Weighed in at the vet on Friday- 8 months old and 34lbs.
Also, dare I say that the bald patches have completely grown in and (after two bouts) we just might be over the puppy mange?
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Getting Better
Last weekend we had a major road trip. 7 hours to Okmulgee, OK and back. That's twice as far as the drive to my parents' house. Airlie's first big trip!
I dosed her with Rescue Remedy before we got in the car. She drooled a bit while we stopped for gas, but had some fun getting accustomed to moving about the vehicle while it was stopped.
DH mistakenly thought taking the toll road around the city would be faster (and easier on her). It might have been easier, but we still spent an hour driving around the city, instead of just taking the road that goes right past our house to the interstate. Traffic. Sometimes avoiding stoplights in favor of what would be a "faster" route is just not practical.
Airlie puked within the first 15 minutes, as usual, but then lay down and slept for the next 3 hours. She'd have slept longer, but we stopped for gas and food and to let the dogs out to pee. After that, she was fine for another 2 hours, but once it got dark out, she was fed up with lying down and being still, wanting to walk around and investigate. She and Kansas were both sitting up, looking out the windows at the approaching headlights. So, she puked again, just saliva, but after that was fine all the way to our destination.
On the return trip, we departed first thing in the morning, and, thus, opted not to feed the dogs at all. By this time I had learned that, in her case, Rescue Remedy works best when dabbed on her paws, nose and inside her ears. The oral dose just doesn't work for her. Actually, she really doesn't like having it on her nose, either. Up to now I'd been putting it in every place the directions said it could go. From now on, we'll probably just do ears & paws. Anyway, we made the whole return trip without incident. Probably mostly due to not feeding her, but she definitely got lots of experience and practice and is much less anxious in the car now. Her only issues where when we were driving a windy road through some campgrounds we were checking out. She didn't like that at all, and began salivating again, but she had learned by that time to just lie down and tune it out.
I dosed her with Rescue Remedy before we got in the car. She drooled a bit while we stopped for gas, but had some fun getting accustomed to moving about the vehicle while it was stopped.
DH mistakenly thought taking the toll road around the city would be faster (and easier on her). It might have been easier, but we still spent an hour driving around the city, instead of just taking the road that goes right past our house to the interstate. Traffic. Sometimes avoiding stoplights in favor of what would be a "faster" route is just not practical.
Airlie puked within the first 15 minutes, as usual, but then lay down and slept for the next 3 hours. She'd have slept longer, but we stopped for gas and food and to let the dogs out to pee. After that, she was fine for another 2 hours, but once it got dark out, she was fed up with lying down and being still, wanting to walk around and investigate. She and Kansas were both sitting up, looking out the windows at the approaching headlights. So, she puked again, just saliva, but after that was fine all the way to our destination.
On the return trip, we departed first thing in the morning, and, thus, opted not to feed the dogs at all. By this time I had learned that, in her case, Rescue Remedy works best when dabbed on her paws, nose and inside her ears. The oral dose just doesn't work for her. Actually, she really doesn't like having it on her nose, either. Up to now I'd been putting it in every place the directions said it could go. From now on, we'll probably just do ears & paws. Anyway, we made the whole return trip without incident. Probably mostly due to not feeding her, but she definitely got lots of experience and practice and is much less anxious in the car now. Her only issues where when we were driving a windy road through some campgrounds we were checking out. She didn't like that at all, and began salivating again, but she had learned by that time to just lie down and tune it out.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Good Dog!
Actually bathed Airlie without incident this past weekend. She and Kansas get bathed monthly, Leo gets bathed every two weeks because of some skin irritations and issues that have developed. So, this would be Airlie's 5th bath. She really doesn't like them. I'm sure she'll grow out of it.
We've come a long way from the first 3 experiences, which resulted in wet, crying puppy clinging frantically to me. She truly doesn't mind the suds, it's the running water that does her in, though she seems to be getting over that.
We've been running the sprinklers quite a bit this past week, so she's been able to observe those, check them out from a distance, skirt around them to do her thing in the yard and then give them a closer look when they are turned off during the day. She's not liking me spritzing her tail with a diluted iodine mixture right now (she either got bitten or got bitten and then chewed herself a nasty, raw, bald spot as a result), but Saturday's bath was uneventful.
Last month she actually climbed out of the tub while wet, skittered out of the bathroom and when I snagged her by the collar she hauled me off my feet. I slipped on the wet floor and hit my head on the doorjamb before crashing to one knee on the tile. Boy, was that almost a disaster!
This time, other than me having to carry her to the tub and put her in, she was still and quiet. She didn't whine or cry. She didn't try to escape at all. I was able to turn the water coming out of barely dribbling handheld showerhead up a bit- a little more water pressure sure sped things up a great deal! I managed to stay mostly dry (I leave her til last so I'm always a little bit damp from the other two), and I think maybe she even might have enjoyed it.
She sure doesn't mind the rain, and she's gotten more comfortable following us into the bathroom and investigating things, even when we're not in there, so maybe this is progress.
We've come a long way from the first 3 experiences, which resulted in wet, crying puppy clinging frantically to me. She truly doesn't mind the suds, it's the running water that does her in, though she seems to be getting over that.
We've been running the sprinklers quite a bit this past week, so she's been able to observe those, check them out from a distance, skirt around them to do her thing in the yard and then give them a closer look when they are turned off during the day. She's not liking me spritzing her tail with a diluted iodine mixture right now (she either got bitten or got bitten and then chewed herself a nasty, raw, bald spot as a result), but Saturday's bath was uneventful.
Last month she actually climbed out of the tub while wet, skittered out of the bathroom and when I snagged her by the collar she hauled me off my feet. I slipped on the wet floor and hit my head on the doorjamb before crashing to one knee on the tile. Boy, was that almost a disaster!
This time, other than me having to carry her to the tub and put her in, she was still and quiet. She didn't whine or cry. She didn't try to escape at all. I was able to turn the water coming out of barely dribbling handheld showerhead up a bit- a little more water pressure sure sped things up a great deal! I managed to stay mostly dry (I leave her til last so I'm always a little bit damp from the other two), and I think maybe she even might have enjoyed it.
She sure doesn't mind the rain, and she's gotten more comfortable following us into the bathroom and investigating things, even when we're not in there, so maybe this is progress.
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