What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

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Lotsaquestions
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Lotsaquestions »

Thanks! The interview ran into over time because we were all having a bit of a laugh, so I guess that was good. :lol: They are a COE school and they have their ethics and morals, originally they spelt 'Chris' so they had a quick think for what a T could be, because 'whos Chris?'. I actually had to work hard not to blaspheme during the whole thing. So used to saying 'oh my god' and the like. At one point I said 'oh my-' and had to cut myself off, so I ended up sounding like a weirdo. But it was better than a blasphemer at a COE school!
MPbandmom
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

The apartment looks great Erica!

Best wishes Lotsaquestions with the job.

I am beginning to think that Sky's pokey walking is perhaps more mental than physical.

I had been back to walking the dogs separately as the days were longer, but not it is getting way hot, so am back to walking both together in the interest of maximizing available cooler walking time.

Even when walking Sky solo, I am finding that if I disagree with the way she would like to go, getting her moving in my desired direction is quite a challenge.

Fireworks have Sirius on edge. Even walking in the quiet morning, she is becoming unsettled by closing doors and Fire engines. She has been doing fairly well with recovering, but I ended up carrying her for a ways one evening because she was certain we should go back the way we had come, when in actuality continuing on our was was the shortest route home.

This morning we took a shortened walk because the day was heating up fast even though we started our walk at 7:30 am. Sirius had been spooked by any and every little sound and decided it was time to head home. Sky was set to follow her usual route. As we exited the park and crossed the street, Sky was on the right and Sirius was on the left. As we reached the other side of the street, Sirius headed straight, as Sky headed left. They smashed broadside into each other. :lol: I then spent some amount of time trying to convince Sky that we were not going left, and that she needed to come along with us. :lol:

We gave Sirius some of her situational medication tonight to try and offset the fireworks.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Lotsaquestions
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Lotsaquestions »

Awww they sound so stuck in their ways. Love that they collided, such a stubborn thing to do. :lol:
Lotsaquestions
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Lotsaquestions »

Well I found out Merlin's tolerance level when it comes to high value foods.

He was playing with this dog and then they both stumbled upon what I hope was some chargrilled chicken. Merlin snagged it and ran off. The other dog, however, was, well, a mini Schnauzer. Need I say more? Persistant little thing!

All Merlin did was walk away and turn his head, and the Schnauzer was going right up to his mouth to steal some of this food.

Now for Merlin discovered food is the ultimate treasure. He'll hand over absolutely everything else to me, but food, balloons and, erm, used condoms he finds is something I've never been able to get him to hand over. He won't even come near me with them. I didn't plan on this to be tested out, and I tried calling Merlin away, but it was tested.

I'm hopeful that when I'm settled, his knee is given the full all clear, and I get my sports / rally Sheltie he'll show the same grace if there ends up being food theivery when my back is turned. :lol: The little growling and biting 13 week old is growing up to be a real softie, as much as any German Spitz can be. :D
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Then again, Merlin might have realised that if he barked or snarked at the other dog he'd drop his piece of chicken :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Lotsaquestions
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Lotsaquestions »

Lol maybe! Either way both dogs left unscathed so I was thankful. :lol:
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

OH heard Jasper having a barking match with a bush in the garden this morning - it seems that the bush won as when he came in he had a big scratch under one eye.

We went to visit a friend over in West Dorset today. I was a bit worried about J meeting up with her unneutered black lab, B. They've met before, but J usually likes at least to remind B who has the bigger ones really (even if he doesn't know where they are), and this tends to work best on an off-lead walk - but we thought it would be too hot for a walk, and I wasn't sure just free range her chickens were...

However, they were fine :D J did what I've decided should be termed a 'full-body hard stare' - standing side on, quite rigid, with head & tail raised - B was his usual 'Sure, yeah, whatever, mate', and they were absolutely fine after that. OK, so J did try to mount B a couple of times, but B barely noticed. And J's second attempt was underneath the picnic table, which was never going to work because there was nowhere near enough headroom :lol:

As it turned out, the sun was in, there was a breeze, and it was much cooler than the past few days, so we were able to take them on a shady walk by a stream.

Image

There was one dodgy moment when J got stuck trying to climb out of the stream onto a bridge through a fence edging the bridge, and having got his front end up, couldn't get his back feet up high enough, due to the length of his back. I tried to get him to go back and get out another way but he was beginning to panic a bit and started trembling. In the end he did manage to scramble up, with us putting our hands down to support his back legs, and then we gave him praise and treats for being so clever. No doubt B wondered what on earth all the fuss was about - he's able to deal with all life throws at him like a Sherman tank going over potholes.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Lotsaquestions
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Lotsaquestions »

Lovely photo! Jasper the big wuss. A greyhound I know tembles when she gets upset about something, is it a sighthound thing? Just stands there and goes 'not ok, not ok' until humans help her out of the situation!

Merlin managed to get hold of some shoes I put into the wash, but they are yet to be washed. He's shoving his face right into them and taking really big deep sniffs. Not sure whether to be insulted or proud. :lol:
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Lotsaquestions wrote: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:02 amHe's shoving his face right into them and taking really big deep sniffs. Not sure whether to be insulted or proud. :lol:
Jasper does that with OH's and my groins :oops: He says he's not a wuss, he's a very sensitive delicate little flower :wink:

It's cooler here today - in fact the forecast is for 18c, but I'm sure it's warmer than that already. The woods were full of dogs and they were all very lively, presumably thrilled to be able to move rather than lie flat out on the floor panting all day long.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Shalista »

everyone always coos about how wonderful bax is when he gets boarded and here i am groaning about having to take him back.... im an aweful furmom... also they mistake his high energy "OHMYGODIMGONNADIEANDITSGONNABEAMAZING" with "i like people" ... like yes friendly but are you guys not seeing the bulging eyes and manic energy? sigh..... sometimes i feel like i'm the only one that actually SEES bax.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
ZaraD
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by ZaraD »

So much has happened since it was last on , congratulations LOQs :D I'm so pleased for you and will be keeping my fingers crossed for you and Merlin as you can start looking to the future with this job :D

Congrats Erica lovely apartment :)

Sampson is on the mend and doing well and Lara is getting fed up of the heat as the pool is no longer working its that hot i have 5 different fans on and she hardly moves , i have been giveing them water baths just setting there coats to cool them down. I hate this heat too i loose my appetite :wink:

I was hospitalised yesterday as i had been getting this rash and just thought it was heat rash so ignored it but my whole face and neck swelled up , after tests it showed i was allergic to something and the only thing i could think of was 10 mins before i had brushed my teeth so they tested me and found i was allergic to fluoride and being in our tap water as well the Dr said it have to be very careful with what is drink , use ect..., Thankfully I'm fine now and am having a filter fitted on my tab to get rid of the fluoride.
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

I hope you're feeling better now, Zara.

This is Jasper's saluki look - turning his head away and totally blanking me. It can happen when it's raining but now it's a case of 'No Mum, I don't want to go to the woods again! I'm fed up of the woods, I wanna go to the heath, or the golf course, or the park, anywhere but the woods!'

Image

Of course, at the moment it's too hot to go anywhere else so if all else fails, I tell him I'm going to shut him in the car and go on my own. Obviously I'd never do that, but he doesn't know that :wink:

For the last week or so he's been managing with just an early walk, but he was quite whiny last night so I took him to the woods again. It was still 26c at 9.30pm :shock:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
ZaraD
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by ZaraD »

JudyN wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:48 am I hope you're feeling better now, Zara.

This is Jasper's saluki look - turning his head away and totally blanking me. It can happen when it's raining but now it's a case of 'No Mum, I don't want to go to the woods again! I'm fed up of the woods, I wanna go to the heath, or the golf course, or the park, anywhere but the woods!'

Image

Of course, at the moment it's too hot to go anywhere else so if all else fails, I tell him I'm going to shut him in the car and go on my own. Obviously I'd never do that, but he doesn't know that :wink:

For the last week or so he's been managing with just an early walk, but he was quite whiny last night so I took him to the woods again. It was still 26c at 9.30pm :shock:
I'm fine now Judy thanks, I'm using a natural toothpaste now and my teeth feel better than they did using my normal toothpaste.

It's the same here is took my two out after 9pm and it was around 28c :shock: , they hate the heat as do i, i have booked my holiday for August and I'm taking Lara and Sampson with me were of to Alaska , they can see were mommy is from :lol:
Shalista
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Shalista »

Bax is madly in love with the heat. hes doing his yearly "flop down and roll i nthe grass and then lie their with a stupid blissful grin" he did it THREE TIMES on our half mile walk and he refused to be budged from his spot of basking until i litterally dragged him to his feet.


poor dog is addicted to heat and he lives in western NY =(
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
MPbandmom
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

This weekend was such a glorious break in the heat. The other evening my car registered 102 F at 7:30 at night. At first I figured maybe the car was registering higher than actual, because it is running on paved roads after all and pavement heats up. However, after parking in the shade on the gravel at the house, I was amazed that the temp on the car thermometer didn't drop. No dog walks that day.

Between the heat and fireworks, the dogs haven't been out much last week. When I did finally get Sky out Saturday morning, she took of at what I imagine counts as full speed for her with the human anchor attached these days. :lol:

Then we had a visitor. Baby boy grandson who just turned 1. We added some baby gates to keep dogs and baby separate and I'm not exactly sure which one fussed the most. Sky for finding her passage blocked and not being in the room with the baby and me, or the baby. Well, actually the baby pitched an absolute hissy fit for the first hour and then fell asleep for about 3 hours before waking up in a much more pleasant mood. Sky whined just about non stop unless she was in the room with us.

I was very proud of Sirius. Baby boy isn't quite walking yet, but pulls up on things and cruises. Siriuis was on one side of the gate and Baby boy walked over and pulled up on the gate that Sirius was standing against. Rather than getting snarky, she just moved away from the gate.

She was not as kind to the vet earlier in the morning. She has long had two dime size pink spots on her lower jaw/gum seemingly where an upper tooth was perhaps rubbing. When she had her face practically smashed into mine with the recent fireworks, I realized that one side has returned to normal coloration, (black) while the other side seems to have spread. Since no vet has ever actually looked in her mouth because she goes to the vet muzzled, I called the vet to schedule an oral check up/cleaning under sedation.

She had to have blood work and some "required" immunizations prior to the procedure, so we went in on Saturday. I wasn't thrilled about the required immunizations Bortadella and Distemper/Parvo/something, but at least they are calling it a 3 year vaccine instead of annual and at her age that will likely be the last one she gets. I must say, in spite of this, I have been very happy with this new vet. He did take Sirius to the back because she was being less than cordial, but they left the door open so I could hear. When he came back in he reported that she had been totally stiff, every muscle tensed, during the exam, blood draw, and shots, and that she didn't like him reaching around her head. He reported that she had snapped at him a couple of times while he was trying to look into her ears.

He then pointed out that now that she was back with me, she was once again comfortable and was no longer treating him as a threat. We discussed the medication that she is on and the reason why she is on it, and the benefits that we have seen with it.

We then discussed Sky's situation a bit. When the tumor was removed, it had been suggested to keep an eye on her calcium levels, but I had been unable to get a suggested interval from the front desk. I now know that they will do a rectal exam to check for regrowth at 6 months post surgery and check calcium levels then. If those come back clear, we would go to annual checks. He also advised that nodules can be present on the lungs but too small to show up on x-ray and we shoud keep a watch on her breathing for panting. She already pants a fair amount of the time, so that could be a tricky one to watch.

Mobility still seems to be her biggest issue. She lifted her leg to mark a lightpost the other day and fell flat on her side. But she got back up after getting over her surprise and carried on with her walk. We have gotten a yoga mat to put at the bottom of the stairs because she had started wiping out regularly, landing on the wood floor while going around the corner into the living room. She is finally starting to realize she has secure footing and isn't lingering as long on the bottom step before taking the plunge.

OH asked the other day when I was going to have her put down. I have heard repeatedly that the dog wil let you know when they are ready. She is still demanding dinner and walks, and still wants to go for a full walk. Actually recnetly she has been expanding where she wants to walk going from about 1.7 miles which was normal in the winter to almost 3 miles. I don't see that as an indication that she is ready. I see just the opposite. Yes she is struggling some, but it isn't getting her down.

Time to feed the dogs.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
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