Another day in the coonhound house…

  By

A little bit about my sweet Bella. She is most likely a puppy mill dog. She seems to have little to no socialization. She is scared of pretty much everything like her own tail hitting something and making a noise.  After having her a few months, she did improve. I got her a doggie friend and she improved even more. I started her on prozac and she continued to improve.  Now she is almost unrecognizable compared to the skinny, scared dog I brought home.

This however, does not mean she is free from anxiety. On the contrary, it is still an everyday presence in our house. Daisy ignores it completely. I try to not baby her when she is freaking in general although she does come to me for reassurance that things are cool.

So, last night I was sitting enjoying Law and Order. I didn’t hear any noise and I didn’t hear Bella leave her crate. I glanced up and what did I see? Yep, Bella scrunched in with Daisy. Daisy had already put herself to bed. I am so glad she is an easy going dog.  I got Bella out and she was shaking all over so I sat on the floor with my hand on her until she settled down. I stood up and was going to encourage her to get into her own crate. She wasn’t having it. After about 2 steps she dashed back into Daisy’s crate.  Like any good mom, I made sure to take a picture before getting her out and into her own crate. As you can see, Daisy was unaffected by it all.

But we both fit!

 

Ode to the Scratching

  By

Daisy itches.

Daisy itches A LOT.  Which means she scratches and chews and licks all the time.

Over the last few months (well, the whole time I’ve had her) Daisy had been battling some allergy issues.  I had tried a grain-free diet.  Then a chicken, beef, and grain/soy free diet.  Then not only was she scratching, but her skin started flaking off everywhere. I tried several medications, including ones from my vet.   I tried Sulfadene shampoo. I treated for possible fleas. Then came the medicated shampoo/conditioner combo.  Nothing really took her symptoms away although some things helped some for a day or so.

This week, we were walking around the lake and poor Daisy kept trying to lift her leg and scratch while walking. In the last 10 days she had also started getting little scabs either from the overly flaking skin, or the biting or something.  To sum it up, my little coonhound had become miserable.

The vet suggested a steroid shot. He promised by tonight or tomorrow morning she would stop scratching. He was right!  She is able to rest comfortably and not scratch and bite. I have steroid tablets to start in a couple weeks. I know steroids have side effects but she is feeling better now.  After this is over I may look into some other medication with less side effects but right now I’m just happy that she can relax.

In other good news Daisy is down to 62 pounds! I think she looks ideal right now.  At 68 pounds you could start to notice her pot belly a bit more.

No one knocked on our door for Halloween....Daisy gave up and went to bed

Halloween Weekend!

  By

Boy did we have a big day today!

It started with a morning in the dog park. The weather cooled off overnight so both girls were pretty frisky.  Daisy ran around the park a lot!  Someone brought a squeaky ball to the dog park.  Now, of course Daisy freaked out! She wanted to kill the ball.

Now, as a side note to all the dog owners out there. If you are going to bring a toy to the dog park you can not assume that your dog will be able to maintain control of it and it isn’t fair to assume that everyone’s dog plays fetch. Daisy loves to chase the ball, but bringing it back isn’t a concept she understands. So don’t get upset when that toy is in some other dogs mouth and they are having fun with it. I don’t allow my dog free access to squeaky toys at home because she becomes possessed and tried to keep them from me, so guess what happens when you bring them into the dog park?

When Daisy finally dropped the ball Bella was right there to try and pick it up. Luckily I caught her by her back legs as she tried to dash off. I walked it back to the owners who huffed out of the dog park.  Daisy looked for the new fun ball for a minute or two but went back to playing with the regular tennis balls.

I let her out on the balcony for a bit.  The downstairs cat was out. Daisy is so funny!  She is so focused on that cat but she doesn’t bay. She get so much energy and her muscles are so tight and her whole body just shakes while she watches it walk around.  Then I gave her a kong with some sticky dog food and dry treats to work on while I got ready for the party.

The party was a lot of fun; it was at a place that does doggy daycare and boarding.  They had snacks  and a costume contest. They also had kiddie pools set up with mini pumpkins floating for “bobbing for pumpkins” contest.  Daisy just looked at the dogs in the water like they were crazy. I think she looked super cute in her t-shirt, what do you think?  We came home and she walked right over to her favorite place and slept for hours!

Looking for a squirrel!