Bailey Chair - Part 1

Is it finallyfood time?

For as long as I've had Cody, we've struggled with his reflux. His reflux is when food falls out of his mouth - almost like he is vomiting, but it is coming from his esophagus and not his stomach. We're trying out some meds to see if they help calm what may be an acid reflux issue, but meanwhile I've worked a long time to find other solutions to his reflux. Much of these solutions are around how and what he eats.

He has may things he can eat, and I've found a few different ways to feed him that works. This is one way - bottle feeding and using the Bailey Chair. He also can eat fine out of a bowl using the Bailey Chair, but these are pictures from before I learned that. This is a tutorial on how to prepare his food for bottle feeding and using the Bailey Chair. These images are a bit old - a few weeks at least. Since then we've moved to feeding in the Chair out of a bowl, then having him sit in an ex-pen in the room with me for 30 minutes while he digests. I'll do that in another post!

Start with clean bottles. These are pastry bottles that I got from a local store for $4.99 for two of them. I cut off the tips most of the way down to allow the larger chunks of food to pass through.

A funnel makes it easy to pour his food in.

 

Cody takes meds with his meals, so those are added in.

Add in some water to make a soupy-slurry.

Grab some cheese to reinforce him remaining in the chair after he eats.

Add a bowl in to capture any drips as he eats.

The Bailey Chair works by elevating the dog and utilizing gravity to
pull the food down the esophagus towards the stomach.

Do a couple tricks just for fun!

With one hand against his upper knee I guide
him into backing into the chair. Cody does this
mostly on his own now!

He sits back into the chair...

Raises his paws up....

And I shut and latch the door.

We add in the tray (optional, sometime I do, sometimes I leave
it off!)

I hold the bowl underneath to catch drips and gently
squeeze the bottle to push the food out.

A little help cleaning the bowl afterwards!

Cody can comfortably sit in the chair for 10 minutes after
eating.

Especially if he gets reinforced with cheese periodically!

Num!!

Cody's Bailey Chair was made by the extremely talented Brian and Lori Scott. When I appealed for help he stepped up and agreed to make it and even threw in the custom name! I am beyond grateful to them for the Bailey Chair has been vital in reducing Cody's reflux.

Stay tuned for another update on how Cody eats - still using the Chair, but only for a couple minutes as he eats this time!

Cody Hears a Crab

There are some downsides to long leashes...

The beach held all sorts of interesting things for Cody and Sappho. Sappho took a particular interest in the driftwood and seeking little mammals or birds to hunt. Cody explored the mudflats and found a new interest - waves! It was a pretty still morning, but as the boats went by they created a wake that turned into small waves on the shore. The waves would slide over the mud and when Cody heard the sound of the waves he race down to the waters edge to watch them come in.

A boat passes by...

The waves start to come in.

Cody goes out to play in them!

The other big fun on the beach was the discovery of little creatures hiding in the rock crevices. Once Cody discovered something lived around and under the big rocks he'd bounce from rock cluster to rock cluster, occasionally digging into the sand to try and get to his prey.

Cody hears a crab.

Attempting to lock position...

Calibrating...

Locked!

Another barnacle covered boulder held promise.

This time he attempted to dig his prey out.

Three hours and four miles in it was time to head for home with two happy, tired puppy dogs who smelled strongly of fish. Both crashed out on their way home and thankfully the glorious rat terrier coat made it so a quick rub down and time was all that was needed to rid them of the smell!

Beach Combing

This weekend Cody, Sappho, and I headed up to one of my favorite places - Deception Pass. This breathtaking area can get pretty busy during the summer, but this time of year you can often get solitude if you go early enough and avoid the favored spots.

Incredible beauty!

We aren't very picky about our spots - we want isolated, solitary, and full of interesting smells and sights. We started our morning with a mile walk to a beach far away from the main spots and was rewarded with a completely empty beach.

You may notice the pups are are retractable leashes. I do use them in certain areas, but I don't trust my hands to hold them firmly so they are looped through the waist belt of my pack. This gives the dogs about 16 feet of freedom without tripping over leashes. In my pack I always carry separate five or six foot leads as backup.

We started down a beach covered in pebbles, large rocks, barnacles, old clam shells, and even some oyster shells. The tide was out so the dogs got in some tidal flat explorations.

They frequently checked in, knowing that voluntary check-ins often get rewarded with treats!

The beach was covered in sea life from seaweed to barnacles to even jellyfish. I picked some as we went along to show the dogs. Sappho wasn't much interested, having a more refined palate than her coarse foster brother!

A barnacle covered rock?

Not interested.

How about an oyster?

Hmmm....

Maybe just a taste...

Cody didn't actually bite it although he did think about it!

Baby, Baby

Cody loving on his "baby."

 We don't have many stuffed toys in our house. Maya takes great delight in ripping them apart, so usually I'll give her a new plush toy and let her rip it apart and spread fluff everywhere for a day, and then manually destuff it and throw the "skin" back to the sharks terriers.

Cody though, is a gentler guy. He doesn't destroy them. He lays down with his paws on them or underneath them and then he gently nibbles them without causing any damage. He'll do this for a long while before usually curling up and taking a nap. He's completely quiet and calm and he seems to find it relaxing. To me it looks like he's grooming the skins, and so I tease him about grooming his "babies." Whatever they are in Cody's mind, I love seeing this sweet part of him that had been hidden for so long come out. Now he does this several times a week, usually laying on or by my feet and I never get tired of watching him.

Curling up for a nap afterwards.

Watcha doing?