First off, if you’ve read the last few posts, you know it’s been HOT everywhere (high 90s-low 100s), and the observant among you will have noticed a certain lack of shade in the pictures. What, you may be wondering, about the dogs? How are they coping?
What I’ve been doing is leaving them in the car with the air conditioning on and the car running. I lock it up and use the spare key to get back in. It’s a trick I learned years ago from the truckers; they leave their rigs running at stops when it’s hot (or cold), and I figured out I could too.
The dogs don’t really like being cooped up so much, but once they figured out what the alternative was (I left them tied out in 100º heat for 10-15 minutes once–in the shade, I hasten to add) they’ve accepted it quite well.
OK, now about that puppy. This is really embarrassing for me. But I once again have four dogs. Four dogs is unambiguously too many for one person. I had four for years, and I am firmly convinced of that, and I had vowed–publicly vowed–that NEVER AGAIN would I have four at once. So it’s embarrassing.
And it’s all Iris’ fault (she has genererously agreed to take the blame). Here’s the story.
It was the day we went to Cañon de Chelly. We were less than five miles down the road, Jean leading in the pickup, when we saw a vehicle slowed way down in the right lane. Jean went on around it, and I started to follow, when Iris called out “Watch out! There’s a dog in the road!” I looked and saw this little bitty puppy, all alone out in the middle of nowhere, no homesteads in sight. And it was HOT (have I mentioned that?)
Well, we couldn’t just leave it there could we? All in a flash, I realized it had probably been abandoned, to live or die as it could, that it probably would not make it out there, that if I picked it up I’d probably be stuck with it, that there are thousands of stray dogs in the world and you can’t save them all, that four dogs is too many–but I couldn’t just leave it out there, so I stopped, hopped out, scooped it up, and we took it with us. It was just so d**m hot. And if Iris hadn’t pointed it out to me, I probably wouldn’t have seen it and would have driven on by, and so it’s all her fault (that’s what we agreed, right, Iris?)
She (turned out to be a “she”) was pretty dehydrated and beginning to starve–very skinny, very bony ribs and hips, lethargic, lots of ticks all over her. The kids held her and she slept all the way into Chinle, where I tied her up in some shade and gave her water and all the dog treats in my dog-walk vest, which luckily was in the car. The kids were all excited about her and passed her from lap to lap the rest of the day (while Iris and I tried to teach them how to handle a puppy, with pretty good success.) I suspect she may have had a touch of heatstroke–she panted the whole time, even when asleep.
When we got out to the Cañon we had to do the leave-the-car-running trick, but what the heck–no point in picking her up unless you’re going to take care of her. At least in my own head, I was holding the bag–I’d made the decision to stop for her. The kids were enthralled–they all wanted to hold her–but it’s always the parents who end up taking care of a pet, at least when kids are young. And the pup was showing (at least in my eyes) signs of having bonded to me (as the rescuer and source of water and food.) And she’s cute. I didn’t make the final decision right away–or I pretended to myself not to–but to cut the story short–I have her.
Here’s a picture of her with three of the grandkids, taken the day after we picked her up.
The girl was trying really hard to be serious and dignified, but couldn’t quite make it 🙂
Here’s a picture of the pup I took in Socorro, four days after we picked her up.
And here are a couple of pictures I took just tonight, a full week after picking her up
I was trying to get her face, so you could see just how cute she is. I wasn’t quite satisfied, so tried again and got this
She started to get up when she saw me get on the floor to take the shot, so the tips of her ears got clipped off, but I think this one does her justice.
(continued next morning)
She’s become a typical playful puppy who wants to chew on everything. Iris and I went shopping for puppy supplies in a pet store in Farmington, and I got her a couple of chew toys, which occasionally she deigns to chew on. But shoes, dog beds, wires, leashes, the other dogs–now, those are worth chewing on! There was a pet store near the place I got my tires rotated in Albuquerque, so I got some more chew toys, with more fabric, and these seem to be more attractive to her.
What’s it like being on the road with a puppy who isn’t housetrained? Not too bad so far. She’s a very biddable pup, and is quite happy to squat and pee when taken outside, but she hasn’t yet figured out not to do it inside. Auntie Iris (she seemed quite happy I decided to keep the pup and has claimed visiting rights) bought a very nice collapsible cloth dog crate for me as an early birthday present, and it’s working very well. Not only for housetraining, but also just to segregate her from the other dogs, who she tends to harrass when she wants to play and they don’t or if I just want some peace and quiet (like right now). Its called a Petmate Portable Pet Home in case anyone wants to check it out.
I took her to the vet in Socorro on the 3rd to have her checked, and he gave her her first round of puppy shots and de-wormed her. He thought she was 10-11 weeks old, which gibes pretty well with my own less-expert estimate. She’s small, but too coordinated to be only six weeks old. I asked about extra vitamins etc. but he said just a good puppy food was all she needs, so that’s what she’s getting. It may be my imagination, but I think she’s already filling out–I even think her collar, which was very loose when we put it on her last Monday, isn’t quite so loose today. I know she has more energy and confidence–she romps around and carries her tail up most of the time now.
It’s been interesting watching the integration-into-the-pack process. Puppy wants to play, mature dogs not so much. The Shiba boy mostly ignores her, and she goes after him less than the other two, both of whom she likes to harrass. She goes after their hind legs–maybe some herding instincts? Or just hunting?–and she’s so quick they can’t do much about it. The Shiba girl has experimented with sitting on her; she hasn’t actually managed to pin her down, but at least it has the effect of getting the pup off her hind legs. I’ve taught them they can escape by getting on the bed–here they are in the current motel (a Super 8–who knew a budget motel would have internet access? Cool), having hopped up to get away from the pup’s attentions. Don’t they look peaceful, and maybe a bit smug?
I was a bit worried about the Shiba girl, who isn’t particularly dog-friendly in general and who I worried might feel competitive with another female. At first she seemed not to know whether to play with the pup or kill her–was she a dog, or a rat?–but that didn’t last long–she’s accepted that the pup is another dog of some kind now. She wants to hump the pup to establish dominance, but that isn’t working too well–the pup is too small and too quick. But a couple of times, she’s actually romped with the pup–last night when we got into the motel room, they romped for about five minutes, with the Shiba girl showing every sign of having figured out having the pup around could be fun. So that’s OK.
The poodle is a whole other story. He’s the one I figured would start playing with the pup first, just because he’s more playful to begin with. But no. He seems to be jealous of this new interloper and all the attention she’s getting from me. He just growls (not a mean growl, but not just play either) when the pup goes after him. This morning, however, when I brought them back into the room after the 5:45 am pee walk (did you catch that time? grumble), he showed signes of wanting to play with her. Unfortunately, he makes a lot of noise when he plays–continuous play growls–so I had to stop them. But I’m encouraged he’s going to be OK with having her in the pack.
The other thing that’s interesting about the pack integration is seeing how much the pup learns from the other dogs. She’s learned to follow me, to come when called, to wait at the door when told “wait”, to present herslef to get a leash on to go outside or leave the car–all from imitating the other dogs. With four dogs, I often take them out two at a time instead of all together, and she’s picking up on that too–to stay in the room when it’s not her turn. Makes the whole thing a lot easier–I don’t have to train her as much. Which is a good thing, because I’m not good at training–I’m not disciplined or consistent enough.
What about her name? you may be wondering. I always have a hard time naming my critters, some more than others, and I’m not entirely sure I’ve lit on the right one for her. My first inclination was Scrap or Li’l Scrap, short for Li’l Scrap o’ Nuthin, because she’s so small, but that only lasted about 24 hours. If she showed signs of growing up to be a scrappy dog, it would work, but she’s really very gentle, so it didn’t stick. Her head reminds me of those coyotes howling at the moon pictures and small figurines you see all over the southwest (I’m not sure why), so the next attempt was Miss or Ms. (still undecided) Coyote Jane. Which works for me, but needs a nickname a person can actually say in a reasonable amount of time. The first inclination was “Ki” or “Kai”, short for “Coyote”, but there’s a spelling problem. “Coy” doesn’t work phonetically, and “Ki” or “Kai” don’t look like they’re short for Coyote. “C’mere Kai” worked well for calling her, so Kai stuck for a couple of days. But yesterday, I decided to try “CJ” instead, and that’s showing signs of sticking. So perhaps the name is “Miss (or Ms.) Coyote Jane,” CJ (or “CeeJay”) for short. A week will tell the tale. You can leave me your opinion, which I will take into account the next time I have internet access.
We’re heading to the hills today, hoping to find a good campsite we can stay at for a few days, so this will be the last post for awhile. I still haven’t caught up with myself–I need to post about Socorro and Samuel, and how the weather has cooled off–but that’ll have to wait. So this is it for a week or perhaps two.
I read somewhere that if we were to solve the pet overpopulation problem, every individual in the U.S. would have to adopt 5 dogs. (Of course, there’s still spaying and neutering to avoid further litters)
Anyway, I don’t know how valid that information is, but if it’s true, then in addition to your being blessed with such adorable grandkids and a cute little dog family, you also are well on your way to helping solve the stray dog problem.
You just need ONE more…haha
We have 3 dogs. I also feel a little embarrassed to admit it, because people will assume it was compulsiveness that brought them into my life, but since my youngest has been volunteering at an animal rescue (She attends a vet academy in her high school) I’ve met people with 10 well-cared dogs in their homes, so it brings a sense of normalcy to it.
On the name issue, I’d stick with something that you can say really fast when you’re trying to call all the dogs together. “Ki” sounds original and cute.
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If I were a better, more responsible dog owner, I’d feel better about having four of them. But during the teaching year, I tend to neglect them a bit, and it’s hard to give individual attention to that many. They do benefit from being part of a dog pack, but they still all want my attantion. I’m also not good about training–I do the bare minimum–so altogether, bettif if I don’t get any more!
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I like “Ki”, as in “yippie-ki-yay“.
I have this sentimental idea that any animal you rescue from the wild is going to make an ideal pet. I suppose life doesn’t really work out that tidily, but the critter has got to be grateful enough to get you off to a good start!
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