Archive for December, 2009
Winter Pain
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
The dogs love the snow for the most part. At least the Swissies do. But they are not always a fan of the ice or the cold, and sometimes they end up injuring themselves. Usually it’s on the way up the stairs to the back door. Or it’s unhappy pads on the paws from the snow, ice and salt.
So, what do I do, you ask? Great question, if I don’t say so myself.
I’ve learned from past experiences that keeping the steps clear from snow, unless I’m going to continuously salt them, is not always a great idea. They frequently end up full of ice, which means a higher likelihood of someone slipping. I’ve salted back there, but no matter how plant or animal friendly the product claims to be, the dogs pads are super irritated, or the bushes and other stuff back there ends up brown and dead in the spring. So, I tend to leave the snow there and only clear it if it becomes a large block of ice.
I learned last winter that Musher’s Secret is great on paws. It helps with hot or cold pavement, gives them a little extra grip (IMO) when it’s icy, and helps protect against the salt. At this time of year, all the dogs in my house are getting it applied to their pads once a week.
But, inevitably, someone tweaks something. A muscle is pulled, a nerve is pinched…you know, the stuff that makes you wonder if they are hurt bad enough to take them to the vet.
Case in point-Sunday night, Gryffin is hanging out on the stairs near the gate (we keep it up so we don’t have to go find Indy when it’s crate time) looking weird. I thought he might want more water, so I removed the gate and started downstairs. But he wouldn’t come with. He went all the way up, turned around, took two steps down and started whining. After some poking and prodding, it appears is if his front and rear passenger side was tender and caused more whining. We maneuvered him slowly down the stairs and got him on a dog pillow, gave him a nice massage, and a small bit of peanut butter with one buffered aspirin inside. The next morning, the whining was gone, but he was not jumpy like normal. Same with last night and this morning. So we’ve been continuing with the single, buffered aspirin at meal times plus one in the middle of the day. If he’s still having issues in a few days, we’ll make a quick trip to the vet. I don’t want to give Mr. Sensitive Belly aspirin for more than a couple of days, because it will cause other issues.
But this brings up another point–aspirin. Yes, aspirin can be safe for dogs. Not for puppies or cats, though. Most vets recommend approximately 5-10mg per pound of the dog’s weight during a 12 hour period. If you want to be safe, start out with the lower dose, 5mg per pound, and see what happens. If you are uncertain, call your vet.
Snow!
Monday, December 28th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately. There’s really not been much of anything dog-related going on.
But…we did get a lot of snow here this weekend, which makes for happy dogs. (At least for now.) It started on Christmas evening and went through Sunday morning. I’m guessing we had about 6-8 inches total, and it was the fluffy white stuff that the dogs love.
I’ll stop babbling and give you some pictures now.
It’s always best to stop and smell the snow from time-to-time.
Even if you have to shove your nose right on in.
Cautious Basset is cautious. Snow is slippery and girl dogs are sneaky.
As usual, Gryffin loves to pose for pictures.
Gryffin and Indy started to play a bit.
But for the most part, Indy just had the zoomies.
She had them for a while.
My hands started getting numb because she had them for so long.
She finally calmed down.
Which is good, because the old guy was tiring of her antics.
I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend!
Love, thy name is Basset…
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 | Beowulf | No Comments
Beowulf didn’t do anything in particular. He just is. He’s cute, soft, cuddly, and makes these adorable grunting sounds when he’s rubbed or wants to be.
But as I was enjoying his sweetness last night, it did dawn upon me that he is the Best Christmas Present Ever.
Seriously!
Other than the peeing, pooping and vomiting, he’s pretty great. I’ve been getting daily doses of love from him since just about now in 1996. So maybe that’s why I’m all sappy about him.
One of MY favorite things…
Friday, December 18th, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
I usually write about the dogs. Or my experiences with the dogs. Or someone’s dogs. But today I’m going to share some of my holiday happiness.
Of course, it is dog related…
Last year, one of my other blogger friends mentioned the Dogs with Blogs (DWB) Holiday Card Exchange. I signed up for it, sent out about 30 cards and received the same. During a rather gloomy holiday season it was an extreme bright spot.
Can you believe I almost forgot to sign up for it this year?
But I didn’t.
Every day since I got home from vacation, I’ve either received a card or two in the mail from other DWB members, or I’ve received an e-card. I’m not having a problem with the “Holiday Spirit” like I was last year, but it’s still in my top three favorite things about the season. (The other two being spending time with family and friends-for real-and the random acts of kindness that I notice and wish would not be confined to Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hanukkah/etc.)
This year, I figured I’d share some of them with you. I took some of them down yesterday to make room for the new ones, and I took a few pictures.
I’ll apologize in advance about the glare that you’ll see on a few cards from my flash.
And…
And then…
Not only have I enjoyed the cards, which were prominently displayed for our Christmanukkah Kwanzadan party last weekend, but I have loved being introduced to some new dog blogs. It let’s me know I’m not the only (crazy) person out there!
Thanks for the joy, DWB people! I hope you’ve been enjoying your cards as well!
Ornament Exchange
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
One of the forums I belong to, Big Dogs Porch, had an ornament exchange again this year. I totally meant to post about this last week, but my brain seems to be stuck at the beach. Sadlly, my body is in Chicago where it is COLD.
So, I’ll stop babbling and show you the ornament, because it’s really cool!
Indy seems to recognize it.
But no worries, I did not let her eat it.
Holiday Party Revisited
Monday, December 14th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
Well, it’s done. And Indy did pretty darn well. She had about 30 minutes of barkiness, and then settled in. I think it likely helped that a few of our dog-people friends were there, plus Vasey’s humans and our dog sitter extraordinaire. So she had people she knows. And with the exception of a few drunk people, people listened to my suggestions about handling her.
Gryffin and Beowulf got a lot of love, too. Actually, Gryffin got a fair amount of Irish Cream to drink and bean dip to eat. Beowulf was wearing his yarmulke, so he was quite the ladies man. But he’s getting old, and at about 10:30pm, he stopped circulating and plopped himself down on a dog bed by the couch, which likely worked out better than he planned.
All five of us were dead to the world the next day. We went out for breakfast in the morning (well, the dogs stayed home) and that was it. I believe that the three sleepy dogs sucked the energy out of the house. Period. There was none to be found anywhere.
Actually, I’m still sleepy now…
Holiday Party Time!!!
Friday, December 11th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | 1 Comment
This weekend is our big, multi-holiday celebration! We are equal opportunity in our house. It’s Christmanukkah Kwanzadan time, which means many, many people coming through our house. Should be fun for most of us…
I’m not sure about Indy, to be honest. Last year she was a little freaked out. This year she’s in the middle of her heat cycle, and is even MORE cautious and skittish than normal.
So, what do I do?
It’s not supposed to be too, terribly cold. I’ve considered putting her outside with a good bone. Perhaps I keep her indoors with a nice bully stick. I’ve thought about gating her upstairs, but then she’d be upset because she’d be separated from her human and canine family, which would make her very unhappy. Rescue remedy has never really worked for her. People NEVER listen when you tell them not to try to force things with her, but to leave her alone and let her say hello on her own terms.
Maybe a nice Guinness will do the trick?
I’ll let you know what happens next week…
Search
Calendar
Categories
- Alex (15)
- Beowulf (73)
- Bone Cancer Dogs (1)
- Canine Cancer (7)
- Dog Day on the Green (1)
- Dogs (65)
- Gryffindor (93)
- GSMD Rescue Fundraiser (2)
- Guest Post (1)
- Indigo (203)
- Litter Mates and Swissy Friends (34)
- Obedience Training (3)
- Ozzy (81)
- Random Stuff (90)
- Storm Phobia (1)
- Swiss Lick Swissies Canine Cancer Fund (3)
- Through a Dog's Ear (1)
- Thundershirt (1)
- Training (4)
- Uncategorized (13)
- Wolf Park (1)