Sasha's paw has healed! She's been fantastic this last week and a bit, hardly even trying to pick at the stitches. They were taken out yesterday and she looked SO happy when the collar came off I can't even begin to describe it. She licked at her paw a lot at first (obviously some discomfort and a desire to catch up on lost licking time!) but now she#s left it alone as normal and is bounding about. Huzzah!
We decided to get her a new toy as a 'sorry that you were kept in a silly headpiece for so long' present. She loves it, but of course we forgot to read the tag and now she's up all night squeaking the damn thing! I have a feeling she's trying to get revenge on me, but until I have further, conclusive evidence she'll remain innocent. She certainly looks the picture of innocence when I rush downstairs and tell her to shush! I have to confiscate it otherwise it will go on all night, and I'll be back and forth, up and down all night.
In other news I've been looking forwards to getting a new dog. I'm loathe to say it, but Sasha isn't the young pup she seems to believe she is, and I've started thinking about getting a new dog after she's gone. I plan to adopt next time; not because I've had any real problems thanks to Sasha being pure breed but because I've visited a few rescue centres over the past few months and the little faces on some of the abandoned little doggies just cries out to have a loving home set aside for them.
I'll try not to go for a specific breed as such and stick for a cross-breed - I know they're hardier and usually last longer as well as being massively cute. Either way, I don't know how long I'd be able to resist a new dog if I lost Sasha - I love sharing my home and having her as a companion, but no way would I want another dog to join me so soon after when I'd still be sad!
Must stop this topic now, hardly nice to be thinking about losing Sasha! Anyway, she's a strong old girl and not showing too many signs of slowing, so I plan to get a few more years out of her yet!
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Monday, 20 February 2012
Update for the weekend
Sasha is not happy with me at all.
Over the last week and weekend she has been mostly housebound, keeping the pressure from her wounded paw and given as much attention as possible to distract her from that paw of hers. Of course, she wants nothing more than to be left alone, that silly collar taken from her and to be allowed to chew away to her hearts content at the annoying stitches that the nasty vet man left in her foot. Unfortunately for her, that's not something I can let her do.
She still tries to sniff and pick at it but for the next few weeks we'll be keeping a close ye on her behaviour and giving her a stern 'No' whenever she looks like she's trying to rub or play with her foot. It's hard enough when she looks at us with those puppy-dog eyes, but now that she's all hurt it's very difficult to not let her have her way. She's already getting milk and ham as her treats; if she pushes any more we'll be letting her sleep in the beds whilst we get the sofas!
Until she manages to break me down though, I'll keep on testing her paw for strength and making sure that she's remaining fit and healthy; as an older dog I know she isn't as sprightly as she used to be, so I like to make sure she doesn't deteriorate too soon. That little bit of exercise every now and again does wonders for her, and I fully intend to get back into the swing of things as soon as she is fit and well enough to carry on as before.
Over the last week and weekend she has been mostly housebound, keeping the pressure from her wounded paw and given as much attention as possible to distract her from that paw of hers. Of course, she wants nothing more than to be left alone, that silly collar taken from her and to be allowed to chew away to her hearts content at the annoying stitches that the nasty vet man left in her foot. Unfortunately for her, that's not something I can let her do.
She still tries to sniff and pick at it but for the next few weeks we'll be keeping a close ye on her behaviour and giving her a stern 'No' whenever she looks like she's trying to rub or play with her foot. It's hard enough when she looks at us with those puppy-dog eyes, but now that she's all hurt it's very difficult to not let her have her way. She's already getting milk and ham as her treats; if she pushes any more we'll be letting her sleep in the beds whilst we get the sofas!
Until she manages to break me down though, I'll keep on testing her paw for strength and making sure that she's remaining fit and healthy; as an older dog I know she isn't as sprightly as she used to be, so I like to make sure she doesn't deteriorate too soon. That little bit of exercise every now and again does wonders for her, and I fully intend to get back into the swing of things as soon as she is fit and well enough to carry on as before.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Paws in the snow
I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post, but things have just gone crazy over the last week that I haven't even thought about posting an update!
The snow came down in droves over the weekend, but as usual it didn't stay for very long at all - of course, not long at all is just the right amount of time for Sasha to have had an accident, which she managed in quite a spectacular manner!
We were out walking in the snow, trying to make the most of it before it all disappeared. I let Sasha off of the lead for a while so she could snuffle about for a bit, before she ran about like a madman sniffing around all the snow and generally letting herself get all overexcited by the blankety white stuff that she never sees. Before I knew it, she was yelping and hobbling towards me leaving bloody paw-prints in the snow behind her! Nightmare!
First things first I had to check out what it was that had cut her paw so that I would know exactly what it was I was dealing with. Some idiot had left a smashed bottle in the undergrowth, and the snow had hidden it away - unfortunately in just the right place for my Sasha to go ahead and slice her paw open. I was glad it was glass rather than a potentially rusty piece of metal, as it meant less risk of infection. In any case, once I'd worked out the cause I made sure we were hope pretty snappish, the foot was bound tightly and we headed straight to the vets.
They had to sew her pad back together as the cut went quite deep, and she got one of those awful collars to wear whilst she is recovering - her puppy eyes are good, but I've not been swayed to let her take it off just yet; that pad still needs time to heal, not have the stitches get gnawed at!
I always pick up litter on my walks, especially dangerous detritus that risks a dog's safety, and I always advise my friends and family to do the same. Fortunately I'm covered with pet insurance from Animal Friends as this month was already getting tight, so the financial back up is more than appreciated!
That's my update for now, I'll have more on Sasha soon.
The snow came down in droves over the weekend, but as usual it didn't stay for very long at all - of course, not long at all is just the right amount of time for Sasha to have had an accident, which she managed in quite a spectacular manner!
We were out walking in the snow, trying to make the most of it before it all disappeared. I let Sasha off of the lead for a while so she could snuffle about for a bit, before she ran about like a madman sniffing around all the snow and generally letting herself get all overexcited by the blankety white stuff that she never sees. Before I knew it, she was yelping and hobbling towards me leaving bloody paw-prints in the snow behind her! Nightmare!
First things first I had to check out what it was that had cut her paw so that I would know exactly what it was I was dealing with. Some idiot had left a smashed bottle in the undergrowth, and the snow had hidden it away - unfortunately in just the right place for my Sasha to go ahead and slice her paw open. I was glad it was glass rather than a potentially rusty piece of metal, as it meant less risk of infection. In any case, once I'd worked out the cause I made sure we were hope pretty snappish, the foot was bound tightly and we headed straight to the vets.
They had to sew her pad back together as the cut went quite deep, and she got one of those awful collars to wear whilst she is recovering - her puppy eyes are good, but I've not been swayed to let her take it off just yet; that pad still needs time to heal, not have the stitches get gnawed at!
I always pick up litter on my walks, especially dangerous detritus that risks a dog's safety, and I always advise my friends and family to do the same. Fortunately I'm covered with pet insurance from Animal Friends as this month was already getting tight, so the financial back up is more than appreciated!
That's my update for now, I'll have more on Sasha soon.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Dog-Eared
After a busy weekend I noticed on my daily walk with Sasha that her ears were bothering her for some reason. Whilst walking she would shake her head about a bit, walk on for a period of time before her ears would droop and she'd shake her head again. I had a feeling that I knew what was up, so I carried the walk on as normal so as not to alarm her that something was bothering me to allow me to check her ears once we got back home.
After our walks she always demands a small bowl of milk - a daily ritual that she will not allow us to forget about! Once she'd had her treat and settled down, I collected her medicine box and set about sorting out this problem, as she was still scratching and rubbing away at her ears. First of all I looked into her ears using a small torch I had handy to inspect her ears one by one, just to check that something hadn't somehow gotten stuck in her ears; fortunately nothing had, so it was exactly what I thought - she had a painful wax build-up.
This isn't the first time that I've had this problem with her; in the past we've visited our vet and been given special medicine that helps clear away the gunk and helps with the irritation. She not particularly fond of the process of cleaning her ears, as it involves dripping the medicine inside her ear canal before scrubbing away the gunk with a cotton pad - she accompanies the cleaning time with nips at my hand, whining and a LOT of wriggling to get away, but I always stay firm and stop her getting away. Getting her to roll over so that I can do the other ear is another matter entirely...
In a few days time I'll have to apply the other half of the medicine mix and clean her ears out again, and hopefully that will stop the irritation for now. It's a shame that she suffers from this as her ears have always been quite sensitive and it makes it very difficult for her to relax whilst her ears are hurting her. Fortunately the bottles of medicine we got from the vet a while back have lasted a long time, meaning that we haven't had to claim much for this ongoing illness - helping keep our premiums at the nice and low rates that they are currently at - something I have to thank Animal Friends Pet Insurance for!
In other news I'm trial-running keeping the heating off during the day to save money - so far Sasha doesn't seem to mind, and I'm hoping that she isn't feeling the cold whilst I'm at work; if she seems huddled up or cold when I get home I'll make sure to keep it on for longer, and perhaps I need to pay attention to the forecast for those days when the temperature will drop.
The cold made my camera seize up over the weekend so I've not managed to get any pictures yet, so I may have to resort to using a phone camera or other alternative in the mean time; in either case, I'll get some pictures up soon! Ciao!
After our walks she always demands a small bowl of milk - a daily ritual that she will not allow us to forget about! Once she'd had her treat and settled down, I collected her medicine box and set about sorting out this problem, as she was still scratching and rubbing away at her ears. First of all I looked into her ears using a small torch I had handy to inspect her ears one by one, just to check that something hadn't somehow gotten stuck in her ears; fortunately nothing had, so it was exactly what I thought - she had a painful wax build-up.
This isn't the first time that I've had this problem with her; in the past we've visited our vet and been given special medicine that helps clear away the gunk and helps with the irritation. She not particularly fond of the process of cleaning her ears, as it involves dripping the medicine inside her ear canal before scrubbing away the gunk with a cotton pad - she accompanies the cleaning time with nips at my hand, whining and a LOT of wriggling to get away, but I always stay firm and stop her getting away. Getting her to roll over so that I can do the other ear is another matter entirely...
In a few days time I'll have to apply the other half of the medicine mix and clean her ears out again, and hopefully that will stop the irritation for now. It's a shame that she suffers from this as her ears have always been quite sensitive and it makes it very difficult for her to relax whilst her ears are hurting her. Fortunately the bottles of medicine we got from the vet a while back have lasted a long time, meaning that we haven't had to claim much for this ongoing illness - helping keep our premiums at the nice and low rates that they are currently at - something I have to thank Animal Friends Pet Insurance for!
In other news I'm trial-running keeping the heating off during the day to save money - so far Sasha doesn't seem to mind, and I'm hoping that she isn't feeling the cold whilst I'm at work; if she seems huddled up or cold when I get home I'll make sure to keep it on for longer, and perhaps I need to pay attention to the forecast for those days when the temperature will drop.
The cold made my camera seize up over the weekend so I've not managed to get any pictures yet, so I may have to resort to using a phone camera or other alternative in the mean time; in either case, I'll get some pictures up soon! Ciao!
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Hello and woof to you!
I’ve decided to bite the bullet and start my very own blog – not for my own benefit, of course, but to follow the antics of my German shepherd, Sasha, as she causes havoc around my feet and generally gives everyone a headache.
I’ve owned Sasha for a good number of years now, and at a considerable eleven years old she has finally started to slow down – unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the mischief has stopped!
Only this morning on our usual walk she decided, once again, that a game of hide and seek was in order. This is a usual occurrence, and often extends the time spent on a walk from anything up to an extra forty minutes, which is invariably spent chasing a muddy, grinning dog around a field getting progressively colder and muddier as time passes. After catching the minx, who always looks at me as if to say ‘took you long enough, what were you waiting for,’ we trudge back home to muddy the path to the back door, gratefully heaving my shoes off and watching the dog bound around the house and introduce mud into all of the places it doesn’t belong.
She isn’t too hard to calm down though, thankfully - after a long walk and a small bowl of milk (honestly, more like a big cat than a dog sometimes) she’s more than happy to just lie in whatever warm patch she can find. No guarantees this won’t be on somebody’s feet though!
Sasha is a bit accident prone as well, and over the years has managed to accrue her fair share of knocks and scrapes. Her most recent injury somehow occurred whilst snuffling in some bushes and fetching sticks and she somehow managed to get herself a fractured paw – fortunately we’ve been covered with pet insurance for a while now, and the vet’s bills were dealt with easily. Animal Friends Pet Insurance has saved my bank more than once!
I’ll get some pictures up on here soon enough and plan to keep posting over the coming months. Keep checking back for more updates on my mischievous dog!
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