Tuesday 27th November.
Poor Ranger had to go to the vets last week as he was spiked by the porcupine and unfortunately for him the quills were mainly in his mouth and tongue. He was very distressed by the incident but I took him to the vets immediately and they were removed under anaesthetic. He was put on anti biotics as his nose was very swollen. I just hope this incident taught him to stay well clear of porcupines.
In my previous entry I forgot to mention that the quills should be snipped with scizzors before removal to relieve the air thus releasing the vacuum.
Last Wednesday morning we let the dogs out for their first wee as usual and Kasidi and Lela did not come back, Mark and I were a little alarmed as It is hunting season. A little later we set off on our walk and as we approached the first field we walk through we found what had been the big attraction for the girls. There was a dead deer that had just started to be eaten by something and thereafter by my dogs. We had great difficulty moving the dogs on as here was a feast just begging to be had. Later that afternoon and over the next day all of the dogs at some point sneaked off to the dear and the next day as we walked by It was just a skeleton with a head. The bones had been stripped off the flesh and the next day after that even the head had gone. The efficiency of our local predators plus my dogs ate what must have been around 160 pounds of flesh in just over 2 days. Lela and Kasidi look at least 12 pounds heavier and have had terrible flatulence. They are now on diets and are not impressed that their food has been reduced.
I sometimes marvel at how we have adjusted to living in these wild surroundings, back home there was never anything to worry about in terms of wildlife and of course we did not have the fear of rabies as the UK is rabies free. The dogs are showing the scars of battling with the wildlife. Ruby came back from her walk with a large scratch on her nose the other day and I have no idea where it came from. I remain philosophical though, and will never stop the dogs doing what makes them happy and If something happens to them, well, they were living their life to the full.
Ranger has lost weight and is looking very good at the moment, he is very loyal to me and if I allowed him to he would follow me everywhere. It is going to take someone very special to come along before i let him go to a new home. I will try to get some photo's up of him as soon as the swelling on his nose has gone down.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Dog things
Saturday 17th Of November.
Last week was not the best of weeks. We appear to have a resident porcupine in the woods near to my house and on three consecutive days Raiza, Kasidi and Lela were"spiked". Ranger managed to get just one in the middle of his lip. Quite how he managed that I can only imagine but It really was very distressing for the dogs having them removed. Everyone has their own idea as to how they should be removed but they way I remove them is to bandage the dogs eyes and top part of the muzzle and remove the big ones with a pair of pliers. The small ones I leave until the next day where I find they are much easier to remove. Obviously if the quills were in the neck region I would take the dog to the vets to have them removed under anesthetic. We have been lucky in that there have not been too many unlike last year when Brewster resembled Santa Claus as he had loads on both sides of his face.
We did not go far this morning on our walk as I could hear gun shots and Lela does not like the sound of guns. We stayed around the property and in our own paddock and the dogs went crazy for the cow manure. Very distasteful, but all dogs seem to view It as a delicacy so I try not to get too upset about It. I think the end of the deer hunting is December 7th and It can't come soon enough for me.
I had to take Olivia to school early this morning and on the main road we saw a hunter cruising on his 4 wheeler with his gun over his shoulder looking for deer. I was so angry to see this, I thought hunting required skill, looking for tracks and waiting patiently in the woods, being at one with nature. Guys like him give the sport a bad name and sadly there seems to be many like him. I really find It very distressing but It is part of living in upstate New York.
Last week was not the best of weeks. We appear to have a resident porcupine in the woods near to my house and on three consecutive days Raiza, Kasidi and Lela were"spiked". Ranger managed to get just one in the middle of his lip. Quite how he managed that I can only imagine but It really was very distressing for the dogs having them removed. Everyone has their own idea as to how they should be removed but they way I remove them is to bandage the dogs eyes and top part of the muzzle and remove the big ones with a pair of pliers. The small ones I leave until the next day where I find they are much easier to remove. Obviously if the quills were in the neck region I would take the dog to the vets to have them removed under anesthetic. We have been lucky in that there have not been too many unlike last year when Brewster resembled Santa Claus as he had loads on both sides of his face.
We did not go far this morning on our walk as I could hear gun shots and Lela does not like the sound of guns. We stayed around the property and in our own paddock and the dogs went crazy for the cow manure. Very distasteful, but all dogs seem to view It as a delicacy so I try not to get too upset about It. I think the end of the deer hunting is December 7th and It can't come soon enough for me.
I had to take Olivia to school early this morning and on the main road we saw a hunter cruising on his 4 wheeler with his gun over his shoulder looking for deer. I was so angry to see this, I thought hunting required skill, looking for tracks and waiting patiently in the woods, being at one with nature. Guys like him give the sport a bad name and sadly there seems to be many like him. I really find It very distressing but It is part of living in upstate New York.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Dogs
Friday 9th November.
Oh dear where has the time gone! This is the time of year that I dread, the approach of hunting season and I just hope It will be a quiet one.Soon the dogs will be wearing their bright orange collars and in some cases their orange jackets. Last year the boys wore the jackets as they tended to be more adventurous but this year I am not so sure and will most probably buy them for the girls also.
Ranger continues to be as good as gold, he is no trouble whatsoever but when Mark comes back next week we will endeavour to find a new home for him. This will be very hard for me and the children as we have become very fond of him but we simply cannot keep him.
Keeping males with females can be quite complicated sometimes especially when one of the girls comes into season. I suspect Lela maybe coming into season quite soon as we had an incident between Brewster and Raiza the other day which was quite unpleasant. Mark and I were in the barn feeding the cows when I heard grumbling. By the time I had reached the dogs It was too late and Brewster and Raiza were involved in a spat. They have had their set too's in the past but this one was particularly loud and I thought quite serious. Jimmy, the man digging up my entire garden with his bulldozer (we have serious flooding and need new drains) watched as mark and I tried to separate them.Raiza was clearly the one in a position of dominance as he had Brewster by the throat and for the first time ever Brewster was crying out. It really was very unsettling and as we managed to seperate them I feared that Brewster would have extensive wounds. To my amazement, on examination, not one mark could be found on Brewster, not even a toothmark. Jimmy shouted to me he half expected Brewsters throat to be missing but apart from saliva, there was nothing.
Later that morning as I was thinking of the whole incident I felt very pleased with how Raiza had reacted. Brewster, although castrated, still behaves as if he is not and is always grumbling at Raiza. Raiza, on the whole ignores him but obviously on this day Raiza decided to show him who was boss. There is no doubt that Raiza could have inflicted serious wounds on Brewster and judging by the noise they were making thats what we thought he was doing, but he didn't. He had him in a hold and was demanding submission without causing injury and I can only be pleased with his restraint.
The amazing thing that I have learned after such incidents is not to seperate them as this only makes the situation worse. They were both put in the utility room and a little while later we went shopping and It was as if nothing had happened at all when we returned and this is always the case.
Someone has asked about beautiful Caesar. When It became clear to me that the American breed standard is unforgiving about the amount of white on the toes, I realised I could not keep him as I have a commitment to breed to the standard , I could have produced puppies with too much white. Soon after making that decision, I received a phone call from a lovely lady called April from Connecticut. She had just lost her old Ridgeback and was looking for a puppy, I suggested she may want to consider Caesar so she made the journey to visit us with her husband and son and after spending a couple of hours with him they decided to take him home. It was a perfect match and he adored her little boy. My last update of him was April may well show him as he has continued to develop beautifully.
Oh dear where has the time gone! This is the time of year that I dread, the approach of hunting season and I just hope It will be a quiet one.Soon the dogs will be wearing their bright orange collars and in some cases their orange jackets. Last year the boys wore the jackets as they tended to be more adventurous but this year I am not so sure and will most probably buy them for the girls also.
Ranger continues to be as good as gold, he is no trouble whatsoever but when Mark comes back next week we will endeavour to find a new home for him. This will be very hard for me and the children as we have become very fond of him but we simply cannot keep him.
Keeping males with females can be quite complicated sometimes especially when one of the girls comes into season. I suspect Lela maybe coming into season quite soon as we had an incident between Brewster and Raiza the other day which was quite unpleasant. Mark and I were in the barn feeding the cows when I heard grumbling. By the time I had reached the dogs It was too late and Brewster and Raiza were involved in a spat. They have had their set too's in the past but this one was particularly loud and I thought quite serious. Jimmy, the man digging up my entire garden with his bulldozer (we have serious flooding and need new drains) watched as mark and I tried to separate them.Raiza was clearly the one in a position of dominance as he had Brewster by the throat and for the first time ever Brewster was crying out. It really was very unsettling and as we managed to seperate them I feared that Brewster would have extensive wounds. To my amazement, on examination, not one mark could be found on Brewster, not even a toothmark. Jimmy shouted to me he half expected Brewsters throat to be missing but apart from saliva, there was nothing.
Later that morning as I was thinking of the whole incident I felt very pleased with how Raiza had reacted. Brewster, although castrated, still behaves as if he is not and is always grumbling at Raiza. Raiza, on the whole ignores him but obviously on this day Raiza decided to show him who was boss. There is no doubt that Raiza could have inflicted serious wounds on Brewster and judging by the noise they were making thats what we thought he was doing, but he didn't. He had him in a hold and was demanding submission without causing injury and I can only be pleased with his restraint.
The amazing thing that I have learned after such incidents is not to seperate them as this only makes the situation worse. They were both put in the utility room and a little while later we went shopping and It was as if nothing had happened at all when we returned and this is always the case.
Someone has asked about beautiful Caesar. When It became clear to me that the American breed standard is unforgiving about the amount of white on the toes, I realised I could not keep him as I have a commitment to breed to the standard , I could have produced puppies with too much white. Soon after making that decision, I received a phone call from a lovely lady called April from Connecticut. She had just lost her old Ridgeback and was looking for a puppy, I suggested she may want to consider Caesar so she made the journey to visit us with her husband and son and after spending a couple of hours with him they decided to take him home. It was a perfect match and he adored her little boy. My last update of him was April may well show him as he has continued to develop beautifully.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
