Good News for Rigby

Rigby had a follow up visit to the vet for them to take a skin scrape and see if his skin infection has cleared up yet. The good news is that he is infection free!

The infection really got in the way of us figuring out what exactly he was allergic to since it was tough to know if the inflammation was from the infection or from a reaction to a food. Now when we test foods it will be easier to know if a food is truly okay for him to have.

The bad news is that a certain little puppy in our house is a messy eater and often leaves kibble scattered around his crate. Rigby helped himself to the left overs - a puppy kibble that has both chicken and grain in it - and we now have a flare up going on. The vet prescribed the corticosteroid Temaril, which works well for Rigby and hopefully the uncomfortable flare up will calm down over the next couple days.

To solve this problem in the future, Magill's crate is never left open, even when he isn't in it, and I always try to find any stray kibble he may have left lying around after his meal.

At the vet Rigby was a complete gentleman as usual, ignoring a rude Chihuahua, sitting calmly while being weighed (19.3#), and being very stoic during his skin scrape. To reward him for a job well done he was given a large stick of dried catfish (Honest Kitchen Beams) to chew on while I paid the bill at the end of the visit. He then calmly and quietly relaxed in the doggy car seat for the drive back home. What a good boy he is!

Getting to know the world

People expect dogs to just understand and adjust to quite a bit of things that just aren't part of a dog's normal world.

And while folks are starting to understand that socialization is important, they don't quite get how to properly do that. Just exposing a dog to a person/place/thing isn't enough. It has to be a positive experience or all you do is make things worse by confirming to them that being around "x" is scary.

There is a LOT in this world that a young pup needs to be positively exposed to. Textures, tastes, sounds, places, people of different ethnicities, different forms of transportation. And it's the human's job to give the puppy those good experiences. Puppies are a ton of work - at least they are if you are raising them correctly - and it is one of the reasons I personally prefer older dogs.

As Magill's foster mom it's been my job to get him used to the big world, and even though he is a very confident puppy, some things still are a little scary and take some time to get used to.

He was in the bathroom with me so I could keep an eye on him while I was drying my hair and when I looked down I saw he was a little frightened of the hair dryer. I turned it off, laid it on the ground and let him walk up to it cautiously. Then I put some treats down after he approached if for a few sniffs to reinforce him for being so brave. After he was over that being scary I turned it on low and we started over again. He quickly moved past his fear and loved this game where he got treats for sniffing stuff.

Some folks would think stuff like this wasn't necessary, but if you've ever lived with a terrier who is afraid of their shadow and barks at everything anxiously you know that for both the dog and the humans living with them, acclimating them to things like hairdryers, vaccuums, garbage truckes, buses, etc. is a very important thing to do.

And with a brave little guy like Magill it goes fast - he just needs me to find him the opportunities to try new things. Our next trek will be to the trail that runs through our suburb so he can safely experience bicycles, scooters, skateboards and strollers while having fun at the same time.

It's Tough Work Being a Puppy

We have had a landscaping project going on that requires a lot of excavation work and Magill of course wanted to be right in the middle of the action. He helped by sniffing out good sticks in the dirt that we dug up and carrying them up to the grass to chew on.

Later he gathered all the Nylabones he could find and made sure he chewed on them all.

Then he did some terrier calisthenics...

After a long day of puppy duties, he finally crashed on the couch for some well deserved snoozing time.

It's tough work being a puppy.

More Magill Cuteness

Like most puppies Magill loves toys. He found this old knot toy in the back yard and was so excited! And that meant that he slowed down enough that I was able to snap a few photos of him playing with it. 

"Nom, nom, nom..."

"Huh?"

"I'm NOT eating the toy."

So much cute in this little bundle of energy.

Rigby loves bully sticks!

It was a big deal that we've been able to check beef off a list of things that are okay for Rigby to eat. The reason why is that means he gets to have bully sticks! All my dogs get to chew on bully sticks or compressed rawhide sticks before meals while I'm getting their bowls ready. It serves a dual purpose - it cleans their teeth and more importantly it keeps their mouths busy so they don't bark and carry on while I'm fixing their meals. Rigby was never a complainer but a couple of the other dogs are so it can get loud while I'm fixing meals. 

Rigby absolutely loves these chews and is so happy when he gets one that he runs in his crate, all full of wiggles, waiting for me to hand it over. 

Once we know his skin infection is cleared up then we will be trying out some commercially prepared food in hopes of finding something that will be easier for an adopter to fix for him since not a lot of people want to cook for their dogs.

Poor Little Magill

Today was Magill's neuter surgery and unfortunately there was a complication. He's doing fine now but when they went to get him for me when I was picking him up early afternoon, they noticed he was peeing blood.

The vet requested that we leave him and she planned to re-anesthetize him and open him back up to see what the problem was.

Ends up that she put a stitch through his urethra when she was tying off the stitches. This vet has done a ton of spays and neuters for me and has always had exemplary work with not even any bruising around the surgery site. Mistakes happen and while I am not happy it happened on one of my dogs, I'm not going to throw any fits.

She restitched things, and he is now urinating normally and so far there is no blood in the urine. He's back home and letting us know he's not happy about the confinement. The complication we have to watch for is scarring that can block the urethra. So send healing thoughts to our little boy. He is pretty sore and very much frustrated that I won't let him tear around or give him food yet.

Magill Gets A Bath

Like all new foster dogs, Magill got a bath after he arrived. He actually did really great and sat still while I washed him and didn't attempt any escapes. While his ears and body language told me he wasn't enjoying himself, he didn't seem afraid and once dried off he was immediately back to his silly, sassy, puppy self, much to the older dogs' chagrin.