Furry, Wild, and Free

Leia chasing ducks

Nothing can quite describe the joy I felt this weekend after letting Leia off her leash for the first time. As summer approaches, I've found myself bringing Leia on more weekend long adventures. Two weekends ago, we went on a camping trip in Cloudland Canyon. I couldn't quite convince myself that it would be okay to let her off the leash... even though she howled and cried every time I left her to go to the bathroom or stepped more than 10 feet away from her. There was this dreadful thought in the back of my mind that she'd take off after a squirrel or something and I'd never see her again. Then, once I found myself warming up to the idea of taking her off the leash that weekend, she got out of her harness during a battle with her buddy Marvin and bolted through the woods. I screeched her name in a panic that my worst fear would come true. However, she came back and I just put her back in her harness terrified that she wouldn't come back the next time with whatever weird reasoning was going on in my head that day.

After that long weekend of holding onto her leash, I managed to convince myself that I didn't want to do that ever again. So, when it came time to go on a little trip to Valdosta this past weekend, I was going to ask my mom to watch her so I just didn't have to worry about her and her leash. Well, my mom chose the same weekend to go to Savannah and actually asked me to watch her dogs before I even had a chance to ask about Leia. My only option was to suck it up and take her with me or stay home and I was not missing out on my first opportunity to wake board at the Valdosta Wake Compound over the most perfect weekend of weather thus far.

So, when we arrived at the compound with Leia and Marvin, Marvin was released from his leash to go greet 2 more dogs while I held Leia's leash with the usual death grip as she looked to me with that "Why can't I go?" look. It took about 10 minutes for 3 other dog owners to convince me that it was the perfect spot to let her run free and she wouldn't go anywhere. When I released her, she bolted... she bolted FAST. Then the most amazing thing happened, she sprinted right back to me and jumped at me with a wagging tail and that doggy smile just before she galloped off to catch up with her new buddies. I stayed nervous for about an hour, had to call her back about 3 times as she started exploring with another dog, but overall, she was perfect. She ran her little heart out for 2 days straight and seemed happier than ever chasing ducks and leading the pack of dogs. I feel bad that I didn't give her enough credit for her loyalty but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Luckily, it all worked out pretty perfectly!

 

New tricks.

Leia causing trouble

Well there's a reason they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I don't believe the saying stems out of teaching actual tricks but refers to the stubbornness of a dog once it's developed its habits. At least this is what I've gathered over the past 3 weeks while trying to ween Leia from her crate. I wanted her to be able to roam the apartment while I was gone during the day so she wouldn't be all cooped up for long periods of time. I started by leaving her for short periods while I ran to the store. Day 1: She ate the stuffing out of my comforter. After that, the bedroom was off limits.

Since then, she tore apart a book, a magazine, 3 different bouquets of fake flowers, the inside of my futon cover... but these aren't even the best parts. One day I came home to nothing but a chewed up Frisbee and I was ecstatic. However, I noticed her bed was in the middle of the living room. When I moved it, she had pooped and covered it with her bed. As mad as I wanted to be, I just couldn't be. She's smart... just not smart enough to hold it apparently. In all fairness, she had been lazy that morning and I ran out of time to continue walking her and waiting for her to decide to go the bathroom.

Now, the day that landed her back in her cage. I often keep a case of water bottles on the floor of my kitchen. Leia found these, tore about 7 full bottles to shreds across my apartment... including one on my microfiber couch. After an hour of cleaning and blow drying a couch, I decided Leia just wasn't ready for this. Has anyone else dealt with this issue? What'd you do? I know it's not an exercise problem because we run nearly every day... possibly a boredom or separation thing but how do you get a dog to chill out when you leave? Does it come with age? HELP. In the meantime... she doesn't seem to mind being back in her cage.

Dog Days

NEVER AGAIN.

Never again will I attempt to have 3 small dogs in a one bedroom apartment. Last week, as my mom prepped for her paradise trip to Australia, I was blessed with a 2 week pet sitting job. Since my job is about an hour from her house (2 hours with the lovely Atlanta traffic), I decided to take her 2 mutts to my apartment. As I gathered their cage, bed, bones, food bowls, 20 pound bag of food, and blankets, I began to wonder what I got myself into but kept packing up my car with a smile. Once the dogs were in the car, we were on our way. It was the longest 30 minute drive of my life. Bella wouldn't stop crying and Baxter kept stepping under her to try to get her to stop. The best part was when they both tried to jump into my lap at 70 mph. However, this 30 minute ride was nothing compared to the nightmare I was about to face. Do you know how hard it is to get harnesses and leashes on 3 hyper little demons? Well, I found out pretty quickly! Leia and Bella fight for my attention constantly and this doesn't make the leash task any easier. When I tried to put Bella's harness on, Leia was constantly trying to jump in front of her and on me no matter what I tried. Eventually, I gave up and put her in the other room before I lost it. After 2 days of the nightmare of taking 3 dogs out on leashes, my apartment beginning to have the distinct dog smell, and the dogs getting sick of each other, I finally just loaded up my car and took them to my mom's. I would rather battle rush hour traffic than continue to deal with that horrible experience. However, even loading up the car was a task. First of all, their cage is bigger than my entire bathroom. That was so fun to disassemble and take down 2 flights of stairs piece by piece. By the time I was done gathering half my apartment and putting my suitcases and the dogs in the car, the entire car was packed full. Foolishly, I thought taking the dogs to a big house would solve all of my problems. Well, Leia eats every meal like it's her last which results in a whole 30 seconds of eating time while Baxter takes about 5 minutes because he's older. I'm sure you see where this is going. Leia failed to discover her boundaries with Baxter and Bella so she just finished her food and walked right over to Baxter's bowl. Needless to say, after a most ferocious growl and snap, she won't be doing that again. I could go on about the rolling in the grass, trying to bathe 3 dogs and how sick of the fights between them I am but the truth is... in the end, it was kind of nice to go to bed with 3 dogs cuddled up beside me. But I will never own 3 dogs at once... maybe 2.

Dog Delight

*Bella*

I am happy to announce that Leia seems to be 100% better! *Knock on wood* Lately, I've been trying to get more meat on her bones since her ribs started to show with the illness. It seems to be working. Now I'm battling with the idea of taking her back to the dog park or not. It would ease my mind if I had some answers for what was wrong with her. On the one hand, I'd rather not risk taking her back and having something happen. On the other hand, she's full of energy and when I run with her, it's still not enough. What would you do? I feel silly keeping her from a place she really enjoys because something may have been contracted there... or not. It's kind of like saying you're never letting your kid go to recess again because he caught a cold and it may have been from one of the kids on the playground. Overall, it really bites to not have answers. On top of this issue, Leia is going to be with my mom's 2 dogs for 2 weeks while she and her husband jet off to Australia. Normally I would be thrilled for Leia to have the playmates but Baxter (the grumpy old man Feist) gets sick of her puppy play after a day so I can only imagine how this is going to go for 2 weeks. On top of that, Bella has had issues much like what I just went through with Leia so I can only pray both of them stay healthy! The stress is killing me already... but I'm also trying to bask in the fact that I'll have 3 dogs in my bed for 2 weeks. The puppy cuddles are to die for!

Helpless and Hopeful

"I see noises."

It is with pure exhaustion and helplessness that I type this post today. My princess has been sick since last Thursday and I'm convinced taking care of a sick pet is one of the hardest things I've been through. I know it seems silly and minuscule and maybe I'm overreacting but I can only hope I can look at her 10 years from now laughing about that time she pooped all over my small apartment that now has that awful hospital clean scent. Thursday, I came home expecting to clean the usual pee out of the cage only to be bombarded by the smell of diarrhea and vomit. I quickly cleaned everything with a wincing grimace, figured she ate something that morning, and we went about our day. The next day I woke up to 2 different spots of waste by the door. She had clearly been up in the middle of the night. This continued for 2 more days and sleepless nights as I began to worry. Usually these kinds of things start clearing up within 24 hrs but it just wasn't going away. And of course, the day I began to worry the most was a Sunday. Do you know how many vet offices are open on Sundays? Next to none unless you want to pay double the price of everything and rush to the emergency veterinary hospital. While I definitely considered that option, Leia's personality, eating habits, and spunk hadn't changed so it seemed okay to suffer through a couple more cleanups and runs outside to wait for Monday's appointment. The next day, my adorable tail wagging pup pranced right into the vet's office with her usual hop-up greet when she sees new people. After the wonderful ten minutes of "new patient" forms, we were brought to the back where we were finally asked what was wrong with Miss Leia. I explained every aspect of her illness. I showed them a bald spot that I noticed on her neck, the awful potty problems, my belief that she didn't get into anything, and everything else I could think of including my thoughts and conclusions from a few Google "your dog ate something funky or she's dying a horrible death" searches. After all of that, they weighed her and took her temperature. She had no fever but had lost 2.5 pounds... quite a lot for a usual 18.5 pound skinny thing. Next, the doctor went over the options: do a skin scraping and wood's light test which totaled about $70 in addition to the already $30 stool sample or skip straight to blood work and x-rays which totaled about $370. I opted for the skin scraping and wood's light test as they took away my poor baby again. The stool came back with no positive sign of parasites. I'm still unsure of whether or not this is a good thing. On the one hand, great! No parasites! On the other hand, what the heck is wrong with my dog?! After that, the veterinarian said he opted to deworm her anyway, just in case. The skin scraping and wood's light test (aka a freaking black light they charge you $30 to turn on!) came back with demodectic mange. Apparently, all dogs have demodectic mange from the time they're born;

Leia's Demodectic Mange Outbreak

therefore, when it appears on the skin, it's a sign of a poorly developing immune system. The veterinarian said they usually recommend spaying dogs that have this issue because it's a clear sign they shouldn't be bred. Of course, Leia, my little rescue dog, is already spayed. So, a few tests, 3 medications, and $188.26 later... I ended up with a vomiting dog last night and nearly no answers. She threw up in the bed, on each side of the bed, and by the door. I barely slept and I'm still full of worry. I called the vet back this morning to find out if I need to be more concerned that my dog's food is now coming out the opposite end. I was informed that as long as it was just that time, it could have just been the stress and medication from earlier. Now, I sit here at work scheduled to leave early because I can't stop thinking about my poor dog and I can't call her to see how she's doing. So, for now, praying my pukey puppy can sleep through the night and afraid of what I'll be going home to today! May the force be with us.

Potty Problems

This issue has been the death of me lately.

Leia will not stop peeing in her crate! I love her dearly but this little issue isn't so little anymore. For starters, I don't have a washer/dryer hookup in my apartment so every time something needs to be washed, it requires a trip to the laundromat and too many quarters to be worth it. The little princess also requires a bath every time she decides to lie down in it which is resulting in too many baths. Now, I believe I have tried EVERYTHING. I have to say I've never had a problem with crate training a dog so this is a little new to me. First of all, we started with a new crate so there's no smell of pee or another dog or anything like that. Obviously, I take her out in the morning and she does her business so she goes in the crate emptied out (supposedly). The first few times she peed in her crate, I kind of expected it because of the month she was in the shelter, being left with no choice but to sit in her own pee. Luckily, she was potty trained for the most part when I brought her home. She's had a total of 4 accidents (outside of her crate) since. But I just can't solve this crate potty problem. I've tried putting her bed in the crate because dogs supposedly don't like to urinate where they lie. Well, she peed all over the bed and sat in it even though it's about half the size of her crate. After that, I tried vinegar. I read (here) that this is a pee deterrent for dogs... not Leia! Next, I tried putting a pee pad in the side of her crate that wasn't occupied by her bed. Do you have any idea how many pieces that thing became by the time I got home?! Pee pad fluff everywhere! However, she managed to pee on some pieces of it. So fun to clean -_- I also figured that maybe she was just in her cage too long without relief. While that could still be true, she manages to hold it for 13 hours when she doesn't feel like getting out of bed. Now, I've resorted to buying waterproof bedding so I can at least spray it and run it through the shower to avoid taking bags of soiled blankets to the laundromat. I will give her some credit though. She peed on the pee pads twice. She's started moving them rather than tearing them to shreds and she seems to be peeing more toward the end of her bedding rather than right where she sits. I've also been getting her to the park and taking her on runs more which seems to have her more relaxed once she goes in her crate. Has anyone else had this problem?! Does anyone have solutions that might have worked for their dog?

Dog Park Pace

"I'll be yours and you'll be mine."

Saturday was one of those days

that was too cold to really want to go outside but the sun finally decided to make an appearance so how could you not take the rare winter opportunity to enjoy it? As I sat on my dad's couch with him and my grandmother, Leia paced back and forth, sniffing every scent that crossed her path. We pondered what to do to get out of the house for far too long before I finally suggested a trip to Will's Park dog park or Waggy World Paw Park as someone begging for a tongue twister decided to name it. Adorably, Leia sits and wags her tail in front of me as soon as I pick up her leash... not so adorable when I accidentally pick up her leash 30 minutes before departure which just seems like a lifetime of torture to a dog who doesn't understand, "Pop has to get ready." Eventually, we all piled into my car. Leia took her normal copilot seat and was quickly booted by my grandma to the back with my dad. When I looked into the rear view mirror, my pitiful pup was looking at me with those big puppy dog eyes she has down to a complete science. I could see it in her eyes, "What the heck, mom? Why are you letting that poodle take my spot?" I guess I should note that my grandma's hair resembles that of a poodle, a gray so bright it's nearly white and full of curls. Once we arrived at the park, Leia jumped out with her usual burst of freedom like she hadn't touched land in days. Her intense curiosity had her nose to the ground and tail wagging in milliseconds. It was a long trek to the dog park that consisted of continuous sniffing, leash yanking, and the subject of why I had forgotten to dress her in her adorable sweater. When we finally arrived at Waggy World Paw Park, the amount of dogs present was exciting! While Leia had been to a different dog park many times before, she had only been around a maximum of two dogs at a time so I was curious to see how she would do. I fumbled with the first gate entering the dog park as I hurried along as doggy park first-timers (my dad and grandma) to come into the small section before opening the second gate. If you're not familiar with dog parks, this is a little precaution installed at every park I've been to because there's always that one dog that escapes the second gate as it scurries up to greet the new arrival. Once the second gate was closed, I released Leia from her harness. I expected her to take off immediately but she lingered for a while with what seemed like overwhelming excitement. Next, she proceeded to approach every human in the park. I knew she loved people but I never expected her to care more about getting some love from them than playing with all of the dogs that were nagging her and tugging at her. She was completely oblivious to the dog commotion as she jumped up for her head pats and smiles, going from person to person. I got a kick out of it as my dad said, "Yo, your dog is like the Walmart greeter of the dog park!" All I could do was laugh as she continued to piss off a yappy chihuahua by gaining attention from its owners. Eventually, she ran out of people to please and it was as if I had disappeared from her mind all together. In the midst of running away from annoying dogs, Leia realized how fast she could be and ran with it (literally). She was suddenly taking laps around the half acre like a greyhound on a racetrack. I wish I could capture the pure joy that reflected in her face as she outran the other dogs, zigzagged, and hopped over some. Every time I thought she was slowing down she picked up again. She clearly hadn't run this fast before and it was apparent in her failure to stop before running into things. There was even a point in this finding of her legs that she jumped over a trimmed fountaingrass bush that she couldn't quite clear. Her back feet caught the top of it and she proceeded to tumble into another dog. I had that horrifying moment of "please god I cannot afford a pet surgery" if she was hurt in the process, but she hopped up, shook all of the grass cuttings off of her and ran right to me for the first time since we arrived. Dogs just know. It was like she came over to say, "Mom, did you see that?! I'm fine. I'm fine." Throughout that joyful hour, I got the usual dog park nuts that are obsessed with dogs and want to talk about every kind they've had and what they were like... I love those people. One older woman with a border collie named Jazz approached me... of course, I never got her name and she never got mine but she was sure to greet Leia with a "Hello Princess Leia," and proceeded to tell me about a greyhound she had in the past that was also named Leia. Not only did she tell me about the greyhound's rescue and similar corky tendencies but she also told me about the greyhound's unfortunate disintegrating muscles due to all of the steroids during its racing days. Those are the sad but true parts of animals' lives that I wish these dog owners would just leave out all together but I understand. People want to talk about the happiness of their dog's life as well as how they were there for it until the end. It's sort of poetic listening to different stories of all these dogs. As Jazz started bringing me her frisbee repeatedly, it struck a jealousy cord in Leia. Who knew she was actually paying attention to me?! She had been so busy discovering her own legs and everyone around her that I had my own little jealousy streak. At one point my dad even asked, "Hey, will this dog go home with anyone?!" And ya know, you wanna feel like your dog only has a special connection with you. However, I quickly realized it's because everyone loves her as much as I do that I find her so easy and fun. It's exciting to show her off! However, it was nice that she made it pretty clear that afternoon that no matter how much attention she got from everyone else, I was still her number one. As the sun was setting and the coldness became bitter, it was time to head out. I thought Leia would put up a fight but she rushed to the gate as I walked toward it like, "Alright! Let's go home! I love you!" Yes, I speak for my dog and she has a voice I imagine in my head. Anyway, that concludes another trip with Leia that I'll never forget and I'm so happy my family could also share in the joy of that afternoon!