WWQP Bulletin Board Chat

Following is a review of Kit’s mental health and thereafter, a review of mine.

Kit has continued to be a dear member of this household. She has recovered her confidence enough to become very vocal unfortunately. She barks her great alarm when someone approaches the house while she hides in my bedroom with her tail firmly attached to her belly. However, with the use of frequent therapy consisting of walks to neighbors’ homes which are, by the way, out of site of mine, and the use of herbal pet calming remedies the latest of which comes from Drs. Foster & Smith on line, she has ventured onto two porches as I chatted with the occupant. Last week she actually very cautiously entered the homes of the same two neighbors. One of those couples have been very willing caretakers of Shadow when I had to be in a hospital or out of town. They have four Boykin Spaniels one of which seems to have a neurological anomaly. He growls when approaching for a smooch and even louder when he is petted. All the while his vestigial tale (I abhor the removal of healthy parts on dogs for no good reason) is wiggling at a very high frequency. He really intimidates Kit and ended up shut in a bathroom the short time we were in the house. She wouldn’t let her hosts touch her nor would she take a treat from either but this is still a major breakthrough since she originally ran at least 30 yards from anyone in the neighborhood. At the other house she allowed the lady of the house to pet her. That was only because she, Kit, was wedged between the sofa where I sat with the neighbor and the coffee table trying to save herself from the monster eating Pomeranian of that household. He’s actually very playful but like a lot of toy breeds barks incessantly and knows no fear.

Back to her vocalizing: it has become far too frequent as she seems to be using it to get what she wants from me. Most often it is a matter of “Come to the door and play fetch with me.” It is most annoying. I would even consider a bark collar but I don’t want to discourage a true warning bark as I am quite alone up here on my hill and once asleep without hearing aids I don’t hear much of anything. I have yet to hear the coyotes in the area and sadly miss the tree frogs, spring peepers and other wonderful night noises of the forest once the hearing aids are removed.

Now for my own recent psychotic break. The first dog food I bought for Kit gave her diarrhea so I switched to another. September 4 I loaded up the better part of 40 pounds of the stuff and hauled it off to the weekly humane society adoption display in a Sylva town park. After hauling the load out of the car of course I had to walk around to various temporary pens and visit all the doggies looking for homes. This organization fosters, neuters, and has them all checked and inoculated by a local vet practice with which they have a contract. There were about ten dogs (they do cats too but that’s not my preference) there and all but one were barking and carrying on, two in adjoining pens were trying to have a bit of a rumble with each other. I approached the little guy who was utterly serene with tail wagging in the midst of the chaos. He is of unknown origin but, like Kit is mostly black with white markings and black freckles on his white snout. Actually Kit is almost half and half. At my approach he jumped up and invited me to pet him. Well, you can guess what happened. The lady who fostered him had the paper work on the vet work, his rabies shot tag and hustled me off because she was crying. She’d only had him for a week and was totally in love. The only reason she didn’t keep him is because she knew that she would now be able to rescue another pooch from the shelter’s death row which is where they end up when all available space is taken. She had named him Sunshine because of his sunny temperament. He hopped into my car without hesitation and all the way home I had to keep pushing him out of my lap as I drove. I decided right away that after having been deprived of his “manhood” he at least deserved a macho name so he is now Rocky. He weighs 28 pounds and has a short but course coat and erect ears. The vet that did the neutering estimated his age at about a year. My regular vet agrees but just barely. Once acclimated to his new home (about 48 hours at most) he’d mastered the dog door, never leaves the premises and loves hikes in the woods with Kit and me. He ranges wider than she does which alarmed me initially but he always comes back after a bit. He doesn’t look as though he has any hunter in him but he loves to run hither and yon in the woods with his nose to the ground. The age estimate concerned me just a little at first but now that he’s totally comfortable I have to patrol the yard and driveway for my belongings like socks and shoes including the $125 hiking boots. I think he does it just to get my attention. I’ve heard a bark or two no more than three times in the two weeks he’s been here. It’s taking a while to convince him that I don’t like muddy foot prints on my sheets when he decides it’s time for me to get up in the morning. I hear the galloping footsteps once he’s in my room and then he’s in my face licking and nuzzling. I guess I’ll just have to shut him out of the room. At least he’s stopped getting up there once I get up and feed them. Kit just barks in the morning. Maybe I’ll have a room built for the two of them with sound proofing. The first vet that saw Rocky described him as a border collie cross which I thought absurd. If he weren’t so quiet I would say more like a terrier. However, the other day I happened to see a picture of a border collie and, sure enough, it looked like Rocky with hair so who knows. That might account for his smarts which are considerable.

Not much other news as the two of them have been taking so much of my time lately. The orthopedic situation has worsened considerably because of the hammer toes with which I was probably born. Walking downhill has become extremely painful and since I’m allergic to all anti inflammatory drugs, both prescribed and over the counter I’m stuck with acetaminophen and aspirin which are most effective in combination. I don’t like taking too much of either so I am now scheduled for surgery for that on 11/18. I’ll be on a walker with only partial weight bearing for at least a month and won’t be able to drive. Don’t know what I’ll do about the canine exercise needs during that period. My dog loving neighbors are very vigorous hikers so I’ve got to get Kit willing to go off with them. Shadow went with them till she got too feeble to keep up.

Regards,
Jane, Kit & Rocky