Rebel

Rebel has been a pain in the back-side with his cone at night.  If I let him sleep on a tether he bashes the cone into every piece of furniture he can reach, knocking things over and moving anything not heavy enough to withstand him.  If I crate him he rubs the cone all around the inside of the crate making a ton of noise.  As a result, neither of is is getting much sleep — at night.  When I put him in his kennel outside, with his friends: Sable and Hudson, he is calm and quiet and takes many naps.  I wish *I* could nap!

On Monday night I checked his incision.  It looked good, so I took the cone off.  Rebel spent a good part of the night curled up licking himself despite my urging that he not do that.  But he was quiet and I got a good 5 hours of sleep.  Tuesday morning his belly was red and irritated and the incision has two angry red puffy spots.  So I sprayed him with Chlorhexadine and reinstalled the cone.

On Sunday I fed Rebel a small tub of yogurt for it’s probiotic value.  He surprised me by eagerly lapping it off the spoon and eating the whole tub.  That night his diarrhea was much better and we spent less time running to the door.  I plan to repeat this treatment twice a week to keep his gut in good working order.

Thursday night Rebel wanted to go outside around 11:00.  When he came back in I put him on his living room tether instead of putting him in his crate to sleep.  I stopped tethering him after his surgery because he’d spend the night bashing his cone into everything.  This time he came and wanted snuggles for a while, then laid down on a dog bed and went to sleep.  He re-positioned a couple of times during the night but did not ask to go out.  At 5:00 he woke me with a soft request to go use the yard.  When he came back we went to the den and I tethered him there and he went back to snoozing while I studied.

Breakfast time came.  He was getting hungry and fussy.  I took him out to his kennel with his bowl of kibble (he’s getting 2½ cups of kibble (4health Salmon & Potato)  twice a day – that’s over twice what he would get if he were at weight, but he’s still thin).  I brought Hudson and Sable out for breakfast and a potty run, but it’s cold this morning and still getting colder, so I put the other two back inside the bunkhouse and took Rebel in the house with me … hoping he would behave while the rest of us ate breakfast and did our morning things.

It has been a week since Rebel’s surgery.  I checked his incision and “bald spot”, it looks good.  I removed his cone.  That made him happy.

I put Rebel in his crate, set up a fan to blow air across him to keep him cool, and set about fixing breakfast.  Rebel was quiet and well behaved.

When it was time to eat I gave Rebel an Oinkie to chew on while the rest of us ate our breakfasts.  Rebel was content to work on that.

After breakfast I needed to go to the den to do some things.  I thought about taking Rebel with me so he wouldn’t fuss.  He has tended to do that when I leave the room he is in … but he has been doing better with that.  Marie was at her computer in the kitchen, so I left.  Rebel was good.  Marie left the room for a few minutes … Rebel remained quiet and calm!  It is now almost time to go get the others out for another potty run, and Rebel has been an angel.  He IS licking at himself, but I don’t think he can do any harm at this point — but I’ll watch it to be sure.

Saturday Morning: This is Rebel sitting in the den, where we spent the early morning together, using no tether. I left the room several times to do short jobs or let other dogs out and in again. Each time I said, “You stay here, I’ll be right back.” Each time he stayed and was calm and quiet. The only time he got vocal was when I dished up kibbles, I couldn’t blame him for that. Sleep-in-Saturday delayed breakfast and I was getting powerful hungry too!  I think we’ve about got that separation anxiety thing licked.

Go to Rebel’s Summary Page

Sable

Sable’s only issue has been her animosity toward Callie and the Beagles.  Callie encourages that animosity by taunting Sable when Callie is out loose in the yard.  So Sable’s reaction is likely predicated on the fact that she’s locked up and these others are not.  That seems to be born out in that when Sable is free and Buddy Beagle is in his Beagle Box, Sable checks him out, but offers no animosity at all.

Hudson

It’s difficult to find anything to report on about Hudson.  Other than my making the mistake of placing his dog house where her could get on top of it and reach the low edge of the roof tarp — so he did and shredded it because he got bored.  But that is my fault, not his, and I’m taking steps to prevent that from happening again with another dog.

Hudson was getting a little lax (selective deafness) on coming when I called him, but I’ve been working with him on that and he is again responding well.  Otherwise he’s still the same, lovable good-ol-boy hound he has always been.

Go to Hudson’s Summary Page

Hudson

Hudson has been accepted by Eleventh Hour rescue in New Jersey and is slated to depart on the January 18th rescue run .

His health remains great and he has no behavioral issues other than not being fond of Rebel.  That still seems to hinge on their mutual admiration of Sable.  Animosity between them escalates when I let one or the other out to play with her.  Individual play times reduce hostilities.  Before either was neutered it could get tense.

Go to Hudson’s Summary Page

Sable

Sable is doing well.  Her health is good and she remains affectionate toward me and all of her sitters who helped out while Marie was in the hospital and I was away so much.

We did have one incident.  Sable and Callie have never gotten along.  Callie is antagonistic in that she stands outside Sable’s kennel and barks at her, irritating her.  Sable barks back.  Callie seems to think it’s some kind of game.  But it’s a dangerous game.

Marie accidentally let Callie out while I had Sable and Rebel out in the yard for play time.  I did not see who attacked who, but since Marie said Callie was insistent on going out, I suspect she started the fight that had Callie and Sable locked onto each other while Rebel dashed in to make strikes on Callie.  I managed to separate the girls while fending off Rebel and get them all back to their kennels to assess damage.

Both girls sustained punctures which I dressed with Neosporin and started each on a course of Cephalexin to ward off infection.  No tears or other wounds that would need sutures: all minor damage that has since healed up well.  But this did not improve their relationship.

As to Sable’s animosity toward the Beagles, this seems to be conditional.  When Sable is in her kennel and one or both of the Beagles are wandering around in the yard, Sable barks at them in a decidedly unfriendly way.  When Buddy is the one incarcerated, Sable pays him no mind.

I’m told that S.A.V.E. would like to take Sable, but the van for the next run is full.  She should be leaving on the February 1 rescue run.  So I have that long to continue helping her to improve her interpersonal skills … or rather her interdogonal skills.

Go to Sable’s Summary Page

Rebel.

Rebel was neutered last Friday.  He did well and was not licking through that first day, but that night as we were settling in to sleep, he became insistent on licking.  I coned him.  He hated that.  I have not slept much since.  That’s his payback to me.  He’s SUCH a Husky!

The incision site was red and puffy the next morning so I treated it with Chlorhexadine.  It is looking much better now.  I’m hoping that by Monday night the incision will be sealed up enough to take the cone off.

Rebel’s involvement in the Callie vs Sable fight made things tense for a while because Callie was defensive against Rebel’s presence in the house.  That morphed into a defense of me from Rebel.  She is no longer hostile to Rebel, just stays close to me when Rebel is inside.  She even sleeps in the living room with us as my bodyguard.

For Rebel’s part, right after the fight he decided that blood sport was fun and was acting on that toward all the other dogs.  But that was easy to break him of and he is again coexisting with all the other dogs, even Callie.  Now that he’s neutered, his nature should become even less confrontational.

On of the reasons Rebel has been so restless at night has been the return of diarrhea, necessitating frequent trips outside.  That started Saturday night.  Friday night was actually pretty peaceful one he finished rubbing the cone all over the inside of his crate in a tantrum.  About midnight he settled down.  Saturday his needs kept us running for the door.  Today I offered him a small tub of yogurt for the probiotics it contains.  I spoon fed it to him.  He surprised me by eating the whole tub!  Maybe that will help his tummy tonight.

Go to Rebel’s Summary Page

Here we are about to exit 2018 and start a new year, so I thought I’d recap Rebel’s progress here at Piney Mountain Foster Care.

You may recall that when Rebel arrived here, he was critically underweight.  With the help of probiotics and special kibble from Cedarwood Veterinary Hospital, his guts have healed up and he is eating regularly.  I am still over-feeding him to help him gain weight, but he is filling out and his energy level is way up.  More like a Husky ought to be.

My main issue with this boy has been is need to go outside to potty every hour and a half to two hours.  This, combined with his need for companionship, prompted me to start sleeping in the living room near his crate.  That keeps him comforted and quiet.  Over the past two weeks he has evolved a new sleeping pattern.  I put Sable and Hudson in their crates in the bunkhouse and bring Rebel in our home about 9:00 pm.  He will go back out to the yard once or twice before settling in to sleep between 10:00 and 11:00.  For the past few nights, Rebel slept through the night and didn’t wake me until around 5:30 AM.

Josephine does tend to wake me about 2:00 am.  Rebel watches as I wait on her to come back, but stays bedded down and goes back to sleep once the door is secured again.  Actually, it is often the Beagles who wake me at 5:30, but Rebel is ready for a yard run once the Beagles have returned.  By the time he’s back I’m wide awake so I might as well start my day.

Rebel and I move into the den.  No crate here, I use a tether to keep him from wandering off while I’m concentrating on my bible studies.  He has been well behaved.

Blondie has been sleeping in the den at night, and she’s still there when we arrive in the morning.  I bring Rebel’s bedding from his crate into the den, and provide him with a couple of chew toys.  A big ropey bone is his favorite.  He snoozes or amuses himself with the toys until 7:30 when it’s time to get kibbles dished up and the outside dogs to their kennels for breakfast and AM potty runs.  That includes Rebel.

Rebel has become accepting of his crate, and willingly walks inside when I ask him (and offer him a bribe).  He has plenty of cushioning in there and a bowl of water.  I was leaving a bowl of kibble to snack on, but lately he’s not interested in that at night.

As he has become stronger, he is a bit more assertive, especially with Buddy Beagle, the only male house dog.  I’m working with him on that, and he is scheduled for neutering January 4th.  He is NOT scheduled to transport on the Jan. 18th, so he will be with us at least another month.  I’ll use that time to continue teaching him Social Graces.

He is great with people.  He has become affectionate and playful with me.  I am working on teaching him not to mouth when we play.  He gets it, but forgets.  When I remind him, you can see it in his eyes, “Oh, yeah — I forgot.  Sorry.” then invites me to play some more and does well for a bit.  I suppose it’s like a soccer player having to learn to move a ball around without using their hands.  It’s what we’re designed to do, but mustn’t.  He’ll learn. He’s doing fine.

Go to Rebel’s Summary Page

Rebel

Since his arrival, Rebel refused to eat much of anything.  Often, what little I did get him to consume came back up and the vomit was bight yellow.  That’s bile.  Bilous vomiting is usually the result of an inflamed stomach lining.  There are several reasons why the lining would be inflamed, but often it’s just that the stomach has been empty too long.  The remedy for that is a carbohydrate rich food — such as rice. I tried everything I could think of with no success.  Linda Daniels pointed out that Huskies don’t like “mixed” foods — like people who can’t stand having foods on a plate touching each other — so we tried some plain boiled chicken breast.  We had some success with that, but not enough.  On November 30th it was time to take him to the vet..

Rebel spent 5 days at Cedarwood Veterinary Hospital getting some intensive care.  When he came home on Dec 5, he was again eating (voraciously) and gaining weight.  On that day he was up over 51 pounds.  He needs about 15 more, but it’s a great start!  Since then he has been eating regularly and eagerly.

Go to Rebel’s Summary Page

Rebel was pretty stand-offish when he first arrived here.  That is not at all unusual, especially in owner surrender situations.  He’s confused, and hurt, maybe angry.  But as we got to know one another he has become quite affectionate.  Now that we’ve been bunking together in the living room for a few weeks he likes to snuggle and gets gently playful when we first wake up.