This has been a rough week here at Legacy. Samba and Morgan are best friends. They do everything together, but occasionally, like any best friends, they have a little disagreement. Usually there is some growling and maybe they will snap at each other, but there is almost never any blood shed.
This week was different. Going out the door into the yard Samba growled at Morgan and Morgan snapped at Samba. That might have been the end of it except that Samba's four daughters were right there and came to their mother's defense. They all attacked Morgan.
I was right there to break it up and send everyone to their corners, but there were some casualties. Samba has a spot on her shoulder where she was scratched and she lost a patch of hair. Because of her illness, her hair comes out very easily, so it looks worse than it is.
Morgan has a couple of cuts on her ear. At first I was worried because there was quite a bit of blood, but if you've ever cut your ear, you know they bleed like crazy. Once I got it cleaned up and some ointment on it, it didn't look so bad. Morgan was pretty upset, so she got lots of special attention all day. Today they're BFFs again.
The bad boy has been at it this week. Fudge has been pushing Noah around until Noah couldn't take any more and fought back. Fudge wound up with a little cut under his eye. It's pretty well healed up now, but you'd think that dog would learn. he pushes the others around till they fight back, but he always loses the fight. Fudge is the one who always gets hurt.
Noah walked away without a scratch. Fudge never gets the message, though.
After Noah beat him up, Fudge turned his attention to Norma Jean. He won't leave her alone. He follows her around and he pushes toys in her face and to get her attention he tried nipping her. I heard her squeal and went to her defense, but not before she chased him away and twisted her foot. Now she's limping around and I'm keeping her close to me to watch her. Sometimes she forgets her limp and chases around the yard with her sisters, so I don't think it's too serious an injury.
Then there's Bailey. Bailey has been busy trying to excavate the yard. Who knows what she's hunting for, but she digs deep holes and she does it fast. Then she sticks her face into the hole to try to find her prey. Apparently she's inhaled too much dirt this week and has a cough that sounds like she's been smoking cigarettes. She's getting liquid Benedryl morning and evening and the cough is getting better. I'm also trying to keep an eye on her to prevent any more digging.
You may think things are out of control here, but consider if you had ten 2 year olds playing together in the sandbox everyday. Believe me, you'd have some similar problems.
I take full responsibility for the short tempers. I have been sick since Thanksgiving. My doctor, after running a bunch of tests, has decided that I had strept throat and an infected saliva gland. A double course of antibiotics have made my throat better, but the meds have upset my stomach badly. I only have a couple more days on them, then I hope to start feeling better.
Because I've been sick for so long, I haven't been giving the dogs all the exercise they need. We usually play lots of games with them and show them lots of new activities to keep them busy, but lately, it's been out and right back in. Like any bored kid, they've been getting on each others nerves.
We have a yard full of mud from all the snow melting, so our solution was to buy 40 bales of straw to cover the yard. Rob has been putting down grass seed, then covering it with a thick layer of straw. It's helped enormously. I haven't had to wash 40 feet every time they come inside and we can walk thru the yard without sinking up to our ankles in mud.
I haven't been completely out of it while I was sick. I did a lot of reading and a little knitting.
Dawn, if you're reading this, here is the lapghan that I finished. I'll be getting in touch for your address to send it to you.
So, for Thankful Thursday, I glad that I'm feeling better and nothing serious showed up on all the tests. I'm thankful that none of my pups got hurt badly and they're all getting along well now.
I'm thankful that I don't have to slog thru inches of mud anymore.
In case you're wondering, when the dogs go outside to play, Fudge is spending the time sitting in a crate by himself. When everyone else, except Tsar, comes inside, then he gets to go out and run around. I'm hoping I can impress on him that the others don't like being pushed around. Things are seldom dull around here.
14 comments:
Sounds like cabin fever to me - we have a bit of it going on here, plus a Mom that's full of puppies about 10 days or so to go so tempers are short.
Well, yeah, a pack of two year old anythings will wear you right out! Take care of yourself, and I hope your "bad boy" gets the message soon.
With a big pack like that, little scuffles seem bound to happen. Good for you for attending to it quickly! Hope you feel better soon and the dogs can get some exercise.
Just like the little grandbipeds - Mom says they need to get outside and run off some energy. Even when we had three sibes here, we only had a couple of fights, usually over the tiniest piece of food and usually instigated by Dakota, the female in the pack:) Before we had three sibes, we had two sibes and two cockapoos. One of the cockapoos was female - she and Dakota had problems. Little Shamrock meant no ill will to bossy Dakota, she just had bad cataracts, didn't see that well, and often stared. Dakota took the stare as a challenge and was not always very nice to the little one. Not a very evenly matched battle.
We do hope you get to feeling much better soon and that spring is just around the corner.
Tail wags, Phantom and Thunder and Mom
Sue, I am hoping for you to be feeling much better in the next day or so. I didn't realize this had hung on for so long. Feel better!
The Dogs: I don't know what I would do with these pups, there is a reason I only have one dog!
Cheers and hugs,
Jo and Stella
Hi I'm Teal'c from Sydney! You got a cute bunch of doggies there!
My best friend is Dash and we love each other but sometimes she just annoys the hell out of me and I snap... I guess thats what we doggies do?!
Slobbers Teal'c
Hope it all calms down soon!
Oh Sue... I know how stressful that was with two boy-dogs, so I feel for you, I really do. Thankfully, my two angels have never had a spat. Sis is always so shocked when Gretchen growls (usually guarding a treat or toy) that she gets this hurt look and runs to the nearest human. Once in a while, the object guarded either gets put up or given to the passive alpha Sis, just to keep our little terrier mindful of the pack order.
In return, once in a while Gretchen cries out because the big brute is playing too rough. A time-out is issued, and Gretchen gets a lap. Sis may press up against a human at that time, as long as she's willing to be calm...
Good luck with Fudge. He reminds me so much of Mugsy.
Most of all, I hope you're well very soon!
As I was reading this, I said to myself - "just like a bunch of little kids!" Never a dull moment! I'm glad they have you on the right track now, and hope you're feeling better soon. Those antibiotics can be rough. Ugh.
Good grief Sue you really have your hands full. All that and feeling sick at the same time. I never thought about disagreements between them. But I guess just like us humans they don't get along all the time. Fingers crossed for a more serene day today and that all the nic's bumps and scratches will heal and tempers will settle down. I hope that you will be feeling back to normal again soon too. Antibiotics can be hard on the tummy. I always look forward to taking the last one and that it is finally over with.
Take care Sue,
x
You are so right - put a roomfull of 2year olds together and you will hardly have a full day without tears. I've often said having a dog is like having a perpetual 2-year old.
I just love the insight into dogs your posts give us. g
My boys used to regularly battle each other, but they also knew that they had each other as company. Siblings :-)
We have our scuffles too but so far no bloodshed, thank doG. Mom freaks at the sight of blood!
Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch
Never a dull moment! Believe it or not Martha has just thrown up whilst I am reading your blog so have to go......xxx
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