Cricket will be renamed (for her time with us) as Chrissi.
After an uneventful night's sleep,
our routine so far is:
* 4:30 a.m. - Wake-up call from RosieVi;
everydog troops outside, Paris bringing along her "baby"
(which you can read about HERE).
Chrissi has severe dire rears;
luckily, she's already learning to use the dogs' bathroom area,
so it's easy to dispose of.
I give her some shredded coconut;
I assume that a few days of good food (Innova) will soon
give her 'mantelpiece-quality' poops.
Her butt itches; I apply Panalog (motto: "From ears to rears.");
Her ears itch; I apply her medicine.
Her mouth itches; when she trusts me more,
I will have to look at her teeth to see what the problem might be.
Everydog gets a treat;
Daisy2Legs & Rico go back to bed with CairnDaddy;
RosieVi goes under my bed; Paris stays in my room;
Cari stays in the bathroom.
* 5:00 a.m. - Take Chrissi for a walk around the block.
I don't normally walk my dogs, but if there is one thing she needs,
it is exercise. Can't hurt me, either!
She walks on lead very nicely.
Her prey drive kicks in when Stew the Rabbit bounces along in front of us,
but she realizes the futility of the chase and doesn't pull the lead;
just pricks up her ears and wags her tail furiously.
The last part of the walk is slower & slower;
I figure she'd had enough of walking . . . wrong.
When we come inside, she walks right to the patio door and asks to go out.
She does the perimeter walk around the yard; I let the others out, too.
Ears itch again/still, so put in some Oti-Calm,
as it goes deeper into the ear canal and is quite soothing.
Smelly & messy, but soothing. She is licking her paws,
so I will pour some hydrogen peroxide on them and cut away her
"furry slippers" to see if there are interdigital cycsts developing,
or if this is just a nervous habit. Quite often,
dogs that have poor nutrition have toxins coming out
through the skin, causing itching.
Some time with good nutrition should heal this problem.
* 6:00 a.m. - Grocery shopping (me, not her).
When I get home, the dogs think I was out hunting;
Chrissi investigates every bag I bring in.
I wonder what she's been fed for ten years to make her so overweight.
She has a slight breathing problem,
but then she is overweight (I will weigh her today),
so that's understandable.
Chrissi's brand new collar,
donated by Lydia Ross & Annie Curran
Work on her website. CairnDaddy gets up;
Chrissi is SO GLAD to see him,
bouncing & growling & running in circles.
She runs. Not exactly the TUCKBUTTRUN that Paris does,
but she does quite a fast waddle.
She is not interested in sleeping on the bed,
so Daisy & RosieVi join me and we take a nap.
During which, she tells CD she has to go outside.
Such a good girl and a FAST LEARNER!
* 11:30 a.m. - NancyK stops by;
Chrissi gets some more attention than usual.
Very friendly; very loving dog.
Has some areas she doesn't want groomed,
so will have to be careful when I comb her.
* 12:30 p.m. - Tells us that she has to go outside.
The coconut must be working; much firmer poops.
I think she likes the doors open so they can all go
inside/outside as they please. However,
they all missed seeing the juvenile bunny in the yard.
THAT hunt will happen another day, I'm sure!
* 1:30 p.m. - CRICKET PLAYS TUG WITH TOY,
WITH ME AT THE OTHER END!!
(Note to self: When tossing something for Chrissi,
don't throw it past her right side; she can' follow it.
This is a learning experience for all of us.)
* 2:00 p.m. - MaryB stops by and remarks how Chrissi
just seems to meld into the pack.
No fussin' or fumin' by anydog else.
However, Chrissi chooses to lie on the threshold of the patio door,
thereby blocking Rico's return to the living room.
HE IS NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS;
she literally turns a deaf ear to his plaintive cries.
This continues for at least ten minutes . . .
she is showing him who is boss, I think,
and I love to see the pack interaction, the body language,
and how things change when a new dog
is introduced into the established pack.
(She finally decides to go walkabout the yard,
but it is at HER discretion, NOT because he p*ssed & moaned about it.)
* 4:30 p.m. . . .
* 7:00 p.m. - Dinner. Pizza - Chrissi goes bonkers.
Obviously, she's been fed people food,
or how else could she be neglected AND fat?
She fusses & screams & jumps.
A few times of telling her NO, and she quits.
Everydog receives a miniscule piece of pizza crust.
She tries to get everydog's piece,
but we put a stop to that immediately.
ONLY when a name is called can the dog have his/her treat.
* 7:30 p.m. - Walkies #2. Chrissi does not like her harness,
probably 'cause it's too small;
Jackie in England is sending a new, larger harness for her.
This time, I'm not so fortunate to sneak out
without the others seeing us,
so CairnDaddy is surrounded by pandemonium at home.
We walk around the same block, but the other direction;
and she already knows which houses have dogs in them,
even tho she's never seen the dogs themselves.
What a keen sense of smell dogs have!
She is less enthusiastic about the walk than she was this morning.
She weighs 25 pounds. I thought it would be more like 40!
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