Extreme begging and other dog stories

So, with 9 dogs in our household we have become experts at the beg. They all have it down to a science. The sound of cutlery on china gets everyone’s attention and they all gather around. Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming for the claustrophobics among us. Other times I half expect to hear the theme music to Jaws start to play. We have become accustomed to taking more food than we want simply so we can share with the dogs. Now, everyone here has a different way of doling out the treats. Sometimes it is done by age, or rank in the pack but usually it is by favourites. Yes, we are not perfect, we have favourites. Some dogs, like Mabel, do not have to gather around her treats are brought to her while she lays in her bed covered up by fleece.

Now, on to extreme begging. Mabel also has this down to a science. When she wants food, she stands in the kitchen, barks, opens her mouth, barks, opens her mouth until someone puts something in it. It is very effective:

Having had success, here is Mabel eating her chicken:

Different dogs employ different strategies. Piper relies on her big brown eyes to get what she wants. She uses all of her pug wiles all the time to get her share:

Clio has a little bit of a challenge because she is blind. She can smell the food she just has a hard time finding it sometimes.

Not to be outdone, Sienna has to get in there too:

Now on to some random pictures of the crew. This is Madison laying with Clio and Mollie. Madison is one of the most photogenic dogs we have:

This is MacKenzie at the dikes:

Kiefer at the dikes:

Here is Piper in the classic ‘pug slouch:’

Not to be left out - here is where I found Bella this morning:

Bowling for blind dogs…

Piper has a new game. She spys Cliio down the hall and then runs into her full bore. In short, the pug is an asshole. Poor Clio is blind and can’t see her coming so it is really not fair. I am not sure why the pug is doing this to her except maybe jealousy. Of course, all that happens is Clio then gets more attention and Piper gets in trouble. She likes to harass Mabel too but at least Mabel has the ability to sort of see it coming (Mabel is a little blind and a little deaf). Piper leaves Mollie alone because I think she is not sure what Mollie will do to her. Mollie has this fierce shark attack routine she does where she jumps out of her bed and barks and growls like a demon. What the rest of them don’t know is that Mollie has no teeth. it is really kind of funny. They all think she is crazy and they give her a wide berth. Mollie’s favourite creature to shark attack is the cat. Mollie weighs 7 pounds and the cat about 27 pounds. It is really quite hysterical.

Life with 9 dogs can be very interesting. Sometimes, no most of the time, I feel like a slave. It is like this house is run for the sole convenience of the pets. It is not far from the truth. They go in and out as they would like, they eat when they demand it. Well, Mabel anyway. She barks and we have a Pavlovian response to go and look for chicken. I guess when you are 17 years old and you have a cancerous tumour on your leg you pretty much get what you want. Here is a great pic of Mabel doing her thing:

Mabel really enjoys going out on patrol in the yard. Even if she goes all the way to the back of the yard she seems to find her way back into the house. For a dog who was quite ill when she came here a year ago she is doing just great now. She is bright and alert and doing well on tramadol to manage her pain. She is still very engaged in life (when she is awake) and makes her needs known.

There is never a dull moment when you live with 9 dogs.

Crawling out from under…

Well, it has been a while. As many of you know I have been quite ill with a colitis attack from hell that landed me in the hospital for 12 days. Well, it would appear that was only the beginning. I have spent the last two months weaning myself off the various drugs they started me on in the hospital to try and get this under control. I have been making good progress. I am down from an all time high of 290 mg of slow acting morphine twice a day to 30 mg twice a day and the prednisone is down from 80 mg to 20. It has been very slow going. I am now at the point where I am able to get out and get some exercise and try to rebuild some strength after basically spending 2 months sleeping. The good news is that all colitis symptoms seem to be gone. I am sure this is a result of the imuran (which is an immuno-suppressant). It is thought that colitis is an auto-immune disease whereby the immune system attacks some part of the body (in this case the colon) and toning it down leads to a reduction in symptoms. The large doses of prednisone also do this but I was still having symptoms at 40mg so I am thinking it is the imuran. Let’s hope. I intend to write a whole lot more about this ordeal - most likely in an open letter to the doctor who set this course of action in motion but that is it for now.

Other updates. We have new neighbours who are more worried about us reporting on their barking dogs (and trust me they bark alot) than we are about them. They are also over the limit so we actually feel some security for a change. All the dogs are doing fairly well. Mabel has a cancerous tumour on her leg so we have to keep it covered and give her pain killers. She is now palliative. She has done really well especially given the fact that she was coming here to die a year ago as she was peeing blood and they thought she had bladder cancer. Madison is still struggling with her leg. She has a torn cruciate ligament and you can’t do surgery on a 14 year old dog for a torn cruciate so she is on meds and anti-inflammatory and a pain killer. Kirby is great. The punk (AKA Piper) lost her toilet training for a brief bit of time but that seems to be over now. Molly is great still doing her stretches. Clio still does not know she is a dog but that is ok. Keifer is a big pain in the ass. Mackenzie has been making Deb crazy getting her up in the middle of the night to pee and not coming in. Sienna has singlehandedly convinced 4 home care nurses that pitbulls are the best dogs in the whole world. She is a great breed ambassador. I sure hope I have not forgotten anyone!

This last several months have been rough for us. I have been sick since November. We also found out that Deb has MS. She may also have rheumatoid arthritis. It never fails to amaze me that no matter what confronts us we deal with it and come out stronger the other side. After almost 10 years together we have discovered cuddling. We cuddled before but not like now. It is a daily thing and we go to bed early just so we can cuddle and talk. It seems we fall more deeply in love with each other everyday. I feel very blessed.

My life with an almost 2 year old Pug

So, it would appear that Piper has hit the terrible twos. She officially turns two at the end of November. She appears to be taking the terrible twos to a new level. Lately, she has been horrible. She would rather eat grass than pee in the morning. Now, when it is not raining this is annoying enough but in the rain it is almost intolerable. I am not sure why she thinks she needs to be a cow but last time I checked pugs don’t graze. I have had to put her back in her crate twice in the last couple of days as she just won’t cooperate. One does not want to let her roam the house until she has gone outside. It seems like this sets her behaviour for the day.

So, once she pees and is given freedom in the house and then the asshole behaviours start. She harrasses Molly (17 year old pom). I guess she enjoys the shark attack. Then she is on to Mabel - who she likes to chase around the house. Sometimes Mabel will play with her but I don’t think she is to into it right now given that she just lost 11 teeth and had a mass removed. Then there is poor Clio. Piper has dragged Clio around by her tail since she was 6 weeks old. Clio is blind and brain-damaged and it is truly unfair. We came up with a strategy that basically involves put the pug into a time out. I have done that the last couple of days. I really, really, really hope this behaviour passes soon!!!

Other dog updates - Mabel came through her dental and mass removal with flying colours. She was eating chicken and most importantly barking for chicken within 2 days. She is totally back to herself now, bright-eyed when she is awake, sleeping hard and going for her walks in the yard. Molly is well and is stretching more for us now. She is hysterical - she will go into a whole stretching routine when she wants attention. Everybody else is doing really well too.