’s hematocrit (red blood cell count) had dropped from 20 to 11 in just 2 hours. He was crashing fast. We rushed him to our local critical care hospital where he received a lifesaving blood transfusion and was put on a potent cocktail of immunosuppressive drugs. His final diagnosis was vac-cine-induced immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), an extremely rare condition, especially in puppies. Worldwide, perhaps only 10 puppies a year are diagnosed with this illness. Following his initial crisis, Henri made what can only be described as a mira-cle recovery. Here we are almost one year later and he has been slowly weaned off almost all of the drugs that were used to stabilize him. He will never be able to be vaccinated again due to fears that this would likely trigger a fatal relapse. Although mortality and relapse rates are high with this illness, Henri has demonstrated that puppies may have a more hopeful outcome than older dogs. Our family’s journey through Addison’s and IMHA has given us an up-close perspective on dealing with chronic canine illness. We have found great help from our veterinarian, the vet community, our Westie friends, and valuable support groups on the internet. We have spent hours upon hours researching these illnesses, their treatments, and how to give our furkids the best lives that they can have. Hopefully, my background and experiences will allow me to provide our club a unique perspective on canine health issues. In fu-ture issues, I hope to provide medical information from the national organization, as well as cover medical issues that may affect some of our member’s precious Westies. Please feel free to contact me with your Westie health interests at westiepack@yahoo.com Sincerely, Ella Selfridge-Neumann

Page 6—Winter 2010

Line up for 2010 Mark your calendar

Feb 28 Potluck and guest speaker Dr. Evergreen. How to increase the life of your dog by 15% by what you feed it. See flyer

Chair: Dona Cooper

Mar 13/14 Seattle Kennel Club Meet the Breed booth. Need Volunteers Chair: Christine Corbley

April 24 Project Runway – Fund Raiser for club. Elegant luncheon and dog fashion show, chamber music and silent auction in Enumclaw in private home. See Flyer

Chair: Karin Parish and Michele Mariani

May 22 Fun Daze – need volunteers to chair event

July 24/25 Highland Games – McDuff Kennels, Hosts for our Breed Chair: Julie Redd

Aug 21 Speciality at Marymoor Park with Show Luncheon, everyone invited to see the dog show

Show Chair: Jeannette Melchior

Sept Westie Rescue Walk (might be June) Chair: Karin Parish/Ardith Bolin

Oct Halloween Party – Marysville Chair: Maryann Guerry Buck

Dec Holiday party – need chair

Page 7—Winter 2010

Page 8—Winter 2010

Rescue Report for Fourth Quarter 2009 by: Karin Parish

Sarah 7 yrs: I received an email from Wenatchee Animal shelter that there was a Westie “mix” in the shelter and she was going to be euthanized if a rescue didn’t take her. She apparently had mats, and a volunteer tried to brush her and she didn’t want to be brushed and promptly bit the volunteer. As with all shelters – there is not a 3 strikes law.. so she was going to be euthanized due to the rules of bite in-tolerance. Alas they pleaded with me to take her and even said that a volunteer was coming to Everett and would transport the dog the very next day. She was transported over, and it turned out that she didn’t look much like a Westie, but she was 100% terrier at heart. She was fostered by Maryann and then adopted out to a family with an 11 yr old son. They wanted a dog for the son, as their other Wes-tie, wasn’t too affectionate. Upon greeting the family – Sarah went right to the boy and laid her head on his chest. It couldn’t have gone better if we scripted it.

Dugan 3 yrs: He was a well bred dog from show stock in Florida. His owners traveled too and from Flor-ida for health reasons. He has to be the cutest rescue Westie I had seen in a long time. They felt it was too hard trying to transport him back and forth to Florida and their health was also deteriorating. He was adopted out right from owner to adopter. Perfect Match.

Mia 2 yrs: Formerly from a puppy mill in the south, she was bred at 7mos and she was not mature enough and the puppy died inside of her, and she had to have a c-section. She was resold as a pet off internet. She is a mere 12 lbs. She stayed with that family for 2 mos and they decided she wasn’t house broken and then they took her to the vet because she wasn’t walking right. She was diagnosed with Legg Calves Perthes (2nd one I have had in 4 mos). They promptly sold her on Craig’s List and she went into another household with a female Scottie. All was well until the owners decided to retire and spend time RV-ing around the USA. Mia got deathly sick, and they tried everything, so they sur-rendered her to rescue. She had the hip operation and was adopted by Jared and Anya who had previ-ously adopted another Westie from us who has passed. After they adopted Mia they also volunteered to be a foster home!

Abby 7 yrs: Abby’s owners had her for 7 yrs and they also owned an Australian Terrier who was 4 mos old. They surrendered both dogs on a Monday because they were leaving Thursday to go to Africa as mis-sionaries! So we did the fast scramble and went in and picked up the “girls”. Ironically, Abby was won-derful and ironically the owners never taught her any type of training, including knowing her name! While in foster care her foster mom Christine, taught her come, sit, stay and down and her name, and she just evolved nicely and was adopted.

Bella 4 mos: Australian Terrier from the same household as Abby and was adopted out to Joann and Brianna who have adopted Dugan.

Miles 9 yrs old - Miles owner was moving to Columbia! He also has cataracts and is blind and has the onset of Cushing. He was miraculously adopted by a wonderful woman in Seattle who will keep him until he dies.

Bailey 5 yrs - Surrendered because owner died. Bailey was adopted to a couple who have never owned a terrier. They had previously owned a herding breed that was very obedient (hohoho) Well Bailey promptly came into the household as his personable Westie self and set about “training” his new owners. They are having a wild time learn-ing about “terriers” and their sense of humor. The first hour they gave Bailey their be-loved Sheltie’s treasured tennis ball. The Sheltie had died at 15yrs old. Bailey promptly destroyed it in 7 seconds. There are numerous other “Bailey” stories, and he is keeping the household on their toes.

Rosie 10 yrs: See story from new owners. Rosie was up to be euthanized by our Island Vet at 10:30am. At 9:30am I was called and asked if I would take a rescue Westie that was 10 yrs old. The owner was dying of cancer, and no one wanted the dog. I went down there at about 1pm and picked chubby Rosie. The vet had removed a cyst and had also updated her shots. I brought her home and combed out her knots, and groomed her head and sat down and emailed someone who wanted an older Westie. They called me on the phone immedi-ately and asked if they could “come now” and get her. I said “Don’t you want a photo”? They said NOPE, we want to get her and take her to my mom. So I have to say it was the fastest adoption of my life. Home by 2pm, out by 4pm.. Adopted.

Shilo 6 yrs old: Shilo’s owner was in the midst of being evicted and had a part time job, but did-n’t even have the money to rent a van to move her stuff out. They were taking everything includ-ing the house, and she was pretty destitute. She called me two days before the Sheriffs were go-ing to escort her out of the house. Shilo was very easy and well bred and was originally from Miriam’s White Apple Westie Kennel. He was sweet, and happy and we updated his shots and did his dental and he was adopted out and is living in Marysville with a Cairn Terrier Boy. They owners are over the moon with him.

Zoey 7: Mixed Chihuahua and something with long legs. Friend of Foster mom was losing her house to foreclosure, having car repossessed, boyfriend left, and she had a 3 yr old child and she was pregnant! She couldn’t afford her Poodle Pearl or her mix Zoey (formerly left by another roommate). So we picked her up and adopted her out and rehomed her at no charge. Maya 12 yrs: Maya’s owner died and she is a cute Chihuahua who is very fragile and very quiet, and we adopted her out to the same ladies who adopted Zoey and all is well. Both girls are excellent and well behaved. The adopter originally had Westies, but we talked her into downsizing.

Murphy 9 yrs Adoptable: Owner died. She had severe allergies and was being fostered by Cecelia Yinger, for several months and is now being fostered with Barbara Mitchell. She needs a forever home. She requires a shot per week and she stands still wonderfully for her shot. She also requires baths 2x a week to keep her in top form.

Sugar Pie – 8 yrs: What a crazy ride this was. Sugar’s owner lost her home and was living in a car, and surrendered her dog to the shelter. Sugar had: heart murmur, leaky valve, disk bad in spine, two bad hips and osteoarthritis, staph infection, ear infection, E-coli infection in her vulva/bladder area, then a 2nd staph infection which was impervious to any antibiotic we gave her. $1700 later, she was still with us and no adopter in sight. She has her sassy moments and her leave me alone moments and your – you can’t tell me what to do moments and her “I don’t HEAR YOU’ moments. She was adopted by Suzanne who has formerly adopted three other dogs from us, and now she is just walking around doing her own thing and has her own bed, and a Scottie and two Westies to play with. She is happy.

Page 9—Winter 2010

Page 10—Winter 2010

Teddy – 3 yrs: Now we are going to the specialist to work on the Plechner Method of balancing his immune system. It will take another 4 -5 mos to get him in shape.. so he is still pending. Jock 10 yrs: Owner had dementia and had to go into assisted living facility with the other Alzheimer’s patients. Jock was the resident dog. Everyone loved Jock. The rules of the facil-ity is that you can have a dog, but you must be able to care for the dog. Alas Jock’s owner forgot to feed him and forgot to let him out. Therefore, the daughters thought to make it eas-

ier on their mom (who only remembered Jock, not them) they took him to the vet, and under a ruse told their mom he had died. She cried and cried and it was sad, but they knew she would never surrender him. While in the salon area of the facility the older folks sat in their walkers and wheel chairs and would say – Where’s Jock? The owner would tearfully say … “he died” and everyone would weep. Until the next person came into the Salon, and say “where is Jock”? And the owner would tearfully tell them he died, and everyone would weep. An hour later, the original person who asked about Jock, forgot she’d asked.. and said “Where’s Jock” ? The owner would tearfully -…….. and on and on and on. He was adopted out to a wonderful British couple who also adopted Brynna who is 11. We had a Black and White Sale.

Brynna 11 yrs: Owner had to go in for an operation and didn’t feel she could care for Brynna any longer so she surrendered her to rescue. She was very loving and very easy to adopt out.

Sandy 3 yrs: Last Scottie dog owned by a back yard breeder who had surrendered her other three dogs to me. Sandy spent his life outside, and had no socialization with people or a home environment. He was fine with other dogs. He was fostered with us for a while but with the influx of more dogs coming we asked Oregon Rescue to foster him for us as they had space, and we knew he could get one-on-one time with a family who had two other Scotties. He is doing stellar and hopefully will be adopted out within the next month. #5 – 5 yrs old: Number 5 was part of a dump by a commercial breeder. I was on the tail end of trying to get my hands on Scotties that were shipped out of Idaho to another commercial breeder who was reselling them. I was late by one day. A van had pulled up and taken the bitches the day before. I was heartbroken. I missed them by one day, but I managed to pick up Bitsy and get her spayed. Five months later, a commercial breeder calls me telling me she is a rescue and she has some Scotties she wants to give up. The short version is – same Scotties I missed by one day. She gave me some short info on them and told me one had a bad eye that needed to be removed and she can’t afford the vet bills, and some might even be pregnant and that she also had three Coton’s. I said we’d take them all. I arranged to have three other Scottie rescues meet me at the pick up location and we split the dogs. I took #5 with the eye problem and the “biter”. The dogs had a stench you cannot describe except liken it to being dipped into the bottom of a portable toilet. This does not including matting and wet feces and vomit in the transport cages. I took #5 and drove from Olym-pia to Bothell. I ran into the facility asking for help and two vet techs came out and got the crate, and the dog, and ran back out and handed me a bottle of “fabreeze”. She was cleaned up and she had her eye removed four days later, and dental done, then she has to go back in for spaying. Her blood panel came back great, she had severe ear mites. I figured I would have my hands full with a feral dog, and I come to find out she must have been in a house at one time because she is housebroken and likes watching TV. This is even sadder knowing she went from a real home to a hell hole for most of her life. Very sad. Please tell your friends not to pur-chase dogs off Craig’s list and if they see them posted – tell them to write the people to give these dogs to their rescue breed or local rescue. The Vets have dubbed her Chanel #5 and I call her Channel Five! She’s a hoot and so happy.

Page 11—Winter 2010

October 21, 2009 Letter to Rescue – Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Karen, I wanted to give you a quick update on the rest of the evening for our Rosie girl. She is a perfect fit! We just made the boat; she settled right down in the car, she rides beautifully. We met Donna and mother at Alderwood. When they came out to meet us, my mother broke down in joyful sobs. You have given her back a reason to live. Her goal (once she hit 90) was to make it to 100 and have a really big party. The last few weeks we had deter-mined that she simply did not have that will any more. Donna was prepared every day to find that she was gone. My mom's a fighter but she really had lost that will. It took maybe 15 seconds and she had that great drive again; you could just see it in her utter delight at meeting Rosie. They took off for home and Donna said Rosie calmly sat in the back seat. When they got almost to my mom's house and turned onto their little street from the main arterial, she stood up on the console and watched out the window, like she knew they were almost home. Once in the yard she checked things out and headed up the front steps to the door. When she got inside, she came nose to nose with one of the cats and had almost no response. As she was checking out the house, Donna said she 'was followed by a parade of three or four cats everywhere she went. She gave them absolutely no notice. I guess that means we are going to have to rely on some other form of exercise to loose some of that weight because it sounds like chasing cats isn't something she is going to indulge in much. Donna is getting ready to take her for a walk around the block. I must share one last thing with you. My mom is a little bitty thing, about 4''9" now and a whopping 94 pounds. But even at 91 she has amazing flexibility and can bend over to tie her shoes. Lately she's been failing a little with less energy and stamina but after Frazier died she took an almost immediate turn for the worse. This week we finally had to break down and get a wheel chair for her; she simply could not walk even a half a block. The Doctor said it was sciatica and set her up for some physical therapy but the sudden change really worried us. Tonight, she was down on the floor on her hands and knees cooing to Rosie with no thought to the aches and pains that had so drastically changed her life in the last week. I fully expect that while tomorrow she will still have aches and pains that she will be up and about with no thought to them. I don't know if she had the aches and pains before she lost Frazier and simply ignored them but I do know that having Rosie will make it much easier for her to put up with them now. Thank you again. I think perhaps two girls were given a second lease on life today.

Page 12—Winter 2010

CLUB OFFICERS, DIRECTORS AND CONTACTS

PRESIDENT/RESCUE

Karin Parish kparish@whidbey.com

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT/SECRETARY

Jeannette Melchior melchior323@msn.com

DIRECTOR/

MEMBERSHIP Leisa Dott thedomes-

ticdiva@hotmail.com

DIRECTOR Karen Tilbury

tilburyk@yahoo.com

WEBMASTER Karin Parish

kparish@whidbey.com

VICE PRESIDENT

MaryAnn Guerry Buck gbthyme@verizon.net

PAST PRESIDENT/TREASURER/BREED

REFERRAL Sandy J. Davis

lanark@comcast.net

DIRECTOR Shawnie Zahniser

fourso@comcast.net

DIRECTOR Cyndee Lockwood

jclock4@comcast.net

NEWSLETTER Deanna Dawes

dfdawes@msn.com

Homepage: www.whwtcops.org

Upcoming Events

Laurie Williams—Bellevue WA

New Member Applications

Feb 28 Potluck and guest speaker

Dr. Evergreen. How to increase the life of your dog by 15% by what you feed it.

Chair: Dona Cooper Mar 13/14 Seattle Kennel Club Meet the Breed booth-

Chair: Christine Corbley April 24 Project Runway – Fund

Raiser for club. Elegant luncheon and dog fashion show, chamber music and silent auction in Enum-claw in private home.

Chair: Karin Parish and Michele Mariani

May 22 Fun Daze July 24/25 Highland Games –

McDuff Kennels, Hosts for our Breed

Chair: Julie Redd Aug 21 Speciality at Marymoor

Park with Show Lunch-eon, everyone invited to see the dog show

Show Chair: Jeannette Melchior

Sept Westie Rescue Walk

(might be June) Chair: Karin Parish/

Ardith Bolin Oct Halloween Party – Marysville Chair: Maryann Guerry

Buck Dec Holiday party