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....
Sunday, May 24, 2009
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.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Need a Wig?
There's one thing I really don't like about long-haired, feathered, double-coated breeds - even though I have two of them.
It's not the shedding. Hell, they blow coat easier than the beagle mix, who sheds so continuously you marvel that she's not bald.
It's not the volume of hair. You can shed out a double-coat simply by running your fingers through their coat and gently(!) pulling. Or go for broke and use a slicker (though you'll go through about 4 of those each year. And forget about a Furminator. I don't care what the commercials say - they can not penetrate a heavy coat worth a damn.)
It's that, in the spring, every time they go outside, those long, lovely feathers on legs and tail pick up, and bring back inside, tons of pollen. Specifically, strands of oak pollen. Harley, as a rough coat, is the worst of the bunch because the pollen (and leaves, sticks and other bits) just don't sit on top of the hair, clinging for a free ride. No, it all buries itself deep in those curls and hides, making it nearly impossible to brush out.
I swear that if this keeps up, I'm going to start vacuuming the dogs.
It's not the shedding. Hell, they blow coat easier than the beagle mix, who sheds so continuously you marvel that she's not bald.
It's not the volume of hair. You can shed out a double-coat simply by running your fingers through their coat and gently(!) pulling. Or go for broke and use a slicker (though you'll go through about 4 of those each year. And forget about a Furminator. I don't care what the commercials say - they can not penetrate a heavy coat worth a damn.)
It's that, in the spring, every time they go outside, those long, lovely feathers on legs and tail pick up, and bring back inside, tons of pollen. Specifically, strands of oak pollen. Harley, as a rough coat, is the worst of the bunch because the pollen (and leaves, sticks and other bits) just don't sit on top of the hair, clinging for a free ride. No, it all buries itself deep in those curls and hides, making it nearly impossible to brush out.
I swear that if this keeps up, I'm going to start vacuuming the dogs.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Dead Things
Tonight was a first. I'd been out back, cleaning up the piles of poo, occasionally scraping up the flattened and mangled toy when I (finally) spot something that doesn't look quite right. I'm asking the dogs "Where did you get that toy?" when it dawns on me.
It's a dead oppossum.
There's at least one possum that lives (or lived) all the way in the back of the yard, hiding in the pipes that have been put down for drainage. Every 6 months or so, one of the dogs will head out late at night and start barking madly. A quick check with the flashlight, and the possum will be spotted crawling down the top rail of the fence.
I don't know which dog got the possum, or if it was dead and they found it, or if someone decided it was a really cool toy, but it wound up dead in the middle of the yard. It had been there long enough that rigor had set it, so I suspect it was killed in the early hours of the morning, just before I left for work. No gaping wounds but I'll be honest - I didn't check too closely since possums remind me of nothing more than giant mutant sewer rats.
Oddly enough (or maybe not so odd) my Hindi neighbor wanted to see the possum after I picked it up. He said he'd seen *something* in his yard late at night but wasn't sure what it was. Yep, it was the possum. I don't think he'll be asking to look at dead critters any time soon now.
And yes, I was *very* happy that this was one thing that Bark did not decide to retrieve and bring in the house for later playtime.
ETA: The Great Opossum Killer has been determined to be Harley. We figure he grabbed it to make it squeak - and it didn't. Harley was also the one who tried to steal the body back when I was picking it up.
It's a dead oppossum.
There's at least one possum that lives (or lived) all the way in the back of the yard, hiding in the pipes that have been put down for drainage. Every 6 months or so, one of the dogs will head out late at night and start barking madly. A quick check with the flashlight, and the possum will be spotted crawling down the top rail of the fence.
I don't know which dog got the possum, or if it was dead and they found it, or if someone decided it was a really cool toy, but it wound up dead in the middle of the yard. It had been there long enough that rigor had set it, so I suspect it was killed in the early hours of the morning, just before I left for work. No gaping wounds but I'll be honest - I didn't check too closely since possums remind me of nothing more than giant mutant sewer rats.
Oddly enough (or maybe not so odd) my Hindi neighbor wanted to see the possum after I picked it up. He said he'd seen *something* in his yard late at night but wasn't sure what it was. Yep, it was the possum. I don't think he'll be asking to look at dead critters any time soon now.
And yes, I was *very* happy that this was one thing that Bark did not decide to retrieve and bring in the house for later playtime.
ETA: The Great Opossum Killer has been determined to be Harley. We figure he grabbed it to make it squeak - and it didn't. Harley was also the one who tried to steal the body back when I was picking it up.
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