Random

I am remiss; on August 27th, it was Shassi's 14th birthday. Happy Birthday, Shassi! And here's me playing with Photoshop...

Travelling Tierce

Last week's tragedies are, blessedly, water under the bridge. Tierce's limp is well-nigh gone and he seems to have forgotten all about the evils of wasps.

We went up to Port Alberni on the bicycle last Friday together. I have rigged up the trailer to carry him safely with the help of a VestHarness attached to a coupler that snaps on to the D-rings inside the trailer. He was a very good puppy for the trip!

He did get overwhelmed by all the kids at the SCA event that we went to. My boyfriend had brought his crate and ex-pen up in the car, so he had a secure place to stay when things just got too much.

I loved having Tierce at the event, but dogs require a LOT of care at SCA events (or any event that people go to in the high summer).

- frequent visits to fresh, clean water
- appropriate food and limiting the amount of "junk"
- ready access to shade
- SUPERVISION, especially when the event features a lot of kids running around
- a cool, private place to escape to when Puppy needs to unwind.
- Constant control. A dog should never be running loose at an event. Period.

We had one problem with a MinPin running up to Tierce and attacking him. Not that I was worried about Tierce, but I certainly didn't want him associating dogs running up to him with pain and aggression. People who coddle their little dogs really piss me off because then the little guys think they own the world and become hell on four legs. Luckily, the little dog was mostly kept on a lead for the rest of the event (but still managed to break free twice) and we mostly didn't have any further problems. The Bearded Collie who also attended was a 5 year old female who had no patience with puppy antics and, although she was polite, she made it clear that she was not to be pawed about. Which is good, since Tierce needs to be taught not to be rude.

Tierce passed his puppy preschool with flying colours :) We're going to enter him in the next class in September.
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Not a happy camper

On the evening of July 30th, 2007, the air was rent by shrieking. Tierce had been running around the yard on his last run of the night. We didn't see exactly what happened, as he was at the other end of the yard and it was dark out, but he came limping towards us, favouring his right front leg. Examination proved that he had no cuts or abrasions, no painful areas and that he had a full range of motion. We put him to bed immediately in his crate.

In the morning, he was still lame and in pain, so I called the vet and received the instruction to watch him for the next day or so and to bring him in if he was not improving. He improved rapidly, which leads us to believe that he wrenched his shoulder and pulled a muscle. We are keeping him quiet.

However, on a sedate visit to the yard to perform his ablutions, the air was once again filled with shrieks and screams. A wailing puppy with a bump on his nose and a couple angry wasps trying to burrow into his fur to sting him lay crying on the ground. I ran to him and killed the insects, but his nose is puffy. He is going to spend another quiet day, even a quiet week, inside his ex-pen.

Oh, and his latest trick - learned during his injury - is jumping to the top of the ex-pen and levering himself over. Now I have to roof it with a tarp. Yay.

I feel more sympathy with mothers of toddlers now than I ever have before.