I'm developing a hypothesis about Parker's digestive issues. Perhaps it has something to do with eating sticks:
I've finally reviewed the ParkerCam archives from yesterday. Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough: he popped less than 15 minutes before I got home. Though, poor guy, I think this photo says everything that needs saying about how he felt right before it happened:
So far, only a minor improvement, so I might just have to take a little baggie to the vet tomorrow afternoon. Oh, the joys of dog ownership.
I feel bad for Parker, even though I just spent the last hour and a quarter cleaning up. Remember the "bad butt" incident? Apparently his butt is still bad, because when I got home this evening I realized what had happened as soon as I stuck my nose into my apartment.
I won't go into details, except to say that one of the most effective techniques I've found for cleaning paw-sized stains from carpets is to fill a small bowl with warm water and dish detergent, then use a tablespoon to scrape the stain in all four cardinal directions. The ironic effect of this is that there are now several spots in my bedroom and living room that are visibly cleaner than the rest of the carpet. Another ironic effect: his bed is soon to be cleaner than it's been in months.
Also, I should mention, it's literally freezing outside, so my apartment is now down to 10°C and I'm wearing a jacket. (All the windows are wide open.)
Parker has a vet appointment for Friday afternoon, if his, um, condition doesn't improve before then. Plus, he's on rice and cottage cheese until then (see photo), which he seems to like. Also, I'll be able to stop home and let him out every four hours or less for the rest of the week (in addition to his regular walks at 1pm).
Poor little guy. What a pain in the...yeah.
Trust me, you're better off without a photo today.
My dog-walking service leaves notes every day. Today's: "Looks like he ate something he shouldn't have. He had some real bad butt. #2, treat."
Poor little guy. He woke up around 2 in the morning and had to go outside, too. Right now, though, he's rolling on the floor pleading, in his doggy way, that I now take him to the play group. I will bring extra bags.
Parker has gone on vacation for a week while I'm at a professional conference. When I dropped him off with the dog sitter I felt pretty sad:
Today's DP will return April 2nd, but I'll be checking in all week (and probably cross-posting to my professional blog). So if you're only interested in puppy photos, enjoy spring break, and think of Parker spending every day with all his play-group friends (since many of them are in day care).
On Sunday I posted about catching a dog running loose in town. This afternoon I spoke with the local animal shelter to see if she had gotten back home.
Short answer: no.
It seems that Sandy, the slightly-overweight, very sweet beagle mix that Parker and I collared, is a regular visitor to the shelter. Six times, in fact. And each time, the owner gets cited, and each time, the owner takes several days to collect her. Sandy also has a brother, who is also a slightly-pudgy, very sweet beagle mix, whom the owner has voluntarily surrendered to the shelter. As soon as he's neutered—he's about 7—they'll put him up for adoption. The shelter also told me that they're about to send Sandy's owner a 24-hour notice, saying essentially "get your dog today or we're keeping her."
I had assumed that her owner would be worried about her, given that she had current tags and all. But no, the owner isn't worried, not one whit. Not even worried that someone (me) picked the dog up half a mile away and across a major street from home. Apparently the only reason Sandy had current tags is that the shelter won't release a dog without them, even if she comes in stray, so Sandy only got those from previous visits to Hotel Hound.
So, if you know anyone who wants a really sweet but slightly pudgy beagle-ish dog—or two—drop me a note and I'll put you in touch with the shelter.
Oh, yeah, here's the irony: if Sandy had an ID tag around her neck, I would have dropped her off at home, and the owner would not now be facing yet another citation. Then again, this will probably work out better for Sandy and her brother in the long run.
I meant to put this photo up earlier. A week ago Monday, just three days after he had a nice bath, the warmer weather gave Parker a field of mud to play in:
You should have seen the other guy. At least Parker has black fur; some of his friends showed the dirt a lot better on their white coats.
I think we have our answer:
I can confidently say that Parker will probably hit 22.6 kg, and not much bigger. Of course, with the amount of dirt and sticks he eats, you'd think he'd gain. Then again, that's mostly fiber...
Parker has a new behavior.
In my last apartment, Parker would signal his need to go outside by digging at the carpet and whining. At my new apartment, he did the same. But something interesting has happened: Parker has developed, all on his own, a new signal, which he used yesterday about 428 times:
Once he discovered his new power, he wanted to go outside all day. And, as you can predict, once outside he barked to come in. It was tons of fun—for him. So my next step is to figure out how to reduce the behavior to manageable levels.
Yesterday, Parker and I were walking to his afternoon play group meeting when we encountered a beagle-basset-looking dog wandering the streets. I tethered Parker and followed the other dog until she tired of the "keep away" game we had been playing. She had county rabies tags, and a current city license tag, but no other identification.
She most likely lived nearby. She was sweet and friendly, got along with Parker just fine, and waited with us patiently for Animal Control to arrive. But then she had to go to the animal shelter, probably for the night, and her owners probably went crazy looking for her until they (one hopes) got a call from the shelter this morning. The county has no record of what dogs go with what tags; they can do nothing more than confirm the tags are authentic. The city does keep identity records, but the police do not have access to them. Only the animal shelter does, but I'm not sure how, and if they need to talk to someone at City Hall then they're going to be S.O.L. at 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon.
Look, if you own dogs, put ID tags on them. Had this little dog had a phone number on her collar, she would have gotten home probably within ten minutes. It's great that the owners had her rabies shots and city tags up to date, but come on, spend $5 at Petco or Petsmart and get a name tag made. Even microchipping isn't enough, because the shelter may not use the same system that your dog's chip uses.
Think, people: your dog does not know your phone number, and couldn't tell someone even if she knew it.