We went and survived our first class in beginner obedience school this week! Della is actually pretty good with regard to "sit" but that's about it. And walking/heeling--you've GOT to be kidding me?! So off to school we go!
One of the main reasons I am taking her through all this is because she struggles with the social-thing. Frankly she is petrified when strangers or strange dogs are near. Socialization will be the biggest benefit of this undertaking.
Della actually handled the first class very well. The main thrust of the first lesson was getting the dogs to heel--not completely mind you, just to sit when you stop as a first step. The first 4 times--she did GREAT! We walked (she pulled...next lesson...) and we stopped. I said "sit" and pushed a bit on her butt and she sat. I was thrilled!! And then she had had enough. The next few times her attitude was "no way, nope, not gonna sit."
Della has this thing, this quirk. She will only go potty in her own backyard. We will go on a 2 mile walk and she doesn't stop once to pee. But as soon as we get home, she flies into the backyard and does everything she needs to do.
Before we went to class I was ecstatic because she peed AND pooped! But, the last 20 minutes of class she was agitated and anxious. I took her outside the building, but nothing doing. She WANTED to go, but it wasn't her yard so she wouldn't go. So, we struggled to the end of class not sitting at all because, well, she had to "go!" When we were done, she ran to the car, hopped inside, and whinned the whole way home. Once home--backyard time! She hit that yard like it was the Garden of Eden and she found sacred relief!
Friday, May 20, 2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Hug Them and Kiss Them
Last night was rough--Buford, the boy who is allergic to air (well, not air, but certainly everything else) stopped in the middle of the street on the return route of his short W-A-L-K and started to projectile vomit! The last time this happened he was having a severe allergic reaction to an insect bite (to this day I don't know if it was a bee sting or a spider bite). It was so severe that he went into anaphylactic shock. It was so bad that he seized just after getting him to the vet, and I learned later that the docs "brought him back."
Needless to say, when he started this violent vomiting last night I wasted no time and got him into the car and sped down to the emergency clinic (his regular vet's office was already closed). By the time we got there he had stopped vomiting but was glazed over just like the last time--yes, my heart was going a mile a minute!
Cut to the chase: fortunately Buford came through just fine--he was severely dehydrated from all the vomiting, he never seized and the emergency vet felt that it was not an insect bite but rather something he may have snacked on the side of the road when I wasn't watching him.
This diagnosis and care (subcutaneous fluid injections for the dehydration) took 2 hours. During those 2 hours I waited to hear how my boy was (he is my heart--no question!) while watching trauma after trauma, tragedy after tragedy come in through the front door of the clinic. 1 dog was hit by a truck while pushing his "sister" out of the way; the "sister" was brought in 15 minutes later after a family member realized she didn't escape harm; a pug was brought in to be "put down;" a mother and her son came rushing in with their cat who had just be struck by a car--nothing could be done; a husband and wife arrived--their dog had passed away at home and they brought it in "to be taken care of."
It was horribly real! I was the only person in that 2 hour window to go home with my precious pet! When Buford came out from the treatment room I did what every person who has ever loved an animal does--I slid right onto the floor and hugged him and kissed him and made sure he knew he was loved and that he was safe.
Folks--give your dogs and cats, the ones you count on for comfort, the ones that are ALWAYS there for you, extra "loves and snuggles" for all the others that have made their way to the bridge. Far too often their already short lives are made shorter by unexpected tragedy--so make the most of every moment you have with them.
Needless to say, when he started this violent vomiting last night I wasted no time and got him into the car and sped down to the emergency clinic (his regular vet's office was already closed). By the time we got there he had stopped vomiting but was glazed over just like the last time--yes, my heart was going a mile a minute!
Cut to the chase: fortunately Buford came through just fine--he was severely dehydrated from all the vomiting, he never seized and the emergency vet felt that it was not an insect bite but rather something he may have snacked on the side of the road when I wasn't watching him.
This diagnosis and care (subcutaneous fluid injections for the dehydration) took 2 hours. During those 2 hours I waited to hear how my boy was (he is my heart--no question!) while watching trauma after trauma, tragedy after tragedy come in through the front door of the clinic. 1 dog was hit by a truck while pushing his "sister" out of the way; the "sister" was brought in 15 minutes later after a family member realized she didn't escape harm; a pug was brought in to be "put down;" a mother and her son came rushing in with their cat who had just be struck by a car--nothing could be done; a husband and wife arrived--their dog had passed away at home and they brought it in "to be taken care of."
It was horribly real! I was the only person in that 2 hour window to go home with my precious pet! When Buford came out from the treatment room I did what every person who has ever loved an animal does--I slid right onto the floor and hugged him and kissed him and made sure he knew he was loved and that he was safe.
Folks--give your dogs and cats, the ones you count on for comfort, the ones that are ALWAYS there for you, extra "loves and snuggles" for all the others that have made their way to the bridge. Far too often their already short lives are made shorter by unexpected tragedy--so make the most of every moment you have with them.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Big, Bushy, Black and White Kitty Cat---NOT!
I suppose that if anything had happened it would have been my own fault since I ran out of food for Buford and fed him Della's instead. Never change a basset hound's diet abruptly....but that's another post for another day.
With the wrong food in his belly, Buford woke me up at 3 AM because he HAD to go outside and, well, you know. And, when one of them has to go the other MUST join in the excursion. So downstairs we all ventured, me trying to keep my eyes closed and remain as close to staying asleep as possible. I put Della's leash on her, turn on the outside lights in the backyard and open the sliding glass door blinds. And there, in the middle of the yard was this big, bushy black and white kitty cat!
Ok, not a kitty cat. A big black animal with a huge white stripe down the center of it's back....and suddenly I was a VERY awake because I almost had the door open to let Buford outside BEFORE he was on a leash!
Buford was intrigued and Della--she was looking from the skunk to Buford to figure out how to react. Finally Buford gave this one big bark and the skunk took off...ok, waddled off.
If I hadn't been paying attention (as I'm sometimes not at that hour of the night--I wonder why) one of these pups would have had their nose right up against the butt end of that skunk....and THAT would have been a very bad thing.
With the wrong food in his belly, Buford woke me up at 3 AM because he HAD to go outside and, well, you know. And, when one of them has to go the other MUST join in the excursion. So downstairs we all ventured, me trying to keep my eyes closed and remain as close to staying asleep as possible. I put Della's leash on her, turn on the outside lights in the backyard and open the sliding glass door blinds. And there, in the middle of the yard was this big, bushy black and white kitty cat!
Ok, not a kitty cat. A big black animal with a huge white stripe down the center of it's back....and suddenly I was a VERY awake because I almost had the door open to let Buford outside BEFORE he was on a leash!
Buford was intrigued and Della--she was looking from the skunk to Buford to figure out how to react. Finally Buford gave this one big bark and the skunk took off...ok, waddled off.
If I hadn't been paying attention (as I'm sometimes not at that hour of the night--I wonder why) one of these pups would have had their nose right up against the butt end of that skunk....and THAT would have been a very bad thing.
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