Tula Boo Boo

When we got back from the UK, we noticed a small button like bump on Tula's paw. We thought it was just one of us stepping on her foot during a walk, as they are prone to do that (get under your feet) at times. So we let it go. We noticed it wasn't going away, so the following week, we took her to the vets (and she is officially 50 pounds now, we found out on the scale!) and we decided to take the casual approach at first and put her on a heavy dose of antibiotics for a week. It wasn't going down, so I took her back to the vets yesterday and the number one possibility at this point is that is could be a histiocytoma. It's a solid benign tumor, common in puppies under 2 years old, and common in boxers. This confirms that she could be part boxer. We think her dad was a lab/boxer and her mom was a plottie. Anyway, they needed to take a small cell sample from the center of the lump. They took her away in the back to do this, which was good. I waited in the front lobby area, and I heard the saddest sound in the world, a little Tula, having to go under excruciating pain. The squeal that came from her just broke my heart. She came out with a bandage on her paw, and she was much tamer. She just sat down, and I gave her a few kisses and I fed her a biscuit (to gauge how distressed she was), but she ate it which was a good sign. She is doing very well right now. We won't know the results for at least a week. If it is a histiocytoma, there is a 50/50 chance she will need surgery. The other option is that it will regress on its own. Fingers crossed it will regress on it's own!

Tula Est Ein Plott Hund

Thanks to Kristen Jones for teaching me this German, by the way. My friend, Maggie, found this article about Plott hounds, and the dog show. This is the first year that Plott hounds were shown at the annual dog show. Although this article is very biased and very adamant that a Plottie would never win, we (and I am sure that many other Plott hound owners agree)wholeheartedly disagree! For that matter, any REAL dog would never win the award, only dogs that were bred and raised to be show dogs ever have a real chance. But we think that Josie or Tula have a fair chance of winning best in show, but we are proud parents. :)
This article also goes on to say that they were first bred in Germany to be boar hunters, and they are one of the toughest dogs there are. The reason they would never win, is that they would be covered with scratches from being super tough pupper dogs.
I also feel that Tula is a very tough pup, and believe we are in good hands if we were all face to face with a bear/boar. As long as the bear/boar is not vacuuming, carrying a rolled up magazine, or carrying a full kitchen garbage bag, Tula won't be afraid!

Back in the US! And Happy 1st Year, TULA!

We went to the UK and Ireland for 2 weeks to visit Anthony's family. We had our friend Maggie stay with the girls for us in our house. We heard that Josie had separation anxiety, as usual, as she always seems to miss me when I go away for awhile. She is a big softy, really. Tula didn't know what was going on, as this was the first time we've been away from her for awhile. It would appear that she was perfectly fine...didn't miss us at all. Which emphasizes what I always thought, she would miss Josie the most, if they were separated instead. And that makes her a big a softy to her older sister.