Ack! Worms!

So mom took me to the vet today. They've just moved into a brand new building, and boy is it nice--lots of new smells. I have to tell you, though, that there's a strange green doggie that smells odd standing out on the front stoop. I sniffed him, and he didn't smell like any doggie I've encountered before!

Unlike some doggies, I actually don't mind the vet. I get lots of treats and attention from the people that work there, which is all right with me! Mom helped load me up on the scale, and I weigh nearly 48lbs now, which is five more than the last time I went. (This is a good thing, my mom says.) The nice vet man said that I have a pretty coat and that I was a beautiful dog. Mom was proud.

So I took some tests, and they said I was heartworm neg and whipworm neg (I had whipworms awhile ago--a souvenier from Katrina). We were all hunky-dory on the way home, until we got a call from the vet that said I had...

*sigh*

Hookworms. The test read neg. until we left the vet, and then it turned positive. (At least that's what the lady said.) How did this happen?? Now I have to take special medicine. I hope it tastes good.

Howling

Howling is the best! I've always been a pretty quiet doggie, you know. I don't really feel the need to bark too much, and though I usually whine to get Mom and Dad's attention, I rarely growl at anything. Howling, however, howling is a way to express yourself.

It's so fun to try and match pitch with sirens and to drown out jet noise. I love it. It is, however, a bit unnerving to be practicing your vocals and then look up to see your mom staring at you bewilderedly. She just doesn't understand, I think, which is strange, since she does a whole lot of howling when she's taking a shower or driving in the car.

Ooh, and you know how mom was telling everyone I was being so good? Well, I couldn't let her think that I'm so perfect, so I chewed up her sunglasses this morning. They didn't taste so good, incidentally.

It's been awhile

It's been awhile since I've journaled, but I'll update you on my busy life.

For starters, I'm so glad that it's nice outside! I don't have to worry about my paws being cold or this stuff they call snow and frost--especially in the mornings. I am not really a morning doggie, as you can see by my current profile pic. My parents get up and ready themselves for work in the mornings, and I burrow under their blankets, all warm and cuddly. I'll even ignore them if I'm really comfortable--I'd much rather be in their warm bed then in my doggie bed.

My separation anxiety is also decreasing, which makes mom and dad really relieved. I haven't chewed anything up while they were gone for quite some time now. I did, however, get one of mom's heeled sandals while she was in the shower the other day. She was not happy--apparently she liked them. Dad's softball is also a fun new toy I like to dig out when noone's looking.

I've taken up a few new hobbies: jumping over six-foot fences and howling at the jets flying overhead. I don't do the former too often, because once I got stuck in the neighbor's backyard. No fun. The latter, however, the latter I'm getting pretty good at. Aw-rooooo!

Mom made an appointment for me to go to the vet on Thurs. Heartworm check! I don't know want any wormies in my body, so maybe I'll be good and comply. Mom is also going to enroll me in obedience training again. She says I'm a smart doggie and that I need to put my brain to use. *sigh* At leat I'll meet new friends. My old pup pal, Haylie, moved away when her mom received orders to go somewhere else. I need a new friend!

The K-9 Carnival in Va. Beach is this weekend. Do you think if I'm really, really good Mom and Dad will take me? I hope so!

More school!

I had school again tonight. This time, mom was prepared...no purse, no jacket...nothing that she couldn't carry in her pockets, just in case I was bad.

But guess what?! I surprised her. I wasn't bad. I did do a little bit of barking (but the other doggies started it) and got sprayed in the mouth a couple times, but I was not the worst doggie in the class today. Woof!

We practiced more sitting and heeling and introduced "Lay", which I was doing at every possible moment (especially when I wasn't supposed to, I was tired today). We did some more meet and greets and now I have to practice sitting by the door and letting mom and dad out first. That takes a lot of patience, let me tell you. Especially since I want to go explore first!

You know what the teacher lady told my mom? She thought I was part greyhound. My mom seemed happy, because the lady confirmed her suspicions. The teacher lady said I run like a greyhound and mom agrees that I do and told her that I am very fast. I am, of course. Gotta love my zoomies! But I enjoy running long lengths on the beach more.

So maybe I'm not an unknown mix after all! Yay!

Detention for pups?

Well, my first day of school came and went, and by the end of it, my mom was laid out on a couch with a glass of water and two advil.

My school is located at the place where mom and dad adopted me, and she was a little worried about how I'd react returning there. Needless to say, I went crazy! I loved seeing other dogs, and I even recognized a few in my class--they were pups that used to be my neighbors! I tried to wriggle out of my collar to give them a proper greeting, but mom was too quick and I was unable to.

My teacher lady started talking, but I was just too excited to listen and behave. I barked and whined and squiggled and wiggled. So much so that the lady pulled out a special spray bottle of apple bitters. Mom says it's like getting a detention for pups. I barked once more, and the lady told me "No!" and sprayed some in my mouth.

It was horrible! I did not like that at all and was immediately good...and, admittedly, a little scared of my teacher. I cowered from her later. Mom was worried--it was the first time she'd seen me do that. But later teacher lady used me as an example and I did really well, so I cheered up. She's an all right lady.

I did well with heeling, though I was a little too excited to sit on command. I only do that at home, so I'm working on being a little more flexible.

The part my mommy was most agitated about was after class. She was juggling her purse, keys, me, and trying to pay the lady for a spray bottle of that stuff (Noooo!), and the next class came in. I went crazy and caused mom to drop everything. Repeatedly. Inside. In the Hall. Outside. By her car.

She used a few choice words I don't hear that often, and after managing to grab the bottle and spray me in the mouth, I decided to behave. Oops.

She loved me lots later, and today we went for a walk practicing "sit" and "heel". I'm getting a little better, and she's giving me lots of pats and praise. We played ball afterwards, too. WEEE!

I hope the next time I go, I don't get sprayed with the stuff. I don't want detention!

Thanksgiving frolics

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We went down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina to celebrate the holiday with the family, and I got to meet my doggie uncles, Abu and Roark. It was so much fun; we played chase on the beach and chase around the car, and I stole all of Roark's toys. (He was only a little upset. I was Queen dog for the weekend because I'm the newest member of the family.) I did let him have my duck, and even left it there for him; I didn't like it as much as he did, anyhow.

I gained an entire basket of new toys before we left, and a new food mat and a Christmas outfit--the one Mom has as my profile pic now.

I really miss the beach. Mom and Dad don't take me out as much here--there are too many people around. In North Carolina I got to explore, though I didn't care for the ocean too much. The only time I got in was when I was chasing Roark. And SAND! Sand is great! I'm a lovely mess and mom has to wash me soon...

Tomorrow I start obediance training with my Rottie friend, Haley. I don't know what to think! Wonder if it stops me from being a naughty pup??!

Living up to the title of "naughty pup"

Today I was very, very bad. Actually, I was very, very good until Dad came home at lunchtime. I was so excited to see him, but I got upset when he left again and decided to tear up the house. I nosed into the pantry and got out all sorts of goodies, including garbage bags, ziplocs, tin foil, mom's christmas candleholders, paper bags, and a jug of something that stained the carpet. I think that's what mom is most angry about, and she looked worried too.

I heard her talking on the telephone about a crate. I don't know what that is, but I have a feeling I'm going to be encountering it soon...

I'm supposed to do what?

I was feeling pretty nice today, so I let my mom and dad sleep in until 7:30 before I nudged them along so that they could let me outside this morning. After that, mom couldn't go back to sleep and decided to make breakfast. She took me outside to play ball for awhile, and when we came back in, breakfast had burned! (She's still cursing at the temperature guage in the oven.) ...I would have still eaten it though. Sadly, it was all thrown in the garbage.

Mom and dad are trying to teach me to play fetch. So far I like to grab the ball (and sometimes can even manage to catch the ball) and take off with it. I'll bring it back to the vicinity, but I won't bring it directly to them yet. I like to make them work at training me. They can't have it easy!

I hear that they're going to give me a bath later on today. *shudder* I don't want to smell all nice and clean! I like smelling like the garden!

Two weeks in a new home

My owners are silly and want to write an entry in my diary. I suppose I'll let them, but they'd better take me out on a long walk tomorrow!!

* * *

We are so happy to have Ginny in our home. After being married for a couple years and finally settling into a home of our own (with a six foot fence), we decided to adopt a dog. The local SPCA here had just done a Katrina rescue and brought back nearly 150 dogs just as we started our search for our new family member.

After a couple weekly trips to the SPCA and one to the animal shelter, we finally decided on Ginny, who was called "Star" by the rescue. They say she's a pit mix, and I can see a bit of pit in her, except that her nose is a little long. I really love the brindle pattern and the way her eyes slant. Attracted by her spunky, friendly disposition and her tiger stripes, we applied for adoption and were able to pick her up the next day. Poor thing--she'd been spayed and had on the e-collar, but post-surgery grogginess and bumping into things didn't let her down!

She's a silly dog. We don't know much about her history; however, she knows how to sit and does well with house training. She wanted to sleep with us in our bed the first night we got her, but she's since learned that her own doggie bed is just fine. Oddly enough, she seems to prefer under the bed, and we're still not sure how she finds it comfortable. She can barely fit under there! But she sure does love to low-crawl.

I took her to the vet the other day to check up on her incision from the stitches--they were red, oozy, and angry looking, and it turns out that she was having a reaction to the sutures underneath her skin. She's on antibiotics now and it already looks tons better, which is good for her and makes us happy. She also is being treated for whipworms, so we're on poop-pickup, and search the yard every morning! She tested heartworm-neg at the SPCA but our vet said she may test positive later as most of the Katrina dogs he's seen have. He was telling me all about their problems, and I'm just glad Ginny's been a pretty healthy, happy dog. Thank goodness.

She's pretty strong, as the vet (and about three of his assistants) learned. When we adopted her from the SPCA, her weight was recorded as 28lbs, but they weighed her at the vet and she was nearly 42lbs, so she must have been a skinny little thing! She's gained some weight with us, so now we're just watching her so she maintains a healthy weight (ie, no people food and lots of exercise!).

Right now we're dealing with separation anxiety-chewing problems. We both work during the day, although my husband comes home from work at lunchtime for about an hour. Ginny's alone from about 7:30-11am and 12pm-3:30pm every day. Going to the bathroom in the house hasn't really been a problem, but she's starting to chew everything. She's opened up the pantry and gotten into our garbage bags and ziplocs, ripping apart the boxes. She's gotten coasters, kleenex, a candle, stuffed bear, and the thing that really distressed me: pulling my books off of the bookshelf and eating them! EEK! So we had to "chew-proof" the house, and bought her a pig's ear, which hopefully will keep those teeth busy. I've heard "kongs" are good too, so I might have to make a trip to Petsmart and see what that's all about.

She's a cuddler. I don't know if this is something she picked up as a puppy, or something she's doing because she doesn't like to be alone, however, she will get up into my lap when I'm typing on the computer. (Thankfully, she's in her bed right now.) She's much too big to be doing that, and gets the hint after I've tossed her off and given her a firm "No, Ginny" about two or three times.

We've got her signed up for obediance school at the end of November. I'm looking forward to it, because she's a smart dog and could use the extra discipline.

BTW, any advice on chew-happy doggies would be much appreciated. Right now she's not crate trained (though she may have been pre-Katrina), and I've heard that might be good. We'll see!