Life with the Two Crazy Dogs

Coops has been chewing and licking his right paw til it looks like this (left picture).  The left paw is getting as bad as the right one too (right picture).  No matter how much I kept cleaning his paws after walks and after playing on the yard, he still was licking the small little spots til they became what you are seeing now.  Gross, isn’t it?  Yeah, that’s what I thought. 

Yesterday DB went out to Petco for dog chow and thought he would try a collar for Cooper or at least for Ranger.   Apparently, there are no more “lamp shade” collars sold for pets.  I actually calls them the “Queen Elizabeth collar”.  Instead, they sell this:

 Like a float for swimming.

Oh, I can tell you, Mr. Cooper was not happy at all.  He kept looking at me, tail down and laid down looking at me (til I took the camera out).  Of course when we put the collar on him, he didn’t even budge from where he was laying down.  He finally moved to the patio door when I opened the door for Chase to get out.  Coops got up and before he went out, we took the collar out.  The moment I took it off him, he ran right out the door.  FREEDOM!!!  I might keep the collar for one for more day.  So far, he has not licked the wounds but I was not in the whole day today but DB said he was licking them.  Sigh, I might try it tomorrow and see how it does with it.

The boys, Cooper and Ranger have been spoilt by me a lot.  I told my friend if can be, I would like to reincarnate to be a domestic dog like one of these boys.  Ranger in particular has the most TLC, tender loving care, from both DB and I.  First of since he was an abused dog from being neglected by his previous owners and he had no human contact since he was a pup, we both felt very sorry for him.  I, especially, showered him with tons of pats and special treats for him.   The next crazy thing we did was sending both dogs to a dog spa where they will get a bath, some kind of soak, and grooming.  It was worth the money because when they both came home, they were smelling good, their coats were soft with a shine on them and they were both tired.

One of my bad vices are browsing the internet, and when I do see the current dog products these boys are taking or using like their glucosamine, Missing Link powder, rawhides and ear cleaning solution.  I used to buy them toys but not anymore.  The rawhides will keep them entertained better.  Plus with Ranger’s skin allergies, he has to be bathed every week with a special dog shampoo for his itchy skin.  A dog itchy skin emits a smell from the extra oil from their oil glands which can be hard to tolerate if its not bathe often.  The shampoo I use are from natural oatmeal and other natural microbacterial ingredients that help relieved the itchiness.  I try not to use shampoo that contains all these harsh microbacterial ingredients that is making his itchy skin too dry and flaky.  Some of these shampoos are also suitable for his hot spots.  Yes, Ranger is a problematic dog, but we still love him the same and his adorable face and character melts yours and every one’s heart!

Being a pet owner is almost the same as having a kid in the household.  I remembered when I was a kid, my dad brought home a little mutt dog which we named her Countess.  Both my brother and I loved Countess to bits.  We would play with her like she is another person, but we never cared for her like in bathing or feeding her.  Our mom did it.  We also never bought a single stuffed animal for her either.  What did my brother and I got for Countess to play with?  We found sticks, three branches, old rubber toys, and the best fun we had for her was we wrestled with her.

Now that I am a pet owner for over eight years, I have gained some pet tips in my hands.  My first pup was Cooper.  Hubby got him when he was only eight weeks old.  I have not much idea on how to care for dogs, especially dogs that are kept indoors.  I had to learn from how to housebreak Cooper and get him used to his kennel.  Then we had to deal with his separation anxiety issues when we leave for work.  He would dirty his kennel at times and be barking and whining til the he could be heard by the neighbors even when he was inside the house!  We then started to leave him in his kennel for 10 - 15 minutes a day, which we practically walked out the door and return.  He barked and whined the initial times but after about 6 - 7 times of repeating the process and each was longer, he got over the hang of being alone.

Since Cooper was my first pup, I bought him pet gifts from the store or online.  There are times I would get him a squeaky toy, raw hides that were big enough to last him for a few days.   When he was a pup, he could chew anything on sight.  The raw hides work wonders that curbed his urged on chewing the furniture or shoes laying in our house.  The only thing I have not bought him is natural dog food when he was younger.  Now that he is older, 8 years old, and living with another senior dog, Ranger, we started buying them natural dog food which seems to help Ranger for his skin allergies. 

Remember the puking and craping left by one of these three boys last week?  The culprit left some doo-doo for DB to clean on Saturday early morning, too.

We know who the culprit was, yes, it was Chase aka  Junior.  How we found out was DB was watching him when Junior wanted out.  Junior shot right out for a dump which was the runny ones.   I went on the whole of Friday and Saturday.  Finally, on Sunday it must cleared up and they are now back to normal.

Phew, can’t believe what a pain it was to clean the rugs and shampoo the carpet again.  This time he did it in the dining room on 5 spots.  I had to run to Petco to get a stronger formula poop/odor/stain remover to remove the stain and odor.  Since they were runny ones, i had to totally saturate the spots, let it sit for 30 minutes, blot them out and repeat the process three times.

What the heck did he eat out in the backyard?  I have no idea.  I know he loves to go to the far corner of the backyard because of the deer-scram granules I sprinkled on surrounding the lilies.  I hope it was not the granules that gave him the runnies.

Remember I mentioned earlier Ranger had yeast infection in his ears?  Yeah, the sweet, looking buddy of ours, who has the most patience amongst the three of them, is getting too much attention from us.  DB is still playing vet in our household.

You can see how red his ear is.  I guess the picture is not too good - too much flash which makes it yellow!  DB has to squirt some ear drops in to each ear, but the vet tech forgot to include the squirter with the bottle of ear drops.  So we had to make do with a syringe, of course without the needle.  He has to squirt the drops in every day and I have to clean his ears every week.  DB said he never had to do any of these with his previous dogs.  I told him Ranger is just one of a kind which makes him so special.  His ears are getting better and his itching with the different medication is working quite good, at least it looks tolerable than before.  

Yeah, this guy is just panting away in this hot sticky weather.  We had the air-condition on most of the days and guess where these three boys will be at?  Either on top of the vent or laying against the wall next to the vents.  Why does it have to be so sticky in Minnesota??  And the skeeters are disgusting.

DB and I are wondering if the medication Ranger are taking is making him pant so much.  I know Predisone does, but the antibiotics and other non-steroid meds for his itchiness shouldnt.  Hhmmm, I still think he’s getting old and cannot tolerate heat anymore. 

I know, Halloween is many months away.  When we first brought Cooper home, I never thought of dressing him up at all for Halloween.  I did put a bandana on him and that was all I did.  Once in a while I will put a shirt on Cooper, but this guy definitely does not like anything on him.  I even used DB’s sweat shirt on him so it’s looser, he still did not like it.  What can I say when your dog is a very dominant dog.  He purely just likes pats and nothing else from me.

I do not dress up in costumes on Halloween anymore.   I dressed up twice, once as a biker girl and the last costume I had on as a skeleton.  It was kinda cool.  All these happened when our friend Kay was still alive.  Since she passed away, DB and I have not gone to one Halloween party. 

However when Ranger came to live with us, he is a whole different ball game.  He does not mind me dressing him up.  I thought of getting him pet costumes during Halloween and take him for his walks with his costume on.  I wanted a Superman costume for him, like the picture below.  My idea was spoilt by DB.  He thinks it is a ridiculous idea, so I didn’t.  So, what I did, I put on DB’s shirt on Ranger and he definitely looked like E.T.   

Picture source: buycostumes.com

If I could I would get some pet costumes for the boys.  Now we have Chase with us, I might do it just for the heck of it!  Base on Chase’s personality which  is almost similar to Cooper, I do not think it is quite feasible but I never know til it is on him. 

Yep, Chase is here with us.  He is getting used to us now.  He chilling right now, laying by the dining table with the other boys. 

We got him here til the baby is born, I think.   A pup is a pup, full of energy.  Dang, wish I have that kind of energy.   He is a sweet looking, pup, though, but I had to stop him from jumping on the couch or even tries to.   Hahaha, I’m giving him some obedience, that fella was jumping all over me on the couch yesterday.  Then this fella looks like he is going to be a dominant one, but I don’t know about that yet from what I observed but DB said that first.  Will see.  I know he is jealous when I pat the two other boys, Chase will be whining up a storm, barged in between the boys and scoot his way to be right in front of me.  It’s funny but I’m trying not to let him to do that so much.  The next funny thing is when it comes to feeding time, he whines a lot.  Oh.My.God.  I have never heard so much whining.  Again, it was funny.  Made us laugh.  I have to knee him a lot from not jumping on me.  But what seems to work is I’m making him work for his food and his demands.  He needs to sit before he gets his meals; sit or laydown before he gets his treats, and sit before he comes in the door which all seems to calm him down a little.  I didn’t want to do the obedience but I had to do it.  He almost knocked me down a few times, little guy like him has so much strength.   Did a lot of repetition on “down” today, hopefully he will get it by tomorrow.  Tomorrow is another day with this fella.  It’s hard to get angry with him with that puppy eyes.

Will I ever get a French Bull  dog in the future?  I don’t think hubby will like that idea of a bull dog.  I don’t mind French bull dogs, but DB will absolutely go berserk if he sees one in his house or apartment or whatever future dwelling we will be residing in!  He told me he will never get an ankle biter as a pet.   So much for the idea of adopting a petite size puppy.

I have met and personally spent some time with a few French Bull dogs while I was at the dog park.  I love bringing my boys to the dog park.  That is the only place where they can really be “free”, literally.   These French Bull dogs are in fact very friendly.  They bark at strangers a lot, and which dog wouldn’t, but once you lower yourself to pat them and talk to them, they are the friendliest little creatures I have seen.  

One of the French Bull dog owner told me caring a French Bull dog puppy is nothing special; it is the same as any other puppy.  The pup still needs a lot of attention and especially for this type of  dog breed, they love attention and very loving towards their owners.  French Bull dog are companion dogs.  They are definitely not watchdogs and, therefore, they do not bark a lot.  They will, however, snort quite a bit when they get excite.

French Bull dogs are in fact from the non-sporting breed according to the AKC.  For those I have seen in the dog park, the owners do put on a little sweater over their Frenchies to keep them warm when the weather is cold.  There is hardly any fat on these dogs if you keep their weight under control.  If you are use to exercises them outdoors, then daily walks are a must for them.  This breed does not need a lot of exercise so it makes it a great companion dog for the not so active person.  Moreover, these little fellas has a very clownish character who loves to play.  

The dog can run and walk a lot but never allow them to jump off, for example a counter, high table, bed, or even off your arm if you are carrying it especially when young.    French Bull dogs are very sensitive to heat.  It is advisable not to over exercise the Frenchie in the dead of summer.  Moreover, this breed do not swim very well either.  With its flat nose, owners need to remember that these Frenchies will snore when sleeping.   

*Picture source from dogchannel.com*