On our walk this afternoon, Oscar and I came across four other dogs and at least a dozen people. He. Didn't. Bark. Once. He's even learning to leave the kitty alone. Right now, he's sleeping in his bed by my feet and Josie is asleep on the window seat approximately two feet away. He's come so far in the past month. I couldn't be more proud of him. |
"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 185 There are several rounds of the movie contest still open. Take a look and make a guess! |
Over the past few weeks, I've been asked by several people what breed of dog is Oscar. I've been trying to get some decent photos of him before making a post about it, but it's been a struggle because he never sits still, especially when I point the camera at him. I finally managed to get a couple, which are terrible, but at least they're not blurry or pics of just his butt as he's running away. Anyhoo, in response to the question about his heritage, to be honest, we just don't know since he's a rescued/shelter dog. And, unless we win the lottery and pay to have ridiculously expensive genetic tests done, we'll never know for sure. We've asked several people who know dogs well, including the vet, and the general consensus is he's some mix of Chihuahua and Miniature Pinscher. He could also have some Manchester Terrier or even Dachshund in there, too. Take a look at the pics and tell me what you think. |
We took Josie to see the vet again today. He removed her stitches from the procedure she had last week to remove the skin cancer lesions on her arm and head. Everything has healed up well so all was good on that front. He also took a urine sample to make sure the antibiotics cleared up her bladder infection. Because of her kidney failure, her urine isn't very concentrated, which is what we think is causing these infections. Since the antibiotics work well to clear it up, we're going to start pulsing her with them every 3-4 months now just to keep things under control. The final and not-so-good reason for her appointment is her belly. Earlier this year, she developed a small bald spot on her belly. We ran all sorts of tests, but never determined what caused the hair to fall out. Eventually, it resolved itself and the hair grew back on its own. It's now happening again and the spot is much bigger this time. What's causing it is still a total mystery so there isn't much we can do to treat it. He suggested we try some hydrocortisone cream in case it's an allergic reaction to something. We'll give it a try. Aside from that, everything looks good. The calorie supplement we've been giving her is working (she's gained another half pound) and her overall health is really good considering she'll be 18 years old in the spring. |
Josie helped me work on the jigsaw puzzle last night. |
We had a very small crowd for Thanksgiving today, but, honestly, I didn't mind one bit. I continued to not feel well most of the day. I felt better than I did yesterday, but didn't feel good by any means. Also, we had no idea how Oscar was going to react to having lots of new people in the house. In the end, we worried for nothing because he did great. He was so overtired and overexcited by mid-afternoon he threw up a couple times and had some, shall we say, bowel troubles, but we couldn't have asked for better behavior from him. We ended up putting him in his crate so he could sleep for a while and he was just fine after. He just needed a nap. People weren't kidding when they said having a dog is a lot like having a toddler. Since I still felt crappy, Mr Moo took care of all of the remaining cooking in the morning while I puttered about doing small stuff like filling the water glasses, setting out the rolls, etc. Over the years, we've put together a very detailed to do list so everything comes together very quickly and easily for us. We make a good team. I'm blaming the illness for not having any photos. I completely spaced even getting the camera out. I think there might be a few captures from the MooCams, which I'll post when I finally sort through them. You know I'm not feeling well when I forget to take photos. We started a jigsaw puzzle after dinner. I've been working on it all evening since everyone left. Think I'll head back downstairs and see if I can get it finished up before heading to bed. |
Table is set. Turkey's in the oven. Dog's had a potty break. Time to go back to bed for a while. Happy Thanksgiving, fishies! |
Wow. What a day today has been. It started out horribly when I woke at 0200 with a screaming stabbing pain in my chest. It was very reminiscent of the pain I suffered when I had gall stones. Since I no longer have a gall bladder, I knew that wasn't the cause. The pain was so bad I ended up dry heaving on and off for a few hours before I finally managed to fall back to sleep. When I woke up later in the morning, the pain had subsided considerably and I was able to get on with my day. I chalked it up to really bad gas/heartburn/indigestion and figured it would resolve itself as the day wore on. Unfortunately, that was not the case. While the excruciating pain never returned, I felt like crap all day long. It was as if I had been kicked or punched in the chest and my sternum was badly bruised. I tried to tough it out, but I started feeling worse and worse. At about 2000, I finally asked Mr Moo to take me to the immediate care clinic so I could get checked out. Since I was complaining of pain in my chest, they gave me an EKG test to make sure nothing was wrong with my heart. The results came back totally normal so we ruled out a heart attack or other heart issue. After some poking and prodding, the final diagnosis was gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). I was a little surprised by this since I was only exhibiting one of the giant list of symptoms and it wasn't even one of the major ones. I wasn't tasting acid, burping, regurgitating or coughing. However, based on the location of my pain and the tenderness of the area, there really wasn't much else it could be. I am now the proud owner of a bottle of prescription strength Prilosec. I have to take it twice per day for a week then once per day until I follow up with my regular doctor. All this the day after I had a physical and was given a totally clean bill of health. Figures. I need to finish up this entry with a big THANK YOU to my darling husband, who has totally stepped up to the plate tonight. Since walking around made the pain worse, he took over the Thanksgiving preparations and did all the cooking we needed to get done before tomorrow. I love you, Mr Moo! |
I'm still waiting to receive photos from the bride of the Beauty and the Beast wedding I worked on back in October, but I found a few shots I took of the garments here at the house. This is one of the reference photos I received for the Beast costume, which the groom wore. |
I didn't take any photos while we were at the dog wash this weekend, but I found a few I took a few weeks ago when we went for the first time. |
Got up early to get exsanguinated this morning. For me, one of the biggest benefits to having a dog has been the regularity of the schedule. Getting up early for appointments, like this morning, is much easier than it used to be. I'm still not ever going to be a true morning person, but at least I'm up and my day is started while it's still light out now. I had a bit of a caffeine withdrawal headache when I woke up. As soon as we got back from my blood letting, I gulped down a Dew, had a bite to eat and took a nap while Mr Moo took Oscar for his morning walk. I'm feeling loads better now so it's time to get started on my miles long list of things to do today. The most important item on the list is a trip to the grocery store for a turkey and other supplies for Thursday. Item #2 is taking the muttley to the dog wash for a bath before he stinks us right out of the house. |
I'm having blood drawn tomorrow for some tests, which means I have to fast for at least 12 hours. As of 2100, I am allowed only water. At 2059, however, I had a big plate of freshly baked sugar cookies and a giant glass of milk. Hopefully, all that, along with tonight's pasta dinner, will be enough to enable me to make it through until morning without gnawing off any limbs or trying to eat the dog. Although, even with a full belly, the latter might be too difficult to resist. I mean look at him: |
• I can't believe Thanksgiving is only six days away. Yikes! It's going to be a busy weekend. • Got a letter from the bank informing me that the check from my Beauty and the Beast client bounced. ARGH! Not a headache I needed right now. • As per the behaviorist's suggestion, we've covered Oscar's crate with a blanket to make it more of a den for him. Since I doubt anyone wants to look at a blanket covered crate all day, I've turned off the Random MooCam and will be moving it to a new location soon. • One of the local radio stations started their 24/7 Christmas music broadcast for the season. Squeee! • Our betta fish, Dr Jones, is ill again. He's very lethargic, has lost a lot of weight and does not look good at all. I'm going to start him on a new round of meds for internal parasites tonight. Send some good thoughts his way, please. • My sister and BIL left on vacation today. They're flying to Spain, where they will board a cruise ship for seven days. They will be stopping in several ports in France and Italy before returning to Spain then flying home. Bon Voyage, you two! • I can't believe Thanksgiving is only six days away!!! |
My dog tried to eat a policeman today. Ugh. Oscar and I went out for our morning walk a little while ago. As per usual, we stopped so he could do business on one of the trees in our front yard. As he was finishing up, I noticed our mail lady calling out to me from several houses up and across the street. Since I couldn't hear her, we walked up to see what was going on. She was trying to deliver a package to one of the houses. When she went to the front door, she noticed it was ajar. She tried ringing the bell and knocking multiple times, but no one answered and she wasn't sure what to do. I suggested she call 911 (I didn't have my phone) just in case someone was hurt inside and needed help. I knew she had a schedule to keep so I offered to stay in front of the house for her until the police arrived so she could get back to her rounds. Oscar and I waited in front of this house for what seemed like forever. I was seriously starting to consider going home and calling 911 again when an officer finally showed up. Oscar, who had been so good sitting and waiting patiently with me, went berserk when the officer approached. We don't know Oscar's history with people in uniform, but I think it's safe to assume, when he was seized from that home in California, there were a lot of police and animal control officers present and he's not real fond of them. Oscar barked his head off and guess who didn't have the bottle of rocks to shake the one time she really needed it. Good grief. I could not get butthead to shut up. I managed to shout and explain enough of the situation to the officer, who then went into the house with his gun drawn. Oscar finally started calming down and we waited at the end of the driveway. A few minutes later, the officer popped his head out the front door to let me know everything was fine. Turns out, the owner was home. She didn't answer the door because she was on the treadmill! Since everything was alright, I took my cue and left before the officer returned and Oscar lost his mind again. I never did find out why the lady left her front door open, but I bet she won't do it again. You can also bet we won't be going on walks without the bottle of rocks anymore either. |
The behaviorist, D, came over for our first lesson earlier this evening. It went very well. Oscar, of course, was on his best behavior so we looked like liars when we told her about a lot of his issues. However, she did get to see him in the throes of his six o'clock psychosis (over-excitement about getting out of the crate, going outside and having dinner) so she knew what we were talking about. She brought us a "high tech tool" to help us keep his attention - a plastic milk jug with rocks in it. We're to use it to interrupt the cycle when we see him ramping up and also to curb any barking issues. It works really well, but I'm worried because he's absolutely terrified of it. I'm afraid of traumatizing him and giving him some sort of nervous disorder. Fortunately, he learns incredibly fast and we haven't had to use it much. Phew! She was really happy with the schedule we have him on and what we've done with him so far. She taught us a whole slew of techniques for teaching him commands using more praise and less treats. She also taught us an exercise for getting Oscar to stop reacting to Josie. We have a long way to go before the two of them are happily co-existing, but at least we now know what to do and the process has begun. We have to work on training with Oscar multiple times every day, which isn't a big deal because we already were doing that. As his trust of us grows, he'll get quicker to respond and more eager to please. And given how quickly he learns already, we have no doubt he'll be behaving perfectly in no time. Because D came in the evening after it was dark outside, we didn't go on a walk with her to address any of those issues. We'll have her back in another week or two during the day time so we can get outside and learn how to better deal with bicycles and meet other people/dogs. She gave us some advice on what to do, but we'll definitely benefit from having her show us, too. We are so glad D is such a good fit with us and our dog. YAY!!! |
Dear God, I don't ask for much from you. However, I need a big favor today. As you know, my dog has enough energy to run a nuclear power plant for about a week. If we don't get his afternoon walk in so he can burn off some of it, it's going to get all sorts of ugly up in here. Please. I'm begging you. Make it stop pouring for just a little while so we can go outside. Thank you, EDIT: And now it's hailing. Should I be worried? |
We've hired a behaviorist! YAY! She will be here tomorrow at 1730 for a 90 minute consultation/first lesson. Poor Oscar has no idea what lies ahead. |
When you are a dog owner, these become life savers. |
We had been talking about taking Oscar to Forest Park today and attempting our first hike in the woods together. Unfortunately, it's just too cold for both him and us. He has a small wool coat that came with him from the shelter, but it's more of a cape than a coat and it lets his undercarriage get all wet still. I don't think it's enough for a couple mile hike in the wet woods on a day like today. We need to find something that gives him a bit more coverage and can keep him drier. Poor little guy shivers enough on his own already. He doesn't need to be sopping wet and freezing cold on top of it. Guess I'll have to do some shopping. Darn. :-) Miss Josie is feeling much better today. She's had her pain medicine, the anesthesia is completely worn off and she had a good night's sleep. She's been rolling around, rubbing on everything and talking loads. She's also showing some interest in playing, which doesn't happen very often these days. She's tried licking at her arm several times already so it's a good thing we had the foresight to wrap it last night. Don't want her pulling those stitches out. They want us to bring her back in 10-14 days to remove the stitches, but we'll probably just do it ourselves here at home. If we managed to give Zoe sub-Q fluids, I think we can cut out a few stitches. |
Sorry I didn't post sooner. Josie did just fine and made it home safely today. She was still pretty groggy when she got home and walked around like a drunk for a while, which was, I have to admit, quite amusing. I gave her dinner and got her settled on her second (yes, she now has TWO) heating pad in the guest room. Aside from when I woke her up at 2000 to give her pain medication, she's been asleep ever since. The doctor called late in the morning to discuss her condition with me. I suspected she had a lot of lesions on her forearm and he confirmed it. Because of her age, he really didn't want to knock her out, which I agreed with. Her size restricted how much local anesthetic he could give her, which meant he couldn't remove all of the lesions at this time. We decided he should just remove the largest ones and call it good. He didn't call back later to tell me she was consumed with cancer and they had to remove her arm or worse so I was relieved. She's now the proud owner of a whole bunch of stitches. There are a couple on the back of her head and a whole bunch on her arm. They also sent her home with several doses of pain medication, which I have to give her every 8-12 hours for a couple days. I have a feeling she'll be sleeping quite a bit this weekend. We're also starting her on yet another round of antibiotics. She has another bladder infection, which means something bad is going on with her kidneys. There's a good chance she's got kidney stones, maybe even a tumor. However, the only real treatment for either of those would be surgery, which we really don't want to do. He offered to do an ultrasound, but said there really wasn't any point if we weren't sure about surgery. We'll do this round of antibiotics and assess her again in a week or so. More than likely, we'll end up pulsing her with antibiotics every 4-6 months for the rest of her life. We know she has kidney failure so none of this is a surprise and it seems like the most humane thing to do at this point. In a nutshell, she made it through surgery just fine, but still has more lesions that will need to be removed in the future. She's on pain medicine for a couple days and antibiotics for a week. She's resting comfortably now and we'll be smothering her with love all weekend. Thank you all for your well wishes. |
Can't sleep. Worried about Josie's procedure today. They'll be burning/freezing (I can't remember which it is) off the small skin cancer lesions we've recently found on her. The one on the back of her head should be no problem. It doesn't bother her at all. The ones on her left forearm, however, seem to be causing her great pain. Also, there may be a whole lot of them. She won't let me touch her arm to see for sure though. I know there's at least two. They might have to sedate her to be able to even look at them, which, at her age, is always very risky. I'm also worried, once they get a good look at her arm, they'll discover they're all over/spreading/eating away inside her arm and there's nothing they can do except take her arm or let her live in pain until she dies. Mr Moo will be dropping her off in about two hours. Guess I'll get some cuddles in in the meantime. |
Guess who laid down on command for the very first time today! WOOT! Granted, he needed a bit of prompting with a treat, but still! Our trainer is going to be so happy with us tonight. |
The weather isn't very pleasant today so Lord Oscar and I didn't encounter very many people during our walk in the park this morning. He did okay with the few we did encounter though. A man on a bicycle rode right past us early in the walk. I kept on Oscar to keep his attention focused on me and he actually did alright. I could see he was conflicted. He wanted to bark and charge, but he knew that's not what I wanted him to do. It's all making his poor little brain hurt, but that's a good thing. It means he's learning. Tonight, we're heading over to Petsmart for another private obedience class. Mr Moo is having some trouble keeping Oscar from jumping up. We're not sure what, if anything, Mr Moo is doing wrong, but Oscar just won't listen. I tell him "Off!" once and we're done. He doesn't even think about jumping up again. Mr Moo tells him "Off!" and two seconds later, he's jumping right back up again. It could just be the excitement of Mr Moo coming home from work that's causing Oscar to lose his mind, but we still need it to stop. Miss Josie is in for a rude surprise tonight, too. She's going to the vet's for a procedure tomorrow and can't have any food after 2100. She's not going to be a happy kitty. We've found a few more skin cancer lesions on her and she's going in to have them removed. There's one on the back of her head and at least two on her left arm. The ones on her arm are really hurting her so I haven't been able to really look to see what's going on there. They'll probably have to mildly sedate her (thus the no food directive) and have a good look at it when she gets there. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. |
1.25 mile walk. 3 bicyclists. 1 kid hitting a ball. 4 joggers. 3 dogs. 8 trillion birds on the path. 1 psychotic miniature pinscher on the end of my arm. I'm exhausted. |
Lord Oscar and I just finished our morning constitutional. Compared to day one, when he nearly took my arm off, he's doing really well walking on the leash now. We discovered very early on that he is a little too food obsessed to learn to be walked using treats. One of the trainers we've been using gave us a great alternative, which has been working like a charm. As we walk, if he starts to get ahead and pull, we immediately turn around and start walking in the opposite direction. You look like a totally crazy person doing this (especially in the beginning when you turn around a million times and it takes 20 minutes to walk 15 feet), but it really does work. He is learning that *I* am the one in charge and leading the walk, not him. *I* decide when we're going to go and which way we're going to go in. It's so simple yet so effective. Unfortunately, Oscar isn't doing quite as well with distractions on our walks. He does not like bicycles, children, other dogs (or any other animal for that matter), large men or joggers. He's still doing a lot of growling and lunging. If he had been a larger dog, we probably would have taken him back to the shelter because of this behavior. There's no way I would have been able to control him had he been a big dog. However, since he's only 11 pounds and I can out muscle him, we're going to work through this. Currently, we're taking private obedience classes and also talking with our vet a lot about it. We are also planning to hire a behaviorist to come to the house to work with him as well. In the meantime, we just have to get out there and work on it. Normally, I take him up the street from our house and sometimes completely around the block. The only bad thing about this route is, on weekday mornings, we rarely encounter anyone or anything. Hard to tell him to "Leave it!" when there's nothing to leave. This morning, since he's been doing so well walking on the leash, we tried a new route. I took him over to a small park nearby with a walking path. I figured we would encounter all sorts of people there and we did. As people get close, I let them know well ahead of time that he is in training and to expect barking, and ask them to just walk on by. Oscar is lucky he's so darn cute and small because no one has had any issue with this. Much to my delight this morning, he did really well. He had a hard time coping with the lady jogger who came from behind us first, but, once I got him focused, he calmed right down. And, with each new encounter, he got a little better. There was still a lot of pulling and a bit of growling, but the barking eventually stopped and he responded to me quicker each time. It's small progress, but still progress. And, once we get a behaviorist here working with him, I know he's really going to turn around. He's come so far already. |
Has anyone missed me? Perhaps I should ask if anyone even noticed I was gone. :-P" The past 10 days POA (post Oscar acquisition) have been quite an adventure to say the least. We've had a lot of good moments and a lot of bad ones, too. Overall, however, he's come a long way and seems to be settling in with our family. I kept meaning to write about our progress, but just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down and post. I still don't have time now to write a bunch of back posts about everything that's happened since we adopted him so I've decided to cut my losses and see if I can go forward and stay up to date from here. I've spent a good part of this afternoon on the phone trying to track down his rabies certificate. He was vaccinated while he was still in California, which means I have to get it from the shelter/doctor there. Last time I called them, they couldn't even find his information without the special ID number they use and I don't have. I've got a call in to the Oregon Humane Society to see if they can get this code number for me so I can call the shelter in California again. And around and around we go. We'll be heading out on our 2:00 walk in a few minutes. Afterward, we'll be heading out to see the vet again. Oscar had a full check-up on Thursday morning. He's got a bit of infection in his ears (not mites) that we've been medicating. The past few days, when we've attempted to put the meds in his ears, he's been reacting like he's in a lot of pain, especially with his left ear. So, we're off to see the doctor again. Fortunately, he loves riding in the car, which is a blessing. If there are other dogs in the lobby when we get there, it will be a totally different story, but we'll deal with that when we get there. Right. It's walk time. Laters. |
Just got home from Oscar's first obedience lesson. I think my brain might explode from all of the information. Obedience classes are as much for the people as they are for the dog. Our trainer, B, was very pleased with how Oscar behaved when we arrived. He's obviously has had some training somewhere, even if it was just at the shelter. He sits well and is very attentive. We spent most of the time just talking about his issues, what we've done, what's worked, what hasn't, etc, etc. After doing some work in the training room, we ventured out into the store to meet some other animals. He lost his mind a few times and barked a lot, but she brought him right under control every time. We even went over to the parakeet cages and did some work there. It took him a few minutes to notice them, but he did his usual behavior when he did. The trainer is almost certain it's not aggression at all, just confusion and over excitement. She's confident, with a lot of work and consistency, he's going to be just fine. I'm still not as sure of this as she is, but I am feeling a bit more hopeful at least. |
I cannot even begin to describe how utterly exhausted I am right now. Lord Oscar has gotten comfortable with the idea of living here with us, which is a good thing. However, it also means he's starting to act up a lot more. He's gotten so aggressive with poor Josie I finally had to segregate them. I used a folding banquet table on its side to divide the upstairs hallway. Now, during the day, Josie will have the run of the guest room, part of the hallway and the bathroom with her litter box in it. Oscar will be able to go in the bedroom, the other half of the hallway and here in the bonus room, if I decide to leave the door open for him. At night, when Oscar is in his crate, we will move the table and Josie will have full run of the house. I hate that we've had to do this, but we didn't have any other choice. The way Oscar went after Josie this afternoon left no doubt in my mind that, given the chance, he will seriously hurt her, which is not something I'm willing to risk. We're going ahead with a block of private obedience lessons. His first class is tomorrow afternoon. His aggression towards other animals (he's even trying to get at the parakeet now) is definitely first on the list of issues we have to address. It's very, very difficult for me to even say this, but, if we can't correct it, I don't know if he's going to be able to stay with us. It wouldn't be fair to Josie to have her live out her days in fear and confined to the guest room. And never mind the bleeding ulcer it would give me. It's only been 36 hours since he joined us so I'm desperately clinging to the hope that we're going to be able to resolve this in time. Let's just hope it doesn't take too long. |
I spoke with someone at the Humane Society and learned a little bit more about Oscar's history today. He was seized from a home due to neglect. I don't remember exactly what the woman said, but I was left with the impression it was a hoarding situation. If he was in a home with a bunch of other animals fighting for everything, it would go a long way to explain his possessiveness about his food and toys. It would also explain why he is so clueless when it comes to walking on a leash and behaving in general. I also spoke with a behaviorist today and I think we're going to take a block of private obedience classes first before joining the gen. pop. of the beginner class. That way, not only will Oscar feel more confident, I will, too. She gave me a few ideas on how to start working with him now so, hopefully, things will continue improving. Unfortunately, Josie has decided that she's no longer willing to sit quietly on her window seat. Every time Oscar is in her line of sight, she's growling and hissing. I realize this is her way of asserting herself so I'm not upset with her. However, it's triggering Oscar and he's losing his mind every time it happens - lunging, barking, the works. Man, obedience classes can't start soon enough. |
Everyone keeps asking me how Josie is coping with having a dog in the house. She's definitely not happy about it, but she's coping. |
For every step forward... Oscar did very well at the dog wash today. He was in such shock about being wet he didn't even notice all of the other dogs and people. However, when we were drying him off, he finally took a look around and started barking a bit. Fortunately, he was pretty much dry so we were able to take him right out of the store before it got out of hand. The rest of the afternoon hasn't been so easy. We stopped by the pet store to pick up a few things and left him in the truck. He got himself so wound up I could barely walk him when we got home. Then, as we were walking, a horse came walking down our street. A horse! I thought he was going to have an aneurysm. Somehow, I managed to get him home. I was hoping he would have a little rawhide chew and lie down for a nap. Wishful thinking. I made the mistake of trying to remove his harness while he was noshing. He thought I was trying to take his snack and came down with what we're calling "the chihuahua crazies" - growling, snarling, acting all aggressive. Even though that's not what I was doing, I couldn't let him think I was backing down so we had to submit him. We got the chew away from him, rolled him over and held him for a while until he calmed down. It sounds horrible, but it's what needs to be done if he's ever going to stop. And this was the second time we had to do it today. We bought him some mini tennis balls at the store, which he loves to retrieve. He's never learned to drop though. Cue more growling and snarling and another submit. Sigh. This poor dog. It really leaves us wondering what's happened to him over the past five years. He's got a lot of issues and needs a lot of training. We picked up the obedience class schedule from the pet store and will be signing up for the next session we can fit into our schedule. We've got a long road ahead of us, but we're determined to do right by him. |
We just had a major turning point with Lord Oscar. He rolled over, exposed his belly and submitted to me without any prompting. He is learning that he is not the alpha anything in this house. Heck, based on seniority, he doesn't even rank above the parakeet. He also gave the cat a good sniff, when she wasn't looking, and didn't go totally berserk like last night. It's amazing what a difference a day makes. I'm slowly starting to feel better about this whole thing. After our showers, we will be taking him to the self service dog wash for his first bath with us. Who knew something so small could smell so bad. P-U! We don't know if they bathed him at all at the shelter. We have no idea how he is going to react to being out, the water, and possibly encountering other dogs/people. It could be a complete disaster, but we have to try. If he isn't coping at all, we'll bring him home. |
AIEEEEEE!!! Someone just tried to poop on the carpet! And it wasn't Mr Moo! We're definitely going to have to work on Oscar's "I need to go outside" body language. Mr Moo said he was playing one second and squatting the next. Fortunately, he was able to get Oscar off the rug and the commotion made him stop going. I immediately took him outside and he did a poop bigger than he is. How does something so small make poops so large?! I'm taking responsibility for this one though. I took him out about an hour ago, but didn't stay out long enough for him to do #2. I should have waited longer. We'll know better next time. |
Well, that was a nice nap. Bleh. I slept for about two hours and now I can't get back to sleep. I'm wracked with anxiety over the dog. I'm worried we've made a bad decision and our lives are about to become a living hell. The few times we've let Oscar get anywhere near Josie, he's growled and wanted to lunge at her, which is a very bad thing. My concern is I'm never going to be able to trust him enough to leave him alone with the cat without fear of him literally killing her. I know we haven't even had him for 24 hours yet, but I'm tired and these are the things that eat away at me in the darkest hours of the night. We've decided to crate him at night for everyone's sake. He was not happy about getting in it, but he eventually settled down and is now sleeping quite peacefully in there. It's a good thing he's getting used to it because, if things with Josie don't improve drastically and soon, he may be spending a lot of nights in there. What have we done? |
From this year's Chick-fil-A calendar, The Bovines in Blue: |
