It was the perfect day for a picnic; sunny and warm. We went to Cove Lake State Park in Jacksboro, TN. Every other time we’ve been there we were running the trails, so Oreo kept trying to take off at first. Then she found her cool spot and was just as happy as a clam.
Just now we downloaded the WoofTrax app onto our iPhone and took a walk to the park. We did a short loop when we got there because it was getting dark. It’s .78 miles with the shortcut so it’s probably a mile total. We’ll find out next time.
Oreo’s new sitter/groomer Jennifer works at www.doggoneprettyinc.com in Knoxville, TN. Look how much undercoat she got off Oreo! And that’s after I furminated her (Oreo) on Saturday. Oreo is so clean and smooth now, and even has an Easter bandana for Easter Sunday. 🙂
Also good news, I was outside for eleven minutes the other day and Oreo didn’t even get up from her bed; normally she’s waiting anxiously inside the door or going window to window looking for me. Small progress on the separation anxiety front.
Three stitches and $430 later I give you…Oreo the invalid. It didn’t help that I was screaming like a little girl. They’ll probably become fast friends, but when I saw the young, strong dog charging at mine I started screaming for help. The owner’s little boy had accidentally let the dog out and he came charging down the street after us. Luckily I got back to my own yard, but am too out of shape so didn’t make it to the house. The owner was right there, grabbed his pooch (who is actually a sweetie, they just got carried away) and came back to apologize, explain, and check on Oreo. These things happen. It’s a dog thing. 🙂
As soon as Oreo’s up for it we’re jumping back in the buggy and starting our 5K training again. Her spirits and appetite are good. I just ordered a Figure 8 harness since the stitches are right where her regular harness goes, and you know she’s so tricky a collar alone won’t cut it. Thank you, Renee, for the Vetericyn, I’ll be applying that today.
So I got the dining room table and chair out of the back of the SUV at our new house. I had seat-belted Oreo in the front passenger seat (the passenger side air bag is turned off). She didn’t like it, she couldn’t really get comfortable. It was only for the 15-minute ride.
I came down the porch steps to put the car in the garage and there was Oreo, LOOKING OUT THE BACK OF THE SUV!! She had UNHOOKED HER OWN SEATBELT and was lunging to get out. The only thing that kept my dog safe was the poop-bag holder attached to the handle of the leash; it got wedged in between the front seat and the console. Bad dog mama, always close the hatch!! She is WAY too smart for her own good.
The park near our new house. We sit and wait at the curb at every street crossing to learn safety.
Our first morning walk to the park along the school route. Crossing guards and tweens all commented on how beautiful Oreo is. A gaggle of boys tried to guess her breed(s) and came close. There was a huge possum in our yard when we returned; the blood is just now starting to come back into my leash hand, ha ha. My neighbor across the street came out and moved her car from the base of my front steps while I was gone so I wouldn’t have to go around it (on-street parking for those houses). I thought that was very nice. One rag and a fluff and buff and all the city dirt was gone! Much easier than the four baths to get Oreo’s fur from orange to white after the red clay of the mountains. 🙂 I’ll get some pics at the park next time. Furniture should arrive on Wednesday.
I didn’t know Oreo is afraid of the sound of shopping carts separating! Our training is usually just going to a new place, everyone telling me what a beautiful dog she is, and then she gets treats. Yesterday we did some actual desensitization training. Pull out a shopping cart, she ducks and runs for cover, gets a treat. Repeat until she smiles instead of ducking. The tail wag came at about the ninth time, and the smile on the tenth. She was perfectly well-behaved inside, happily letting some kids pet her, and doing a good down-stay while I got some flour and oats.
She became excited at the coffee grinding station. She was owned by two soldiers before she lost her leg and was rescued, and I believe she was being trained as a drug-sniffing dog. She zeroed in on a couple of cars at my old apartment complex and went up and down the wheel wells and around the trunk just like you see on TV! So, coffee is used in drug sniffing training because the bad guys sometimes hide the stuff inside coffee, to throw off the dog’s scent. Not my girl! 🙂 I keep telling her she’s off the clock now though. 🙂
At the checkout the lady of course said how pretty Oreo is. I explained about the shopping cart sound desensitization training we had done before shopping and she said, “Oh…THAT’S what you were doing standing out there.” Ha ha! I must have looked like a fool. Oh well, mission accomplished.
We went to the Pet Supplies Plus self-serve dog wash yesterday. So nice! They have the low step-in wash tub so I didn’t have to lift her or get her to walk up a ramp. Five dollars for fifteen long minutes! I was able to wash her with her Wondercide geranium soap. Even though she hasn’t had any fleas on her for ages, it smells really nice and leaves her so soft. Then she got blow-dried, and they had a mountain of clean towels at our disposal as well. Once again I neglected to get a picture! That’s all right, we’ll definitely be back there again, and next time I’ll be sure to get her picture.
My new church allows Oreo in since she’s in training to be a therapy dog. She was so good! When I stood up to start singing and clapping she stood up too, and started wagging her tail and smiling. Last week there was one song that bothered her a little; the drums were pretty strong. She started panting a bit, but I gave her some treats and she was fine. One of the ladies in the child care room asked if maybe we could go back there one week and visit the children. Oreo would love that! I’ll try to get a picture of her this week.
About ten days after my last trip to New Hampshire at the beginning of August (and staying in some hotels along the way), I noticed my cat and dog itching. I bought a flea comb and voila: they both had fleas. Could have picked them up in the hotel, or, it has been an extremely bad season for fleas in this area, so they could have caught them here.
Six hundred dollars later…I think I won.
1. Bought a flea comb; ascertained they have fleas. $4
2. Bought a vacuum cleaner, vacuum every day: $80
3. Brought all our beds and bedding to the laundromat every week to wash with soap and eucalyptus oil and dry on hot: $20/week x 10 weeks = $200
4. Already had Vet’s Best spray: $10
5. Bought Only Natural Pet Herbal Defense Spray: $12
6. Bought EcoTreat from Wondercide and sprayed the outside of my cabin: $75
7. Bought a bag of Diatomaceous Earth and covered my house and pets. Spent hours dusting and cleaning the DE off everything: $16
8. Bought Natural Repel Soap with citronella and geranium from Wondercide and watched the fleas run for their lives down her legs: $10
9. Spread DE and spent days cleaning it up.
10. Bought more EcoTreat and soap, sprayed finally after ten days of rain: $85
11. Spread DE and spent days cleaning it up.
12. Bought Only Natural Pet squeeze on drops for cats and dogs: $34
13. Spread DE, they got it on them after the squeeze-on drops and it became a paste, spent days cleaning it up. Vacuum cleaner quit because it’s too clogged with DE.
14. Bought BioDefense from Wondercide: $99
Somewhere in there I also bought Brewer’s Yeast for $13 and feed it to them every day.
Today I gave Oreo a bath, and only 2 dead fleas came off her and one live one made for her head but I caught it and drowned it. After each treatment/vacuum/bath they would have some relief and I would think, thank God that’s over! Then within hours to days they’d be scratching again. I took my vacuum cleaner apart and cleaned all the DE out of it. Tomorrow (and for a long while to come) I’ll be dusting surfaces. That DE is EVERYWHERE.
