Saturday I went to the dogshow in Lexington and saw a lot of beautiful dogs, though none of them were Siberians. There were a few shelties, a couple of corgis, a keeshound, a teacup pomeranian, a viszla, a portugese waterdog, a poodle, a cairn terrier, a couple of german shepherds, a couple english setters, a king charles spaniel, a couple chinese chins, and a belgian shepherd to name a few. I had the pleasure of helping out a couple of times with the canine good citizen by being an 'extra' person/crowd to guage the dog's reaction to a lot of people milling about. Intermittently I was allowed to pet the keeshound named 'Chris' who was a real sweetheart. I also got to hold the teacup pom who was such an adorable little boy! He was so calm, I almost couldn't believe he was a pom! He was just content to be held and petted and loved on that he hardly moved a muscle except to tell us when another dog came in the arena. He was such a cutie, and so tiny but loveable! I'm not one for small dogs, but that little guy was a treat.
It was a fairly small event, though, quite freindly and I wished I had brought Princess anyway. Ah well, live and learn. Of course it was rather hot and humid though, so she may have been a bit miserable there. We stayed until hunger pangs dragged us off to lunch, and we went to eat and stop by the Tractor Supply for dogfood, treats and various chewies.
Monday morning Princess was getting tired of Freya picking on her, so she wanted Samantha to come with her outside to supervise so that she could go potty in peace. She ran to the door, then ran back to Samantha, whined, licked her face then ran to the door. She did the same to me, then back to Samantha. We were both loathe to get up, so Princess picked up the leash on Samantha's collar and dragged her to the door. That Princess knows how to get what she wants...
This week has been a couple of nightshifts, but it is hard to tell puppies to let me sleep in! They still think I need to be up at 5am to go outside and play with them. Okay, so I've spoiled them into a schedule... At least they are happy, and once they are tired and fed thier breakfast and morning treat, I can go back to bed... maybe.
This afternoon the dogs all went nutso at the fence, howling, barking and trying to dig out, so I went down to the back fence to see what the fuss was about. A twelve inch diameter snapping turtle hissed at the dogs through the chain link and kept snapping at them just short of their noses. Knowing that the situation would not resolve itself in a good or timely manner I intervened and went outside the fence. Grabbing up a wood box, I distracted its biting end while flipping it over (this so I could safely get ahold of its tail and avoid its business end). Grabbing it up by the tail, it must have weighed between 10-15 pounds, quite hefty and dangerous. I took it to the embankment of the creek, and set it down as it hissed and snapped at me. It was a marvelous old female who was trying to find a safe place to lay her eggs, but I had to dissuade her from trying to find that place in my dogyard. Hopefully she got the message.
Our flea and tick oil, and heartworm chews finally arrived (only 3 months late...), so I administered one of each to the dogs on Tuesday. Today, while Freya was at the fence and trying to engage the turtle and I was out moving the turtle from the fence, Jim said he thought she had a slight siezure. This worries me, as I've heard some dogs can have a reaction to ivermectin that is in the chews. We will be again keeping a close eye on her. I examined her carefully when I came in and nothing appeared to be wrong, no ear infection, clear and responsive pupils, etc. I'm not sure what he saw, but I'm hoping it was not a reaction to the medicine and I'm praying it is not a stress related siezure. If it is stress related, this could severely limit her racing career, and she loves it so much.
Later though, she was racing around the yard like a black and white streak of lightning. She is fast and amazing! I'm hoping the earlier episode was just my husband's misinterpretation of some doggy inter-active body-language.
Tensions are still a bit high between Samantha and Freya, which is unfortunate, so we have to supervise their interaction at all times. I thought I'd let Samantha run a bit this evening, but had to cut it short as she started posturing at Freya and inciting a fight. Luckily I chastised her before it began and she backed off immediately. It is unfortunate that Samantha does not like the idea of Freya having fun and playing anywhere near her, sigh... When they are just lounging around, they are fine together. They even laid down in the crate together with no posturing or animosity. I just don't get why Samantha has a problem with Freya playing. Poor Freya.
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