Thursday, June 28, 2007

Still outside

Well, Bubby has been staying outside without incident. We have been having a lot rain and she goes to the corner of the yard and stays under the tarp. She hasn't gotten too soaked. She comes in for dinner and likes to go out with me for walks. I have taken her for a run the past 4 mornings and she seems to do okay there though she can get spooked but doesn't pull at me hard when she kind of jumps at the end of the leash.

I started trying to take Bubby places as part of the 12 environments in 14 days training that Dana promotes. We went to a park on Tuesday and we went to a different park by car yesterday. Today,I was just too tired to get her out and about. Tomorrow, I think we will try another park and then on Saturday we have Petco.

She wanted to play this evening and I just am not sure how she likes to play. I haven't had any luck with her and a ball or frisbee. There is a soft pull toy with a squeaker in it that she likes. I squeaked it and she played tug a little with it in the house and then went to the door to ask to take it out. I didn't want it outside so squeaked it and threw it into another room. She finally went and got it, but fetch isn't her thing. She is still a bit timid in the house. Perhaps if I get the crate out of the dining room, that might help. She took the toy to the back door again and was jumping up and rearing up on her hind legs like she really wanted to take it out and play so I let her but she just ran out and then ran over to a muddy spot and lay down with the toy. I collected the toy and brought it back in, it is not a good backyard toy.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Saturday and Sunday at the shelter

Well, things seem to be going much better with the understanding that Bubby wants to be an outside dog. I keep the pond full of fresh water, I have a shade area setup in the corner of the yard where she likes to lay and I leave her out whenever I am not here or when she starts getting antsy. I took her to the shelter on Saturday afternoon and she did well in the outside run and seemed fine also in the indoor run. She almost jumped up in the car when we left the shelter, but just put her feet up and didn't jump. I took her by the Petco on the way home to pickup some food. On Sunday, I took her to the shelter again and left her there for while I did some stuff and she was fine outside and also when she was taken in and put in a large wireframe crate in the infirmary. On the way back from the shelter, she hopped up into the car by herself. She has been doing well working on her obedience outside. She does her down when outside, but just rolls over onto her back for belly rub.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Outdoor dog

Through numerous emails back and forth with Dana (thanks Dana),I think we are ruling out separation anxiety and are focusing on Bubby just having some negative association with being inside the house and being anxious in the house and wanting to be essentially an outside dog. Bubby's energy level is up from her being on the mend from HW treatment. Tomorrow is 6 weeks and she is supposed to be "okay". I have started to take her for walks on the leash and she seems to do very well there. She has nice leash manners and is holding her tail up and not tucked under so that is a positive sign. She does get a bit scared when dogs on the other side of fences bark at her, but she is doing better with that. I started working on Sit and Come. She sits quite well for a treat in the house and has already figured out that she has to sit for the leash at the front door, but she doesn't seem to be confident enough inside to do the come training. I did it outside on the back deck last night and she gave me good eye contact and pretty well came to me (I only moved from one bench to the other), but she didn't come and sit. Not a bad first start.

I guess it is just a bit of a different thing for me to have an outside dog. She spends most of her time in the yard. She comes in to eat and will hang out inside a bit, but spends all day and sleeps out at night. I setup a tarp in the corner of the yard where she lays against the fence when it is raining to provide her cover and it will be interesting to see how it holds up in the rain.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Saturday at the shelter / Sunday in the rain

Saturday was my monthly Petco adoption day. Since Bubby theoretically has 1 more week of "quiet" time (not sure how that can happen) and she is having some behavior issues, I decided it wasn't a good thing to take her. I discussed it with Monica and she thought I should bring Bubby by the shelter to see how she would do with a confident dog as a run-mate. I brought her by and left her in the large play area out back and went off to my adoption day. When I came back, I heard she did fine in there and then they needed the area for a "meet and greet" with a pair of dogs and they went to get her and she rolled over. The volunteer who tried to get Bubbette didn't know what to do so went for help from Monica and somehow they got Bubby to get up and move. They didn't know what specifically they did, so I didn't learn the trick to doing it instead of lifting her up.

It is 6:20 on Sunday morning now. Bubby came to see me upset about 5:40 and I heard the rain. In my groggy state, I went to let her out so she could do her business in the rain and come back in. Well, she didn't come back in. What to do, I thought. I went and switched into a swimsuit and flip flops and went to see where she was. I found her just laying there along the back fence line as calm as can be. As I approached her, she rolled over to show me her belly, but I declined to give her a rub. I figure, a little rain won't hurt her, she needs a bath anyway, so I am just hanging out here waiting to see when she decides to come inside. The wait is killing me. I have the urge to go try to coax her inside, but she does seem to be relaxing out there as far as I could tell and everything I read about thunder/lightning (which we aren't having, just plain old rain), says that you should make a "safe - place" for the dog and let them go there. Since she didn't look panicked out there in the rain, I guess it is best to just let her be there.

Friday and some time outside

Friday I worked the morning from home. Bubby seemed okay most of the morning but when she seemed to be getting a bit anxious, I let her out and she went and hung out (laid down and just hung out) by the side fence. I thought that was fine until I started to hear a bit of thunder. I went and picked her up and brought her in just in time for a downpour. I gave her 2 benadryl and she was fine for a while. She wanted to go out a bit after the storm and when it was time for me to leave to go by the office for a bit, I just left her out and told Ben to let her in later. No problems there (other than me waking Ben up which didn't sit well with him).

Thursday and the crate

Well, based on the problem behavior, I figured the only alternative was to crate Bubby. I crated her when I left Thurs. morning and Ben let her out when he got up. Everything seemed fine there. I came home early to take him for a haircut and after finishing my last conf. call, I put her in the crate so we could run him over to the haircut place and to shop for dinner. Our friend Lori was coming over for dinner with us and she called to say she got to the house when we were finishing our shopping. When we got home, she told us that she found Bubby making a lot of noise and struggling to try to get out of the crate. The crate is one of those really big plastic ones that I got from the shelter and it had a little crack at the front bottom. Well, Bubby had started chewing on it and made the crack somewhat bigger and cut her mouth and bleed in the crate (you know how mouth cuts are, blood seems to get everywhere) in the process. There were bloody footprints all over the freshly cleaned house (it was cleaning lady day) and blood all in the front of the crate to clean up. So much for crating her.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Could I be any more stupid

Bubby was fine Monday and Tuesday when I left her home and Ben wasn't up and I just figured the window sills all happened one time and it was just a fluke. I left the house at 7am this morning and Ben called about 10:30 to tell me that Bubby had woken him up because she was eating the mini blinds in the computer room. That was the only room open in the back of the house. That is where she has been spending all her time during the day with Ben. Yeah, fool me twice, I know. Well, I have an email into Dana about the behavior. I tried to get Bubby interested in puzzles in the kong and in another rubber toy with food in it but she just wasn't interested. There are lots of "chew" toys around, but she is obviously bothered by something. The mini blinds were pretty cheap and had a few kinks in them and could have used to be replaced. The loss of the blinds will actually be easier to deal with than the window sills. I think I can sand down 1 of the sills, but the other 3 will take a bit of woodworking to make serviceable or will need new pieces cut.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The plot thickens

A new piece of data and don't know where it fits in the timeline. When I came home from diving yesterday, I noticed a small chunk of wood on the floor in my bedroom. A closer look showed that Bubby had chewed to various degrees (teeth marks up to chunks taken out) 3 of the window sills in my bedroom. The problem is, I didn't do a close inspection of them when I found the well chewed up one in the laundry room on Friday. For all I know, they could have been chewed up at the same time since I always have my bedroom open. Likewise, for all I know, they could have been chewed up previously. I would guess that the cleaning lady would have said something and the last time she came was a week ago. So, we have more chewing and not sure when. I don't think it happened yesterday between the my leaving for diving and Ben getting up later in the afternoon because I gave Bubby 2 benadryl and she had multiple chew toys, but it could have. This could be separation anxiety related and Ben gets up pretty late in the afternoon after staying up so late playing online games. There was a window of time while I was gone and he wasn't up. I think that today I will give her a couple of benadryl and crate her while I am gone diving and Ben can let her out when he gets up. She has a raw hide, a pigs ear, and a ham bone to chew on, let's hope that if she gets the urge, that she opts for one of those things.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Vet visit

Bubby and I visited the vet this morning and she looked at the broken tooth. She pointed out to me that the top incisor comes right across it and the other bottom canine and that the other bottom canine is cut into from the incisor. She suggested that the broken one was probably cut into also and predisposed to break. She didn't think we needed to do anything for the tooth except watch it. She said if the pulp in the tooth becomes inflamed, it will be painful for the dog and the tooth will look pink. That would be an indication that we need to do something. In the interim, she thinks that the tooth is starting to recalcify and cover over the spot. The doctor said that we could put a sealant over the spot, but that it was likely to be knocked off in general usage.

The doctor's bigger concern was what started the episode that had Bubby chew up the window sill and break a tooth. She noted that Bubby is overly nervous. I told her that she has been a "panter" ever since she came to us and we didn't have a history on her before she was dumped at the shelter. The doctor suggested that we needed to treat whatever was causing her to be so anxious. She said that we could try 2 Benedryl tablets to make her more relaxed or that she could prescribe valium. She also mentioned that we could try some anti-depressants though she warned that it is hard to find the right thing. Overall, I am not sure how to proceed on this one. I don't think that benedryl or valium on a regular basis is something that an adoptive owner is going to want. I think it is time to consult a behaviorist.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Broken Tooth

Last evening, while I was sitting at the table playing cards with Bubby standing next to me panting (she is a panting machine), I noticed that she had a canine missing. Looking closer, she seems to have broken off the top of her bottom right canine fang while chewing up the window sill in the laundry room. I went back there to investigate a little further and found the missing piece on the floor. I did a little searching online and it appears she will need some dental work. I sent an email to the shelter to let them know and I need to get a call into the vet today. I touched the tooth in her mouth and she didn't seem to be in pain, but it has to be taken care of soon so that it doesn't become a problem. She is still eating, so it must not be a big issue for her, but don't want the pulp of the tooth to become infected and carry the infection down into the bone of the jaw.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Full Disclosure

Don't know what was going on today, but seems a bit high strung. Ben was home playing on the computer all day, though he probably got up in the afternoon and I left for the day at 8:30. When I got home this evening at 5, I went to put the dirty laundry I had left in my room into the laundry room and I found that Bubby had chewed up the wood on the window sill in there. This is the first incident that we have had with her. She did a number on the sill which is only about a foot off the ground. I will have to trim it off and sand it down or maybe just replace it. I don't know what got into her, but as I walked to the front door to let a guest in, I noticed that she had been drooling in the front windowsill (which is only about an inch off the floor). She must have seen something out there today that upset her. The window sill in the laundry room is at the same height as the ones all over the house, so I don't think it is an access thing. She regularly has access to them all over the house. There must have been something outside that got her riled up. I don't know why Ben didn't check on it. He seemed to know something was up because he told me she had been bugging him all day and asked what she was doing there in the laundry room. Oh well, a little bit of fix it work and this will be patched up. I guess I need to keep the front bedroom and laundry room doors closed.

Monday, June 4, 2007

3 weeks and counting

Bubby is still doing very well. No signs of side effects from the heartworm treatment. This past weekend was 3 weeks since treatment and her energy level is good. I worry that she gets too excited when I come home. She still needs a few more weeks of quiet time. She spends almost all day just lying in the hallway or a back bedroom hanging out, so that is good. She will be ready to get out of the house on 6/22. I have a few things I already know she needs to work on. She doesn't like the car. Little wonder in that she was dumped at the shelter, brought here, taken for heartworm treatments all in her last car rides. When she is good to go, we are going to take some car rides to the park, to the Petco for treats, etc. She needs some good associations with car rides. She could also use some training. She is very sweet and she can sit on command, but I don't know that she has any other commands. While she recuperates, I think it best to leave that alone, but when she is better, I will work on down, come, etc.