I received my Ruff Wear order this morning--a bungee leash that wraps around your waist, a new collar for Royal, and one of their soft frisbees. I promptly tried out the leash on a short walk with Brock down to the school and back. He was more anxious than usual today, whining longer/louder at dogs barking in yards, and at 3 of the people we saw. Sign he was due for a walk, and should prob take him out longer and/or somewhere more stimulating tonight.
Got home and let all 3 out in the yard. Played fetch with Alki, Royal played in his pool a bit, and I tried to play a little fetch with Brock but he wasnt too into it. He did dig a little though. After Alki was thoroughly exhausted I put her inside alone to cool down, and played frisbee with Brock (while Royal hung around). He is doing really great, solid retrieves, mostly at about 5-10 ft, but we did one long one (the length of the yard) and he brought it all the way back! Used no treats today so kept it short, used tug as a reward intermittently and for the great long retrieve. He did run at all, and only caught a few in the air that were thrown just right (high enough/close enough). He has a sore muscle in his lower back, keeps crying if one of the dogs, even gently, bumps him. I tried massaging it and might ice it later, but I bet that is part of why he was slow today.
OH GEEZ and Brock was like on super high cat poop alert this morning! GRRRRR So gross!!!!! And infuriating! We havent had any cat poop problems for a long time since I put our short ex-pen around the spot they use as their litter box, but apparently they decided to use these 2 other spots (that they'd used in the past on occasion) last night! GRRRRR. That is something I just cannot handle, it is SO GROSS. And Brock's breath reaks for DAYS after, even if I give him a bunch of biscuits to chew and/or brush his teeth. Its so FOUL. So..that really irritated me today! But all in all the dogs had a nice brisk morning romp, and all 3 are passed out now! (helps that yesterday they had a lot of activity!)
Some photos from last night with the NEW POOL! (that we did successfully find at walmart lol):
"mine."
update:
this afternoon tony played with Brock in the yard a bit. then I played fetch with Alki some more, while Royal hung around, but he was too obsessed looking for cats so I put him inside while Alki finished running. then I let Alki cool down a bit and then we went out front on a leash to scavenge for her dinner. it was getting dark and by the time we finished up the sun had fully set and when we came inside she had over 10 bug bites! I gave her a low dose of steroid in case it was hives or something, dont want it to get any worse. shes been super reactive today and just on edge.. will see how the next few days go. want to walk her tomorrow and fri for sure, see if that makes the difference. also want to be sure Im not over doing her aerobic exercise and adding too much stress.
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8 comments:
We don't have a pool ... I'm not sure we'd want to get our feety-feet wet! You guys sure make it look fun, though!
Luv,
Dave
Woooos! I love woos pool, I used to have one like that, but then I got the big cement pond, which is fun too, although much deeper. tiring sometimes...
~husky kisses~
-Kira The BeaWootiful
I should have had Mom get mine out today!
Woo looked sooooo pawesome playing in it!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
Hmmmm, that pool looks like it could be fun, even if it is wet!
jack a-roo & moo too
that pool looks FUN! Mom absolutely loves all your pictures.
Question though...why would you give steroids for bug bites or even hives? Mom knows they will help, but steriods also have LOTS of bad side effects. It seems like a bit of overkill for bug bites. Wouldn't some benadryl have helped just as well if they were hives?
Maybe there's some history on Alki that she isn't aware of, so just curious.
wags, wiggles & slobbers
Murphydog
hey murphy! that is a good question--first of all, the dose of steroids I gave her was very low (half her dose), and it was only 1 dose. steroids are only dangerous long term and in high doses, and she has never needed them before.
why I decided to use that instead of an antihistamine is basically because of the severity of her reactions. I wasnt even sure if they were bug bites or hives, and the fact that there were so many, and they were so large, and appeared so suddenly, made me a bit nervous. (I worked for my dad, a veterinary dermatologist, for 6 yrs so have seen/dealt with this kind of thing a lot.) I wanted to be sure what I gave her would work, especially since we were going to bed soon, and didnt want to worry that she would get worse during the night. I have seen too many dogs get no relief from hives/allergic reactions like this with antihistamines & need steroids in addition (its not at all uncommon to give steroids for hives, some dogs even need injections if they are severe enough), so decided to just go with a steroid to be sure, and since I was treating it immediately, and it wasnt so severe that she was swelling all over or having her airways closed or anything scary like that, I just gave a very low dose.
and the good news, today the bumps are all gone! I think they were some kind of hive/allergic reaction from snuffling around in the grass last night. :/
thanks Margaret! I used to work as a vet tech in a former life so I am always curious to know why people decide to self medicate when they do. God only knows that I do it myself quite often! :)
Glad to hear she is doing much better, and glad to hear you already knew about the precautions to take with steroids.
I can't get enough of your pictures. You always have such great action shots! I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of "52 weeks for dogs" delivers.
Murphy's Mom
We need a pool like yours! When Mom tried to find us pools up here, all she could find were tiny ones, so we have two.
Kat
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