Hang on, I need to refill the wine glass. Stressful day.
First, Smooch meets her canine cousins. Okay, so, it wasn't a disaster, exactly, but it wasn't great either. 60 lb. (yes, 60 at six months old, and she's as trim and elegant as she can be - just that BIG) Layla came first. I've noted on walks that Smooch is nervous around big dogs, and she had no idea what to make of this giant happy blonde moose. It helped that Murphy screamed with joy and ran over to her to exchange kisses, but still, whoa. 11 lb. Smooch was not sure about this. After a lengthy, cautious intro, we introduced the sharing of the Fishies - goldfish crackers are Smooch's passion - and all three dogs shared individually distributed fishies, one at a time, with nice manners all around. We didn't get to "everybody napping on the couch," but we made nice progress in that direction.
They took the giant happy girl home, and Girl returned with Dudley. Oh, Dudley. My comical, crazy little granddog. It did not go so well. We really couldn't tell if they were ever going to be "safe" with full, free contact, because there was a lot of over-enthusiasm on his side, greeted by nervous snapping and growling on hers, followed by snapping and growling on his, and yet they did act quite happy at times, and she kept trying to get closer to him (we kept him restrained, because, yeah, he's strong and even affectionate over-enthusiasm is intimidating to a wee dog). We did not reach the Bonding over Fishies stage on this visit. Girl is bringing him back on Wednesday, when, hopefully, the newness and the OMG I haven't seen Murphy and Grandma in FOREVER! enthusiasm will be a bit dampened, and he'll listen more and stop acting so deranged.
And I am leaving town on Friday, so now we are in fallback and figure out a plan - keep the doggies in their separate households, maybe some controlled visits while I'm gone, but yeah, this is not going to be so easy on Girl and FSiL.
Oh, and Murphy really is Supernanny - when Dudley and Smooch got a little growly and Murphy thought they were going to fight, he ran up to each of them and snarled sternly in their faces, and then put himself between them as referee. He keeps order in HIS house, dammit! But I'm afraid 5 days of that work and tension would not be good for the old man, so I think separate households will have to be maintained for this trip. We'll keep introducing them, of course, and I think eventually they'll join paws and share Fishies and sing Kumbaya, but not this week.
Meanwhile, despite wearing a satellite dish around his head, Boris managed to pull out the catheter last night, and had to have it re-inserted today. X-rays were taken, and no bladder stones were spotted. He was also constipated (which, for Boris, is a real change). He has been flushed out and is on IV fluids, and we still have NO idea what is wrong with him.
8 comments:
Oh, my, I think another glass of wine is deserved...what a day you've had! I was wondering if Dudley would be boisterous and rowdy--my Basie just hit 7 months and he's a whirlwind. He can knock you over before you even know it and be gone in a flash. (I should've named him "Roadrunner.")
I would love to see all your kids together--I'm sure it'll work itself out. Sometimes slow and sure is a good thing....
Dudley is FIVE years old, and way past getting a pass for puppy boisterousness. He's just a happy pain in the ass. In a buddy movie, he'd be the loud, crude, funny sidekick. Smooch is a girl, and she doesn't want to associate with that type.
I had to laugh thinking about the 4 of them together. Smooch must think life has gone to heck in that side of the family! LOL
I hope Boris is better today - I'm really glad you didn't just put him down. I hope by now he's back to being his obnoxious kitty self. Prayers being sent for Boris AND Catherine!
Oh I can see everything you described. What a hoot. Sorry for the burden this will put on your pet-sitters but I have every confidence that Smooch will grow tolerant of TheGranddog. White healing light for Boris. poor old far... oops... cat.
Smooch's tolerance is not the issue. Dudley has issues with strange dogs sometimes, and we couldn't tell from his behavior if it was happy trash talking, or honest aggression. It was borderline.
Bostons are such a handful--even my 12-year-old Maggie girl could go crazy at the drop of a hat. Smooch obviously has good girl manners--Dudley will just have to catch up! Hopefully Murphy can be a good umpire.
Aha -- poor old Boris was constipated !! Many years ago we had a similar problem with a very elderly MALE (that is the point!) Beagle. The vet told me that the narrower pelvic passage in males (especially as they age) can cause problems. If the poor beastie is constipated it can put pressure on the outlet from the water works.
There may be absolutely nothing wrong with Boris except a slow-down of 'action' in the digestive tract, and the vet should be able to suggest some adjustments to his diet.
Give the old bloke a scratch under the chin for me, and best wishes for a speedy (inexpensive) recovery.
I wish we could hope for a similar speedy recovery for the poor old Gulf of Mexico.
Gae, in Callala Bay
The vet is going to run more tests and try to find a reasonable cause for this, because honestly, they can't even determine if his bladder was blocked because he was so constipated, or if he became constipated because his bladder was blocked, and in either case, is there an underlying disease that just finally reached a tipping point and caused this?
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