I still remember the first time that we gave Tucker a Bully Stick – we had taken him to a show about an hour away from home, he spent the day being a great boy, showing beautifully and just being a love. We saw the Bully Sticks that were for sale at the show and decided to buy him one for the ride home.  At that time he rode in his crate on long drives, and so he settled into the crate, having no idea what we were going to give him.

As you can guess, the ride home was filled with the sounds of Tuck moaning and groaning as he got to know what a Bully Stick was.  Nancy and I were laughing as we listened to him eat away at that treat and we have never forgotten the sound of Tucker and his first Bully treat. The first Bully Stick lasted quite a few days, but as he figured out the way to devour them, they lasted no more than an hour.

This was the first Bully Stick that we had given Oliver, and after taking his treat off to a safe location he spent a few hours enjoying the stick, while always keeping an eye on Bodi to make sure that he kept his distance.

Bodi has had the pleasure of the treats before, and being Bodi, he knows he can dust one in about half an hour, and then he will spend the rest of the time that (either Tucker) or Oliver finishes eating their treats walking around at a distance staring at the treat to see if it ever leaves the watchful eyes of its owner. Of course, we always keep an eye on Bodi as well to make sure that he understands that he must allow the owner to finish his own treat.

So, half the fun of giving the Bully Stick is watching the complete enjoyment of the boys as they finish them off, and the other half, is the calm that settles in as they get lost in their treats and we enjoy a nice afternoon outdoors.

Long live the Bully Stick…

This is from our good friend (and the boys vet):

“Here is my take on the matter:
Since Bodi’s injury, there has been some disruption to the dominance hierarchy in your household. I think Bodi’s behavior represents his attempt to re-establish his dominance. As long as no body is getting hurt, I would give it some time and let them work it out without your intervention. If the fighting occurs in your presence, let both dogs know that YOU are the top dog in the household. Put them both in their place and demand that they acquiesce to YOU.
— Dr. B”

Things are getting better slowly, there is still a bit of tension between them at times, but they are playing together more, allowing themselves to be together at times, and the hair takes a little longer to raise up.  A large part of the problem seems to be Oliver’s total lack of fear when it comes to pushing in front of Bodi to get his portion of love and petting, as expected, Bodi gets pissed at these times.  Before all of this happened Bodi would let Oli do this, but now he is quicker to lay into him.

Today Bodi and Oliver played in the yard for quite a while, as usual Bodi spends way too much time barking at Oliver, but Oliver’s speed keeps him out of reach (the benefit of being 15lbs. lighter LOL).

On the walks both are working towards backing each other up – watch out lizards.

We feel it will still take a while to get back to normal, but with a bit of work and controlling the energy everything will get better and these two pains in the butt will be living the good life again.

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I stood by your bed last night …I came to have a peep.
I could see that you’d been crying,and you found it hard to sleep.

I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear, “It’s me. I haven’t left you. I’m well, I’m fine, I’m here”.

I was close to you at breakfast… I watched you pour your tea.
You were thinking of the many times your hands reached down to touch me.

I was with you at my grave today… you tend to it with such care.
I want to reassure you. That I’m not lying there.

I walked you towards the house as you fumbled for the key.
I gently put my paw on you…I smiled and said, “it’s me”.

You looked so tired as you sank into your chair.
I tried so hard to let you know that I was sitting there.

It’s wonderful for me to be so near you everyday,
To say to you with certainty, “I never went away”.

You sat there quietly, then smiled… I think you knew
That in the stillness of the evening I was very close to you.

And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide,
I’ll rush across to meet you and we’ll stand there side by side.

I have so many things to show you ! There’s so much for you to see.
Be patient, live your journey out, then come home to be with me.

Doing her big loop in an area that we call Valhalla, she was going to cut it short and head back, but felt that as long as she was out and about she might as well take the slightly longer loop through the trail in the field and then back – give the boys a little longer walk since she had not been out as often with the sore foot.

Bodi and Oliver, unlike Tucker, will try to go after anything that moves, seeing a lizard on the trail is dangerous as they will turn on a dime and lunge into the brush, certain that they will catch the critter – and actually never even coming close. Due to this, Nancy always keeps them on a short leash and works hard to keep them out of the brush – smart girl there. I, as men do, let them off leash and deal with the consequences.

Because we take the boys out on the trails so often, and we have seen Rattle Snakes, we chose to get both of the boys hooked up with the Rattle Snake Vaccine. Unlike what most people think – the vaccine doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry if they get bitten, but it does give you more time before the major damage hits, which gives you a better chance to get to the doctor before your dog is very badly messed up. We can’t tell you for certain that the vaccine made a difference – Tucker never had the vaccine, and never got bitten, but if it made this even 1/1000th easier on Bodi by having it – it was well worth it, many times over.

So, back to the walk… Coming down the trail Bodi spots something and dives into the brush – Nancy pulls him back and instructs “LEAVE IT”, Oliver, now at the edge of the brush while Bodi is being reprimanded, starts batting at something with his paws – doing his best cat imitation. Nancy looks at what he is swatting at and sees the tail end of a rattle snake, “beating feet” as they say, leaving the scene.

Nancy pulls the pups close and starts to check them out, all looks well, and due to the fact that neither dog yelped, she feels like she has dodged a big one and things are OK. Taking one more quick look, she notices what looks like a small amount of blood on Bodi’s cheek, and two puncture wounds. Bodi still hasn’t given any reaction that he has been bitten, and is still ready to walk.

Nancy heads back and has to walk the 2 – 3 hundred yards back to the Jeep, her first reaction is that she should carry Bodi – but walking 2 dogs kind of rules that out – and Bodi, at just under 60 lbs. is still a bit of a carry for 300 yards up and down hills, over the trails. Within a short distance, Bodi starts to slow – and by the time he is about 50 yards away, is very slow, and salivating uncontrollably.

Nancy calls me shortly after the bite and lets me know what has happened, I call the nearest Vet and am informed that there are no doctor’s there at the moment – and gives instructions to go to the Animal Hospital. I call our good friend, and Bodi and Oliver’s normal doctor, Dr. Berry and he instructs me that we should head straight to his clinic, Agoura Animal Clinic – he would notify same and since he was off that day, they would be ready when Nancy got there. We would normally head straight to Agoura Animal Clinic, but since they are about 3 times as far away as the nearest clinic – we tried the nearest first.

I was at the clinic waiting for Nancy when she pulled up, and I got Bodi out of the Jeep. He was quite out of it by this time, with drool running out of his mouth. I carried him straight into the clinic and Dr Kane had Bodi on an IV, had anti venom into him, and checked everything out on Oliver as well, just to be sure that he hadn’t gotten nicked at the same time.

At this time Bodi’s face was starting to swell slightly, but they were surprised that he didn’t look worse. Since Nancy got him there so quickly he was just at the very beginning of the swelling that we would see over the next couple of days.

Once they were certain Bodi had stabalized, they gave us the rundown on Bodi, informed us that since we would be watching Bodi closer then anyone else throughout the night, sent us home with Bodi hooked up to a portable IV unit.

Unbelievably, throughout this entire ordeal, Bodi has not yelped, has not growled, has not whimpered – he went through it like a real trooper, and the only time we heard even the slightest whimper from him was when we would nudge his face while working on the IV – or when he had to go out to go to the bathroom and was trying to let us know.

Bodi was placed on the bed hooked up to the machine, drugs running through his system, and he pretty much stayed that way all night, while I stayed up and watched him to make sure that he got his antibiotics and pain killers at the prescribed times. It was a very long night for me – and I am sure, twice as long for Bodi.

The swelling was going strong throughout the night, and as of now – 2 days later, it still hasn’t stopped, it has slowed a bit – but hasn’t stopped. The swelling has moved down his face, throughout his chest, down his front leg, has bruised throughout the chest and leg area, it’s unbelievable how it has taken him. As of now, 2 days later he has trouble even walking from the swelling, and still, not a peep out of him from the pain. His face swelling has come down a bit, but he still can’t eat regularly due to the pain and swelling.

Oliver has been as careful as can be, he hasn’t tried to play with Bodi, has stepped aside when Bodi comes through and has spent a lot of time sniffing his wounds, and licking his face and body. The toughest part was when Bodi was at the clinic and laying on the blanket while they attended to him, Oliver kept trying to slide over to sit and/or lay down next to him, always trying to be a part of everything Bodi is going through.

So now – it’s just a matter of letting the toxins run their course, letting his little body fight what is going on – and spoiling him rotten with our caring and love.

IT’S ON – How could either one of us actually let dad sleep when we both want the prime real estate next to his head…

How could that ever happen!!!

Dad, trying to exert his leadership throws his hand up… Spinning through the hand, each dog tries to catapult the other off the bed… Fighting through, Bodi throws Oliver on his back, Dad tries to ignore the fast moving red blurs… The fighting (playfully) gets fierce and the sounds of nipping teeth and playful growls gets intense… Bodi, sensing an opening lunges in and nips Oliver on the ear, the fighting is intense… Realizing that the space is lost, and the bed is soft, Bodi starts to slip into sleep again, as Oliver turns his attention to the man under the covers…And through this all, who is filming???

Instead of breaking the fight up and letting the lump sleep??? ]]> http://www.thegooddogblog.com/2010/06/23/sleeping-with-the-enemy/feed/ 0 http://www.thegooddogblog.com/2010/04/30/welcome-oliver-to-the-family/ http://www.thegooddogblog.com/2010/04/30/welcome-oliver-to-the-family/#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:53:57 +0000 Jim http://www.thegooddogblog.com/?p=694 Thursday, 4.29.10, we welcomed a new “V” to the family.

Oliver is a 1.5 year old that we adopted from SoCal Vizsla Rescue, He is a beautiful, extremely thin, very active, sweet young Vizsla that we will gladly welcome into his “Forever Home”.

Last night was his first night with us… What a sweet boy, he played long and hard with all of the toys that he could find, and then when we sat down to dinner, he curled up on the sofa and went to sleep.

At bed time, it took just a few to get him to calm down, but then he curled up next to Bodi, put his head on Bodi’s butt and went to sleep.

He definitely has some separation anxiety, but then it has only been 1 day and he is just getting used to the new digs. He tends to whine when left by himself, whether in the bedroom, or when left alone in the house, but seems to be much better when Bodi is nearby.

Couldn’t be happier, Nancy, Bodi, Oliver and I look forward to many more posts on this new subject, and new member of our family.

Always fun to explain why there is a bra in the living room, or panties in the kitchen, never dull, but always interesting.

We would play with him after he started to show his little “fetish”, we would hook the bra over his head with the cups looking like ear-muffs – all in fun, but I’m sure Tucker was thinking… What the hell, I bring this in here just to lay with it, and they try to embarrass me.

Of course, Bodi picked up the same little fetish, carrying Nancy’s underwear out to the window-seat, just to lay on it and go to sleep. But Bodi will pick up shoes, socks, he’ll walk right by you and grab something out of the hamper and go lay down on top of it, you can’t get mad – all you can do is laugh at him and try to teach him not to do it.

I’m sure other puppies have the same quirks, and other people have to figure out how to explain things to their friends and family members.  Our little companions love to embarrass us in these ways – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We all roll our eyes, laugh at the stupidity of the animal in front of us, and go back to trying to figure out how we could have spent so much money at the holidays!!!

Now, I ask you, which breed here is the stupid one? Which one of us needs to have our heads examined and be “rehabilitated”?

Tucker loved the paper rolls, you could toss it on the floor up in the third story bathroom and he would come flying up the stairs from the first floor to attack the toilet paper monster, he would carry around his prize kill until all had a chance to see, and then he would lay down and tear it to pieces. We loved to watch him, he loved the show as well, and still 2 months after his passing we find ourselves throwing the roll on the floor and waiting for the storm to come.

This is one of the traits that Bodi didn’t pick up from Tucker, he will just watch it hit the floor and walk away, wondering what all the fuss was about a stupid toilet paper roll, and then he’ll casually pick up Nancy’s bra and walk away with it, with that gleam in his eye, swearing that there is no way he is going to let this unholy monster get to us… and all of his new toys that we were dumb enough to bring home for him…

Bodi hard at work proving once and for all that he can crash out just as fully as Tucker could, I’m in the chair editing a video for a client, while this bum-of-a-dog is crashed out, snoring, and doing those cute little Vizsla kicks while he chases Squirrels in his dreamy-dream land.

Just something to set the tone for the weekend!!!

One of the things that we learned about Vizsla’s is something that we call “Brain Cramps”. I’m sure that every “V” owner will attest to this little bit of craziness.

When you are playing with your pup, and all of the sudden all hell breaks loose, the back hips drop near to the ground, the lips curl back, the ears start to flop all over the place, and time stands still… for you, for your Vizsla though, time has taken on a new meaning, they are moving as fast as they can, running like the wind, their shoulders seem to touch the ground as they negotiate a tight turn, they are growling and barking, and many times the slobber is thrown across the bridge of their nose.

Of course, we are egging them on, growling back at them, laughing as hard as they are playing, throwing our arms in the air just to see how much more insane they can become.  As they run at us,we run back at them, just to keep the game going.  I’m sure most other people must view us, the owners, as the crazy ones, as we “scare” our little dogs, but we know better, we are in Vizsla heaven, we are in the midst of the hunt with them, we are at one with our beasts.

I dare any Vizsla owner to deny that they have been here, I dare any Vizsla owner to say that they haven’t felt this.

With our beloved Tucker we also had a little thing that we called “Sand Dancing”.  We were treated to this one evening while walking Tuck near the playground at the school near us (Of course, this was before the schools around here were put into perpetual lockdown, before the “No Dogs Allowed” signs popped up, when they were still “public” schools).  As Nancy and I walked near the sandbox, Tucker dove in, and started dancing, he would dig a little, then spin around , throw all four paws out, get his face near the sand, and spin around, kicking sand in the air, then start all over again.  Nancy and I were loving it, and we would point him to sand anytime we were near it just to enjoy his complete happiness and joy with this soft, sandy treat.

These pictures were taken a few years ago when we took Tucker to the Beach Cruisers Car Show in Huntington Beach (Car lovers should circle this one on the calendar, great show), we split off from the show and went down to the beaches edge. Of course, Tucker couldn’t resist the sand and started Sand Dancing, people were staring and pointing, and we were loving it. Every once in a while Tucker would take a break, stand at the walls edge and check everybody and everything out, but his true love was the sand… and for a little while he was “The Lord Of The Dance”, and he was dirty, and he was sandy, and he was out of breath, and he was drooling… and best of all, he was Tucker.

Bodi is a master of “Brain Cramping”, he does it at the park, in the hills, in the backyard, Christ, he does it in the house (as Tucker did before him). He hasn’t picked up on the Sand Dancing yet, at least not in front of us, but we won’t hold it against him, and we’ll just egg him on a little bit everytime we get in the sand, just in case he has a bit of the dance in him.

These pictures bring back many memories, many great thoughts, and a bit of tears, but I am so thankful that we still have them as they trigger all of the emotions, good and bad, and for that we are blessed.

So, take your pups out, let them Brain Cramp, egg them on, let them be silly, let them run, bark, growl, let them be free, let them be dogs… and tell them of the “Sand Dancing Dog” of Southern California, for he was all of those things, he was deeply loved, and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.