A few more pics

Since I'm going cross-eyed staring at picture after picture of dog muscles at the moment, I thought I'd take a break and add a few more pictures to the blog. Without further adieu...

This was taken in our shared house, in the first week of school. You can tell this because I look way too excited to be studying anatomy. Clearly, I was still in my (unfortunately shortlived) "I'm in vet school! Everything is cool and new and exciting and not stressful at all!" stage. Ah, distant memories.

Holding hands with a grey kangaroo at Caversham Wildlife Park, during a free day trip for international students. The photo is a little dark, but if you look closely, you can see a couple of goofy looking diprotodont joey feet sticking out of mum's pouch in the top left. The toes on their powerful hind limbs give the appearance that roos are perpetually flipping someone the bird- hilarious!

This is Chili the kelpie, AKA Neighbor-Dog from our old place. She is a young, neglected yard dog and I'm pretty sure this was the first time she'd ever been in a bed. She loved clicker training and I had a quasi-joking discussion with Iain about asking the neighbor if they would let her go to a better home (*cough* ours). I still miss her.

Our first wild grey kangaroos out near Byford (where the dogs were quarantined). These beautiful creatures were hanging out in the shade during one mercilessly hot day.

My favorite smell in the entire world...frangipani. I am still looking for a perfume that catches the smell perfectly, but have had no luck thus far. Walking down the street and catching a whiff of these delicate little blooms makes my entire day!

Sunset in the suburbs. Need I say more?

Outside at our new place! As you can see, the dogs live an existence fraught with toil and suffering. They now prefer to lie directly in the sand (to the right in this photo), and I'm pretty sure it's because they take pleasure in watching us sweep the floors multiple times a day after they track a beach's worth inside with them after their snoozes. In all seriousness, they love it here.

Thanks for looking!

A kiss for my loved ones

Because I can't be there to do it in person! Straight from a sunset in Freo, with love. xoxo

Iain's photoblog!

OOOH! And one more thing! Iain has created his own blog, which will consist mostly of photos. He thought it would be pretty funny to call it "Beaver Eats Kangaroo", so BEK it remains. The url is www.beavereatsroo.blogspot.com.

I am going to start loading some photos onto my blog as well, but Iain will be posting the lion's share on his. We have this huge backlog of photos and I know that many of you are eager to see some pictures of our adventures so far. Enjoy!

She emerges...

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while since my last blog post. I just finished a week of midterms (biochemistry and physiology/histology), and have another one a week tomorrow (anatomy). Thankfully, it's also our study break. I don't think I've ever been so grateful for a week off of classes! I will be using this time to camp out in the anatomy museum and rote memorize every little tuberosity and notch in every single bone, all of the appendicular and axial muscles plus all of their origins and insertions, and try at the same time to put it all together to form some kind of workable model in my brain of how animal bodies move. I cannot believe we have only had 5 weeks of classes!

My midterms, I think, went fairly well. I did already get my results back for biochem, and was really pleased. The physiology and histology exam was harder, but seemed to go reasonably well. The evening of our second exam, Iain and I had a bunch of friends over for a celebratory spaghetti dinner. The dogs love having company over because they get utterly spoiled and fussed over! Our friends presented us with newly-purchased cutlery and a plate/bowl set as a housewarming gift. We were so touched at their generosity! I really feel as if I already have friends for life in this program- it's still a bit surreal to think that we will be studying/working/playing together for the next 5 years, but I'm grateful for that fact!

I took Friday night and Saturday completely off from studying of any kind. Friday afternoon after classes, a few of my friends and I walked the three hospital greyhounds. It's a bit of a weekly event now, and it feels really good to get the dogs outside for a run and then, because they are greyhounds, a lazy snuggle in the grass. The current dogs' names are Leo, Suzie, and George. Leo is my most favorite color of brindle- dark stripes on very pale, almost caramel color. I will have to take some pictures next week! In contrast to the dogs we walked the first time, these three love people and actively seek out affection from humans. I have come to the conclusion that greyhounds have the most lovely kissable faces- I think it's something to do with their little pinheads that are so easy to cup in my hands! Friday evening, Iain and I packed some sandwiches and a blanket and walked to the local park, where our suburb was hosting a family movie night. They were playing a Japanese animated movie called "My Neighbor Totoro" on a giant projector, so we snuggled up and watched it surrounded by lots of families. It was so peaceful. It even got a tiny bit chilly as the evening progressed, which was a first! I went to bed pretty early on Friday, as I think I still needed to catch up on sleep from the week's events.

Yesterday (Saturday), Iain and I went to a marriage equality rally in downtown Perth. We went with two other vet school friends, Maren and Cassie. We had a really great time and it was so nice to see so many people joining together to speak out against legislated discrimination. After the rally, we had some lunch and did a bit of shopping. Perth city is like being in a whole different world from "south of the river", which is where we live. My normal day-to-day life takes place in the suburbs, and I rarely go anywhere besides school and home, and sometimes Freo. It was really nice to be out and about and not have to worry about getting home to study! Saturday was also wonderful because I got to Skype with family members for the very first time. Now that we've just had unlimited wireless internet installed in our house, we are able to do things like Skype which normally take up a lot of bandwidth. I shed a few tears, but it made me feel so much closer to my family members to be able to speak to them face-to-face!

This afternoon, my goal is to do some anatomy, some physiology reading, and one VPL (vet professional life) write up to feel good about my day's work. I'd better get on that now! Lots of love to everyone back home- I miss you all everyday, and I will try to write another update later in the week.

It's my life

This is going to be a much shorter post, because time is at a premium right now. I have now completed my first three weeks of school, and I can’t believe how quickly time flies. Iain and I have also been in Australia for just over 5 weeks! We are settling into our place, though we are still lacking furniture. At least now we have a fridge and a washing machine (which is incidentally still sitting in our driveway…it’s too heavy for the two of us to move inside on our own). The dogs have settled in beautifully, and it’s nice because this past week the temperature has cooled noticeably. I would guess that most days it has hovered between the high twenties/low thirties, so it’s much more bearable. The dogs have been enjoying the little park that is just metres from our house, and all the new smells must be pretty exciting!

I have a ton of review to do this weekend, on everything, but particularly on Physiology. We had an utterly mind-melting four-hour lab on Thursday, and a group of us headed to the campus pub afterwards. It was great to just chill out and decompress with a group of great people, all of whom are in the same boat!

Yesterday (Friday), I went to the vet hospital with a couple of other girls to walk greyhounds. We ended up walking Wacky and Chrysler, two dogs who are fresh off the track. The dogs were quite flat in demeanor, and had absolutely no interest in us at all. They seemed excited to go outside, but once we were out there, they did very little- mostly just stood there, or trotted a little, or stared at bushes or at leaves blowing in the wind. I figured out why the experience bothered me so much, and realized that it is because these dogs expect nothing from people. They’ve likely never had a reason to before, and whether it’s animals in shelters or these two beautiful boys, it makes me sad. I gave my two extra hugs when I got home last night.

Yesterday afternoon, I also attended a lecture by raw pet food guru Ian Billinghurst. He is the Australian veterinarian behind the unfortunately-named B.A.R.F diet, which stands for Biologically-Appropriate Raw Food, or Bones And Raw Food. First off, I will say that I do believe strongly that raw feeding is an excellent option for most dogs, and almost all cats (our dogs have been raw fed for many, many years!). I was, however, a little disappointed by the presentation. Dr. B is a lovely man, and I did have the opportunity to chat with him post-lecture. I told him that I had worked at True Carnivores, a raw pet food store in Vancouver, and that he had many fans there (he lectured there many years ago!). It was also great that the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) was offering continuing education points for veterinarians who attended- that is a huge step for a veterinary organization surrounding such a controversial issue! I suppose, given all this, that my expectations were very high going into it.

The biggest issue, and it is an issue when it comes to raw feeding, is the lack of sound science supporting it. Making sweeping statements that cannot be supported sends up the red flags, especially when speaking to a room full of skeptical scientists! I think that it is important to acknowledge the lack of science behind it. This doesn’t mean that the idea behind it is wrong, or that it is not an excellent option for many animals. There should be nothing to hide. If in your practice you have 1000 animals on a raw diet, and 1000 animals on commercial food, even if you yourself can see a huge difference, it is still anecdotal evidence until proper, peer-reviewed studies are published. Calling it anything but diminishes the potential for changing minds, in my opinion. At any rate, I was so glad I went and it feels good to be able to put on my critical thinking hat, even (especially!) surrounding issues that I support.

On a different note (I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief!), there may be an opportunity for me to go down south in the winter (June) for a week or so. A friend is going to helping with lambing on a sheep station, so I may be able to tag along. I know next to nothing about sheep, so this would be a great opportunity. We’ll see what happens!

Take care everyone!

The dogs...

...are home! A huge thank you to Karen and Sarah, who drove us out to Byford in Craig's diesel-sucking beast, helped load two bedroom-sized dog kennels into the back (well, Chester's wasn't quite that big), then drove us home with two very large, hot dogs in the back drooling down their necks. Chester sat in my lap and Dixie snuggled up with her Iain, and we made it home.

They got the grand tour of our new house (which has an orange tree in the backyard-an orange tree!), and loved it right away. We had the bedroom all air conditioned for them, and they seemed pretty thrilled with that. They ran around and explored and even got the zoomies- not too shabby for two senior dogs in 38 degree weather! Next up was the full beauty salon treatment for the two stinky mutts. They were both brushed and bathed, and had their teeth cleaned and nails clipped. Only then were they allowed to pass out in our bedroom...on our new mattress, of course.

Because of the disorganization of our move, we don't have many dog supplies yet- a definite first for us! Case in point? The dogs' water dish is actually our new wok, but I'm pretty sure the critters don't care about the details. They are home, and our little family is back together again.

Moving day!

I thought I would write another update this morning because I think this weekend is going to go “poof!” and disappear before I know it. The title says it all…it’s moving day! It couldn’t come soon enough for Iain and I. It was another day in the low 40’s yesterday, and another night with no air movement in our room (as well as another night of being woken by screaming fights across the street, but I digress). Our new place has air con in our bedroom (!!!); to say we are looking forward to that is an understatement. We have a new mattress being delivered today but other than that, our house is completely bare. Like, not-even-a-fridge bare! We’ll have to build up to what we need a bit at a time.

The only thing more exciting than moving, is the dogs’ homecoming tomorrow! We are driving out to Byford with Karen, who’s boyfriend has generously lent us his ute (utility vehicle) in order to transport both the two dogs as well as their alarmingly large crates. I CAN’T WAIT!! I haven’t seen them now in over two weeks, since school started, because there are no visiting hours on the weekends. Iain has, though. I’ll make sure to write a little update when we get them back. They are going to love the house (and the air con, no doubt!), the huge yard, and the lovely park down the street. As soon as we can find a cheap little car, they will love the beaches too! Fremantle will only be a 20-minute drive from our house.

This past week was incredibly busy (I’m pretty sure I’ll sound like a broken record soon enough). I have a lot to catch up on this weekend. It seems like I can’t work hard enough right now to get myself to a place where I feel really good about what I've done. I leave at 7:45 AM, and get home anywhere between 5 and 7 PM, depending on whether I have to stay at school to work or not. Iain makes dinner, we eat, I start work again, but I am not yet able to stay up past 10 most nights. I am still so tired in the evenings, so there is a sense of panic as I work to get things done before my body fails me, haha. I am not alone- a lot of the people I speak to in my program seem to be experiencing the same kind of thing. I am sure as I get adjusted to my schedule, things will feel less frenetic and more balanced (shh…let me have my moment!). I also need to do at least one non-uni activity each week to de-stress, and I have decided that it will be a dance class of some sort. I was really excited to see that there is an active burlesque troupe in Perth (might be a little far, but we’ll see once we have a car), and there is also a belly dancing school in Freo! I will likely pick one of those things to do one evening per week. Also, I am joining the gym at Murdoch, and they have a bunch of different group classes, including modified ones during the day so that students can go between courses. I think that this will help to keep stress in check, as well.

Iain and I celebrated his birthday on Wednesday, so I worked extra hard on Monday and Tuesday to get my work done so that I could take the evening off. We went out for dinner in Freo, then went to watch the sun set on the beach. Afterwards, we went to Baskin Robbins so that Iain could have his favorite chocolate chip mint ice cream, and then we decided to have a long walk home in the darkness. It’s been really muggy here in the past few days, which is uncommon for Perth. That combined with the excessive heat makes it feel more like the tropics. At any rate, it was a really nice evening, and it felt really good to have made sure that we could spend it together with no anxiety on my part about schoolwork. Iain capped off the night with a phone call from Judy and Isla (his mum and sis), which was so great for him. It’s still kind of surreal that we can be 15,000 KM away from our families and still be able to have a conversation on the phone with them.

Last weekend was mostly spent studying, and in between, I did clicker training with the neighbor’s kelpie. Chili is smart as a whip and the kind of dog I wish lived with any number of my dog sport friends back home! She took to the clicker like every other dog does, with glee, once she got over her initial hesitation and unwillingness to offer new behaviours (likely in the event that she would be punished, I think). I never thought I’d say that if I could, I would have myself a lil' stock dog! I will miss Chili and Mandee’s dog, Tama. They have been good little surrogate dogs, but this time tomorrow we will be reunited with the real deal!! Did I mention that I am ecstatic?!

One other interesting note about living in Western Australia for dog nerds is the presence of so many dogs with intact ears and tails. The practices of ear cropping and tail docking are illegal here and may only be performed for medical reasons by a registered veterinarian. Despite the fears of opponents to laws like these, there has been no increase in breeders just doing it themselves, though that used to be legal. There is a very hefty penalty, and it is enforced. Seeing Weimaraners and Vizslas with tails is refreshing, and I just saw my first Rottweiler here the other day, with his lovely long tail wagging happily. I always marvel at Dixie’s gorgeous goofy ears, and wonder why anyone would want the first months of the relationship with their new puppy to include pain and discomfort for their new companion?

An interesting side note for my pit bull peeps: There are breed restrictions here on American Pit Bull Terriers, but NOT American Staffordshire Terriers or Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Back home these are usually lumped together under the “pit bull” umbrella.  The restrictions here do not involve mandatory spay/neuter, and you can still sell them provided you inform buyers that they are restricted. This means that they must be muzzled at all times and wear a special collar that identifies them. This law, in contrast to the docking/cropping laws, is poorly enforced…when everybody’s grandmother is walking her little Staffy Bull or AmStaff X down the street, and the dogs here frequently look so non-descript, I just don’t know how this would be expected to work. Breed specific legislation is useless and discriminatory anywhere you go in the world.

On the other hand, ex-racing greyhounds have a terrible reputation and must be muzzled under law in public. How’s that for a shocker! These dogs are generally very placid, gentle, and quiet. Some come equipped with a substantial prey drive, and are not safe with small animals, cats, and/or small dogs, but you can say this for individuals of all breeds. Greys have this kind of dignified elegance that I really appreciate. Still, they have suffered some of the same PR issues as pit bull-type dogs, which is to say that when a greyhound kills a cat or small dog as the result of an irresponsible owner, people wring their hands and cry out “won’t someone please think of the children!” There is a massive greyhound racing industry here in Australia, and WA is no exception. I have heard that the industry spits out dogs to the tune of 90,000 per year. Yikes. So who’s really the victim here?

Oops, looks like I went off on a bit of a dog tangent there! Shocking, I know. What else…I have a weird bite on my foot that I got at night. It was really painful, and then itchy. I’m not sure what’s worse- seeing something bite you, or discovering a nasty bite and not knowing what inflicted it, or when. As long as it’s not from the ubiquitous but dangerous redback spider, I’m happy. Anyways, I should get back to packing here. I also want to mention that I am behind on responding to emails from people, but that I will get to them! I appreciate the correspondence so much. Thinking about all of you back home and sending lots of love. Until next time!