A few of you wondered why Poor Jazz had a bandage on her leg this week and I wanted to share this story with you.

Jazz’s mum, Lori, first came out to the Ranch a few weeks ago and we did our usual evaluation, where for an hour or so we chatted about Jazz, her history, her behavior; things that she likes and her fears. Jazz got pretty comfortable being here at the Ranch and I really got to know her and her mum Lori.

I tell every prospective new client that we insist on an in depth evaluation of the dog before we board them and occasionally, the person will tell me that they feel its a lot to pay $30 for this, and why is it necessary?

This week Jazz was the proof of the pudding.

Because Lori and I covered so much information during the meet and greet process, I knew about some of Jazz’s recent tummy upsets, some recent stress issues and what her normal behavior was.

Last week, on day five of Jazz’s stay with me, having really gotten into her stride her at the Ranch and started to play with other dogs, eaten like a little piggy at every meal, all of a sudden, she stopped eating. She wouldn’t touch her breakfast but still went out to run in the field and trotted along beside me happily all day whenever we were outside. That evening, when she refused her dinner, I took her in my truck to Mc Donalds and bought her a little assortment of things to tempt her and while she ate a tiny bit of chicken nugget, and a piece of cheeseburger, she ate with no relish or gusto.

She had no diarrhea, no vomiting, her urine was normal and, though I didn’t see her pass a stool the next morning at all, she was drinking, but she just looked a little ‘peaked’ to me despite quite a sunny demeanour, so I decided to get her to the vets.  I drove all the way up to Jefferson thinking that I was probably wasting my time…

When Doctor Nilsen checked her out they straight away rushed to do blood work and a fecal and confirmed that this little girl was suffering from pancreatitis, with the added complication of haemorragic gastro enteritis, and that another 24 hours and it would have been too late. It was THAT serious.

She went on IV fluids straight away, antibiotics and stayed at Doc Shannons for two days where they fixed her up and got her feeling perky and wonderful again.

Whilst I would love you all to think that I am an amazing person who can diagnose a problem by sight in every dog, the real story here is the beauty and necessity of spending time with our clients, both human and canine, so that we can build a REAL relationship. Only by doing so can you tell instinctively when something is wrong, when all the outward signs seem to point otherwise, but because of your depth of knowledge of that dog, you know ‘something ain’t right’.

Because Jazz had some issues with big dogs, and we knew there was a possibility she might have separation anxiety, we did little ‘extras’ for Jazz, like Pete walking her to the mailbox each day and me taking her for trips out in the truck, so that we could have bonding time. We did massage on her every day and hand fed her a few times, just to accelerate the trust between us and her. In doing so, we gained a knowledge of what was ‘right’ with this dog, and when something was most definitely wrong.

Time is the greatest gift you can give anybody, human or dog. The gift of time transcends monetary value and becomes the foundation of every relationship that we create in our lives; we give time to those we love, we make time for them. If we don’t, then we should.

In Jazz’s case, her very life was saved by it….