Puppy Surgery

So on Friday River went under the knife. He was neutered and had his back dew claws removed.

He was very groggy when we picked him up that afternoon. He tried to jump into the back of the car (we tried to stop him but he is stubborn), and barely made it up. After that, he let D pick him up and carry him out of the car and up the stairs into the house.


Its Sunday now and he is starting to act like himself, although he seems depressed. Its probably because we haven't taken the cone off since we left the vet (like he would let us put it back on). He's not to please about it. normally the cone can come off 3-4 days after surgery, but because we got his dew claws removed he has to keep it on until the stitches come out... on Saturday. I'm not sure how he'll handle a whole week of wearing the cone. You can see from the picture how much he likes it right now.

Still it needed to be done. This way, when we go for hikes we don't have to worry about whether or not his dew claws will get caught and hurt him. And we have no intentions of having little Rivers running around. He is a great dog, but I don't think I could handle more than one right now.


PS: as side note, I have a funny story to tell. River likes to curl up under neath D's bed side table to sleep at night. Not a small feet for a medium sized dog. We didn't realize it, but as he got in he would push his body up against the wall to get leverage. The wall with the electrical 6-port outlet. Friday and Saturday mornings we woke up to find the power had gone out (our clocks were reset) but it seemed like only in our bedroom. Today we found the 6-port outlet all but hanging off the wall. We have since moved our bed over a bit so the outlet is better protected from River's sleep habits.

Camping Weekend

So it was Rivers first camping trip with us.

We spent the weekend at my mom and step-dad's cabin at the lake. It was lots of fun. My sister with her two kids latched on to River and even though he would have preferred being anywhere else, he let them pet poke and bug him until they got bored.

He really opened up this weekend. We slept in a tent with River at the foot of our sleeping bags. The first night he was fine at the end of our bed, except for when he threw-up (we think it was one of the bones we gave him as a treat, so we've taken it away and he's fine). The second and third night he slept above our heads curled up between the tent wall and our pillows, which is quite a feat for a dog that is well over 50 lbs.

River also did really well off leash. The cabin lot isn't fenced and it backs onto a field, so we had lot of fund chasing River around. He's learning him name and is starting to come when he is called. Still, it took until Monday before we really trusted him to just hang out with us around the cabin and we still kept him on a leash when we went on walks.

He also met my mom's dog Gizmo. A little 5-7 lbs Yorkie, with "little man syndrome" (meaning he thinks he is king of the world). They got along fine when Gizmo wasn't trying to lick River's face. River has to be the most patient of souls because I was getting annoyed before River growled a warning to Gizmo. Gizmo would back off for a while then try again later. I'm not sure if it was a dominance thing or what. In the end the most River did was bark at Gizmo and stared him down so Gizmo would leave... after all River was comfortable hanging out in the sun on the deck beside his dad, he wasn't about to leave because Gizmo was being annoying.

River is a great dog and I think it was a great weekend for him. He got so much attention and loving he just seems happier, and has more energy.

For the past two morning, getting back into the routine of normal life, River has been very good. I think he is starting to accept our routine and find his place in it. He didn't even howl this morning when D left. He whined a little and then went back to bed. I might be able to turn off my 5am alarm (which goes off right before D leaves for work so that I am awake for River's howling).

All in all, a great weekend.

First Hike

We took River for his first 10K hike yesterday. That's roughly 3 hours at a good pace.

After 2 hours we had to stop and rest for a while. Poor pouch was panting non-stop... then again it was pretty hot out. 10K was a bit much for me too and I enjoyed the break.

It wasn't our intention to go for that long of a hike right off the bat but we picked a new trail in Elk Island National Park and didn't check until a quarter into it what the kilometers were. Oops.

Still, River slept for the whole night for the first time since we brought him home... in the living room. Yeah, he's still pretty mad at us for having to continually put eye drops in. We can only use a trick once before he learns it. Such are the troubles with smart dogs I suppose.

Eye Infection

So River has an Eye Infection. He's not the happiest guy around right now. You can tell it itches him, because he makes a point of rubbing the left side of his face against any soft piece of furniture. D took him to the vet yesterday morning.

Apparently River freaked out when the vet went to put the eye drops in. He growled and looked aggressive; completely out of character as far as we have known him. The vet had to call two other guys into the examination room to hold River down while they gave him the drops. D told me that he wasn't looking forward to having to put drops in River's eye twice a day for the next week.

Last night was a disaster. River didn't get vicious like at the vet, but he was not happy. It felt a lot like when I had to push him into the kennel. We tried 6 times, to get the drops in. In the end we had to stop. D got so frustrated that he raised his voice at River who cowered but wouldn't come when he was called. D went to bed. River moped until I went to bed too. I had a serious case of guilt. I didn't sleep well at all last night, especially when I hear river leave our room to go sleep in the kitchen. Who was mad at who?

D leaves the house 1.5 hours before I have to get up. When I did get up, I called him and said he tried to get the drops in but he didn't try that hard. I know he feels awful for putting River through last night. I tried three times this morning.

The first was with a treat to get him to sit in front of me... I missed. The second I tried coming from behind him, but he was on to me and took off before I got close. The third time was pretty straight forward trickery. River went to lay down on his bed and I pet him. I pulled the eye dropper out and held it over his head asking him to look up. He did and drop. I got him. It didn't hurt him, he really only blinked for a minute and then looked at me with a "what the heck was that?" look. I gave him treats, and pets, and left the house feeling better because I'd given him the eye drop, but still bad cause I tricked him.

So I have learnt that getting your dog to take medication is hard. You know that they need it to get better, but they don't. You can reason with a person, but you can't with a dog. Until we make River learn that we won't do stuff that will hurt him, trickery is the only option...

... and it sucks.

Day Three - Stuffies

River has discovered stuffies. The soft teddy bear like toys that sometimes make noise when you squeeze them.

Last night D and I were trying to get River to play in the front yard. He hasn't seemed that interested since we brought him home, I was starting to wondered if he knew how to play.

D bought a stuffy that looks like a duck and quacks like one too. River would wag his tail when D made the duck quack but that was about it. Until last night.

D put the duck on Rivers back and started squeezing it so it would make noise. After a few moments, River turned around and grabbed the duck.... and then proved that he knew how play a little.

River would chew on the duck, making it quack in his mouth. He would even roll over onto his back as if he could get better grip on the toy that way. D pretended to come up beside River as if to take away the duck. River bounced away like a rabbit, 3 or 4 huge pounces, before turning around and running straight at D and head bunted him. Then river would go back to chewing the duck. They did this for about 15 minutes, and D got knocked over quite a few times. I have some pictures, but unfortunatly they just don't convey how funny it was.

When he was done though, he was done. And no matter how much D squeezed the duck River was no longer interested. The duck isn't even that damaged.

Things are getting better, he seems to be coming out of his shell. Now if only we could figure out what's wrong with his eye...

Kennel Troubles

The day we picked River up, his foster mom told us that she put him in a kennel at night, but warned us that he didn't like it. So we went and bought a kennel.

That first night with us, we wanted him to feel comfortable so we didn't put him in a kennel. River was happy to curl up underneath D's bedside table.

Monday, the first day away from him for 8 hours, we put him in a kennel in our bedroom.... or I should say I did because D leaves for work at 5:00am. River fought me the whole way in.

I made the mistake of coming home at lunch to let him out to go pee (mistake because of what happened not because I let him pee). When I had to put him back in the kennel, he freaked out and fought me harder than he did the first time. He didn't bark, he only cried a little, but you could tell he hated the kennel. I felt awful about doing it, but I pushed him in and went back to work.

That night when we were going to bed, we tried to call him into the bedroom. He knew that was were the kennel was, and wouldn't even come into the hallway. He was so scared to come to us he sat down by the front door and wouldn't move. I felt worse if that's possible.

We picked up a baby gate and kept River in the kitchen that night.

I threw the kennel into the basement... when River wasn't looking.

I guess crate training is out of the question. I just can't stand the guilt. From now on, he stays in the kitchen during the day. He doesn't hate me quite as much anymore.

Last night, he felt comfortable enough to come and sleep in the bedroom again, but we let him do it on his own terms. We put the baby gate up so it blocked the living room and closed all the other doors. This meant he could sleep in the kitchen or walk down the hallway to our bedroom.

Can you tell we are new at this?

Puppy Mommy

It official... I'm a puppy mommy.

River is a wonderful addition to our family, even if he is incredibly timid and shy. River is a Border Collie cross, although he looks like a larger version of a pure bred Collie.

HIS STORY:

He was found at the Westlock Vet clinic as a stray. They took him in, fed him, and waited for someone to claim him. No one did. The vet clinic can only keep dogs for so long before they have to put them down. Luckily, Second Chance Animal Rescue (SCARS) picked him up and took him to a foster home while they waited for someone to adopt him. This was July12.

One week later, on July 19, my fiancé "D" and I went to a meet and greet with some of the animals up for adoption with SCARS. River (formerly Mario) was quiet, hanging back from everyone else. He didn't even catch our attention until one of the ladies pointed him out.

We walked him around the store, pet him, and generally hung out. River just let us do what we wanted. He listened to our commands, even if he only understood half of them, and was very well behaved. When other dogs were aggressive against him, he just turned and walked away as if he was no longer interested in where he was sitting. We think he may have been abused before he became a stray. One of the ladies was feeding him treats raised her hand too quickly and River dropped to the floor and shook like a leaf for a few moments until we all reassured him that everything was fine. He was an interesting dog.

We put in an application and slept on it. It is a big decision. By morning, we both knew that we needed to give this dog a forever home. We picked River up from the foster home on July 20 at 6:30pm. He is just as timid and shy as we saw at the meet and greet, but I'm confident that he will open up when he realizes that this is his house and that no one will hurt him here.

I'll keep you posted on his progress.

Tina Hunter