Hopping Down The Puppy Trail

Hi Everybody, it's me Fudge, wishing you all a happy Easter. Today I want to let you all in on a big secret that we discovered.

The Easter Bunny is actually a dog!!!

We've suspected this for a long time. Who else but a dog is so loving and generous?

Who appreciates treats more than a dog? Want to know how we solved this mystery?

Well, you see this morning when we woke up expecting to have our biscuit hunt, there was a thundering storm going on with tons of rain and very loud boomers. You can't hunt for biscuits in a storm so we were all pretty sad. Then Mom said we'd have our hunt later in the day after the yard dried out. But she said she had a surprise for us now.

Look what she showed us. These are real fish treats and boy, do they ever smell fishy. Mom gasped when she opened the bag.

These came from the real Easter puppies who just happen to live Down Under in a faraway land called Oz. Yep, it sounds like a story Mom read to us once when we were little. I think it was called The Puppies Of Oz. The main character in the story was named Toto, but the real Easter puppies are named Daisy, Bella and Roxy.

If you don't know the puppies of Oz, you can meet them here. But let me tell you a little about them. Daisy likes to stay fit by exercising....

then resting.

Bella loves to swim.....

 and watch the soaps on TV.

Roxy, the spotty one is a most creative young lady. 

She spends her days looking for new outlets for her creative talents.

 

 

Mom says spotty dogs must have a naughty gene. Our Mac and Syd seem to have inherited the same gene.

Anyway to continue my most fascinating story, the mailman handed Mom a box yesterday and these most wonderful fishy treats were inside, four whole bags of them. They came from our friends in Oz. Thank you so very much Daisy and Bella and Roxy. These are delicious and we love all three of you very much.

Somehow this morning there were also some of these on the table.....

And this was at Mom's place at the table. We don't know how those got there but that's the fun part of a good mystery.

Happy Easter everyone and go visit the puppies of Oz. Now we're going to go hunt for biscuits. What fun!!
Your pal, Fudge

Anticipation

Today it's raining. The dogs are sitting near the windows hoping the sun will make an appearance and dry out the back yard. You see, tomorrow is our annual Easter Biscuit Hunt and they are looking forward to it.

Our tradition started when we lived in a townhouse in Maryland and had three dogs, Pylon, Bentley and Lucy. One Easter morning Rob got up early and hid dog biscuits around the living room. When the dogs came inside they started seeing and smelling biscuits and the hunt was on. They all got into it quickly and each found a number of biscuits.

When we moved here we continued our holiday hunt and although we've lost  and gained new canine family members, the hunt remains a popular event. I always get a kick out of watching them. Some catch on to the idea quickly and start using their noses to locate the hidden treats. Others like Tess have a terrible time figuring out what to do. Each year either Rob or I have to help Tess find a few treats.

This year we'll have three new participants. Sebastian should do well. He's a real chow hound and I need to make sure he doesn't stuff himself with biscuits. The two little girls will have their own biscuit hunt without the bigger dogs who might trample them to get a biscuit. Next year they'll be ready to search with the others.

Rob and I have the biscuits ready to hide in the morning. In past years we've tried hiding other things, one year it was baby carrots and last year we used cheese balls, but we've found that biscuits work best. The dogs noses seemed more attuned to their scent.

So we're all watching the rain and hoping that it ends soon and we have a nice dry day for our big hunt.

Vet Report

As many of you may remember, about a month ago we treated Sebastian for a possible ulcer. He was having vomiting and refusing his food. After a week of antibiotics and soft food, he was feeling good again and we thought he was going to be OK.

Sunday he vomited and though he ate with a little coaxing, he wasn't enthusiastic about eating. In the evening he was acting really mopey. He didn't want to get up to go outside with the others and he just wanted to curl up and stay put. Monday morning I looked at his gums and they were almost white. That sent us to the vet clinic immediately.

By the time we got to the clinic, he was dancing around and feeling like himself. His gums were also nice and pink. Fortunately our vet trusts us and understands that entering the clinic doors magically makes everything better. He did a checkup and nothing looked wrong so we drew blood for a senior panel.

The next morning we were at the clinic with the puppies for their lyme and lepto boosters when the lab repost came in. We were all surprised at the results. Though his white count was perfect, his amylase and lipase counts were both double what they should be. This was a little confusing, but we decided to treat for pancreatitis and redo the blood tests in ten days.

He's now eating prescription I/D food coated with pig pancreas powder and taking an antibiotic. We're cutting out as much fat from his diet as possible. Yesterday he was obviously not feeling well, but today he's feeling much better. he was even up for a walk around the park this morning.

Meanwhile, the little girls had their boosters, then Dr B took his life in his hands by checking out their teeth. They're four months old and ready to exchange their sharp puppy rippers for grown up teeth. Sydney already has four big teeth and when the doctor wiggled one of her baby teeth, it popped out, so she has a couple of spaces in the front of her mouth.

Mackenzie is a little behind her sister and still has all her baby teeth.

The girls had a good checkup and it erased the memories of the last time when they had microchips inserted. This time there was lots of petting and lots of treats.

We Need Info

Hi everybody out there in Blogville.

If any of you have experience with a dog with pancreatitis, could you contact me or leave a comment and I'll get back to you.








I'll post more later. Thanks.

A Lesson In Manners

As Samba's puppies grew she interacted closely with them and taught them some basic manners. We kept most of the pups but Gibson left us when he was twelve weeks old and we heard that he made the adjustment easily. The next to go was Gracie, but she was eleven months old when she went to her new home.

Many puppies and kittens are separated from their mother at six weeks and sometimes even earlier. They don't have the time to benefit from Mom's teachings. I personally think twelve weeks is a good age, but I've gotten puppies as young as four weeks simply because there were no other good options. Sydney and Mackenzie were six weeks old when they came to live with us. Their original owner wanted to get rid of the puppies and wasn't going to consider keeping them around any longer.

The girls are adorable and are getting along pretty well with the other dogs. We have a couple exceptions that we're working on. They are, however, little hooligans who need to learn some basic manners. Rob and I have been trying to teach them a few things, but they need to hear it reinforced by another dog. Sebastian has voluntarily taken on the job of teaching Syd and Mac how to be good little dogs.

The little girls have a nasty habit of jumping in the faces of the other dogs. None of the others like it, but they've been very patient. I've been correcting them when they do this, but they really needed a dog to tell them to stop. In the last few days Sebastian has decided to teach them.

Here they are greeting Fudge and Sebastian in the back yard.

They immediately started jumping all over Sebastian.

First he warned them to stop, but when they didn't heed the warning, he decided to convince them. Some of these photos may look scary, but we watched closely and he not only didn't hurt the puppies, they never even squealed. What's more, they came back for more.

He actually has Syd's head in his mouth, but he didn't hurt her. He did exactly what a mother dog would do, took her head and firmly pushed it down to show dominance.

These two are tough and didn't give up easily, so he repeated the lesson until he got the result he wanted.

Finally, submission.

 OK, now that you know your place in this pack, we can play.

All in a day's work.

Sebastian's lessons are starting to pay off. The girls are beginning to show some respect to the older dogs and though they forget now and then, they are starting to be calmer and easier to live with. Thank you Sebastian, you're a good foster dad.