Hines is a Hoopscot!!

Hines went with me to class tonight!! He LOVED his first Hoop Dance with Abby!! He is our new hoopscot (mascot LOL) for her Wednesday night class!!! Check out www.hoolamonsters.com for other chances to hoop with Abby :)

This is Hines with the amazing Abby and my rockstar hooper friend Michelle :)

PUPPY LOVE

Aggressive???

So I didn't mention a little piece of info from our appt on Monday cause I really brushed it off. Then Dr. Todd called me at 9:00 last night to talk to me. Dr. Spier said that when his staff was holding Hines' down for the ECHO that he went from super sweet to showing aggressive tendencies. He apparently growled and snapped at them. AGGRESSIVE??? HINES??? Have you SEEN this face????? REALLY??

I blew it off initially chalking it up to him being a scared little puppy... I do understand what Dr. Spier's concern is... Two young ladies having to control a 165lb aggressive mastiff... But I still find it hard to believe that our sweet little Hines showed aggression. So the plan is a) puppy classes to start asap and b) take away the testosterone before its out of hand. So thats it... Next step... Neuter!


There are actually two reasons our doctors want Hines neutered sooner rather than later. First, do decrease any potential aggression. Second, as Hines gets older and bigger, his SAS will get worse. This makes the risk of anesthesia and the surgery itself a higher risk with each month that we wait. He is already high risk because of the severity of his SAS. But it HAS to be done.


We will have to wait a week or two the get Hines regulated on his medication. I just hope we are able to work around puppy classes. They start April 17th and are already paid for. But we will do what we have to do. :) Peace and Love to you all!


DOGS ARE NOT OUR WHOLE LIFE, BUT THEY MAKE OUR LIVES WHOLE. ~Roger Caras

Cardio Consult

3/29/10 - 10 weeks - 23.5 lbs
We took Hines to see the cardiologist Dr. Spier today. Hines had his ECHO.

From our discharge instructions:
Based on today's finding, we believe that Hines has two congenital heart defects. The first is a ventricular septal defect, or VSD. It is basically a hole between the left and right ventricles, which allows blood to flow from the left side of the heart to the right. In the presence of a large defect, significant blood flow between the chambers occurs, which can overload the heart and cause congestive heart failure. Fortunately, in Hines' case the defect is small, and at this time does not appear to be causing any cardiac changes.

The second congenital heart defect is a condition consistent with subvalvular aortic stenosis (SAS). This is caused by a narrowing below the aortic valve resulting in an increase in blood velocity across the left ventricular outflow tract. This narrowing increases the resistance to blood flow, making the heart have to work harder to eject blood. As a consequence, dogs with more severe SAS are at risk for fatigue of the heart muscle (resulting in heart failure) and development of dysrhythmias (causing syncope and sudden death). He is also at risk for an infection of the aortic valve (endocarditis), making antibiotics necessary in the event of any surgery, laceration, bite wounds, etc.

Basically:

Hines has the two above mentioned defects. Dr. Spier said that the VSD is small and would normally cause no problem. However, it will most likely complicate the SAS. The SAS is considered high-moderate. They measured the pressure of the blood flow through the stenosed area at 70 mmHg. The moderate range of pressures is 40-80 mmHg. Hines can also stop the Lasix. He doesn't think that heart failure will be his demise. He believes that Hines will at some point develop a lethal dysrhythmia that will take his life. He will be on life long beta-blocker therapy to help decrease the workload of his little heart. Dr. Spier gave him roughly 3 years but said there is no way to know for sure. Because of the potential for the SAS to get worse over time we will see Dr Spier again in 6-8 months for a follow up.

We are devastated but holding up well. We plan to keep raising Hines as we would a normal Cane Corso. Hines and I went by PetCo on the way home to sign up for puppy classes. We start April 17th. I am excited that PetCo offers puppy, adult basic, and Canine Good Citizen training classes. :) We want Hines to bE CGC certified for sure (both of his parents were CGC). The trainer also told me that they will be offering therapy classes soon as well. We would LOVE if we could get him therapy certified and share him with hospitalized children and adults suffering from heart disease. :*) But that just depends on how he does. Its one day at a time with this little nugget. :) Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and wishes.... We love you all!

He and Amy do kinda look alike... LOL Don't ya think?? :)

Hines knows how to sit!

Visit with Dr. Todd...

3/27/10
We just got home from our visit with Dr. Todd but Hines' didn't get to come back with us. :( Dr. Todd said that Hines' heart murmur is as significant as ever and is not improving as he had hoped. Although Hines isn't having any obvious symptoms, he recommended that we have an EKG and chest x-ray done today to rule out any arrhythmia or pulmonary edema. Honestly, I just want the cardiac ultrasound now so we know exactly what we are dealing with! But I also feel like we have to cover all bases to make sure that nothing gets missed on this little guy. And these tests need to be done before we get to the cardiologist. So here we are... sitting, waiting, wishing none of this was happening... But we will take it as it comes! And fight to keep this lil guy healthy! We go back in at 12:30 to get him... Please send positive thoughts, smiles, wishes, energy, prayers, and LOVE LOVE LOVE to him!




UPDATE:
So the chest x-ray showed a normal size heart but showed a significant amount of pulmonary edema. Dr. Todd recommends that we see the cardiologist as early as Monday. He put Hines on Lasix to help draw the fluid out of his lungs. We now have an appointment with Dr. Spear at 11am on Monday for the consult and echocardiogram. According to Dr. Todd the "good" news at this point would be a Patent Ductus Arteriosis. Unfortunately, this diagnosis comes with a pricey procedure that we don't exactly have the money for right now. But at least there is an option with that diagnosis... One step at a time. We LOVE you Hines!

First mail! First gift!

Hines' Aunt Candace, Uncle Jeremy, and cousins sent him a welcome home prize! He got it in the mail yesterday and he just loves it!! He has been playing with it all morning :) Thank you guys!!! He can't wait to meet you!!

9.5 weeks old - 21.5 lbs

3/22/10
Hines has been with us for one week now :) He is sooooo adorable! And growing super fast!! He has gained 4.5 lbs this week!! He would still never know anything is wrong with his heart :) He tromps around outside rolling and playing in the sand. He just LOVES it as you can see in the pic. Our house is a sand pit these days. But we don't mind of course :)

Potty training isn't going so great so far. He pees like every 10 minutes!!! He hasn't done the doo in the house yet though. So thats a positive :)

He is eating well. There was a period of about 24hrs this week that worried us cause he barely ate. But he is eating like a horse again now! I found the Wellness food that Dr. Todd recommended and Hines really seems to like it. And mommy likes it too because its all natural :)

We had the dates wrong for his next visit to Dr. Todd. It is this coming Saturday instead of last Saturday. Its just for a round of shots but Im sure he will listen to his little ticker too :)

Leigh-Lo has not been very accepting. She is very jealous of Hines. Louie has been great! I just wish they would play. Hines wants to play so bad :( Dr. Todd recommended that I take Lei and Lou on 30 minute walks daily. One at a time so they get alone time with me and they get rid of some energy too. So that starts in the morning. Hines has been getting acquainted with his leash too. Dragging it around the house and yard. So we hope to get him walking soon too :)

Playtime!

Bad news....

Tuesday 3/16/10
We went in for our well puppy checkup with Dr. Todd today. They just loved our lil Hines at the office! Unfortunately we got some terrible news. Hines has been diagnosed with a stage IV heart murmur. Its a pretty significant murmur. The thrill can actually be felt through his little chest. It feels like a washing machine. :*( There IS a slight possibility that Hines can outgrow this problem although the look of doubt on Dr. Todd's face just ripped our hearts out. Why? After we have waited so long and jumped so many hurdles to get our Hines home... Why this?? We have been in touch with our breeder who has been completely awesome with the situation. I think they are as devastated as we are. Although we have the option of sending him back for a replacement puppy, Amy and I have decided that we just can't. We opened our hearts and our family to this little miracle the moment we laid eyes on him. We are in it for the duration however long or short that may be. We are staying positive in thinking that as he grows this little hole will be filled with LOVE and heal itself. Please pray for our Hines.

On the bright side...
Hines is more playful than ever!! He is eating great!! Potty training is going well!! And he has such a BEAUTIFUL spirit!! He is getting more and more curious and venturing our from under our feet to check things out. Lei and Lou are still about the same. They still want me all to themselves. Ugh! I wish they would just play with the guy :) We go back to Dr. Todd for our next set of shots on Saturday.

8 WEEKS - 17LBS

Monday 3/15/10
Today is the day we picked up our little man! He has been passed around planes and in airports for 10 hours today!! We are so happy to finally have him HOME!!! It is definitely LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT with this precious thing!! He was so good!! Only one tinkle in his kennel and he came right out to meet us when he got here! When we got him home the introductions to is brother (Louie) and sister (Leigh-Lo) didn't go all that great. They want NOTHING to do with him :( But that will change.. SOON I HOPE!! Hines is settling in quite well though! Tromping around the place like he owns it :) We all spent a lot of time on Skype tonight talking to grandparents and auntie :) He seems very happy :)

ROMAN'S HINES HODGES-BROWN!!

Here he is!! Our wee tiny lil LOVE!!! Though he wont be wee tiny for long!! Hines is a Cane Corso (italian mastiff) that we got from Roman Cane Corso's in PA. Check out their beautiful pups at www.romancanecorso.com. Hines was born on January 15th to Roman's Cyrus and Roman's Rosa Duo. We have been waiting patiently for soooooo long on this little addition to our family! He is SOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! He is going to be growing like a weed! So this site will be to document his journey in this LIFE!! Enjoy!!

PROUD PARENTS!!!!!!!!