I started giving Keely Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover�s Soul brand Senior formula dog food.
Keely and I went to Petco this morning to meet Janet, so I could give her some of the dog stuff. Janet was there with her friend, Jane. Jane had Springers too and said Keely is very pretty and calm.
Then we went to pick up Jasmine (Petco is about a mile and half from the vet clinic in Opelika). At the clinic�s waiting area, when we got there, there was a Shih-Tzu sitting under the chair. The dog was a little timid and did not come out, which was good because I didn�t have treats with me and have no idea how Keely would react if the two dogs meet nose to nose. Keely and I probably waited there for 20 minutes, while the vet finished up putting together Jasmine�s records. Keely was a little nervous and kept wanting to leave. During that time, an adult intact male Weimaraner came in with his owner. I tried to keep Keely away from the Weimaraner, since the male dog also appeared to be a little hyper. But they got close enough to sniff nose to nose, and of course Keely growled (lips curled, no sound). A little boy (about seven) and his mom came in, the mom wanted to pet Keely, and she went over. Keely was very quiet and calm while the boy and his mom petted her.
The receptionist gave me Jasmine�s records. It says she�s 44 pounds (hey I�m getting really good at guessing the dog�s weight! I estimated that she�s 45 pounds). Also, they did give her dewormer, even though they told me her fecal exam was negative. Also, the receptionist gave me ten day worth of antibiotics. It turns out that they only gave her one injection of antibiotics after they found out her anal glands were infected, so the ten-day oral antibiotics actually starts today. Finally the receptionist brought us into one of the exam rooms, saying that the vet wants to talk to me. She looked at Keely and asked if Keely�s male or female. When I told her Keely�s a female, she asked if Jasmine and Keely would get along. I guess she was thinking of the all too often female-female fights. I told her the dogs had met before and did okay. The vet came in with Jasmine. Jasmine was happy to see me again, and she and Keely sniffed each other, no growling. The vet said Jasmine�s doing fine after surgery on Thursday, and that she seems happy to get out of the kennel. She said Jasmine needs to have the sutures removed on the 19th, and recheck in three months for the infected anal gland. It turns out that only one of the glands was infected. I asked her what�s the possibility of the gland getting infected again, she said not very likely. Then we drove home, with Keely sitting in the front passenger seat, and Jasmine in the back. I tied Jasmine�s leash onto the door handle, but she never tried to jump into the front.
Kathy and her dad arrived around 10 AM. Kathy said Jasmine�s smaller than she thought, and she said that�s a good thing. She said just that the two dogs Angie brought with her for the home visit, those two dogs are very buff. Keely acted so excited, that Kathy�s dad thought Keely�s the younger one. I locked Keely in the bedroom, so it would be easier for us to talk and for them to get to know Jasmine better. I had filled out a foster dog evaluation form for her, so it has all of Jasmine�s basic info on there. Also I made a copy of how to teach the dog not to jump on people article from the Whole Dog Journal. I�ve already told Kathy before how I don�t give Jasmine attention that she wants when jumping on me, but I would like her to read the article to realize that this is not a dominant gesture from Jasmine. I would not want Kathy or her dad to do an alpha roll or something similar to Jasmine because of this, because Jasmine�s already naturally submissive, I don�t want them to do something aggressive to her to cause her to have submissive urination or fear aggression. Kathy said she appreciates both the form and the article, because she didn�t know if she would adopt Jasmine and also her previous dog didn�t jump on people. Kathy brought a small bag of various treats, and she gave one to Jasmine. Jasmine sniffed it for a few seconds, and ate it. I think that appears to be a good start, like Lexi�s mom said, the way to a dog�s heart is through her stomach. I then went over all the paperwork with Kathy, while her dad adjusted the green collar they brought to put on Jasmine. Jasmine even sat automatically for Kathy�s dad as he puts the collar on her. I also gave Kathy one of the blankets that Jasmine used for the last 24 hours. I told her that since the blanket has the smell of the dog and of my apartment, it might help Jasmine settle into her new home. Kathy said they will give it a try. Around this time, Keely started scratching the carpet in the bedroom. I told Kathy that Keely had shredded my bedroom carpet (at first Kathy was interested in adoption Keely when she filled out the application, but one of her biggest turn-offs is destruction when home alone, so I�m sure she�s glad she didn�t get to adopt Keely), and I let Keely out right away. Kathy said they will try to get Jasmine to potty before putting her in the car. As they were leaving, Kathy was holding Jasmine�s stuff, and her dad was holding Jasmine�s leash. Kathy said to Jasmine, something like, �Go with Pop (Kathy said that�s what the grandkids call Grandpa)�.
Kathy emailed, �Jasmine did well in the car - settled down after about 5 minutes. Our main goal for the afternoon is potty training and the doggie door. She seems very timid and I'm sure that will get better over the next few days to weeks.� I�m sure Jasmine�s just confused right now. Also I think she would learn the doggie door fast, since she�s a smart dog.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Kathy emailed, �Jasmine had a really good day today. I left her for work, isolated in the kitchen but free to use the doggie door. She had no accidents inside today. YEAH!
She's eating well, and her bowel movements are more solid. The incision looks much better today. The clotted blood has come off, seems to be healing nicely and the bruise is about gone.�
�Tomorrow is the big day for Jack. He is having his surgery, ears and teeth cleaned. He is doing pretty good for 3 weeks I guess. He is still very anxious when we leave him. Steve has re-constructed a room down in the basement (we had it for Daisy a while back) so they could stay together contained, but not in crates....he didn't take well to that either...he escaped and marked a lot of places in the basement. We have been sedating him when we leave and yesterday was the first day that we did not....I just hate to continue to keep him drugged because it stays with him, and he is just lifeless... however, during this adjustment period it seems our only choice. We have left him out in the house with Daisy when we are gone for short periods of time and he has been fine and we have had one accident in the house... but other that that he has been fine. I would be okay leaving him out in the house with Daisy if I felt confident that he would not mark everything in his anxious state while we were gone..... He and Daisy are getting along, have played a little bit, not as much as we would like, but they are sleeping side by side on the bed at night (he decided that the bed on the floor was for the birds) and in the AM I wake to find that I am a doggie sandwich. Jack is a love bug and does his best to take ALL of Daisy's affection from us as well.
I have been working with him on commands, sit, stay, down, come, and down stay. He has gotten all the commands so far but "stay"...I am training with treat bits so he is very compliant. He gets very excited at mealtime, We have been feeding him an Omega Fatty Capsule and a vitamin a with his meal and his coat is so soft and shiny. He is getting in the swing of things, after every walk outside in the am I have to wipe his paws and he now walks immediately to the laundry room and lifts a paw. We have taken him to the dog park the last 2
Saturdays for a little exercise and socialization. He has done very well, but
will not venture into the water other than getting his paws wet :) Daisy
is now up to her chest, but as soon as she starts to sink in the mud instead of swimming she backs out of the water :) maybe one day we will get these water dogs swimming..... Also, we met another ESSR rescue , he was a Springer-setter mix, black and white named Solomon. The guy has only had him 3 weeks or so, same as us... He seemed well adjusted and swam the ENTIRE time.....I think he said that he had worked with Heather to process his paperwork and everything for his adoption.
Anyway, things are good, I pray baby boy will get over some of his fears. He will come up to us wagging his tail and as soon as you reach down to pet him, he tucks his tail under in submission or fear. We are not sure which and I hope that will eventually go away. We have been looking on the internet researching ways to grow his confidence level.
He is a wild man when he gets on a scent and he is so fast we have to keep him on a leash always. He knows his name and comes when called...except when he is hot on a scent in the woods behind the house.
He has gotten away a couple of times and then looks up to find us and
has no idea where he is. So until he knows where he lives and his boundaries, he is on a leash. You should see me trying to walk both dogs as the same time on 2 different leashes...it's a 2 ring circus. I am going to buy a double leash this week.�
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
This morning the apartment janitor came by to say that they are going to fix the oven today (the carpet people broke it when they replaced the kitchen floor), and if I could lock the dog in the bedroom for the day. I think they forgot that the reason they had to replace my carpet in the first place was because the dog does not like to be locked in the back and shredded my carpet. It was such short notice, so I can't stay at home today to watch Keely. The other option would be to keep her in the crate for the day (I happen to have to work full workday today), but I know she will bark all day and annoy the neighbors if I do that. So I called our vet clinic and asked if I could make reservation to have her boarded for just today, they said okay. Anastasia and I have vet appointment at 9 AM today anyways to get her Rabies vaccine. So right before 9 AM, the three of us went to the vet, I also brought Keely's bright pink fleece pad with her. I explained to the vet why Keely has to be boarded for the day, then they took her to the back. While the vet examined Anastasia, I did not hear barking from Keely, so hopefully she'll be alright at the vet today. I will pick her up around 5 PM. The vet said Anastasia weighs 8.5 pounds (her usual, which means she's eating alright) and her teeth and ears look fine, and she appears to be more friendly than last time (when she came in for teeth cleaning). She didn't even hiss or hit the vet today when he checked her teeth. She usually hates to have her teeth checked, because when I first got her, her mouth was in such bad shape that we had to come to the vet 5 times in the first month, just so she could eat any solid food at all. Right now she's taking cyclosporin every 19 days, and the vet said that's great. They have "daycare" rate for Keely, so it's a little cheaper than actually boarding a dog there per day. Anastasia and I then went home and I locked the cat in the bedroom for the day.
When I went to pick Keely up around 5:30 PM, she was excited to see me, as same as when she stays at home. The vet tech who brought her out to me didn't say anything particular about her behavior, so I think she did alright there today.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Even a couple days after Jasmine left, Keely continued to be very excited and barked at everybody who passed by our front window and at several people when we were outside in the apartment complex. People probably thought I got a new watch dog. But today Keely returned to normal, no barking at all.
I've been letting Keely have the run of the apartment when I'm not at home, for the past few weeks now. So far she's doing very well with that, even when I had to stay at school for 9 hours on several days. Most days when I come home, Keely's still sleeping on my bed in the bedroom, even though now she has the run of the apartment. It's pretty funny when I come home, and Keely's not fully awake and I didn't turn on the lights yet. Keely would slowly approach me cautiously, then once I call out her name and she realizes it's me, then she runs toward me and licks my hands and gets all excited.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Jasmine�s mom, Kathy, emailed, �She's doing good. We're working through the household rules; jumping up, running out the front door, etc. Otherwise everything is going well.
She has a follow-up with the vet here for her suture removal and just an overall check.
My Dad actually started called her Jazz and it's kind of stuck. I think she would adapt to any name, but we've tried to be consistent so she will learn her name and the nickname.�
Heather emailed Kathy about training Jazz not to run out of the door:
�As a method of teaching her not to run out the door before you, I like to put them on a leash, open the door and when they run out shut the door while you hold the end of the leash so they can't get away. When they get on the outside on leash and you're on the inside of the door they tend to get a little upset. Wait for 5 seconds then open the door and praise her for coming back in to you. Do this four times in a row per session twice a day. By the third time in the first session, I bet she waits to see what you are going to do before she goes forward. Once she starts to wait, ask her to sit and then you go and then she can go. If she starts to go forward when you do, ask her to sit again.�
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Kathy emailed about Jazz, �Well, Jazz did very well today with my nephew. So I'd like to start the adoption process.� I�m so happy Jasmine/Jazz has a new home!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Beth, Jackson�s foster mom, emailed me an update of him at his new home:
�Jackson had surgery today for neutering. Also, got teeth and ears cleaned while he was under anesthesia. Photos are after he was shaved, I wish you could have seen his feathers. He is a beautiful Springer. I know (his new family) are going to take great care of him. Jill and Steve will work with Jack (fka Jackson) on the anxiety and building up his confidence.