Monday, September 20, 2010

In Non-Kindle Related News ...

... Hannah, falling prey to that impulse which sooner or later evidently grabs every Vet Tech and forces them to adopt a stray, brought home a little German Shepherd mix puppy.

He's about 3-1/2 months old, very sweet, and evidently has lived a life without any socialization whatsoever out in the countryside. A week ago, when he was first brought in, he would just try to dig his way out through the corner of whatever room he was in when a person came by. By the time that Hannah brought him home (after first asking permission with her own puppy-dog eyes working overtime), he had adjusted enough so that he actually was enjoying petting. The second day she brought him home, he endearingly raced around the house with his tale wagging and head high, a doggy grin on his face. You could imagine him saying, "Back again! This heavenly place does exist!"

The only problem is that he is extremely aggressive to other dogs. I don't mean that he growls or shows his teeth, although he does those things quite well. I mean that he flies at the first dog he sees ready to tear their faces off.

Which quite took the Boxers aback, as you can imagine.

You could see the big question mark over Wash's head as he asked himself, "What is this guy's problem? Why won't he play?"

Zoe was better prepared through her tougher personality but even she flinched before stepping up with a growl and raised hackles. Even then, though, her tail was still wagging.

Gotta love those Boxers.

However, after just two evenings and the weekend with us shuffling dogs from area to area behind a dog gate or in crates, little Zapp (for Zapp Brannigan, don't you know) has made more huge leaps in adjusting.

He now will lie quietly a lot of the time, even sleeping with the other dogs nearby (all are suitably restrained, as I said). In fact, during a Boxers-in-crates session he deliberately went and laid next to Zoe's crate, before dozing off. Twice. She looked suitably nervous, but was amiable enough in simply keeping an eye on this crazy pup.

Yesterday, he went and took a nap next to the dog gate where Wash was lying on the other side.

So, he is giving us hope that he can be rehabilitated soon.

If only these positive signs weren't later punctuated by hostile outbursts we would all have calmer nerves. It is positively hilarious to see the much-larger Boxers stop for a second to gather their nerves before clinging to the furthest wall in order to walk by Zapp's crate. Which sometimes garners hostilities and sometimes doesn't.

And so we go ... it will be an interesting week, I am sure!

8 comments:

  1. Mark Twain said something about a house without a cat being only a building, not a home. He was wrong, of course; it's all about dogs, barking, slobbering, tail-wagging, face-licking, muddy-pawing dogs. Dogs are one of many proofs that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

    Cats, as Gordon Baxter of happy memory said, are but snakes with fur.

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  2. Tante Léonie9/20/10, 4:04 PM

    Julie:

    You might want to consider homeopathy, as it can help animals, too.

    Here is a link, in case you are interested:

    http://www.dogpack.com/directory/DFWHolisticVets.html

    Hope your new little guy gets adjusted soon.

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  3. I can imagine the boxer faces... While a completely different situation Emma (as you know Mom's Corgi) would attack my dogs occasionally over food. Sofie (Rottie) would just stand there looking at her like, "What's this tantrum about?". Zeke would stand and make horrible noises back but not touch here. They just didn't get what all of the fuss was about!

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  4. Lisa ... sounds like Sofie and Zeke mirror Wash and Zoe! :-)

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  5. Sounds like sophomores...

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  6. Yeah, well ... Boxers ... that's about right. :-D

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  7. a friend of mine has a kind of menagerie in her home- 3 yorkshire terriers, 3 chinchillas, 1 (grieving)love bird, 1 rabbit, 1 guinea pig and a tank of fish. It was no surprise then that her eldest daughter decided to train as a vet.
    The surprise came this summer when her daughter came back from Uni with her pet/study rat and her 2 flatmates rats too. "I thought you could look after these over summer, Mum"

    watch out- first a puppy then...

    weirdly the verif code is apuptivo- is that what Zapp is?

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  8. We adopted a little terrier we named Cludo. He's a fixed boy about 10 months old (we've had hom for a couple of months).

    He was a stealer who liked to nip and growl at other dogs. We don't know his background, but he was found on the street tired and really hungry.

    We took him to my sister's house to meet his cousin Boomer who's a big gentle lab.

    Boomer didn't know what to make of this crazy guy who was trying to hump him and bite his ears and was growling at him. So I told him: "Bite him, Boomer. Chomp his head".

    After a while the two of them are laying on the floor next to each other snarling and biting each other until Boomer (who is the "omega dog" in the neighborhood) convinced Cludo of his pack status.

    We took Cludo home and he's a different dog. Much less hyper, anxious, and jumpy. He doesn't steal much any more and he rarely nips at us (just occasionally and gently).

    I think he's going to be a really good dog.

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