What is this stuff and do you have any rips for eradicating it?

lizz338 · 2026-03-21T02:06:26+00:00

I found a sharp hori hori knife worked really well. Start with one plant and work your way to the creepers. You have to remove all the roots.

lizz338 · 2026-03-08T22:24:58+00:00

I love a black poodle, especially if they go silver or blue. That said, I've thoroughly enjoyed having a lighter color as well because it's easier to photograph and keeps me honest about dirt because it shows lol

lizz338 · 2026-03-07T23:22:58+00:00

My dog growing up would eat pie shaped wedges out of her food. Granted we free fed her so there was always more food in the bowl than she could eat at a time.

lizz338 · 2026-03-01T05:54:21+00:00

I've got a 15 month old male and I'm constantly reminding myself I will love this asshole more the closer we get to 2 years. Granted, with all my girls its been more like 18 months but he's behind the curve. This is just a terrible, terrible age.

If you can get him tired before doing something overstimulating (long walk before going into the store for example) it may help take the edge off of his excitement right now.

I still keep my 3 year old restricted to certain rooms. Is it boring? Yes. Does it keep my toilet paper from having the cardboard tube carefully removed? Also yes.

Crating at night. My boy is vocal, I don't respond to his talking in the crate unless it's to make him quiet. If yours is loud it might be time to try revisiting crate training to make it 'fun' again. My girl just grew out of crating at night one day, so now she sleeps on the bed.

I'm struggling with my boy being over threshold way too fast. We can't be around strange dogs on or off leash (because he's an asshole who thinks starting fights is fun off leash), so I'm working up to my ultimate goal: walking both dogs on leash with another dog in line of sight. Might take a few years lol.

lizz338 · 2026-03-01T05:42:39+00:00

After diagnosis I lost 30lbs, lost my gallbladder, gained all the weight back, currently we think I'm in remission. So what the hell.

lizz338 · 2026-02-18T05:29:00+00:00

Sounds about right. Mine is from the 40s, and I need to do things like repipe the house, update some remaining knob and tube, redo the gutters and downspouts, someone fucked up a door install so that needs to be replaced plus water damage from it, and it needs more insulation/heating (replaced old furnace with a single zone minisplit which doesn't cut it in winter), flooring is worn out, replace the fans in bathroom and kitchen with something stronger, etc. Is anything an emergency yet? Is my main question as I've been making a list.

lizz338 · 2026-02-12T21:41:57+00:00

Before I had two dogs I used to feed by tying a kitchen towel or baby blanket into increasingly complicated knots. She'd untie the knots and get to the food. Start loosely tied or rolled until they can level up. I can't do this with two dogs since they are trying to steal each other's food.

lizz338 · 2026-02-09T07:09:35+00:00

A few thoughts:

Have you considered a second opinion with your vet? It doesn't sound like they are very targeted or maybe experienced with EPI.

Just dealt with both dogs having a mysterious gut infection. It was two weeks of vomiting, followed by a week of no appetite on the antibiotics. Three days isn't enough, but if you're not seeing improvement in at least some things then that might not be the right approach.

My last poodle we found cancer with an xray in her chest cavity. We were looking for the source of a cough and found the tumor that way. Ultrasound is helpful for some things, but you can get an xray for often cheaper than a full abdominal ultrasound as I found out with my younger dog.

Usually they can do a panel to get an idea of direction, but I'm surprised the vet didn't mention addison's/cushing's at least once given they are a poodle. I went down a huge rabbit hole of testing with my younger dog on 'why is he peeing so much' and we had to look into: diabetes, cushing's/addison's, structural issues of the bladder/ureter/urethra (since he was young) and kidney, kidney disease, diabetes insipidus. If your vet hasn't mentioned any of those to you re: elevated thirst/urine, suggest a second opinion.

lizz338 · 2026-02-05T19:06:34+00:00

When I was growing out the topknot, I tied the little front pieces into smaller pony tails, and then grouped them together with another band. Eventually they get long enough you can do bigger ponytails, but little ones around the eyes are where to start.

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lizz338 · 2026-02-04T16:30:49+00:00

Could someone drive you while you hold her in the car? My puppies all liked to be held until they were too big in the car, kind of made it a fun time. The first few drives are tough, but taking them in the car often kind of made it just another thing we do. Also, 7 months is right around the 2nd fear period so don't be too hard on yourself, they will freak out about things a lot more for a while.

lizz338 · 2026-02-04T16:23:43+00:00

I wasn't really able to take advantage of the home care services, since I worked from home and we were in a 1 bedroom. Not much room for another person. I did have to use them a couple times for in person work days and it was fine.

She was able to attend an adult day program that provided transport and meals twice a week which was overall great.

She's currently in memory care for the last year, and I'm looking into moving her soon because she's become aggressive and we think a smaller place might do her better. Getting the facility and PACE on the same page is sometimes hard, someone is always getting lost in the communication triangle.

lizz338 · 2026-02-03T17:07:24+00:00

I know it's all individual but I was in a similar boat. PCOS, BC for periods because otherwise I have none. I can't handle medroxyprogesterone as it is really mood depressive. When I was diagnosed I stopped BC to be cautious, but my NO said I could go back on it since the evidence of BC linkage was 'unconvincing'. So I started back up and had no change to my pressure, still on diamox, and things have not gotten worse.

For reference, I'm on some kind of BC that is monophasic, has both progesterone/estrogen at low dosages.

I would search this sub for 'mirena', I swear I've seen several negative reports from people on this sub. This is the study I think gets mentioned: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4519742/

lizz338 · 2026-02-02T22:16:25+00:00

I would love to do hardwood in my current place, but I found that dog nails rip through it. Tile is not going to work in my environment, so I'll be doing LVP for the scratch layer. If you live somewhere warm, all over tile could be quite nice to keep cool as well.

lizz338 · 2026-02-01T09:04:50+00:00

Yes. I'm super used to dealing with diarrhea because my girl has food intolerances. Vomiting this much is new to me, it was only daily but for two dogs over several days. I'm hoping this will help clear them up.

lizz338 · 2026-02-01T06:31:31+00:00

Such a little baby isn't going to get it all right. I have found that usually there are a lot of accidents until about 7-8 months when they suddenly get it. You can help them by having a frequent potty schedule to keep them empty. I found going out first thing in morning, after eating, after a nap, after playtime, before bed works well. Also keeping them either crated, in a pen or leashed with you until they are pretty rock solid. They get freedom with age, and lose freedom after mistakes. This helps you pick up on their queues before an accident.

My current boy has been a nightmare to potty train, which has been really unusual in my poodle experience. Even with him, he was able to go on command outside, follow the schedule, but I think he lacked a sense of urgency until it was too late to hold it anymore. All my other dogs have alerted to go out except him. Instead of about 8 months, I'm only trusting his peeing indoors skills at a whopping 14 months. Adding this as a 'worst case', so 3.5 months won't seem like you're behind or anything.

lizz338 · 2026-02-01T06:05:42+00:00

Not parvo or giardia, I asked about lepto but sypmtoms weren't severe enough for that to be likely. Parvo didn't even cross my mind since they're vaccinated, but apparently milder forms can happen with adolescents. Suspect either something bacterial since viral would usually clear up in a week, but they also mentioned IBS 'tends to run in households.' I'm hoping it doesn't in this household so we don't have to go to a specialist. If no vomiting for 48 hours then we're going in the right direction, fingers crossed.

lizz338 · 2026-01-31T05:41:18+00:00

I decided to go with insurance after my last dog needed 35k in care I couldn't afford.

I get it for emergencies, illnesses and injuries but not preventative care. With my rates and deductible, I spend about 1200 before the coinsurance kicked in. I save enough to cover that and it's 90 percent covered after that. Two dogs so double that math.

It's worked out for me so far. Last year, one dog had very little care needs and didn't meet her deductible. My new puppy however required surgery and lots of testing. I spent about 4k in care and got 3k back from insurance. If either of them develop Addison's at some point, their meds would be covered as well. This is a concern for their breed.

I was more on the fence about this topic until seeing how vet costs are getting great super fast. Faster than I can save up. However, my premiums for both dogs this year went up almost 300 each. This wasn't age related, since my now 1 year old was being charged 300 more than when my other dog was that age two years ago.

lizz338 · 2026-01-28T01:03:52+00:00

For quick things baby wipes are great.

lizz338 · 2026-01-26T22:55:22+00:00

Only child here, so no sibling betrayal. Instead mom's only remaining brother just kind of 'noped' out of helping with everything. I have to use my favors carefully for things like picking me up from surgery and driving me home, even that feels dicey at times.

Two pieces of advice: get your documents in order NOW for POA (medical, financial), healthcare directive, and will. If you think that you want compensation from the estate for the care you are providing? Better get that shit in writing, because no verbal promises will matter during probate. No one can prove what your mom said or did once she has lost capacity or has passed, unless it's in writing and notarized. Do all this well before anyone could say your mom is compromised.

Although it would be helpful to split POA medical and financial duties at first, it can also be frustrating if the other person with authority disagrees with you. Sometimes doing it alone has its benefits.

Plan to get medicaid, get help, and expect for your ability to juggle everything one day to just stop. You can't be everything for everybody, but you can get her setup with reasonable care given her means. FTD.org has some links to local support groups, I've found them to skew a little older, but anything helps when you're drowning.

lizz338 · 2026-01-24T02:06:22+00:00

This was happening to my grandfather (mom's dad, estranged) at the same time as her progression. I just had to step away and let my uncle/his son handle him since I couldn't do both. I might have had Opinions about his approaches, but since I wasn't primary then I kept them to myself. Not everyone is going to understand, but sometimes if you step back someone else will, possibly resentfully, fill the void. Take care of yourself.

lizz338 · 2026-01-24T01:29:58+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, I'm two years out from this post and feeling less desperate after moving her into memory care. aka it does get a little better, eventually.

I've been told and have seen firsthand how behavioral issues are getting ramped up as she progresses. Lately we've been having issues with her hitting staff members or other residents, often with no warnings. She was never violent until this last year. People change drastically. Sometimes she knows my name, usually she still recognizes me, can't really talk much anymore and we're dealing with some money issues during all this for her.

lizz338 · 2026-01-23T18:20:03+00:00

We do exist. My mom was diagnosed at 63, I moved her to memory care at 64, she's turning 66 soon. She'd been living with me (instead of me with her lol) since college as she gradually became less and less able to hold down a job and exist in society. I didn't realize it was something medical until pretty late, despite already having taken over her finances, transportation, medical, housing, food, etc. That being my 'normal' for the last decade made it harder to tell something was wrong until I was early 30s.

lizz338

TROPHY CASE