the fur, so most people can't even see it.
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| I also took a picture of back of his head. It's just to show that the ear scar is covered up by the fur, so most people can't even see it. |
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| So many dogs I know would take forever when their human takes them out potty. I really don�t like that. Penelope always went whenever I took her to a grassy area, and when I fostered cared for a friend�s dog for a month, I trained her in 24 hours to go immediately she set paws on grass, not after walking around for five minutes. And I also trained Montana to do the same. He�s a very smart dog too and learned within 24 hours also. On the third day, I decided that he�s already housetrained, so I let him go wherever in the apartment when I�m at home, but I locked him in the bedroom when I was at school because I didn�t know 100 percent if he would be okay when alone with Anastasia. He definitely has more energy now and pulls more when out potty. But compare to most three-year-old hunting (bred to be active) dogs, he doesn�t pull at all. And he chases after squirrels. Montana knows the "Sit" command, but I don't think he knew any other commands. I've been teaching him "Down" and "Stay", and he's only been here three days, but he knows the "Stay" command now. Also I think he understands well when I was not pleased with his actions. At first Millie thought he might understand �No�, but later it turns out that he would stop whatever he�s doing not only when I say �No�, but also, �Hey� or �Uh-Huh. After learning all the basic commands, I think he would make a wonderful therapy dog. | |||||||||||||
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| I started brushing Montana's teeth on the first day he came, because the vet said there was a lot of tartar and plaque on his teeth. At first he was confused and paused a little bit, but he accepted the brushing pretty much immediately (no chewing the toothbrush like Penelope did, or running away like some dogs do). I also spray his teeth with Nolvadent to prevent gingivitis. He doesn't like the taste, but he lets me do it. The vet said Montana would need dental cleaning soon, but it�s not urgent. I told Millie about it, but she said they usually do it when the dog needs to be altered, but she didn�t want to put Montana under anesthesia just for that. So I was just brushing his teeth for three or four days, hoping that it�ll slow down tartar and plaque buildup. But I felt so sorry for him. I really try to treat him if he were my own, and if he were my own, I would definitely have his teeth cleaned right away. So I decided to get rid of the tartar and plaque myself. I took out the dental scraper that I bought for Penelope years ago but only used once, and worked for an hour straight to scrape all the tartar and plaque. There was definitely a lot of plaque. Penelope never had as half as much as Montana did. But Montana was so patient with me. I had warm lamp light shining for one hour on his mouth, and he never really got up. When I worked on Penelope�s teeth, she was very good about it too, but it was only for five minutes. I don�t think many dogs out there would just lie there for one hour consciously allowing his teeth to be worked on. | |||||||||||||
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| Looking out of the window again. Courtney at the Humane Society said Montana should be okay with small dogs because he came in with a small dog. We are not sure about larger dogs yet, but I�ll test him when the cough�s gone. Right now when I take him out potty, I had to make sure nobody�s letting their dog running lose and coming over to sniff Montana. I also starting on the first day giving him medication by just sticking my hand into his mouth and push them down his throat (he would spit out the medication when I put them in treats). And he never bit me, not even a little bit. I also started giving him the vitamins left by Penelope, thinking that Montana probably would need all the health booster he needs. So I gave him the four CoEnzyme Q10 capsules I had left, then I gave him about a week worth of regular doggie vitamins, and also fatty acids to give him soft, shiny fur. And I had been giving him probiotics to reestablish good bacteria colony after antibiotic treatment. And also he�s okay when I clean his ears. When I made him lie down the first time to clean his ears, he tried to get up, but after that, he just laid there for me to clean his ears. Compare to Penelope (whose ear canals were narrowed due to untreated chronic ear infections), Montana�s ear canals are huge and very easy to clean. | |||||||||||||
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| I got tired of looking at the mop of hair on Montana's crown, so around midnight at the end of the second day, after I took him out potty, we went into the kitchen and he had the Springer cut. At first he was afraid of the clipper sound next to his ears, but after I reassured him twice, he just laid there let me do it. | |||||||||||||
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| I gave Montana another bath on Friday afternoon. He's wonderful when being bathed. He just stood there even when I was shampooing and watering his face. After two shampooing one whole bottle of shampoo later, he now doesn't smell as much, but there's still faint ammonia smell if you put your nose right next to his fur. And I couldn't get much of the stain out from the underbelly and legs (probably from sitting in his urine all day at the humane society). But I�m sure if he gets a good home and lives comfortably indoors, the stained fur would eventually grow out, and he would have white fur back in about six month. | |||||||||||||
| Newly clipped face. The next morning I got some soft cheese flavored doggie treats this morning, and he learned the �Come� command within one day. I think he�s learning his name also. I tried hard not to say his name because most new parents want to change the name. I tried to say �Boy� most of the time, but sometimes �Montana� slips out. | |||||||||||||
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| Taking a nap and getting dried after bath. After his bath, along with being certain he�s housetrained, Montana�s now no longer confined in his crate when I�m not around. I had to babysit on Friday, the third night after Montana came to live with me. To test whether or not Montana�s good with children, I asked the kids� mom if I could bring them to see my foster dog. Montana did really well with the older kids (8 and 11 years old). He's friendly with everybody, but would definitely bond with a particular person. When the kids were here, he wants everybody to pet him, but he wanted my attention the most. When all three of us humans were petting my cat, Montana jumped into the middle of the circle and my cat jumped out. He then decided to "herd" my cat out of the room. So I had to prevent him going after my cat for the rest of the kids' visit. I thought I would have to separate him and the cat for now on, but after I came back to the apartment after dropping off the kids at their own house, Montana and Anastasia were acting normal again. | |||||||||||||