Yesterday we met up for another beagle hunt and a social get together afterwards for boerewors rolls and a chat.

It is getting colder every week and waking up is getting more difficult every time! Some of us have more trouble with the early mornings than others. While most of us arrived on time and properly dressed… Poor Roti seemed to have had a very tough time leaving the comforts of his basket at home, and he arrived in his Pyjamas! Can you believe it
Trevor kept trying to convince us that Roti was actually wearing his “Racing Silks” but we know better! – I mean, seriously – that face has “EMBARRASSED” written all over it! hee hee!

Roti looking all embarrassed in his PJs

Every week seems to set a new record with the number of beagles! Again, we had between 45 and 50 beagles! Some new faces again, which is always nice… especially when the new faces are in the form of a super cute 8 week old puppy called Zoe

8 week old Zoe

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Another new face, was this one… although we weren’t too sure how he fitted into the mix at the “BEAGLE Hunt” … oh well

I hope no one notices I'm not a Beagle!

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The hunt went well… with some long tough lines. The new dogs who have joined us this season are continuing to do rather well. The beagles did much better with the terrain than we did – their legs are so much shorter than ours, but they have so much more energy than we do – running and running and running through the veld!
Look how exhausted Charlie looks

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Afterwards the guys braaied wors for all of us, and we tried our best to keep all the greedy beagles out of our food! I also did a few sales of T-shirts, stickers, flasks and badges from the BeagleShop (remember a portion of proceeds is donated to charity!)

Thanks to Jane for organising the meat, rolls, plates etc. Everyone seemed to have a good time!

It was the last time we’ll be seeing Leanda for a while – she is due to have her baby girl in 3 weeks! We wish her and Gary all the very best! Can’t wait to meet the little girl! (or at least see some photos!)

Our next hunt is on Sunday 21 June at 8am… sign up here

I got this e-mail this week from Karen, alerting us to some human foods that are poisonous to dogs… I found it quite interesting, and thought it was worth posting on the site. I also did some more research to find out what other foods are poisonous to dogs…

Please take the time to read through this list, and make a mental note of these foods to AVOID AT ALL COSTS:

Quoted from the e-mail:

I know you guys all have dogs so make sure you read this … If you have a dog … PLEASE read this and send it on. If you don’t have a dog, please pass along to friends who do.

Written by: Laurinda Morris, DVM Danville Veterinary Clinic Danville , OH

This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix t hat ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhoea and shaking. About 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn’t call my emergency service until 7AM.

I had heard somewhere about raisins AND Grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn’t seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me – had heard something about it, but … Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 & 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.

The dog’s BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a litre of fluids.

At the point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a Urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care. He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values have continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn’t control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220 …

He continued to vomit and the owners elected to Euthanize. This is a very sad case – great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this very serious risk.

Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler’s. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern. Onions, chocolate, cocoa and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too.

Even if you don’t have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them. Please note: RAW POTATO PEEL IS ALSO TOXIC TO ANIMALS!!!!

This is a really scary story and I bet most people wouldn’t think twice at tossing a grape to their dog!

I looked up a list of “Poisonous food for dogs” on google and compiled this list:

• Chocolate
• Onion
• Garlic Macadamia nuts

…Click HERE to read more info …

This really comprehensive websitelists foods you should avoid, and the reasons why. Click HERE to read more

Below is the list of foods… please visit the site to read up some more:

• Alcoholic beverages
• Baby food
• Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources
• Cat food
• Chocolate, coffee, tea, and other caffeine
• Citrus oil extracts
• Fat trimmings
• Grapes and raisins
• Hops
• Human vitamin supplements containing iron
• Large amounts of liver
• Macadamia nuts
• Marijuana
• Milk and other dairy products
• Mouldy or spoiled food, garbage
• Mushrooms Onions and garlic (raw, cooked, or powder)
• Persimmons
• Pits from peaches and plums
• Potato, rhubarb, and tomato leaves
• Potato and tomato stems
• Raw eggs
• Raw fish
• Salt
• String
• Sugary foods
• Table scraps (in large amounts)
• Tobacco
• Yeast dough