Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Dogs in Blankets

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Before I gave up pork, I used to love those little wienies wrapped in dough.  We call them pigs in a blanket.  One would assume that pigs in a blanket are implying the hotdogs are made of pork.  That might be true but that’s not why I don’t eat hotdogs.  It all has to do with my son-in-law and how he refers to them, but that’s an entirely different post.

Since I don’t get my pigs in a blanket anymore, it seems I need to get my blanket fix in other ways.

Am I the only one who loves to cuddle up with their dogs under a blanket?

My problem is my dogs rarely (if ever) cuddle up under the blankets with me, which is why when opportunity knocks…

They laid down on the floor, so I laid down with them.

 

Hubby came in and snapped the photo.

It was just as well, since they wouldn’t snuggle anyway.

I satisfy myself by covering them up every opportunity I get.

When I catch Delilah all snug on my pillow, and I’m ready for bed, I’ll look at her and say, “Who’s in my spot?  Are you in my spot?”

She dips her head down and wag her tails and then I lift the covers, shift her a bit and slip in beside her.  I rest her head on my lap and I stroke her head and her silky ears. Sometimes we can stay that way for twenty minutes or so.

On the flip side, Sampson usually lies at the bottom of the bed when we’re not all in it together. Yes, he’s the one that will lay at the bottom of the bed and allow me to cover him up.

He tends to like to cuddle in the middle of the night.  Like when I’m sleeping.

At bedtime we shift him up from his position near the bottom of the bed to the top so he can lie between us.

On a cool night he will stay there, cuddled up against one of us, always willing to accept our strokes of love, if we can’t sleep or if we wake up during the night.

Many’s the night I’ve awoken to find his head on my stomach or shoulder.  Those are the nights I go back to sleep the quickest. 🙂

Do you have cuddlers or are you like me, having to sneak it whenever you can?

How Do You Clean Your Dog’s Teeth

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What do you know about cleaning your dog’s teeth?

Here’s what I knew.

They make tooth brushes and toothpaste for dogs.  I even have one of each.  In fact I had to use the brush once when Delilah got a little greedy in the cat’s litter box.

Yes I know.  EWWW.

Notice I said, ONCE.  Because I’ve never been good about cleaning my dog’s teeth.

Neither Sampson nor Delilah’s teeth have ever been too bad, and I saw a huge difference when we switched to raw and they started crunching on those neck bones.  Additionally I give them the stuffed white bones which they gnaw at.

When Sara first opened the shop at The Mellow Mutt, I bought two of those finger toothbrushes. You know the ones that fit on the end of your finger, I thought, well now that their teeth are pretty clean I can use those brushes and clean their teeth.

Turns out I’m as good at cleaning their teeth as I am at applying ointment.

Go Figure.

I had heard at some point, the vet needed to clean the dog’s teeth.  I also heard that to clean a dog’s teeth, the vet put them under anesthesia to clean them AND the older the dog is, the more risky it is for anesthesia.

Sampson just turned 8, so when he went for his annual exam in October I discussed teeth cleaning with our vet.  She said his teeth really weren’t that bad, although she thought he might have a little bit of gingivitis beginning.  We agreed his cleaning could wait until spring.  Which would give us some time to save up for it (It’s very expensive!)

Last week when I went to pick up treats at The Mellow Mutt, we somehow got on the topic of teeth cleaning and I mentioned how Sampson needed his teeth cleaned and we were going to do it in the spring.

Based on the reaction I got, you’d have thought I told Sara and Diane (the groomer) that I was giving my dogs away.

Why would you risk putting him under anesthesia just to have his teeth cleaned? They asked.

Well he’s eight years old, he needs his teeth cleaned, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? I responded.

They told me a few stories that really freaked me out.

Diane said, Our vet used to just flink (yes she said flink) the tartar off with a pick.  I’ll clean his teeth, he’s a good boy, why don’t you bring him in and let me give it a shot?

We agreed on Wednesday.

You know me, I second guessed my decision instantly, but still I came home on Wednesday, put Delilah in the crate with a handful of banana chips and loaded Sampson in the car.

Our appointment was for 4:30.

She took us a little late because a woman was there picking up her dog.

We took Sampson into the grooming area and put some towels on the floor.  Diane got some peroxide on a paper towel and put some toothpaste on one of those finger brushes.

Diane rubbed the toothpaste on his teeth.

 

She said it helps soften the tartar.

She flinked the tartar off.

 

I sat with him and stroked him and told him he was okay.

Did he like it?

I’m not going to lie, he didn’t like it, but he never snapped or growled and he let Diane do it.

We were done at 4:40 pm.  Less than 5 minutes from start to finish.  I asked her how much I owed her and she nothing.  I told her she could give me a price or I would pay her what I thought she deserved.  She said $10.  I gave her $20.

 

Then I bought Sampson a new stuffie to bring home.

 

As soon as he was done, he jumped up and strutted around the shop.

When we got home he and Delilah had a game of tug with the new stuffie, until Delilah destroyed it.

 

What I really liked about this was I got to stay with him the entire time.  I didn’t have to drop him off (with no breakfast) and wait for someone to call me, we were in and out…..Just. Like. That.

What do you know about cleaning your dog’s teeth?  Do you brush them?  Do you think the benefit of having their teeth cleaned by the vet outweighs the risk of putting them under anesthesia?  Would you have your groomer scrape your dog’s teeth?

Hello Again Dr. B

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Thursday evening I noticed a spot on the inside of Sampson’s left leg.  It looked similar to the spot he had in the beginning of October, except it hadn’t advanced as far.  I’ve also noticed that both of my dogs have been scratching a lot.

Another spot, it starts out looking like a bruise.

 

I was picking up food on Saturday so I thought I’d run it by Sandy, she’s very knowledgeable about all things dog and she usually has a holistic solution.

Her first thought on the itching was fleas. It has been a very bad flea/tick season in the northeast for these critters.  I said, “I think I’d see fleas, especially on Sampson.”  She said it could have been only one or two, you need to comb him and check his tail area to see if it feels like he has crumbs there. (Ew gross.)  She also said it could be mites, which really freaked me out. (I combed them both when I got home, no sign of fleas.)

As for the skin thing, she feels like his immune system is weak. 🙁

As you can imagine, I left Sandy’s and called the vet.  We scheduled him for 9:30 this morning with Dr. B.

I’m here to see Dr. B, can you please tell her Sampson has arrived?

 

Sampson was of course excited to see Dr. B.  I tried to get a picture but his excitement was very prominent in the photo, and since they shamed me good on the Human Shaming blog hop, I decided you could do without the visual imagery.

As we walked into the exam room, I noticed he had spots on the inside of each leg!

Dr. B said I just want to read through his records and refresh my memory.

You can read and pet at the same time, right? I’ve heard Vet’s are multi-taskers.

 

Dr. B looked him over and said, yes he has another skin infection.  Thankfully we caught it before it got too bad. She gave me (she didn’t actually GIVE it to me, I had to pay for it) an anti-biotic ointment (Mupirocin) which is applied twice daily.  She also gave me some Vetericin VF wound and skin care spray gel which she suggests I apply the second I notice something amiss.  She said many times the gel will fix the issue before it progresses.

I was concerned about his immune system and the fact that he keeps getting infections. Dr. B put him on Welactin 3, which is a Natural Omega-3 for dogs (fish oil) and she also put him on a probiotic by Animal Essentials. We’re hoping that the combination of the two will give his immune system the boost that it needs to get him over this hump.

She also said if I don’t see an improvement within a week or so, or if it gets worse to call and she will give him the oral antibiotic again.  I’m really hoping to avoid that.

As for the itching, well she ruled out fleas and mites, the official thought is the drier weather, combined with the fireplace had just dried out their skin, which hopefully the Welactin will help with.

Do you use supplements with your pets?  What do you use and why?

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