Puppy Saga Continues
The list of things this little puppy ingested is unbelievable! Got up one morning to find 1/2 of one of my beautiful, cozy moccasins GONE. Just. Like. That. Called the vet and was told what to watch for...bring her in if her elimination pattern changed or she started throwing up. Never saw it come out - I didn't know that suede was digestible. She ate our wooden windowsills - all the windowsills in the house had matching corners neatly chewed off....teeth marks making a new design in each one. As she grew bigger and was able to stay in the yard by herself for outings, she would chomp on whatever the backyard had to offer in the way of culinary delights -- bricks, sticks, rocks, tree branches, raspberries (thorns and all), dead birds; once she chowed down on a toad. I didn't realize it 'til I went out and saw her foaming at the mouth -- looked around and found remains of a toad that she had spit up when the toad released its toxins. I had read about that, so wasn't overly concerned -- watch her, make sure she's eliminating properly, not throwing up. She was okay. This pup had a cast-iron stomach! The older gentleman behind us just loved this pup and roared with laughter as he told about seeing her go up and down the raspberry bushes, never stopping to spit out the thorns, or laying down with a brick and just chewing it up. It's not like she didn't have anything to chew on...she had Kong toys, balls, rawhide chews but it was never enough. Eventually, I took to bringing out large bowls of lightly-chopped icecubes for her and that worked quite well. She thought they were treats and they kept her busy long enough for me to do a sweep of the yard. We also noticed that little by little, the beautiful bed Greg had made for her was getting chewed up -- really chewed up. Tried to put a blanket over the edges, but more and more slivers of wood found their way to the floor until the bed looked like it had been put together by a crazy diy'er. Wherever we walked, I had to watch out for other animal droppings -- cat, dog, goose, bird, rabbit, once even human leavings -- they were all fair game to her. She stopped eating her own feces when she became housebroken; before that, she'd eat the evidence, leaving just tiny bits around so we'd know she had done her job. Used kleenex tissues - someone would be walking ahead of us, blowing their nose, drop the tissue and she'd immediately run and grab it -- gone before I could kick it out of the way. I sure wasn't going to pull that out of her mouth! I also refused to pull half-eaten field mice out of her mouth. She could dive into the largest snowdrift, burrowing down until only her tail was visible and come up with a mouse, which she appeared to swallow whole. Yuck! (Well, yes I HAVE heard of training a dog to "Drop It" -- I just never acquired that teaching skill.) As she got older, she let go of the little stuff but developed a more sophisticated palate.
We had a grape arbour in the backyard and when the grapes fell off -- she attempted to eat one, obviously didn't like the texture and spit it out. They became her new toy -- she'd pick one off the ground or off the vine, toss it in the air, and run to catch it before it hit the ground. Had fun with that grapevine! We had to put a fence around our strawberries and Greg's vegetable gardens -- she wasn't a jumper, so a three foot fence was enough to keep her away. I had several flower and herb gardens that I had spent a few years working on. I was glad to discover she wasn't interested in eating these, as some might have poisoned her. She was obviously of the same mind because every time I planted something new, she'd come along behind me and dig it up. If it was a well-established plant that suddenly got in the way of her shade, she'd just dig it up and toss it aside. Eventually, I decided to let the gardens go. Neighbours for blocks around came to pick out their favourite plants and off they went to enhance their gardens. (My gardens had long been the centre of attention when, each spring folks would stop around to see what was sprouting in Bev's garden this year. Sometimes ornamental corn so tall it could be seen three streets over; sometimes wild flowers so brilliant and tall or huge dinnerplate dahlias, giant brilliant sunflowers - it varied from year to year. Until, of course, Neea-Kha came of age.)
She loved to dig. The centre garden had been the resting spot for a 15' diameter pool until we decided, months after moving in, that it was just too much trouble to keep up. The beach sand underneath the pool was perfect for growing a multitude of plants. It also made the perfect spot for a dog to cool down in. I was sure she was digging a hole to China. I was scared to walk in it at dusk -- all I needed was to stumble into one of those cavernous pits and I'd never be heard from again! Fleet-footed Neea-Kha knew her way over every inch of that terrain. Lucky her!
She was a very dignified, prim little puppy and retained that dignity her entire life. Housebroke herself by three months old in spite of those 13 hour days she was alone. Never, ever did her business on the sidewalk -- even to pee; she'd head to the nearest clump of grass to squat. Even better when we walked on the trails - she'd veer off to the deepest bush. Checked with the vet on the poison ivy thing and he told me that dogs very seldom react to it; with her double coat, chances were slim; told me what to watch for.
Never heard that little dog bark until she was about three months old. One quiet evening we were playing ball with her on the kitchen floor. All of a sudden she ran over to the window and let out such a deep bark. I was shocked at how deep and loud it was. I guess I expected if she was going to bark, it would be as dainty and lady-like as she was. Wasn't even sure what she barked at but from that day forth, she had found her voice. Took her a while to catch on to "bark and stop", but she got pretty good at it eventually. The exceptions were the times when there was imminent danger. One night we had put her outside in the early evening, just starting to get dark. We heard her bark, looked out the window and didn't see anything -- told her to stop barking but she just kept it up. Greg went out and when he came in with Neea-Kha, his face was white. Said as he went out he saw two large dogs, creeping up -- stalking her-- from the side neighbour's back yard. When he walked by the shed, the sensor light came on and the dogs ran away. Scared the heck out of him. Later that night he reflected that he didn't think she would be an outdoors-only-dog after all. Said she was probably too used to the house by now and wouldn't be happy out there all the time. I wisely held my tongue - hmm was all I said. It was just as well, she wouldn't go into that dog house if you placed a package of treats in there. She too, had her ways of making a point!
My baby pup was growing up quickly -- almost time to do grown-up stuff with her...
We had a grape arbour in the backyard and when the grapes fell off -- she attempted to eat one, obviously didn't like the texture and spit it out. They became her new toy -- she'd pick one off the ground or off the vine, toss it in the air, and run to catch it before it hit the ground. Had fun with that grapevine! We had to put a fence around our strawberries and Greg's vegetable gardens -- she wasn't a jumper, so a three foot fence was enough to keep her away. I had several flower and herb gardens that I had spent a few years working on. I was glad to discover she wasn't interested in eating these, as some might have poisoned her. She was obviously of the same mind because every time I planted something new, she'd come along behind me and dig it up. If it was a well-established plant that suddenly got in the way of her shade, she'd just dig it up and toss it aside. Eventually, I decided to let the gardens go. Neighbours for blocks around came to pick out their favourite plants and off they went to enhance their gardens. (My gardens had long been the centre of attention when, each spring folks would stop around to see what was sprouting in Bev's garden this year. Sometimes ornamental corn so tall it could be seen three streets over; sometimes wild flowers so brilliant and tall or huge dinnerplate dahlias, giant brilliant sunflowers - it varied from year to year. Until, of course, Neea-Kha came of age.)
She loved to dig. The centre garden had been the resting spot for a 15' diameter pool until we decided, months after moving in, that it was just too much trouble to keep up. The beach sand underneath the pool was perfect for growing a multitude of plants. It also made the perfect spot for a dog to cool down in. I was sure she was digging a hole to China. I was scared to walk in it at dusk -- all I needed was to stumble into one of those cavernous pits and I'd never be heard from again! Fleet-footed Neea-Kha knew her way over every inch of that terrain. Lucky her!
She was a very dignified, prim little puppy and retained that dignity her entire life. Housebroke herself by three months old in spite of those 13 hour days she was alone. Never, ever did her business on the sidewalk -- even to pee; she'd head to the nearest clump of grass to squat. Even better when we walked on the trails - she'd veer off to the deepest bush. Checked with the vet on the poison ivy thing and he told me that dogs very seldom react to it; with her double coat, chances were slim; told me what to watch for.
Never heard that little dog bark until she was about three months old. One quiet evening we were playing ball with her on the kitchen floor. All of a sudden she ran over to the window and let out such a deep bark. I was shocked at how deep and loud it was. I guess I expected if she was going to bark, it would be as dainty and lady-like as she was. Wasn't even sure what she barked at but from that day forth, she had found her voice. Took her a while to catch on to "bark and stop", but she got pretty good at it eventually. The exceptions were the times when there was imminent danger. One night we had put her outside in the early evening, just starting to get dark. We heard her bark, looked out the window and didn't see anything -- told her to stop barking but she just kept it up. Greg went out and when he came in with Neea-Kha, his face was white. Said as he went out he saw two large dogs, creeping up -- stalking her-- from the side neighbour's back yard. When he walked by the shed, the sensor light came on and the dogs ran away. Scared the heck out of him. Later that night he reflected that he didn't think she would be an outdoors-only-dog after all. Said she was probably too used to the house by now and wouldn't be happy out there all the time. I wisely held my tongue - hmm was all I said. It was just as well, she wouldn't go into that dog house if you placed a package of treats in there. She too, had her ways of making a point!
My baby pup was growing up quickly -- almost time to do grown-up stuff with her...