After we were finished with the meals and were sitting around talking, Tara started barking and lunging at dogs who walked near us (she was sitting near Keely and me). She even did that with Jake and Lucy. I think she was getting tired from all the activities and wanted somewhere to go to sleep but can�t, so she was acting a little grumpy. I think she gets a little cranky and her possessive side comes out when she gets tired. Penelope did the same thing when we used to go to dog parks in California. She was okay the first 20 minutes and enjoyed watching the other dogs running around and played a little fetch with me, then if we stayed for 30 minutes, she would start bark at dogs coming near her. I even put Tara in a corner for timeout (people were amazed at how she was able to Down-Stay all by herself across the room). After about 5 minutes, Tara�s face showed that she hated to be left all alone, away from everybody else, this is sort of like she�s saying she�s sorry, so I let her out. She was okay for an hour or so, but she still barked at a couple dogs after that, she even went after Keely, who was leashed.
After Lucy and Jake and their parents left, Millie asked me to show them how to groom a Springer (Freckles) on the patio. I left Tara inside with Craig because I couldn�t watch both girls and clip Freckles at the same time. But we brought Keely out with us and she was so well-behaved while we groomed Freckles for an hour. At first Tara was standing near the glass door whining to come out, but we all ignored her and after a while, she went to sit with Craig in front of the TV.
Both dogs slept in the car during the whole drive home, which is unusual for these two, because they would stay sitting up during most of the road trips mostly (all my other previous Springers would go to sleep as soon as we got on the freeway). Anyways, Tara was okay with Keely again after her nap in the car.
I called Keely's parents during the drive and they said it's okay, that it's just like spats little kids have. I�m so glad they are so understanding about it, I know I was very anxious and freaked out since the fight though.
When I talked to Mary on Sunday night, she suggested putting Neosporin on it, so I did. Mary has been a wonderful foster mom and is very willing to communicate with me. She said when she worked at a vet clinic, they adopted out many dogs and cats, and she knows the more information we have on the animals the better. Mary said Peter gets very nervous when there�s a thunderstorm. Tonight when it rained, she got home after four hours away, and she found Peter shivering in the crate. When I asked, she said he�s not freaking out is not destructive, just shivers. And now she�s had him out of the crate, he just sits on the sofa and shivers while it poured rain outside. Otherwise, she said he�s eating fine, a little finicky the first meal, but has been eating food and supplement great, and is sleeping in the dog bed sometimes. She said Huck and Peter are getting along fine, just one growl the entire weekend. But this morning, the cats teased Peter by swiping him with their paws as he passed by the kitchen counter, and Peter growled and barked at them. So she put the cats into the bedroom. She said she doesn�t know if she will be able to keep Peter for long, because she really needs to study instead of watching the dogs and cats all the time. I told her, I can probably foster Peter for a week after Saturday, so if she could keep Peter until Saturday, that would be great. Mary said she will be able to keep Peter until Saturday, so he won�t have to go back to the boarding kennel.
And I also gave Keely one of Tara's antibiotic capsules because I was still worried about it. This morning the wound is not draining anymore.
I took Keely to the vet first thing this morning, the vet said it looks fine but he will suture it up. I told him I gave her Tara�s antibiotics, and he said that�s fine too. He told Keely that she shouldn�t have messed with an old lady. Also he said with bite wounds on the ear, usually the dog doesn�t act painful to it. He said he�ll have sedate her to put the sutures in, and he�ll have to shave part of her ear, I said that�s fine (I already expected that already). I feel a lot better about it already (yes I was on the verge of freaking out when I called the vet school last night).
I just picked up Keely from the vet, she was excited to see me, but once we got back to the apartment, she was kind of groggy from the anesthesia drug. Tara sniffed her a little bit and they left each other alone after that.
Liana just wrote a very nice bio for Peter too. Heather said to go ahead with the heartworm treatment, since Peter will stay with Mary for a week then with me for the next, and then he can be transported to another foster or adoptive home after that. I called the Opelika vet and made appointment with them to start heartworm treatment tomorrow. And I called Mary and asked her when I can pick up Peter. She said tomorrow morning is fine. She also said that Peter appears to have a pot belly, and she�s a little worried about that, even though he already had blood tests and fecal tests. She recommends an x-ray. I let Heather know about Mary�s concern and Heather said probably the pot belly is from Peter gaining weight but not gaining muscle mass, because he was kenneled for two whole months. Heather said if they are going to do x-ray for another reason, then ask them to do x-ray of the belly at the same time, but otherwise, there is no need to spend extra money for that.
I knew Tara would not move when I push the needle in, so on Saturday night I just decided to do it myself. She just sat there while I microchipped her myself.
Audrey emailed about Lily, �Little Lilly is doing great! She is very clingy, but also very lovable. Attached are some pictures of Lilly at the Petco in Opelika, AL and here at home. The girl in the pictures is my niece, Elizabeth.�
Abby and Lily are getting along beautifully. Prince is warming to her slowly. No incidents at all. They have been very slowly introduced (thanks to your advice) and are never left unattended together.�