So, I see that it's been nearly a month since my last post...Ellen, I'm sorry! I vow that the lack of interaction from the blogging audience won't hamper my continuity in writing, but it's been a little more hectic than usual around here lately.
We're introducing a new member of our family to our friends these days. On Saturday, May 30, we brought home an eight week old White German Shepherd puppy. Oh the joy! ;-) Yes, the joy!!
She has completely entrenched her way into our hearts, and the girls are beyond thrilled that mom & dad have actually allowed a dog into our lives! She nips, she sits, she drinks, and she devours (her food), all the while making for interesting conversation with all of our neighbors who walk their own canines past our house.
The best part of her break-in period? The crate training is taking place in our swank garage. We've decided to house break her from there, and she has found the peace and comfort of her cage quite appealing. It finally caught on to Jeff that the crate was necessary to her safety after she swallowed a nail/hook thing that she'd pulled off the wall in her first week with us. He is not a fan of the crate, but it's proven it's worth in the last several days alone--thank GOD!
So I rushed her to the vet that fateful Thursday morning after I discovered one of these nails on the floor-and further that their was still another missing from the wall she pulled it off of. Searched the garage, under, in between and above all the items neatly stowed and stored for her well-being, but it wasn't to be found... An hour later and $126.00 for the xray visit, it was nestled in her food stuffed belly.
Now if it had been that the nail was the worst of the danger she faced, I probably still would have been as frightened, but this thing had a hook on the head of it, which, when in the wall, was holding tight the wire of the thermostat to the wall. The vet was concerned, and didn't want to induce Dakota's stomach contents upward through her throat, so we opted for asparagus.
Yep, asparagus.
Apparently, this fibrous vegetable, in all its stringy glory, is a natural means of helping to pull a foreign object from the tummy through the intestines of our four-legged friends. Go figure. So now, rather than surgery, I'm off to market for asparagus to steam and cool, then feed her in a quantity equal to whatever she didn't turn away from.
So the marathon feeding began, and she ate nearly an entire bunch. By that evening, she was still her active and excited puppy-self, but I was horrified of the very real possibility that this nail could puncture her stomach wall, or worse, her intestinal tract. I was awake most of the night, at the ready should she have howled out in some kind of internal pain. Nothing-whew.
The next morning, it was back to the vet for another picture, and voila~the nail is moving outward in the most optimal position to avoid damage! Only two or three inches till exit~I had only to wait it out.
And it came out--with the telltale tarnish and etching from her little tummy acids. It was now in my hand, and she was out of danger. What a breath of relief! I proceeded to scrub my hands, up to my elbows.
Now she's happily confined to her monster cage with the partition which makes her space smaller now, allowing for her rapid growth. And rapid it is already becoming! She cuddles with her towel, her knotted t-shirt, her Kong, and two rawhide bones. The potty training is going more smoothly than when Jennifer was coming out of diapers--but I think Jennifer was just holding on to "baby-hood" for as long as she could. Dakota clearly wants out of "puppy-hood", and will soon be a full grown German Shepherd, as her ancestors before her.
She has a beautiful stance, both ears have now popped "up", and her demeanor is happy and social. We couldn't have asked for a better disposition in a puppy. I am eager to get through the teething stage, and onward to training school--of course, her appointment has already been set for spaying her in early July.
If I can only get Jeff to pick up after her...
We're introducing a new member of our family to our friends these days. On Saturday, May 30, we brought home an eight week old White German Shepherd puppy. Oh the joy! ;-) Yes, the joy!!
She has completely entrenched her way into our hearts, and the girls are beyond thrilled that mom & dad have actually allowed a dog into our lives! She nips, she sits, she drinks, and she devours (her food), all the while making for interesting conversation with all of our neighbors who walk their own canines past our house.
The best part of her break-in period? The crate training is taking place in our swank garage. We've decided to house break her from there, and she has found the peace and comfort of her cage quite appealing. It finally caught on to Jeff that the crate was necessary to her safety after she swallowed a nail/hook thing that she'd pulled off the wall in her first week with us. He is not a fan of the crate, but it's proven it's worth in the last several days alone--thank GOD!
So I rushed her to the vet that fateful Thursday morning after I discovered one of these nails on the floor-and further that their was still another missing from the wall she pulled it off of. Searched the garage, under, in between and above all the items neatly stowed and stored for her well-being, but it wasn't to be found... An hour later and $126.00 for the xray visit, it was nestled in her food stuffed belly.
Now if it had been that the nail was the worst of the danger she faced, I probably still would have been as frightened, but this thing had a hook on the head of it, which, when in the wall, was holding tight the wire of the thermostat to the wall. The vet was concerned, and didn't want to induce Dakota's stomach contents upward through her throat, so we opted for asparagus.
Yep, asparagus.
Apparently, this fibrous vegetable, in all its stringy glory, is a natural means of helping to pull a foreign object from the tummy through the intestines of our four-legged friends. Go figure. So now, rather than surgery, I'm off to market for asparagus to steam and cool, then feed her in a quantity equal to whatever she didn't turn away from.
So the marathon feeding began, and she ate nearly an entire bunch. By that evening, she was still her active and excited puppy-self, but I was horrified of the very real possibility that this nail could puncture her stomach wall, or worse, her intestinal tract. I was awake most of the night, at the ready should she have howled out in some kind of internal pain. Nothing-whew.
The next morning, it was back to the vet for another picture, and voila~the nail is moving outward in the most optimal position to avoid damage! Only two or three inches till exit~I had only to wait it out.
And it came out--with the telltale tarnish and etching from her little tummy acids. It was now in my hand, and she was out of danger. What a breath of relief! I proceeded to scrub my hands, up to my elbows.
Now she's happily confined to her monster cage with the partition which makes her space smaller now, allowing for her rapid growth. And rapid it is already becoming! She cuddles with her towel, her knotted t-shirt, her Kong, and two rawhide bones. The potty training is going more smoothly than when Jennifer was coming out of diapers--but I think Jennifer was just holding on to "baby-hood" for as long as she could. Dakota clearly wants out of "puppy-hood", and will soon be a full grown German Shepherd, as her ancestors before her.
She has a beautiful stance, both ears have now popped "up", and her demeanor is happy and social. We couldn't have asked for a better disposition in a puppy. I am eager to get through the teething stage, and onward to training school--of course, her appointment has already been set for spaying her in early July.
If I can only get Jeff to pick up after her...
2 comments:
No it's all about me!
I'm wishing that we two legged types could eat asparagus and have it swoop everything out of us. It would be like healthy bulimia.
Okay, how said is that.
Well, you gotta know, if you're going to apologize to me about not writing, you're going to have to put up with a crazy comment.
Your dog, this part is not crazy, is a beaut, and I'm so glad things are going smoothly.
Is Shannon "zauberfish"? ;-)
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