The storm season began early this year! We had thunderstorms last night and Chipper kept me awake. I put him on Solliquin pills a week ago and apparently the effects can take up to 30 days to show an effect. Last year I had used Harmonease, which is no longer produced, so my vet gave me Solliquin.
Do you have a fraidy dog?
When Cassie arrived at our house at just under 8 weeks of age, she woke me up every night, whining and scratching at her cage. I thought she had to pee, so I’d carry her out into the frozen backyard. Cassie refused paper training, having been house broken before I adopted her.
To warm her up, I’d put her under the covers in my bed with me for a few minutes before placing her back in her cage—a big mistake I know. But she was a tiny puppy and needed comforting. Every night, like clockwork, she’d wake me up. I expected this for the first week or two, but when it dragged on for a month, I wondered what was going on.
Chipper had his teeth cleaned by the vet for the first time at the end of June. He’s an eleven year old cocker spaniel who never drooled much unless you held a piece of bacon in front of his nose. The vet had removed a few small front teeth, but nothing major so I was baffled as to why there were puddles of drool next to the table when my husband and I ate dinner—not just for a few days after surgery, but for months. Chipper even drooled in his sleep, waking up with slobber all over the side of his face—a mess!
Cassie, my Springer Spaniel, never liked my boss ever since he tried to pick her up incorrectly when he first met her. He placed his hands around her upper back by squeezing her chest under her front legs (the armpit method). Cassie jumped away from him and never let him even attempt to pick her up again. Although there may have been other reasons that she disliked him, her first impression stuck after that attempt to pick her up.
Chipper, my cocker spaniel, rubbed the left side of his face everywhere, on my legs, the kitchen cabinets, even on the asphalt driveway. He would scratch at his face, but not to the point of damaging the skin, so I couldn’t tell exactly where he itched.
He drooled puddles of saliva while he sat patiently hoping for a tidbit while my husband and I ate dinner. I frequently grabbed paper towels to wipe a string of slime from his jowls. Every morning I used a fine-toothed comb to remove most of the dried gook, which collected on his neck and the inside tip of his long droopy ear. His white jaw and neck developed a brown stain. Chipper normally wasn’t such a drooly, itchy dog.
Taffy, my sister Karen’s 14 year-old cocker spaniel, panted with rapid shallow breaths. Something was wrong with the old dog. Taffy refused to go outside or eat treats although she drank a bit of fresh water. Karen thought Taffy was suffering from the heat since it was a very warm day in northern California. But it had been this hot before and Taffy hadn’t had any problems.
Dogs love to work—especially if they share a job with their owners. They couldn’t be happier following you around all day while doing your daily tasks, and most dogs love to learn. Although dog assistance programs now abound, I have chosen to support these two programs.
On Sunday, August 7th, my youngest cocker, Buffy, and I will be attending DogFest in Oakbrook, Illinois, a CCI fundraising event.
