Kidneys failing

It's been a bad weekend. Herbie's drinking double or triple his normal amounts, and not wanted to eat much. On Sunday I managed to persuade him to eat a yoghurt for breakfast (normally a rare treat) but he wouldn't touch his evening meal. We went over to my father's, and after Herbie had done his "I'm a poor old dog" routine, he ate the cat's food, and was rewarded with more cat food. Later I heard an odd scraping noise in the kitchen, and realised that Dad had left a chicken carcase near the edge of the table, and Herbie was helping himself.

Being allowed to steal food is currently working, but we've reached the stage the oncologist warned me about in January 08. There's nothing can be done about failing kidneys, though there is some good advice from Greyhoundgang about low phosphorus diets (rather than low protein) that I'll follow. He's lost a lot of weight in the last three or four days, and my policy of "keep 'em fat" (again, advice from someone with a cancer hound - normal rules of dog-keeping go out the window) is no longer working.

Nine and a half

The new red dog bed has been quite successful, and the old brown and gold stripey one has been scraped off the top to use as a pillow. These pictures show the odd kink at the end of Herbie's tail, where I think he's broken it at some point in the past. The second bone up is much thicker than the ones above and below.

I've just done some Quantum Touch training - more powerful than reiki, and I need practice now. It's weird how a short course can completely change your point of view. I've never particularly wanted to practise on humans, but for this, I can see the point. Without the feedback from someone who can speak, you don't know if you're making a difference. Many of the other people on the course were already professional therapists of one kind or another, and it showed in their professional manner, putting the "client" at ease, and so on. I'm so used to dealing with dogs that my idea of calming signals is to make little burbling noises, and say "Who's a poor old dog then?" rather than ask people to relax, take a deep breath, etc. etc. Lucky for humans that I don't intend to practise on them professionally.

Must Take More Photos

I had a day working from home today, which was great because it meant we could go to the arboretum at lunchtime. Herbie was so happy sniffing round all the trees, and as he hates to get his feet wet, I don't have to worry about him jumping into the lake. (We occasionally see spaniel owners trying to push a bedraggled muddy heap back into their car at arms length - no matter what colour the dog was when they left home, he/she's black now!)

Holly has a new red dog bed which she's happy with, after an initial day of uncertainty. What with the new bed, and the new stove, she is toasty-warm - and so is Mr. Herb. Winter is allowed to happen now, we have heat.

Slowing Down

... or not? I've spent the last couple of days worrying because Herbie's been lagging behind on walks, not showing much interest, and I've been thinking "uh oh, bad sign".

Tonight he saw Guinness, the black lab, a few hundred yards away, and sprinted off to see her. I think he's just bored. The trouble is, he's also a very conservative dog who doesn't take well to change, and if I take him somewhere new, he spends a lot of time trying to herd me back to the car. Greyhounds may have no interest in herding sheep, but they can definitely herd humans - put a pair of greyhounds on the lead on a rainy morning and see what happens!