The continuation of the first day of the rest of his life.
Our first twenty four hours with the "dog" aren't up yet. The night went well. He did not break out of the barricade (it was really not very substantial it was just enough to give him the idea he needed to stay put). The Thunder and lightening were continuous through the night. I left the porch light as if he was a child. I figured he was in a strange place with strange things going on. I didn't want him spooked.
Our first twenty four hours with the "dog" aren't up yet. The night went well. He did not break out of the barricade (it was really not very substantial it was just enough to give him the idea he needed to stay put). The Thunder and lightening were continuous through the night. I left the porch light as if he was a child. I figured he was in a strange place with strange things going on. I didn't want him spooked.
We got up several times through the night and looked out to see if he was still around. Morning came and it was still raining hard. I knew he had to get out and do his business. I haven't mentioned this dog is the king of slurping water.
When I opened the barricade I had his breakfast in hand, it was readily inhaled, but before he would touch it he had to "nurse lovingly" on my hand. I commented to Hunny about it, I told him I noticed yesterday he wouldn't eat till I petted him and told him it was okay to eat.
I came in the house looked out to see what was next. I didn't know how he would react to freedom. When he finished eating he ran out into the rain, did his business and started walking around. I went out and called, "Here boy". His ears perked up and he came running. That was when I realized he already had a name.
When I loaded him in the car I had told him, "That's a good boy. He was responding well to "Boy". I dubbed him "Boychik".
"Boychik" is a Yiddish term of endearment meaning "Little Boy"
He, by no means, is a little boy. At this moment we think he was about 55 skinny pounds.
Yesterday afternoon after I called the local Vets I made a sign and put it at the end of the drive. It said simply:
FOUND LARGE DOG
PHONE NUMBER.
I didn't want to put any info because I was afraid people would say he was theirs. I was afraid of the medical research dog nappers and people interested in fighting with dogs. We had several calls immediately. When I answered and they said what did you find? I asked them, What sex is your dog? Then, What color is your dog? If answered correctly I asked them, what breed is your dog? If they answered that correctly I asked what special markings does he have. We had only one Pit bull caller who made it to the markings, and they said theirs had a black muzzle.
At nine on this morning I called my Vet. He is about 10 miles away so I knew the dog was probably not from his area but I wondered what I could do for all the ticks he was covered with. He commented, "I am headed out that way this morning, open the gate and I'll stop by and give him a rabies shot."
I said, "We aren't keeping him. I can't afford a house call and a shot for a dog I am not keeping."
He said, "The shot's not for him it is for you. If he snaps at someone you'll be protected."
Doc showed up about lunch time and I had leashed "Boychik". I remembered even though our aged dogs knew the vet, I had to have them contained. They hated his visits. Boychik was upset seeing him, not because he was a Vet, but because he was a man. He started shaking violently when he took his leg to give him the rabies shot.
Doc said, "He's a great looking Pit bull, just about a year old". (I said, "I know, he still frogs." ) He said he looked purebred and asked about his temperament. I told him he acted like he was abused but we had seen no aggressive moves. Doc headed out and I stood around watching the dog sniffing his surroundings. He ran under the deck and was roaming around under there for about 10 minutes. When he came out he ran up to me and his cheek was swelling up. It looked like he had a whole grapefruit in the side pocket. Doc had called me on his cell phone just before he came out. I hit redial and told him what was happening. It looked like he had been snake bit. We live in the trees and rocks and snake bite is something to be expected.
OUR HOUSE WHEN IT WAS BEING BUILT.
YOU COULDN'T TAKE THAT PICTURE NOW.
THAT'S THE DECK HE WAS ROAMING UNDER.
I have Lupus and he knew I took Prednisone for it. He asked me if I still had some I said yes. He told me give him 20 mg and if I had some Benadryl to give him 2 of those. He said it was a reaction to the rabies shot that the dog must be allergic. He said let him know if it got worse and if there were no other complications to repeat with 10 mg that night and Benadryl.
The next morning Doc called and asked about Boychik. He said skip the prednisone he'd be out later and give him a shot, but give the Benadryl.
Before he could come out we had an emergency. Boychik was rooting around under said deck. He came running out with something in his mouth. I figured it was a stick. He came up on the deck and laid down and was crunching. I realized it was plastic. It was a plastic scrub brush which was used to clean the bird pans. I had wondered where it had disappeared to weeks ago. I told him to drop it. He crunched down hard. The replaceable head and one handle fell off and he still had the other handle in his mouth. I hollered, "Give it to me." He loved the taunt and what to me looked like a grin, raised his muzzle to the sky and swallowed the handle!
I called Doc and he ran out immediately. I described the handle and showed him the other half and he said we'll try some "Apple Morphine" . I asked what that was he said it will get him to vomit right away. I told him as big as it is I didn't think it would come back up and it had been down for 15 minutes.
This handle is 6 inches long and is clear Plexiglas. It is shaped like an elongated question mark. The round part of the question mark went down last. (the question mark's "c" clamped around the brush). Boychikk started vomiting all that came up was his breakfast. He was in pain from the vomiting but not from the handle. Doc said are you sure he ate it. I replied, positive, I saw it go down. What do we do now? He said to keep an eye on him and if he shows distress we'll decide then. That was a month ago the dog has gained weight and never shown any distress. He has the plastic in his stomach getting polished as it tumbles around. BTW... It has been joined by numerous other objects. This dog will and does chew on anything. (the skirt, corner-pleat, on the couch is non existent now (that's his latest chewing sensation).
We have had two tinkle accidents. He doesn't seem to know to tell us he needs to go. He also does not sniff around and give you an indication he's thinking about it. The tinkle problem isn't the only problem. He adores the cats and they don't adore him. They were used to a 20 lb. Papillion type dog. She was a Dumpee at the gate 13 years ago. This is an article I wrote about her.
http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2011/02/honey-in-snow.html
When he walked past the parrots' cage you never heard such growling. Not from the dog, from the parrots. Then they started screaming. The only dog they had known in our house was the above mentioned dog. They were friends with her and would have conversations with her through the bars.
Boychik seemed to recognize he was a threat to the birds. He flattened right down to the floor and started a sweet whine which sounded like, "Oh my I won't hurt you let me love you."
Our Parrots are Zepher and Mariah. Zepher is always very vocal and seems to understand the spoken word. When he stopped showing off that he was the loudest and strongest he climbed down to the bottom of the cage and went to the bars and cocked his head and said, "Woof woof, puppy dog." Then he started whining in the same tones the dog used and followed the whine with, "Poor Dog".
Zepher was always doing something to attract Honey to come to the cage, I imagine he will do the same thing with Boychik when he gets used to him. That will be quite a while if we can't get him tinkle trained and if we can't get the cats use to him.
This is only Day one...and we aren't planning on keeping him. Remember I am writing this looking back to April 21. He's been with us a little over 5 weeks now.
His swelling on his face has not gotten bigger but it is not getting smaller. He has not gotten sick with the encounter with the scrub brush. It's still raining off and on, very hard and there is to be another night of Thunderstorms. We will barricade him in for the night. He can't come in with all his ticks. The vet says no more tick treatments of any kind till the problem with the allergy from the rabies shot is gone. The only problem is, the weather is very cold. It is 37 degrees and raining. I am worried about him out there.
I didn't mention most of the dogs we have had the last 50 years have been long hair. We have had border collies, shepards, golden/retriever lab crosses, even a coyote we found hit by a car on the side of the highway (She was with us for 17 years). We do not gravitate to short hair dogs.
These are two of our past babies. The one tackling the other is a dumpee who was dumped at a neighbors farm. She was with us 15 years. We enjoyed 18 years with Tippy the border collie who was put out with her constant pestering.
This second evening meds were given, puppy was fed and we did not barricade him in, no storms expected. All day he had not gone further than 40 feet in any direction from the porch. He had no inclination to leave to look for his home. We knew then this dog probably didn't run away, that he was probably deposited at our locked gate.
Day two, brings worries.
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When he walked past the parrots' cage you never heard such growling. Not from the dog, from the parrots. Then they started screaming. The only dog they had known in our house was the above mentioned dog. They were friends with her and would have conversations with her through the bars.
Boychik seemed to recognize he was a threat to the birds. He flattened right down to the floor and started a sweet whine which sounded like, "Oh my I won't hurt you let me love you."
Our Parrots are Zepher and Mariah. Zepher is always very vocal and seems to understand the spoken word. When he stopped showing off that he was the loudest and strongest he climbed down to the bottom of the cage and went to the bars and cocked his head and said, "Woof woof, puppy dog." Then he started whining in the same tones the dog used and followed the whine with, "Poor Dog".
Zepher was always doing something to attract Honey to come to the cage, I imagine he will do the same thing with Boychik when he gets used to him. That will be quite a while if we can't get him tinkle trained and if we can't get the cats use to him.
This is only Day one...and we aren't planning on keeping him. Remember I am writing this looking back to April 21. He's been with us a little over 5 weeks now.
His swelling on his face has not gotten bigger but it is not getting smaller. He has not gotten sick with the encounter with the scrub brush. It's still raining off and on, very hard and there is to be another night of Thunderstorms. We will barricade him in for the night. He can't come in with all his ticks. The vet says no more tick treatments of any kind till the problem with the allergy from the rabies shot is gone. The only problem is, the weather is very cold. It is 37 degrees and raining. I am worried about him out there.
I didn't mention most of the dogs we have had the last 50 years have been long hair. We have had border collies, shepards, golden/retriever lab crosses, even a coyote we found hit by a car on the side of the highway (She was with us for 17 years). We do not gravitate to short hair dogs.
These are two of our past babies. The one tackling the other is a dumpee who was dumped at a neighbors farm. She was with us 15 years. We enjoyed 18 years with Tippy the border collie who was put out with her constant pestering.
This second evening meds were given, puppy was fed and we did not barricade him in, no storms expected. All day he had not gone further than 40 feet in any direction from the porch. He had no inclination to leave to look for his home. We knew then this dog probably didn't run away, that he was probably deposited at our locked gate.
Day two, brings worries.
A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html
Where I have stories of my cats and other pets
a blog about my courtship with my husband,
and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.
A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.
blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,
blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures
Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle
All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.
I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .
Please do not copy without permission
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