Oral Fixation

Apparently the 13 toys we have strewn about the living room are not enough for Zoe. She decided to turn one of our power cords into a chew toy (thankfully the bite marks weren’t deep and we caught it in time, but I still shudder thinking about it). And this morning, as I was fixing a sandwich for my work lunch, I realized that it was too quiet in the living room. She had grabbed one of my shoes and had it between her too front paws. Luckily, it wasn’t past the stage where she was sniffing them vigorously, but I might have done some yelling to let her know that behavior was not cool.

So we need to watch her much more closely around the house, and find more ways to entertain her so she’s not bored. I have to remember that she’s still a puppy even though she was 75 pounds at her last vet visit. For the most part, she’s really well-behaved, but I don’t want her to hurt herself.

We’ve been trying to take her for walks every night, although sometimes we shorten them due to the heat or humidity. And we try to play indoor and outdoor fetch, as long as her short attention span allows.

I bought her an orange ball that you can fill with treats, and as the dog rolls the ball around, the treats eventually fall out. This was one of Abby’s favorite toys. True to form, Zoe has decided that the ball works better as a chew toy, and when she’s had her way with it, she’ll bring it to us to get the treats out for her instead of rolling it around herself. She has us trained well!

Update on the Yellow Lab Pups

All three of the female pups have been adopted. Molly was the first to be adopted– she wasn’t on the adoption floor for more than 2 days. When I was at the Humane Society last Saturday, we were playing with Sally and Jessie in the conference room. It was fun to watch them chase each other around the room. At one point, Jessie was play-biting at the air next to Sally, and it was really cute.

As we were watching them wrestle, someone came in to tell us that someone was interested in Sally. I brought her out to the main adoption area, and sat with a man and a woman and their daughter as they petted Sally and walked her up and down the hallway. They had previously had two Labs and lost them within a couple months of each other. They had been to a couple other shelters that day, but they had heard about the rescued puppies on the Humane Society site and wanted to see Sally. She was really bonding with the young girl, and it was sweet to watch. They took her home, and it was the first time I’d been at the shelter to witness the adoption of one of the dogs I’d worked with that closely. Usually you show up one day and they’ve already gone to their new home. So I got a little misty-eyed as they left.

Jessie moved onto the adoption floor earlier this week, and she was adopted a couple days later. So that leaves Champ, the super shy male pup. I visited him on Thursday, and he was continuing to improve, although at a very slow pace. He’s been moved to a foster home, which I think is probably the best thing for him. He’ll have a quieter environment and he’ll be able to socialize with the same person every day. I’ll miss going to see him, but this will be so helpful for him to overcome his fear of people.

I’ll Tumble 4 Ya

It’s been a pretty eventful week.

Zoe has had this weird growth on the tip of her left ear for a few weeks. We’ve been watching it, just hoping it would go away on its own with the help of a little Bacitracin, but it started getting bigger. I made an appointment for Thursday to see the vet. My timing was excellent, because when she got to the exam room, she had a particularly violent head flop that caused the scab on the growth to break open, and blood was flying everywhere. This would have completely freaked me out had this happened at home.

It turns out that the growth is a histiocytoma, a tumor that generally appears in dogs under 2 years of age. Dr. J said that it will continue to grow for a little while, but then it will start to shrink and should disappear within 6 weeks. He first learned about them when one of his own dogs had a growth on his face. Armed with some Otomax ointment to apply to her ear twice a day, we were on our way home. Zoe doesn’t particularly enjoy it when I put the ointment on her ear, but I reward her with lots of treats so I’m hoping that makes the inconvenience worthwhile for her.

Because my husband has been out of town this week, I’ve been trying to mix up our routine a little so Zoe doesn’t get too lonely. I’ve taken her for lots of extra rides in the car. I wish I had brought her to the Petsmart grand opening yesterday, but I was on my way to lunch with a friend. There were dogs of all breeds in the store– I saw Dachshunds, Golden Retrievers, Labs, Poodles, Schnauzers, and my favorite (of course) was a white Boxer in the toy aisle with a brown ear. I bought her a couple new toys with the $5 coupon I had, to partially make it up to her.

On Friday, after Zoe dropped a load in the yard, she sped around as she usually does, overjoyed to be a little lighter for a few minutes. She started to run toward the stairs on our deck but tripped on the bottom step. Her momentum carried her forward and she ended up doing a complete somersault, landing on her back on the top step of our deck. It would have been hilarious if it wasn’t so scary. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured and I don’t think she was even all that shaken up. She just brushed it off, happily accepted the extra hugs and affection, and trotted inside.

I gave her some Frosty Paws for the first time yesterday. Abby used to love the stuff, and she would bury her snout in the cup until every last bit was gone. Zoe got distracted about halfway through. I emptied the cup onto the concrete at the base of our deck, and she managed to finish most if it off. As I was spraying the concrete to avoid a new ant colony, Zoe started to bite at the water coming out of the hose. She stuck her entire snout into the spray and continued to snap at the water while drinking it. I found the entire thing extremely amusing. She just cracks me up sometimes.

She’s twitching and barking in her sleep as I’m typing this. Cutest thing ever.

Odds and Ends… Mostly Ends

Zoe graduated from obedience class on Monday. In a way, I’m relieved that classes are over. The instructor was great, but I was hoping that there would be larger dogs Zoe could interact with. She had also developed this habit of burying her face in my crotch mid-class to try to rid herself of her Gentle Leader. That was slightly awkward.

Laurie, I’m sure this is the last thing you want to read about today, but I had to share: I was cleaning up the back yard, and Zoe squatted. I use a 2-piece contraption with a rake and a pan, and I placed the pan under Zoe’s butt as she was doing her business. She kept on going, and I was spared from clawing at a soft, gooey mess in the grass. Good work and good timing, Zoe!

Two of the lab pups are available for adoption at the Humane Society today. I’m sad not to cuddle with them, but happy that they’re going to be adopted soon and that they’ll be in a more relaxed environment. The Humane Society is going to screen adopters pretty carefully, to ensure that they end up in the right homes after getting such a rough start. Pictures don’t do them justice, and these pages probably won’t be up for long, but here are Molly and Sally. Molly’s the one who likes to cuddle, and Sally is the more playful one, although they seemed to switch personalities when I was there on Sunday.

Things and Stuff

I decided to run a few errands yesterday before going to volunteer at the Humane Society. Because I had put on no makeup, hadn’t washed my hair, and wasn’t wearing the most attractive clothing combination, I inevitably ran into someone I knew, right? As I was walking out of Kohl’s, cursing under my breath at the woman who had tried to walk into my dressing room as I was pantsless, I saw one of my former supervisors and his son. They were getting some last-minute supplies for a week at the lake. Despite my qualms about my appearance and initial demeanor, it was great to see him and catch up briefly. Our visit made me realize that I’ve really started to miss a lot of things about working at that company, especially the people.

So, on to the reason I was wearing grungy clothes: The Humane Society has some puppies that need socialization, and I was on my way to play with them. There are four yellow Labrador puppies around six months old, and they had spent their entire lives in a barn with little human contact. And they’re absolutely adorable, so it’s painful to see how shy some of them are. They’ve made great progress in the few weeks that staff and volunteers have been working with them, and they should be available for adoption soon. Because we’re working up to the amount of contact and petting we do, they haven’t exactly been bathed yet.

One of the female puppies is a complete cuddle hound. She’ll crawl into your lap and demand head rubs (much like some Boxers I know). Another is really active and just wants to play all the time. She’ll do well with a more active household. The third female puppy is just starting to warm up to people. At first, she was happiest going on short walks around the shelter, but she’s beginning to crave human contact and she even licked my face yesterday. The male puppy has the farthest to go. He wasn’t included in the socialization program initially, and it’s been a huge sign of progress for him to take treats out of our hands. I’m hoping that he’s young enough to overcome his fear of people, and if we continue to make our sessions a positive experience, he’ll come around. The girls all get excited to see us when we enter the kennel area, and someday I hope the male dog will do the same.

When I walk in the door, I am greeted with curious sniffing from Zoe. I’m still a little paranoid about disease even though she’s had her vaccinations, so I’m careful to wash my hands before leaving the shelter, and stepping in the bleach solution they have outside the kennel area to sanitize the soles of my shoes. I always throw my clothes in the laundry and take a quick shower. Then I give Zoe lots of attention so she doesn’t feel like I’m cheating on her with other puppies.

We’re still on the lookout for New Dog #2, but it will probably have to wait for a month or so. Tim has some out-of-town business, and we’d both want to be there for the initial bonding. We have another vacation planned in August, and we don’t want to send New Dog #2 to the kennel without having him in our home for several weeks first. #2 does not indicate his dog status in the house (or an affinity for leaving presents for us in the yard, I hope).

We have a few requirements: 1. Must get along with Zoe. (She’s pretty affable and I don’t think she’ll be too picky, but I want this to be fun for her.) 2. Must be crate trained. 3. Must not be a fan of marking furniture, walls, etc. (We haven’t had boy dogs before, and we’re already feeling a little awkward about belly rubs.) 4. We need to like the dog on its own merits, not just as a companion for our current dog.

I’m feeling a lot less anxious about the search, but I do want to acquire New Dog #2 soon, before we all become complacent with the one-dog status of our family. I think Zoe will ultimately be happier with another friend around, and as a result, so will we.

Lazy Summer

We watched the first episode of Greatest American Dog. I set up a season pass on TiVo, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to stick with it for the entire season. Honestly,  it’s for Zoe more than for me. If she’s paying attention, she knows when dogs are on TV and she’ll stop and watch. But with her short attention span, this lasted for about 5 minutes. It was still extremely cute, though.

Speaking of cute, obviously, we’re rooting for the Boxer (Presley) and his owner. (It also helps that they’re not fans of dogs in costumes.) Their bio notes that Presley’s strength is visual commands, so I’ll have to remember that as I’m working with Zoe. She does know visual commands for sit, down, and stay. I’m not sure if this is a dog-specific thing or a breed-specific thing, though.

Zoe has decided that she’s a lap dog lately. This works out well if she’s not interested in bathing her nether regions, and if she’s not gassy (which happened to me on Saturday when she decided to play butt trumpet on my lap on the bed– at least Tim was amused).

We’re still trying to take her for walks whenever the weather allows. There have been a couple days when it’s been too hot, and a couple others when it’s been raining, but for the most part it’s been decent. We’ve been going around the neighborhood rather than into the woods. It’s a flatter route, but that way she gets to see her human and canine friends more often. There’s a woman who lives in the townhouses close by, and if she’s sitting on her porch she’ll wave and say “hi, Zoe!” It’s one of the highlights of our walk.

Who Are the Boxers in your Neighborhood?

On Monday, my car decided to save fuel by turning off during traffic stops, except that it’s not a hybrid, so it was more scary than helpful. Luckily, it happened when I was close to home so I was able to drive it to our neighborhood garage and then walk home. I had my laptop with me, so I worked from home while Zoe slept on the couch in the office, looking adorable.

When Tim got home, we took a stroll around the neighborhood. There are two boxers living near us. One is white with brown ears, and even though he’s tethered in the front yard a lot of the time, we see him on walks (usually at 6 a.m.) so we know he’s getting some attention.

We also met Colby, a flashy brindle male about a year old. Colby’s owner let the two of them sniff each other and play a little. I was hoping that would calm Zoe down before obedience, but she shifted into play mode, wanting to sniff every dog she saw. She did get a little interaction with the shepherd mix puppy, so that was good.

When she got home, she went into comedy/instigator mode. First she chewed the side of the laundry basket we use to hold her toys. Then she decided to see what was in the garbage can. Finally, when it was time for bed, she jumped up on my side and plopped down in my spot just as I was getting ready to crawl into bed. She must have found a note from our previous dog.