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Still in Infirmary Mode

infirmary monitors

Cochise tells the tale

It is chilly and rainy today: a great day to stay in, snuggle up, and light a little fire in the fireplace … just to take the chill off.

We are still in infirmary mode: NiceLady is doing a little better but still feeling pretty poorly, so Blondie and I are taking care of her. HairyFace helps us with those little tasks that require thumbs.

All of us dogs did go out this morning despite the rain. I surprised Hairy a little by staying out quite a while, sniffing the trees and bushes and generally patrolling the yard. Having a real yard to patrol instead of just a 25 foot arc around the front porch is much more motivating even in wet weather. And it was just a drizzle, had it been pouring, I’d have stayed in.

Drake’s Farewell Party

Cochise tells the tale

Hi, Cochise here.

drake
Drake lounging in the sunshine

It was Drake’s last night with us, he was leaving on the Rolling Rescue trip to New Jersey the next day. NiceLady wanted to do something special for his last night: a farewell party, so she stopped off at a Dollar store and bought a box of glow-bracelets and some little LED, key-fob flashlights with clips on them. She thought we’d do some night racing.

Racing wasn’t in our plan, but we did find some entertaining ways to amuse ourselves as well as HairyFace and NiceLady. Maybe you too.

Drake and Smokey had become fast friends and constant playmates. Being dark didn’t slow them down at all. I got in on it at the end. I’m the really fierce sounding one.


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Blondie is Nurse on Duty

Escape artist Blondie
Blondie Bear

This is a guest post by my foster-sister Blondie-Bear.

~*~

NiceLady has been sick. I don’t know what’s wrong.  I know she feels bad.  And she falls over when she tries to walk.

nurse
Blondie is the Nurse on Duty

I’ve been taking care of her. HairyFace helps: he does the little things like bringing her food and giving her medicine and getting her to the bathroom.  I’m the one who stays by her bed, watching, and thinking good thoughts to help her get better. I’m her nurse.

This morning Lady got out of bed and walked to the bathroom by herself. Cochise and Hairy were in the kitchen. Cochise heard the toilet flush, jumped up, RAN to the bedroom and stood staring at her, wide eyed: “What are you DOING!? You’re not supposed to be up by yourself!”

Advantages of a Mentor Dog

Cochise Mentor dogIn previous posts I have talked about Dolly and her amazing ability to nurse, mother and mentor other dogs who have come into or though our home. We lost a really good one when she passed away. But Cochise, who was a paduan learner of hers, has stepped into the void and has proved immeasurably helpful with the dozens of foster dogs that have come here for recovery, socialization and training.

Because we are not dog “trainers” we do not get into the advanced stuff: we focus first on civilized behavior and socialization, then a few basic commands like “sit”, “come” and “shake”, then we get into housebreaking.

The first lesson for any dog is that I am the head honcho, the giver of food, the dispenser of affection, the praiser of good dogs. I share that role with Marie, but since I am the one who is here full time, they see me as the primary honcho: Marie is co-honcho. Then we make sure they recognize Cochise as The Big Dog.

Windy Play Day

Cochise talks about
Cochise tells the tale

We all had a good play time this morning. I was running with The Boys: that made HairyFace happy. He wants me to do more running.

It’s part of my job to be Playground Monitor, so when they’d start getting too rowdy I’d come galloping by, practically side-swiping them, and get them to chase me. And they would. The three of us would run like a little freight train all over the place until one of them (usually Drake) got tired and lost interest. Then we’d all wander around panting for a while.

Smokey always got stoked up again first. That boy has tons of energy! Sometimes Drake would go lean against Hairy’s legs and say “Save me from him, I’m tired!” One time Drake and Smokey ganged up on me and wore me out so I had to go to HairyFace for salvation. That made him laugh, but he shooed them away.

I’m big and I’m powerful, and I’m faster than any of them, but I run out of steam sometimes. Because I came down with a thyroid condition, it’s been a long time since I’ve had the desire to run. Now that I’m on medication I feel much better and am ready to resume my duties. But I’m overweight. Running will take care of that.

Yesterday was not such a nice day as today. It was a windy day, but we managed to have some fun. anyway:

Doggie Tales: New Play Yard

Blondie 140907 Smiling-cropped
As told by Blondie Bear

We had SO much fun in the new play yard.  I walked out into the yard.  Then I realized … there was no leash!  I took off like a shot and went steaming down the hill.  I thought I was free to bolt off into the woods. Imagine my surprise when this silver meshy thing was in my way! But it’s OK: we have so much room to run now that it’s almost as much fun as breaking loose and running off.

Cochise crashedCochise got sick over the winter.  He’s been going to see his doctor through the summer. He hasn’t been feeling well enough to run much. But now he’s better. He ran and ran in that wide open space.

Then we went inside for dinner. After dinner the big lug went to bed and CRASHED. He’s so tired. Don’t tell him, but so am I, but I prefer to stay close to Doug & Marie, I’ll crash when they go to bed too.


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Cochise the Talking Dog

Cochise the talking dog
I’m Seeeick.

Marie and I are highly involved in the care and rehabilitation of rescue dogs. We foster for local animal shelters and rescues.

Cochise was our very first foster dog. We fell in love with him (who could say ‘no’ to that face?), and could not let him go. The Shelter calls this “foster failure”. It is failure because while it is a win for the dog (who gets a home), and a win for us personally (who get a great dog) it does diminish our foster care capacity by one, thus making us that much less useful or effective to the shelter and their foster care program. Although, in Cochise’s case, he more than makes up for that reduction by being a superb mentor and interpreter to the foster dogs.

One of the things that caused us to fall in love with Cochise is that he is a talking dog. Yes, that’s right; a talking dog. He does not speak English (French nor Spanish either, for that matter), but he is quite clear in expressing himself, and once we learned to listen to him, we communicate with each other quite well. We do not speak his language — when we try he does that head tilt thing then glares at us — but we don’t need to: he has learned enough of our words that he understands us well. In fact sometimes I think he can read my mind because I don’t need to even SAY the word “bath” and he’s trying to disappear somewhere.

Lupa: Foster Dog

Lupa is a loopy little gal, but quite sweet and compliant.  She loves to run and play, but she learned to be a good house dog quickly and went on to be adopted after she was healed.

10 Tips For Crate Training Your Dog

Originally published November 21, 2014 When used properly, crate training provides you and your dog with multiple benefits. For you it provides a simple, effective means of restricting your dog when you cannot provide close supervision. If your dog is an explorer, he may get into things that will harm him. If she’s a chewer, […]

Blondie Bear: Escape Artist

Originally published Nov. 29, 2014 A report from Cochise on Blondie Bear: The day after Thanksgiving, there was great excitement in the neighborhood: a UPS truck was parked out front AND a stray dog was running up and down the road all at the same time! Smokey and Lupa were barking and carrying on, other […]

The New Chewie

Cochise and Blondie were adopted years ago and are full time members of our family who live in our home. They are very good dogs. So good that we give them toys and chewies to occupy them when they are inside (and not sleeping). Blondie has a whole basket of them on the fireplace hearth. […]

Cochise’s Monster

It was November 1st. Yesterday’s rain had turned to snow: we had a couple of inches on the ground when I got up just before 5:00. Normally Cochise gets up when I do and comes out to keep me company in the living room where I will study for an hour or so. Not today. […]

Still in Infirmary Mode

It is chilly and rainy today: a great day to stay in, snuggle up, and light a little fire in the fireplace … just to take the chill off. We are still in infirmary mode: NiceLady is doing a little better but still feeling pretty poorly, so Blondie and I are taking care of her. […]

Smokey Eunuch: Foster Notes

Smokey is a sweet playful fellow with markings like an Orca whale. Unfortunately all but this photo and all the details on his stay with us crashed and burned as we flew them through cyberspace to relocate them. These articles mention Smokey and survived the move: Search Results for: Smokey Dog Bath Day: When and […]

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Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment.  We still do this and other medical care.  We also work with dogs with behavioral issues.  But we are […]