Friday, August 14, 2009
New Safety Tip
No matter how funny it looks, do *NOT* laugh at the Saint Bernard when he trips over his own feet. While Harley is too well-behaved to bite or jump on you, he *will* hip-check you at least five feet. Ouch.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Um, Bella
Forgot to introduce Ms. Bella. She's a 13-inch Beagle who will be 6 years old on August 11.
Bella came to us from friends in Colorado. Bella behaved like a lot of other beagles, and decided she didn't care for the new baby. Well, the baby is now 3, and Bella was still alternating between being nice and attacking. When she deliberately attacked and bit the baby, Bella had to go.
Have no fear - here is where Bella will stay. My youngest is 27.
Bella came to us from friends in Colorado. Bella behaved like a lot of other beagles, and decided she didn't care for the new baby. Well, the baby is now 3, and Bella was still alternating between being nice and attacking. When she deliberately attacked and bit the baby, Bella had to go.
Have no fear - here is where Bella will stay. My youngest is 27.
Weird things...
...that the dogs do. Yes, my dogs, even the long-term fosters, are strange. Or as my vet put it, my dogs come from shelters, so you can figure there's already something wrong with them.
Bella has her own kennel in the living room. Why not? Sally has her's, and Bella is even smaller. Since Bella is so short (or vertically challenged), I put a small (ie, holds *maybe* two cups) water bowl in her kennel, just in case she can't reach the 5-gallon bucket the big dogs use. So who drinks the water in the small bowl? The Saint Bernard. Two slurps and it's gone and Harley is mournful, depressed and still thirsty. And now Miranda has joined in with the "two slurps and it's gone" water bowl draining.
Bella again. She's gotten used to the big dogs - as in, she no longer hides behind the couch cushions, but instead goes in and out with them. Well, she's learned her lesson about letting off a warning bark in front of the dog door. Three giant monsters come barreling out the door, wanting to know just what had the nerve to invade their territory, and Bella is flattened against the recycling bin.
Bark likes to sleep outside on the back stoop. In the rain.
Miranda will not go to sleep until she gets a (used) snotrag.
Two years she's been here, and Miranda still can not climb a set of stairs.
All the dogs, as a treat, get canned dog food one night a week. It takes Sally three days to stop sulking that her every meal isn't sirloin bits in gravy.
I don't want to know how he does it, but virtually every morning Bark comes in soaking wet. Yes, even when it's not raining.
Local wildlife: 0 The pack: 4+ 1 opossum, 2 birds, 1 snake and countless mice.
Sally firmly believes that she's invisible when she's in her kennel. And she will bitch you out if you disrupt her fantasy.
When scared, Miranda used to hide under the bed. I say used to, because she eventually broke the slats holding the mattress up and brought the bed down on her head. Bed is now on the floor, Miranda has a kennel to hide in.
Harley likes to play a trick on all the other dogs. He lays in the doorways, blocking them entirely. Then he pretends to fall asleep. The other dogs know that, if they step over Harley, he'll get up in their face yelling, so they spend up to 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get past the furry barrier. Meanwhile Harley is watching with one eye open and laughing at them.
Bella has her own kennel in the living room. Why not? Sally has her's, and Bella is even smaller. Since Bella is so short (or vertically challenged), I put a small (ie, holds *maybe* two cups) water bowl in her kennel, just in case she can't reach the 5-gallon bucket the big dogs use. So who drinks the water in the small bowl? The Saint Bernard. Two slurps and it's gone and Harley is mournful, depressed and still thirsty. And now Miranda has joined in with the "two slurps and it's gone" water bowl draining.
Bella again. She's gotten used to the big dogs - as in, she no longer hides behind the couch cushions, but instead goes in and out with them. Well, she's learned her lesson about letting off a warning bark in front of the dog door. Three giant monsters come barreling out the door, wanting to know just what had the nerve to invade their territory, and Bella is flattened against the recycling bin.
Bark likes to sleep outside on the back stoop. In the rain.
Miranda will not go to sleep until she gets a (used) snotrag.
Two years she's been here, and Miranda still can not climb a set of stairs.
All the dogs, as a treat, get canned dog food one night a week. It takes Sally three days to stop sulking that her every meal isn't sirloin bits in gravy.
I don't want to know how he does it, but virtually every morning Bark comes in soaking wet. Yes, even when it's not raining.
Local wildlife: 0 The pack: 4+ 1 opossum, 2 birds, 1 snake and countless mice.
Sally firmly believes that she's invisible when she's in her kennel. And she will bitch you out if you disrupt her fantasy.
When scared, Miranda used to hide under the bed. I say used to, because she eventually broke the slats holding the mattress up and brought the bed down on her head. Bed is now on the floor, Miranda has a kennel to hide in.
Harley likes to play a trick on all the other dogs. He lays in the doorways, blocking them entirely. Then he pretends to fall asleep. The other dogs know that, if they step over Harley, he'll get up in their face yelling, so they spend up to 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get past the furry barrier. Meanwhile Harley is watching with one eye open and laughing at them.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Rainbow Bridge
Elwood crossed the Rainbow Bridge on May 9, 2009. While he was only moderately ill, he simply gave up and willed himself to die. I think he was tired of fighting his physical and mental illnesses all his life. Elwood is seriously missed by myself and the rest of the pack. The house seems too quiet without a coonhound bellowing hello every night.
Thunderstorms and other phobias
It seems that, no matter what, I always have at least one dog who is phobic about thunder. This one is Miranda. Thunder starts rumbling and she forgets all her other phobias so that she can crawl up next to a human for comfort and safety. Meanwhile Harley barks. I think he believes that the thunder is another huge dog who is challenging him - so he yells a challenge back.
Sally? She sleeps through everything these days.
Sally? She sleeps through everything these days.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Coming to the pack!
A new dog will be joining the pack in the near future. Bella, a 5-year old 13" beagle has to find a new place to live due to her biting the child in the family she's grown up with. I have no young kids, have no grandkids, and have no kids who come to visit. (Those that are stupid enough to shove their hands through my 5' tall fence deserve what they get.) Since Bark will be going home in about 6-8 weeks, Bella being here will be a boon to Miranda - she'll have a new playmate then.
Photo soon. I have some, just no editing software on this machine. So, later....
Photo soon. I have some, just no editing software on this machine. So, later....
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
E-Man
Mr. Elwood is up and down. Since going back on Previcox, his hip/back isn't quite so painful - in fact, he's only yelped once or twice, usually when one of the other dogs runs into him. However his appetite has been off the past couple of days and he's not really been eating. Maybe nibbling a bit and, as usual, begging for treats. The vet wants to wait a couple weeks before repeating his blood tests to see if his BUN levels go down and, at that time, we'll also sedate Big E and do xrays to see if it's arthritis, bone cancer, or something else. I think the vet suspects a neurological problem - I do recall there being a neurological disorder that is mainly found in coonhounds, but can't recall the exact details. Have to locate my hound health book again to check up on it.
Oh - one funny thing that I just remembered. Black and Tan coonhounds look, at least in coloring, very similar to Dobermans. Same markings in fact, but coonies have long ears and long tails - mainly because they're not docked at birth. I was fostering one young coonhound who was adopted by an older couple who lived in NJ. The husband had had a redbone and loved it. The wife was partial to little lap dogs. Anyway, they adopt Beau and off he goes to live the high life in NJ. One of the things we encouraged all adopters to do was to, within a week or so or adopting, take the dog to their vet to be checked out. The couple did so, and the woman called me that night, angry beyond belief. Apparently her vet had never seen a coonhound - so he told her she had adopted a Doberman. This was a "Doberman" with long ears, long tail and a deep bay. Eventually Beau did return to me, but not due to the breed confusion. Rather the wife won out - she'd never wanted another coonhound and complained until her husband gave the dog back up. All of which started a new practice in our rescue group - interviewing *both* spouses to make sure they both wanted the same kind of dog.
Oh - one funny thing that I just remembered. Black and Tan coonhounds look, at least in coloring, very similar to Dobermans. Same markings in fact, but coonies have long ears and long tails - mainly because they're not docked at birth. I was fostering one young coonhound who was adopted by an older couple who lived in NJ. The husband had had a redbone and loved it. The wife was partial to little lap dogs. Anyway, they adopt Beau and off he goes to live the high life in NJ. One of the things we encouraged all adopters to do was to, within a week or so or adopting, take the dog to their vet to be checked out. The couple did so, and the woman called me that night, angry beyond belief. Apparently her vet had never seen a coonhound - so he told her she had adopted a Doberman. This was a "Doberman" with long ears, long tail and a deep bay. Eventually Beau did return to me, but not due to the breed confusion. Rather the wife won out - she'd never wanted another coonhound and complained until her husband gave the dog back up. All of which started a new practice in our rescue group - interviewing *both* spouses to make sure they both wanted the same kind of dog.
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