Posts belonging to Category It’s A Dog’s Life



What’s In A Name?

Did you know that the Jack Russell Terrier is now known as the Parson Russell Terrier?  I was looking for something else and came across this on the AKC site.  I suppose this is how my brain gets cluttered with so much useless crap…

The Well Fed Monster

I took the dog in to be spayed last Friday.  It turned out that during her time as a stray she’d gotten pregnant somewhere along the way.  The vet also found she had a nasty ear infection.  Even so, she did well and they let me bring her back home on Saturday morning.  The only problem is that she has to be restricted from too much activity or from jumping for 10 days.  Of course this has been a bit of a struggle, given that she likes to sleep on the bed.  For now I’ve closed off the bedrooms and put stuff on the couch and the chair to keep her off.  At night I put her in a crate in the bedroom.  She initially resists, but then she goes to sleep until morning.

The main issue she has is when I have to clean out her ears.  The vet gave me a solution that I have to put in both ears and then clean the excess out.  She hates the liquid, but seems to like having her ears rubbed and cleaned with a tissue. 

But I think I may have made a long-term mistake and created a monster.  The vet gave me pain pills to give to the dog for the first three days.  To get her to take it I put it in some Mighty Dog canned food.  Unfortunately, she is now shunning the dry food.  I sense a nasty withdrawal in her future.  Provided I can resist the sad, pathetic looks.  That dog is a master of manipulation.

Nothing Fancy…

I thought I was being good by buying Pedigree dog food.  I noticed that while she would eat it, she’d only do so in a desultory manner after exhausting all appeals to me while I was eating (she’s definitely a master at begging, although I’m slowly teaching her to stay back from the table).  I bought a small bag of Kibbles and Bits this evening to see if she would like it better.  She definitely liked it a lot more.

I guess I have a lowbrow dog.  smile

The Great Escape

I put the dog outside when I left this morning.  She had food, water, a bed, and a large enclosed patio and the yard to play in.  When I returned this evening she was sitting on the bed watching the door.  I let her in and took her for a walk.  When we returned my neighbor across the street was waiting at the door.  He told me that the dog had gotten out twice during the day, and had been found near the highway.  Fortunately a woman found her, called the vet listed on her tag and got my address.  She, along with my neighbor, put the dog back in the yard and moved a big planter in front of the gate so she couldn’t get out (she’d dug a small hole under the gate where there was a small gap).  I’d leaned an extra section of wood fencing in front of the gate, but she’d managed to worm her way behind it.

I guess we’re just very lucky that she made it back.  She could have easily gotten killed on 377, which is a very busy four-lane road.  For the time being I’m going to leave her inside (she’s hasn’t had any accidents so far, so she should be OK).  Later, I’m going to replace the gate and put down a layer of bricks under it to prevent any digging.

Battle of wills

When I took the dog to the vet on Friday, he found that she had some worms, which is common with a stray dog.  He gave me a small bottle of Panacur and a syringe with instructions to give it to her once a day for three days.  They did the first dose right there in the office, leaving me to do them yesterday and today.  The vet assistant made it look easy—he just grabbed her mouth, forced it open, and squirted the medicine in.  I, on the other hand, made a total mess of it yesterday.  More of it ended up on the floor and on me than in her mouth.  I’m just glad that today was the last dose I had to give her (it took four attempts this time, although most of it got in her mouth rather than on the floor).

Barf-a-rama

My poor dog did not react well to riding in the truck yesterday.  As long as we were moving on the highway she would lie down in the seat and sleep.  But when we got into town and encountered traffic she’d get sick.  She hurled three times during the trip, turning what is normally a three hour drive into a four-and-a-half hour one.  Fortunately, she seemed to understand not to hurl on the seats, and managed to hit a couple of towels and her dog bed (although I’m going to have to get some stain remover to get the drool stains off the seats).  I wouldn’t have thought that such a small dog could hold that much until it all came back out…

Donor Dog

There’s a section of road near my mother’s house that is kind of secluded and it’s near a highway.  Because of this people frequently drop off dogs over there and they soon show up at my mother’s house or one of the neighbors.  A little while back one of these donor dogs showed up here.  My mother would feed her whenever she’d show up, but mostly she seemed to drift around the neighborhood. 

I’d been thinking of getting a dog for a while now, but I suppose this is one of those cases where the dog more or less found me.  I’m going to take her home with me and keep her at my house when I leave.  I’ve got a good sized back yard and a 20ftx22ft enclosed patio as well as a dog house, so there will be room for her to run around while I’m away at work. 

She seems to be a friendly dog and she acts like she’s been someone’s pet.  I put a collar on her and when I put the leash on she stayed right by my side as I walked.  She didn’t try to pull me down or get away.  She acts like she’s been on a leash before.  According to my mother she will also try to get into the car with you.  Everything points to her being a good pet, which is why I have such a hard time with why someone would just leave her out here in the country.

I gave her a bath with some flea soap (although I think she managed to get more water on me that I did on her) to try to get the worst of the ticks and fleas off of her.  If I can get some time with a local vet tomorrow I’m going to take her in for shots and an exam. 

I decided to name her “Boots” because of the white markings on her front paws.  It looks like she’s wearing little white boots.