Hismerh Prince Piere *Petey*

March 15, 2011

Gorgeous weather, got the boyz up to Cascade Lake Park, and was able to let Petey off lead, no one in the Park! He had a blast!

Today Petey and I went over to our property, our whole area is having some major flooding, the river has now become a lake! The bridge to the Tipi is completely under water. Petey enjoyed swimming and grabbing all the sticks floating by. First Swim of the year for my big boy, he had a great time.

March 10, 2011

My work buddy.

Monty turns one!!!

March 8, 2011

Quick hike after work.

March 7, 2011

Each moment with my boy has become increasingly precious. I can barely hold back the tears now.

Pete's Holter results were much worse then I imagined. I know we are on borrowed time now. His heart could stop at any moment. I'm going to spend ever last second he has left at his side, paying attention to him, petting him, hugging him and kissing his beautiful face. The pain of knowing is unbearable right now. I'm working hard on getting back to a happy heart, so my boy doesn't have to spend the last bit of his life looking at my sorry puss, and licking my tears.

Peteys Holter showed a heart rate ranging from from 39-357 beats per minute with an average rate of 106 beats per minute. There were 3270 isolated ventricular premature complexes at a rate of 243 beats per minute. There were 358 couplets at 213 beats per minute. There were 163 runs of ventricular tachycardia, the longest run was 27 seconds at a rate of 415 beats per minute. There were 357 isolated atrial premature complexes at a rate of 223 beats per minute. There were 1748 runs of supraventricular tachycardia. The longest run was 4.6 minutes according to the narrative summary... ACTUAL TIME OF SVT WAS 2 HOURS, broken up by runs of ventricular tachycardia. There were pauses lasting longer than 2.0 seconds, the longest pause was 4.1 seconds.

3/1/11 DCM Mutated Gene Test

Last night Petey's results came in from his Dilated Cardiomyopathy Mutation Test it was NEGATIVE. I was shocked and saddened. Shocked because I really expected him to carry at least one copy of the gene. Sad for all my friends who were elated when their dogs came back Negative. About 15% of the dogs that have DCM are negative. I sent a blood draw, so it can be used to further their study, to hopefully find more genes that cause the disease. It would be nice to know that Petey helped other Dobermans avoid this awful early death sentence.

Sleepy head

Time of my life 2/18/11

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why.
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

I wouldn't change a thing.

Holter results

Unfortunately my beautiful sweet Petes Holter results are not good. He is now on two new drugs to hopefully stop the arrhythmias he is now experiencing. Solalol and Mexiletine HCl 2x a day. Added to his 5 other drugs. I love this dog so much it doesn't seem possible that his heart is in such bad shape. One day at a time. He will have a blast for what ever time I get with him. I rented a house in Arcadia National Park Maine and another at Lake George, both on the water so he can swim and have a blast. Again...he breaks my heart.

Cardiologist

Friday February 11, 2011 We took the trip down to Tinton Falls to see Petey's cardiologist. We got an excellent report! Petey's Echo was very good. The overall size of his heart went down 20% and his SA/Ao went from 1.4(April) 1.9 (August) to 1.2! This was amazing news! His Cardiologist expects that Petey will see 2012! I'm THRILLED!