It's a Full, Full House!
Well my week has been a bit crazy to say the least! On a good note, everyone is doing great!
First order of business, Buster found his new forever home!
And in case you missed it, we have a new crew!
Two new fosters named Eddie and Mikey! Our first post is HERE.
 |
| Handsome Eddie |
Eddie our senior boy had his vet exam on Monday and his results came back good! He has all sorts of lumps on his body but the vet said they are just harmless fatty lipomas, she tested the ones that we were concerned about and they all came back good! We also did a full senior panel blood screening and urinalysis, I've been concerned about his kidney's since he drinks massive amounts of water but she said everything is normal! If anything his liver count was just a bit high, but we don't need to check it again for another 4-6 months that way we can just monitor if it's going up or staying the same.
Both boys had some pretty severe anxiety for the first couple days, but it has reduced quite a bit at this point. We're working on Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol and asking them to lay down when they are pacing and panting heavily. It is definitely making a difference especially for Eddie, Mikey is going to take a little longer I think.
Ziva is not a fan of the nervous breathing, but when they are not panting heavily she is happy to be around them. And she's quite being a snarky jealous brat. (I say that with love of course.) Day one and two, she paced around my feet like a little golden shark and grumbled anytime the boys got too close to me. So what I ended up doing was allowing her to be near me but any grumble resulted in her being sent to her bed until she could be nice again. And last night she was beginning to snuggle with them!
 |
| Eddie and Ziva |
One thing we're working on with both boys is their leash manners, among other things. Haha!
Mikey pulls so hard that the hair is rubbed off of part of his neck, thankfully that wasn't us - but that does mean that we are re-teaching him how to walk. I've never personally been a fan of the no pull harnesses, but as a teaching tool it is working really good for both of the boys! I'll try weaning it out as they get a bit better on the leash, but Mikey is learning to redirect his attention to me and we've now had two successful walks where he was loose leash most of the time though still not in a formal "heel" position. But I'll take it!
Eddie being so old, and again not wanting him to injure himself and me not enjoying being dragged down the street by a determined 80 pound dog - also has a brand new no pull harness!
Our first walk with my girlfriend i'm sure looked like madness to any onlookers! I was being dragged by a snorting, snuffling, low riding bulldoggy while she was being hauled to and fro by a heavily panting straining against his collar giant dog! I'm so glad we've at least got that under control now.
This morning I walked Eddie and Mikey together, and they did pretty well considering we've only been walking for a few days together. At first it was chaos, I'd ask for a sit at the door - Dante and Ziva would immediately sit. Eddie would sit, Mikey would sit, Eddie would pop up! Then Eddie would sit, and Mikey would pop up! I finally using cheese was able to get them both to sit at the same time, opened the door, and BOOM! Eddie and Mikey immediately launched out the door with me attached to the leashes.
Then the sitting began again, we have a gate on our front porch (installed thanks to Jack). And again I require sits before the gate opens. On a good note they got the second time a bit quicker and we were off!
 |
| "Did you say sit? I do not know the meaning of this word..." |
The first 15 minutes was spent continuously untangling myself from both leashes since they refused to stay on the sides that I wanted them on. So we'd stop, I'd untangle, put them both on my right side. Start walking, Eddie would come to random dead stops while Mikey and I kept our pace and then I'd be yanked on due to him stopping like an anchor to smell things. Clicking at him to keep walking, we'd start again, Eddie would dart to the other side, then i'd be spinning in a circle with again both leashes getting tangled. Stop, untangle the leashes.... What a kick! Although I can't say I was very amused.
By the end of our walk though, both boys had settled into a nice pace and were no longer pulling me all over the place and causing leash tangles.
Big shout out so Dz Dog Aunt! She played with Dante and Ziva in the off-leash field for me this morning while I walked the boys.
 |
| "Who's trouble...I'm not trouble." |
At this point we're thinking Eddie is good to go to a forever home! He'd love to be able to just have a cozy bed and someone to love him, his anxiety is a lot lower than Mikey's and he's making great strides in his manners.
Did you know November is Adopt a Senior Month?
On the flip side, Mikey has a lot of anxiety still so he is currently unavailable for adoption. Our goal with Mikey is to create a stable dog, improve his manners and leash walking skills, then seek out his forever family like we did with Jack.
Poor Mikey also has some allergies we'd like to get figured out, he has some pretty serious looking owies on his tummy and near his genital region, crusty red eyes, and super red skin in his ears, between his toes, and around his mouth. We've got him on a grain free salmon diet to see if he'll clear up, i'm giving him coconut oil massages on his skin, and I just picked up some eye drops from my vet to see if we can clear up his red gunky eyes.
We want both Mikey and Eddie to be setup for success in the same way we helped Jack, so we'll be taking our time finding awesome families!
Jack by the way is doing great!!
Since he was stable when his new family adopted him, he settled in very quickly with his new family and he loves it! He's getting lots of belly rubs, snuggles, and he goes on daily runs with the family's older son.
We also have a wonderful angel sponsor for both Eddie and Mikey! She is going to be donating money every month until both boys are adopted to help cover their food expenses, toys, treats, and veterinary care!
We're very excited to be able to help these guys.
Our "Not so Wordless Wednesday"
I know many people want puppies, but really? Puppies are so much work! It ends up being a give and take, do you want to deal with teething, potty training, indoor manners, chewing, destruction, or in an adult dog maybe a bad habit or two?
