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Posts tagged with "dog"

a visit to the animal shelter and SASHA

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The news breaks first here on myopera. I have a week off coming up for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I thought it was a good time to adopt another dog. I went to the Guilford County Animal Shelter, also known as GCAS, and got Sasha! Our other shelter adoptee, Lucy, now has a canine at-home friend. Sasha is a Chihuahua/Pug mix, or a CHUG. lol.

Sasha had a big day becoming the newest member of our family. The shelter is a loud bustling place, so loud that many of the employees and volunteers there wear earplugs due to the hundreds of dogs barking. I don't see how any dog really gets much sleep there. Sasha got adopted, then I took her to the vet for a checkup, she came home for dinner and a bath, then she passed out on the sofa from her exciting day. Tomorrow we go shopping for a harness, leash, and some toys.

Image #1: this isn't Sasha. This is another dog still waiting for adoption at the shelter. Of course we want to adopt them all, but we only adopt what we can care for.



Image #2: this isn't Sasha either. She's another one still waiting for adoption. She was very sweet and affectionate. I liked the black and white color scheme.



Image #3: THIS is Sasha. Brian is playing with her in the shelter's recreation area. The adoption wasn't yet in process, but we were close to a decision.



Image #4: Brian with Sasha. We had made the decision to adopt her at this point and were already in line to go through the process. The animal shelter is careful, so the adoption process is rather involved.



Image #5: Sasha is home and tired. She and I are relaxing on the sofa watching some TV. In her left eye, she has something called cherry eye. It is a condition where a gland gets turned outward a little. Our veterinarian will fix it later. He said she's 100% OK for now, as is, but recommended a surgical repair later after she gets settled in at home.



Image #6: Brian and Sasha are totally passed out.



Image #7: another Sasha that we love, Sasha the DJ. These Sashas were just meant to be. All is well.

how to give a pill to a dog

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It can be very hard to get a dog to swallow a pill. Some act like they suspect that you might be trying to poison them. They're always reading too much into things.

My dog, Lucy, is easy. She takes her monthly heartworm/flea pill effortlessly. She likes the pill in a little dip of peanut butter. This is a good method for most dogs that spend their lives thinking about food, like Lucy. Sometimes we say that she's just a stomach with a face on it.

Placing the pill in a dish of food works for some dogs, though I have seen some that will gobble down all the food, and there will be that pill sitting on the bottom of the gleaming bowl. I don't know how they do it. It's like they have a food filter.

My mom's dog is a skittish suspicious little bitch. Nothing works. I have to cradle her body under my arm, wrap my hand around her head, pry her mouth open with a finger, then ram the pill down her throat while she fights and gags. After it's over and we're both shaken, I usually say, "it really doesn't have to be this hard". *sigh*

new old dog in town

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My mom wanted a dog, and I thought an older dog would be better for her than a puppy, so the animal shelter found this one for us. She's seven years old and comes with some defects: she has a semi-lame rear leg and is scared of everything, but she's already becoming a member of the family. The vet says to leave the leg alone for now. It's an old fused bone injury that does not need to be treated at this time. She just had a shave from the groomer due to her fur being too matted to clean and style. It will grow back and she'll look great.

Below, she (Mandy) is already friends with my dog, Lucy. Both are "pound puppies". The "new" dog makes #3 that we have gotten from the shelter since 1994. We'd like to adopt them all, but we only get what we can really care for.





dog in a passout

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Worthless!

We tell her that other dogs work for a living. They get gigs doing television commercials, they are assistance animals for people, they sometimes pull sleds.

She prefers to just flop out on the floor and wait for a bag of potato chips to be rattled.

lucy gets a checkup

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At the vet.

Lucy Gets a Checkup

Lucy Gets a Checkup

Lucy Gets a Checkup

Lucy Gets a Checkup

the last cyberpoodle passed away

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We had to put the old girl down on Friday. There are several euphemisms for animal euthanasia: to put down; to put to sleep; or crudely said, "to give them the needle".

She was my mom's last animal companion. Misty, the poodle, had reached the ripe old age of seventeen. She was a mess for the last few months: blind, mostly paralyzed, and light as a bird from near inability to eat. We really waited a little too long. She hadn't been mentally present for quite a while. She just breathed. That's about it.

This is the second one of these things in which I've had to participate. It's one of the hardest aspects of being the human in the relationship. In both instances, the veterinarian and his practice were golden. They give you all the help and time you need. They offer lots of sympathy and information, but the one thing they cannot do is to say "when" or "now". You have to say it.

This is one instance in which you're allowed to flee the vet without settling the bill. They'll bill ya. I always find that a little funny. They'll even let you out the side door if you're not up to a walk back through the lobby.

Whew! What a relief that it's over.

I often called Misty and her long-deceased sister "The Cyberpoodles" because their images were some of the first I ever sent across the Internet. My first GeoCities webpage was called "cyberpoodle" in her and her sister's honor. We all went way back.

My mom is OK, I'm OK, Misty is released and better off.

Image #1: The old girl a couple of years ago on grooming day. She was already 15 then.



Image #2: Sending her unused/sealed meds to the animal shelter. We had leftover flea and heartworm pills. The shelter can use them.



morning fence run with neighbor dog

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Dogs seem to be pre-programmed to do certain things. One is a nightly noisy ten minute genital lick right about the time I'm trying to fall asleep. Another is running the fence with another dog. They go back and forth playing a game of "dare ya" and fakeout.

Here's Lucy playing hard with a visiting dog from next door.

Lucy's Morning Fence Run

Lucy's Morning Fence Run

x-ray

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WOOF! But not Lucy's.

X-Ray

pitiful dog

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Sometimes she just lays around trying to cop a pitiful look.

dog all passed out

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We went for a walk in the park today. After a short time the heat got to us, so we aborted and returned home. Lucy drank a bowl of water then immediately drifted off to sleep.