Dawg Business: It's Your Dog's Health!: Jasmine

Meet Jasmine, my beautiful Rottweiler girl whom I love as if she was my child!

Jasmine was born on August 3rd, 2003 and she is the inspiration behind this blog. She is the puppy that changed my life. My husband's friend, as he was watching me with her, once asked me: “So, did you like dogs before you met Jerry?”

Jerry, my husband, is known for his love for dogs. It was a perfectly good question, and yet it was a completely wrong question to ask. The correct question would have been: “So did you like dogs before you met Jasmine?”

Yes, I liked dogs. Not necessarily in my house, but I liked them. But then came Jasmine...

Jasmine is so adorable and so smart, you would have to experience it to believe it. When Jerry brought her home, unlike many other puppies she wasn't upset at all. She checked the place out thoroughly and contently curled up to take a rest. “Wow. I get my own people and my own house I don't have to share with anyone. This is good, I can work with this.”

Right from the beginning she started working her charm on me. She quickly learned that she can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar and she took advantage of that knowledge. Once she discovered the power of her big bright puppy eyes, it didn't take long before she had me completely wrapped around her paw.

I liked dogs before I met Jasmine. But now I live for them. I would be hard pressed to think of something I wouldn't do for her, and if so, it would be probably for her benefit. From a woman who likes dogs I was transformed into a dog mama.

We even got a second dog for her. Jasmine had a Boxer friend who she loved. Those two were so happy together, I've never seen two dogs love each other this much. We used to meet up few times a week. But then few times a week turned into a few times a month, and then it was only every now and then. It was breaking my heart to see how sad Jasmine was every time they had to part, knowing that it was going to be a long time before she gets to see him again.

I decided that I didn't want to rely on other people's schedule. The best thing to do would be to get her her own buddy, who she would have available at all times. And that's how Jasmine got her dog.

Jasmine is beautiful, full of life and too smart for our own good.

Sadly though, she wasn't blessed with perfect health. She was most likely born with food ingredient allergies, but unfortunately this didn't get discovered until about a year and a half ago, after finding our new vet. She was suffering from bad stools and upset stomachs, but in spite of our frequent vet visits nothing was ever diagnosed.

And then things started going down hill. She would have episodes of panting, pacing and discomfort which nobody could figure out. Then she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Then she injured her ACL.

Long story short, since then Jasmine underwent six surgeries, including exploratory surgery, bi-lateral extracapsular repair, and surgery to remove a large abscess in her abdomen, she had two near death experiences, and it seemed that everything that could have gone wrong with her health, did.

Thanks to our amazing new vet she pulled through and she is almost as good as new today.

As I was learning about all the medical stuff along the way, I got to believe that many of the latest issues could have been avoided if her early health problems were diagnosed and treated. I am very upset about that, but I cannot go back in time to change that.

What I can do is to share my experiences with others, and maybe help prevent these things from happening to other dogs. That is Jasmine's legacy to the dog world!

While some issues remain to be treated, Jasmine is in a better shape now that she's been for a long time, and she can fully enjoy her life. She loves life and she has so much life in her! You can see that in her eyes. She loves her family and she loves the outdoors. Nothing makes her happier than when we pack up our stuff and take off into the woods.

Here is to Jasmine, the puppy of my life!