She Scared Us

 

A couple of nights ago, Aqua scared us a bit. It was a hot day. Even with the widow air conditioners and the swamp cooler going, the house was warmer than I would have liked. Chad and I took Sophie for a walk as part of our daily exercise. When we returned, he decided to take the other dogs around the block. A little while after he got back with Aqua, she came into our room panting heavily, drooling, and whimpering. We thought maybe she got hurt on the walk. She has had issues with her paws on the back porch in the past. He took her after dark, but we didn't think of checking the temperature of the sidewalk especially since the other dogs didn't have a problem. As we observed her more closely on the bed, we realized she was overheating. I sent the kids to get the frozen meatballs (we keep them on hand in the summer to help the dogs keep cool). She seemed too disoriented to even know we were holding it in front of her. Then, we all got more scared. I laid next to her on the bed to try to keep her calm. Sean and Noel turned on the shower, and Chad tried to lead Aqua to the bathroom. She wouldn't budge and seemed to be getting worse. Then, he grabbed a towel, through it across the room to the kids, and told them to bring him a cold towel. Sean came back with a cold, wet towel and tried to cool down her paws knowing it is center for temperature regulation for dogs. When that wasn't working fast enough, Noel soaked the towel even more and draped it over her head and neck. Her breathing started to clow quickly and the drooling dissipated almost right away. A few minutes later, Chad went back to the kitchen to get the meatballs. When Aqua heard the freezer open, she shook off the towel and ran to him. Our girl was better! 

I don't know how to prevent this completely in the future. I will be giving the dogs meatballs periodically the rest of the summer when it is close to 100F. Chad will wait until later to take her for walks knowing she is more sensitive to the heat than the other dogs. If she starts acting disoriented, we will get her in a cold shower before she starts whimpering. Hopefully, these things will help her. (For anyone wondering, the water was full of cool water, and she drank some of it after the meatball.)

Sleep Deprived

We have three dogs. Dexter is a lab mix we got a few months after we got married. He’s getting a bit old, but is a good dog most of the time. Sophie is a pug/ Chihuahua mix and about he same age as Dexter. We got her in 2019 and have loved her ever since. Aqua is a hound/ boxer mix. We adopted her from the same shelter as Sophie about a year prior. She was about a year and a half old when we got her and has been a bundle of energy most of the time. We love our dogs! 

Lately, Aqua and Sophie have been waking me up very early in the morning. When I say early, I mean before my 5:00am alarm goes off. This morning, Sophie woke me up at 2:45 to let her out of my room to get a drink. Then, Aqua started doing the bark that she does when she wants attention a little after 4:00. I decided to try to let her be until I was ready to get up to see if she would calm down. She didn’t really. She should stop just long enough for me to get back to sleep before she stated back up. Eventually, Chad got up with her about 5 minutes before my alarm would have gotten me up anyway. Them waking up one or both of us has been happening for quite some time. I wish I knew how to get them to stop. 

Lost Dog/ Found Dog

 If there is a hole in the fence, Sophie will find it. She loves to roam around. Today, she found one of those holes and got out. It scared us for a while. 

After lunch, I let all of the dogs in the backyard and went back to work. When the big dogs wanted in, Sean let them in. Then, he went looking for Sophie. When he couldn’t find her, Noel joined him as I drove around the block slowly calling for her knowing she couldn’t get very far. At this point, she went to walk around the block in case I missed her as I freaked out thinking a hawk or other predatory bird got ahold of her. Then, Noel climbed the fence to see if she could find her that way, and she did. A confused little Sophie was right up against the fence likely trying to find a way back in where the people were calling for her. My solution was to have Noel jump the fence as I drove around to the back of the house to meet them. What I found as I passed the mailboxes was Sean walking towards Noel who was snuggling a small dog we thought may have been eaten. 

I was so relieved to be able to bring my doggie home. Sophie was just happy as could be having had a small adventure and getting the attention of being held and snuggled. 

Walking Sophie

I have been walking Sophie a lot lately. Today, we walked about two miles which is kind of far for a old, small dog. She seemed to not mind though, for the most part. She did mind when we walked past a house with a blue heeler in the front yard. As he ran down the driveway barking, she stopped, so I picked her up and kept walking. When we got closer to the other dog, she climbed up to my shoulder and would let me put her down until we were past that yard. We do walk on Thursdays with my friend and her two small dogs, and (as I pointed out yesterday) we have two big dogs in our home with her. I am not sure why she was suddenly scared of this dog today, but I guess I will be carrying her at times during walks now. 

Oh, Dexter!

We have three dogs: a lab mixed named Dexter, a boxer mix named Aqua, and a pug/chihuahua named Sophie. Dexter is currently out only boy dog, and he had been peeing on everything that is mine lately. (At least , that’s how it feels.) 

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to go to the temple, I realized that he peed on my temple bag. Luckily, it was a weatherproof bag, so the clothing in to was fine. I was able to switch to a backpack last minute. Then, I went to put my coat on, and it stank like dog pee. I know that it wouldn’t have happened if I put it away Friday morning instead of on the back of a kitchen chair, but it was still frustrating to have to wear a light jacket on a chilly morning. 

Tonight, he peed on my dog. They all went in the backyard for a while and came in happily. When I picked up Sophie, she was wet. When I smelled her, I knew right away what had happened: Dexter peed on her. I gave her a bath (she was not a fan), and she smelled better quickly. 

I don’t know what to do to get him to stop. I don’t even know why it started. Dexter is 11 years old. Can he even be taught to stop at this point?