Hello there! It's been a while since my last Mater update and I apologize for that! Things here have been great! My husband and I just love Mater so much! My husband (who has never been a dog person!) has even said that if we were to get another dog he wants another coonhound! Mater is so good with other dogs it continues to amaze me. We take him to Petsmart and he lets other dogs (big and small) jump all over him and he is so gentle with them. Owners of little dogs are always hesitant to allow their dogs to interact with Mater but I assure them he will be great and it will be good socialization for their dogs and he always does so well with them. He just lays down and let's them romp all over him. The dog trainer at Petsmart even told me how impressed he was with Mater's training (that I did all by myself!). Always makes you feel pretty good about the hard work that you spent training a dog when a professional acknowledges it! Mater is even getting along really well with my 3 cats...he lets them walk up to him and rub up against him and head butt him and he just lays there looking at them.
The one bad bit of news I have to report is that Mater was diagnosed with Lupus. It is luckily not the systemic lupus and is only isolated at this time to his nose. I noticed his nose kept getting crusty and I took him in to the vet that I work for and after a couple rounds of failed therapy trying to get the crustiness to clear up we did a biopsy of his nose that came back as lupus. He is now own a daily regimen of tetracycline, omega-3 fatty acids, niacinaminde, and vitamin E and so far all looks good. His nose hasn't crusted over in months! Other than that Mater is thriving nicely.
Thank you again for everything you do for all of these amazing coonies!
Bianca
