July 14th 2008 1:41 pm
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This week, on the 3rd month anniversary of his rescue, Ernie made it though his first thunderstorm. It was a bit scary at first, but Hugo, Jasmine, Ernie and I spent the rest of it on the floor playing with toys, and all was well. :D
We had another milestone yesterday when I took Ernie to town for socializing. We’ve been practicing sitting in the car with the door open looking at people and not barking. Well, he’s been practicing – I don’t normally bark at people. Ernie’s been too scared to set foot (paw, excuse me) outside the car, even in a parking lot with a few cars and no people.
He was doing really well, and I started having him come closer and closer to getting out of the car to get his treats. Then he surprised me and hopped on the ground and started walking around! We walked around the market and post office parking lot, and even along the street for a bit. He passed people, including someone in a wheel chair, a baby in a stroller and a few small groups and he did great! We crossed the street when 2 women were walking towards us with a baby because Ernie wasn’t ready to deal with them. There are also a number of big rocks in the lot, and he was more than happy to jump up on them, sit on and practice “shake”, “give me five”, and “touch”.
And, a man pulled over and asked me what breed my “cool looking dog” is! Ha! 100% pure rez dog! I get asked that about Hugo a lot, but this was a first for E-Man. Too bad he couldn’t understand and get a little confidence boost from the compliment. ;)
As we were leaving, I saw a friend who is one of the dogs’ favorite people, so we pulled over to say hi. Although Ernie was happy to see her, he barked at a few people again – he’d had enough for one day. So he had one more positive experience watching at
June 19th 2008 10:54 am
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What a morning!
I let the dogs out into the yard, and as usual, Ernie started barking. Jasmine joined him, and I thought, "So and so is walking by . . . " I called out for them to be quiet as I made my way to the door to see who they were "greeting" this time. Hugo was right there on the porch. Ernie was down below, barking away. I wondered why he was barking at Jasmine. But it wasn’t Jasmine he was barking at, it was a rattlesnake!!! Jasmine was about 4 feet away from it on one side, and Ernie on the other side about 5 feet away!
I called them and Jasmine came. Ernie wouldn't come or stop barking at the snake. Fortunately, it looked like it'd eaten a couple of mice, it wasn't coiled and was looking pretty lethargic. When I went to get Ernie, he ran around me and all the way around the other side of the house to bark at the snake from the other direction. I was eventually able to lure him with some treats, scoop him up and get him inside.
My first worry was Jasmine, because she was closest to the snake and I wasn’t sure if it might have bitten her or not. She was acting kinda strange, but I think that’s because I kept looking at her, feeling her legs, chest and neck for puncture wounds and watching her for signs of pain and swelling. The snake was a juvenile, and it coiled and hissed at me when I put a bucket over it. I made a call and it was relocated for a mere $30.
I feel very fortunate and am happy to report that the dogs are all romping up a storm and everyone’s fine.
Finding a rattlesnake in your yard will wake you up faster than a cup of coffee!
June 15th 2008 11:26 pm
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Ernie, Jasmine & Hugo have had an eventful spring. We had a lot of friends in town in May for our 19th annual Earth Fair and during that time, I only tried to directly introduce Ernie to one friend. He’s a particularly calm and gentle person, so he was a natural choice. Ernie had a hard time and was only able to come within a few feet of him without barking. He was so scared he couldn’t accept treats either. As my friend put it, “He’s still fragile.”
It’s been 2 months since his rescue, and Ernie’s gained 11.5 pounds, putting him at almost 32 pounds. The vet still thinks he’ll be about 40-45 pounds when full-grown. His 2 month anniversary also was the day he was neutered and his first overnight away from home since we’ve had him. The vet exam went pretty well (thanks to the magic of “doggy downers”), and although he was scared, he didn’t bark, growl or snarl. He did shake, but all in all, it was better than our last visit.
Ernie continues to be comfortable at home, and Hugo & Jasmine are still pretty patient with him. Ernie’s resource guarding regarding food and J&H got a bit more intense, and he also began to guard us as resources, starting a few fights. That prompted a call to our trainer/behaviorist who gave me some tips on addressing the situation before it gets worse. The poor guy must have really gone through it when he was out on his own and may not have had positive interactions with bigger dogs. So the advise seems to be helping and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to teach Ernie a new way of reacting/behaving in these situations.
The last 2 nights have been hard as Ernest has taken to having barking episodes, and I can’t find the reason why. The worst was this morning from 4-5am. Each time, J&H were fine, so I know there wasn’t anything outside. I have no idea what was going on and I tried everything I could think of, but couldn’t find a way to help him. *sigh* These are the days I feel ill equipped to handle 3 dogs with “issues” and I hope things will improve.
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