Well, it's a long story, but our stupid ISP (which has a monopoly on the
cable technologies) has finally, after three weeks in the new house,
restored our connection.

Saskia settled well into the new house right away, and her anxiety levels
dropped dramatically, as I knew they would, as soon as she started getting
that good twice-daily run across the street in the park. She has many new
friends, including George the Leonberger who is several centimeters taller
than her, outweighs her by 20 kilos, and is one year old. She was terrified
of him the first two meetings, but he's just a big cuddly goofball like her
and now she rushes to the window wagging her head off if he walks by, and
runs straight to him for a game of chase if he's out when she is.

There have been no repeats of ANY kind of negative or even neutral reactions
to Walter. Of course we are still doing the NILIF, and she doesn't have any
chew toys when he's around (for that matter, hasn't seemed too bothered so
hasn't really had any at all since we moved), we don't let him startle her
or manhandle her, etc., and she is not allowed on the furniture--which she
hardly seems to notice since we got her the giant sized Doggy Bagg
cedar-filled bed a few days before the move.

There is a professional trainer who regularly walks her setter (Irish;
Saskia also has a new Gordon Setter friend) over in the park and has
observed Saskia's interactions with us, Walter, and other dogs. She says we
have nothing really to worry about in her opinion, that Saskia doesn't have
an aggressive bone in her body, but does agree with me that we should still
consult a behaviorist and have at least several sessions in house, and
approves of all the moves we are making to minimize any chance of a dog-baby
accident, because of course even where aggression is not an issue, she's
still a big, clumsy, young dog. We have finally located a (reputedly good)
behaviorist, through our new vet, and I'll be calling this week.

Meanwhile, Saskia has had a bit of a rough time of it in other ways--she
stepped on glass or something two weeks ago, and it is a really weird cut.
It was very deep, very oddly shaped. I have a lot of experience with this
sort of thing (I've assisted vets), and so I deemed it not quite worth a
late-night trip to the emergency vet, and got it all cleaned and bandaged,
with some betadine on it. In the morning I called our new vet, who said they
were full up and had only one vet and a student on duty, so we had to take
the animal ambulance to the fill-in vet.

The ambulance technicians decided to help me get her into the van when she
hesitated. I sure wish they hadn't done that . One grabbed her by the
collar, the other by the harness, and as would be expected with a dog with
her shyness issue, she downright panicked, and was flailing all over the
place and fear-grimacing. I knew that of they let her go she'd bolt right
into traffic, so I had to let them hang onto her, and I just kept calling
her from inside the van. As soon as she finally heard me, she jumped
straight in to me and Walter, as I knew she would do, and sat down and
leaned on my knees until we got to the bank where I needed to get some
money. The technicians then let her get out with me, even though I asked
them to get in the way so she'd stay in the van, and I told them in no
uncertain terms not to help and not to try to put her back in. They were
dubious, but as soon as she hit the end of the lead and I said, "Back! With
me!" she heeled over to the bank machine with no trouble and sat quietly
while I withdrew money. I warned them again to back off and not help, and
they did, and she followed me straight back into the van.

Then she walked straight into the vet's for me, and became a statues while
her foot was examined. The vet said I had done everything right but that it
was a tricky cut. She gave me a bunch of bandages and some antibiotic cream
and said to rest her for a week or so, to use my judgment. When we left the
vet's, Saskia made a bee-line for the ambulance and jumped in ahead of me.

After a week and a couple of days the cut was closed up but still looking a
bit tender, so I wrapped it up good and solid and let her run again. Two
days of this and the edge was off again and she wasn't spending the entire
day plastered to the window (she can see the other dogs playing about 20
meters away). So then we were out day before yesterday, and she saw a big
sheepy-dog sort of mixed breed, and did her usual
dash-in-to-about-five-meters-and-slam-into-a-play-bow-and-clearly-say-"chase-me"
thing, and ran away playfully. Damn thing ran right up and bit her on the
ass! It's really just two scrapes and a tiny puncture, and wasn't worth a
vet visit (it's healing up nicely now), but it was darned rude, I tell you.
She yelped and ran, but tried to go back to play again after a few minutes
and isn't showing any signs of trauma around other new dogs. The owner was
already walking away, and I hadn't been near him to begin with, so I yelled
that his dog had bitten my dog, and he just shrugged and kept walking. There
is NO rabies here at all, so I just let it go, and have since heard similar
stories of this dog from other owners. Luckily the dog is never there at the
usual times we go; this was an odd day after the cable guy had been and
Walter had had his nap. I just won't go at that time again.

The cut on her foot has a stubborn corner that WILL keep oozing serum but
nothing looks infected, feels hot, has become redder, etc. Still, if it
isn't significantly better I'll be taking her in for the vet's morning
walk-in hour on Thursday. So she's been on one run instead of two while we
let that finish healing up, but she still seems much more relaxed than she
was just before we left the old place, when the Walter incidents happened.
She also seems to be handling separation better--maybe because she can see
the street from this apartment and so keep a watch for us if she feels like
it. In the entire three weeks she has lightly torn one piece of newspaper
while we were out, and we often find her asleep when we get back--we can see
her through the front window.

So that's how we're doing.

--Katrina

So that's how we're doing.

Sounds like things are going well In the future though, you might
want to check with other dogs owners before you let Saskia bound up to
them. Some dogs just don't like other dogs. Sorry to hear about
Saskia's boo boo, I'm glad it didn't effect her

White Monkey wrote:

Well, it's a long story, but our stupid ISP (which has a monopoly on the
cable technologies) has finally, after three weeks in the new house,
restored our connection.

Saskia settled well into the new house right away, and her anxiety levels
dropped dramatically, as I knew they would, as soon as she started getting
that good twice-daily run across the street in the park. She has many new
friends, including George the Leonberger who is several centimeters taller
than her, outweighs her by 20 kilos, and is one year old. She was terrified
of him the first two meetings, but he's just a big cuddly goofball like her
and now she rushes to the window wagging her head off if he walks by, and
runs straight to him for a game of chase if he's out when she is.

There have been no repeats of ANY kind of negative or even neutral reactions
to Walter. Of course we are still doing the NILIF, and she doesn't have any
chew toys when he's around (for that matter, hasn't seemed too bothered so
hasn't really had any at all since we moved), we don't let him startle her
or manhandle her, etc., and she is not allowed on the furniture--which she
hardly seems to notice since we got her the giant sized Doggy Bagg
cedar-filled bed a few days before the move.

There is a professional trainer who regularly walks her setter (Irish;
Saskia also has a new Gordon Setter friend) over in the park and has
observed Saskia's interactions with us, Walter, and other dogs. She says we
have nothing really to worry about in her opinion, that Saskia doesn't have
an aggressive bone in her body, but does agree with me that we should still
consult a behaviorist and have at least several sessions in house, and
approves of all the moves we are making to minimize any chance of a dog-baby
accident, because of course even where aggression is not an issue, she's
still a big, clumsy, young dog. We have finally located a (reputedly good)
behaviorist, through our new vet, and I'll be calling this week.

Meanwhile, Saskia has had a bit of a rough time of it in other ways--she
stepped on glass or something two weeks ago, and it is a really weird cut.
It was very deep, very oddly shaped. I have a lot of experience with this
sort of thing (I've assisted vets), and so I deemed it not quite worth a
late-night trip to the emergency vet, and got it all cleaned and bandaged,
with some betadine on it. In the morning I called our new vet, who said they
were full up and had only one vet and a student on duty, so we had to take
the animal ambulance to the fill-in vet.

The ambulance technicians decided to help me get her into the van when she
hesitated. I sure wish they hadn't done that . One grabbed her by the
collar, the other by the harness, and as would be expected with a dog with
her shyness issue, she downright panicked, and was flailing all over the
place and fear-grimacing. I knew that of they let her go she'd bolt right
into traffic, so I had to let them hang onto her, and I just kept calling
her from inside the van. As soon as she finally heard me, she jumped
straight in to me and Walter, as I knew she would do, and sat down and
leaned on my knees until we got to the bank where I needed to get some
money. The technicians then let her get out with me, even though I asked
them to get in the way so she'd stay in the van, and I told them in no
uncertain terms not to help and not to try to put her back in. They were
dubious, but as soon as she hit the end of the lead and I said, "Back! With
me!" she heeled over to the bank machine with no trouble and sat quietly
while I withdrew money. I warned them again to back off and not help, and
they did, and she followed me straight back into the van.

Then she walked straight into the vet's for me, and became a statues while
her foot was examined. The vet said I had done everything right but that it
was a tricky cut. She gave me a bunch of bandages and some antibiotic cream
and said to rest her for a week or so, to use my judgment. When we left the
vet's, Saskia made a bee-line for the ambulance and jumped in ahead of me.

After a week and a couple of days the cut was closed up but still looking a
bit tender, so I wrapped it up good and solid and let her run again. Two
days of this and the edge was off again and she wasn't spending the entire
day plastered to the window (she can see the other dogs playing about 20
meters away). So then we were out day before yesterday, and she saw a big
sheepy-dog sort of mixed breed, and did her usual
dash-in-to-about-five-meters-and-slam-into-a-play-bow-and-clearly-say-"chase-me"
thing, and ran away playfully. Damn thing ran right up and bit her on the
ass! It's really just two scrapes and a tiny puncture, and wasn't worth a
vet visit (it's healing up nicely now), but it was darned rude, I tell you.
She yelped and ran, but tried to go back to play again after a few minutes
and isn't showing any signs of trauma around other new dogs. The owner was
already walking away, and I hadn't been near him to begin with, so I yelled
that his dog had bitten my dog, and he just shrugged and kept walking. There
is NO rabies here at all, so I just let it go, and have since heard similar
stories of this dog from other owners. Luckily the dog is never there at the
usual times we go; this was an odd day after the cable guy had been and
Walter had had his nap. I just won't go at that time again.

Ouch. I don't blame you. One of my sister's dogs was bitten on the ass
by a dog she was boarding at her home, and the bite punctured her dog's
rectum. It was an ugly, life-threatening injury.


The cut on her foot has a stubborn corner that WILL keep oozing serum but
nothing looks infected, feels hot, has become redder, etc. Still, if it
isn't significantly better I'll be taking her in for the vet's morning
walk-in hour on Thursday. So she's been on one run instead of two while we
let that finish healing up, but she still seems much more relaxed than she
was just before we left the old place, when the Walter incidents happened.
She also seems to be handling separation better--maybe because she can see
the street from this apartment and so keep a watch for us if she feels like
it. In the entire three weeks she has lightly torn one piece of newspaper
while we were out, and we often find her asleep when we get back--we can see
her through the front window.

I would suggest soaking Saskia's injured foot in warm water at least
twice a day to help speed the healing. And make sure it's wrapped up
nice and snug in at least three layers of Vetrap (or Co-Flex, or
Powerflex - any kind of co-adhesive bandage) whenever you take her out
to run. Right after exercise is a good time to do your soaking. Get a
pan of comfortably warm water, a clean wash cloth and a towel. Have her
lie down someplace comfortable and place the folded towel under her paw
(this is just to keep the floor dry). Soak the washcloth in the warm
water and then apply it sopping wet to the injured foot. Re-wet
whenever the cloth starts to feel cool. After maybe 5 or 6 minutes
check the wound and use the washcloth to clean away any softened
crusting or exudate. Pat dry and apply your antibiotic cream

Kathleen

"Ronna" wrote in message
oups.com...
So that's how we're doing.

Sounds like things are going well In the future though, you might
want to check with other dogs owners before you let Saskia bound up to
them. Some dogs just don't like other dogs. Sorry to hear about
Saskia's boo boo, I'm glad it didn't effect her


Well, this is a park full of loose dogs that roam around the path and trees
while the owners walk around and around, so it is assumed dogs will bound up
to each other happily or otherwise. Most of them, unlike our old place, do
see well mannered and often well trained. However, I was planning to do what
you say here, but she's learned her lesson and has gone back to her older
style of bounding up to about 30 or 50 body lengths, standing still with an
unassuming posture wagging, and then bounding forward another few lengths at
each positive behavior on the other dog's part, finishing with the full-on
head averted, tail down but wiggling, "I'm-smaller-than-I-look" thing, even
lying down for smaller dogs. At any sign of negativity from the other dog,
she just goes away and runs elsewhere. So although she wasn't traumatized by
the event, she was not unaffected.
--Katrina

I would suggest soaking Saskia's injured foot in warm water at least twice
a day to help speed the healing. And make sure it's wrapped up nice and
snug in at least three layers of Vetrap (or Co-Flex, or Powerflex - any
kind of co-adhesive bandage) whenever you take her out to run. Right
after exercise is a good time to do your soaking. Get a pan of
comfortably warm water, a clean wash cloth and a towel. Have her lie down
someplace comfortable and place the folded towel under her paw (this is
just to keep the floor dry). Soak the washcloth in the warm water and
then apply it sopping wet to the injured foot. Re-wet whenever the cloth
starts to feel cool. After maybe 5 or 6 minutes check the wound and use
the washcloth to clean away any softened crusting or exudate. Pat dry and
apply your antibiotic cream

Kathleen


Thanks, I have been soaking it twice a day initially and lately once a day
in warm water with baking soda. I guess I'll try going back to twice a day.
But the wound as remains is only about half a centimeter long, curved, and
not at all deep, so I have hope for a complete recovery soon. There's also
never any crusting or anything anymore, just occasionally a tiny amount of
clear serum at the edge. I'm out of the antibiotic cream--she gave me enough
for a few days because we aren't sure exactly what she stepped on and it was
a deep wound--so I have been using betadine salve instead now. Yes, I've
been buying something that is just like vetwrap but called something in
Dutch from the vet. We leave the park as soon as it starts to work its way
off--this is in an awkward location and I still only get the
not-too-tight-not-too-loose balance right once in a while.
Thanks again,
Katrina

Aaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuugh! Poor girl.... Last night when I went to change her
bandage and soak her foot I found that it was oozing again, this time
whitish milky fluid, a little sticky, and looked a tiny bit red again. Thus
were we in the vet's for THIS morning's walk-in hour at 8:30 sharp. It IS
infected, and she's running a very slight temperature. The vet wants to do
exactly what I thought would probably be best--cut off the bulb of flesh
that has half-healed over the top, probably flush the wound, smooth it out,
wrap it back up, and start her on some antibiotics. Thus I had to leave her
there (she took it pretty well) and they'll be trying it first with a local,
and if that doesn't work well or if it's really bad inside (doubtful),
they'll use a general. They'll call me when I can go get her. Poor dog!
--Katrina

So, the vet just called. I can get her in the next 20 minutes or after two
hours from now. I would like to get her ASAP, but given that Walter is still
down for his nap and I have to do the shopping for the day, it might be less
cruel to leave her in the situation she is already in--a crate at the
vet's--than to get her, bring her back here, and leave her alone immediately
while I get that out of the way. Poor girl. The vet wants me to keep the
foot as dry as possible, and leave it unbandaged after tomorrow except when
we leave her alone or take her out to pee; for the latter a sock and a
plastic bag will be enough. They removed the errant bump of flesh and
"freshened up" the edges of the wound, and put in one stitch, and we will
need to give her antibiotics for five days and keep her quiet for ten, at
which point the stitch will come out.
--Katrina

Ooops, forgot to mention--they only had to use a local, thank goodness.
--Katrina

"White Monkey" wrote in
:

So, the vet just called. I can get her in the next 20 minutes or after
two hours from now. I would like to get her ASAP, but given that
Walter is still down for his nap and I have to do the shopping for the
day, it might be less cruel to leave her in the situation she is
already in--a crate at the vet's--than to get her, bring her back
here, and leave her alone immediately while I get that out of the way.
Poor girl. The vet wants me to keep the foot as dry as possible, and
leave it unbandaged after tomorrow except when we leave her alone or
take her out to pee; for the latter a sock and a plastic bag will be
enough. They removed the errant bump of flesh and "freshened up" the
edges of the wound, and put in one stitch, and we will need to give
her antibiotics for five days and keep her quiet for ten, at which
point the stitch will come out. --Katrina



Hope she gets better soon -- sounds like picking her up later will work
best for her. Keep us posted.

--
Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
& Queenie the black gold retriever
& Rosalie the calico

"ceb" wrote in message
...
"White Monkey" wrote in
:

So, the vet just called. I can get her in the next 20 minutes or after
two hours from now. I would like to get her ASAP, but given that
Walter is still down for his nap and I have to do the shopping for the
day, it might be less cruel to leave her in the situation she is
already in--a crate at the vet's--than to get her, bring her back
here, and leave her alone immediately while I get that out of the way.
Poor girl. The vet wants me to keep the foot as dry as possible, and
leave it unbandaged after tomorrow except when we leave her alone or
take her out to pee; for the latter a sock and a plastic bag will be
enough. They removed the errant bump of flesh and "freshened up" the
edges of the wound, and put in one stitch, and we will need to give
her antibiotics for five days and keep her quiet for ten, at which
point the stitch will come out. --Katrina



Hope she gets better soon -- sounds like picking her up later will work
best for her. Keep us posted.
Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
& Queenie the black gold retriever
& Rosalie the calico


Thanks! She's home. She was VERY glad to se me, and Walter, and will be
overjoyed to see Danny when he gets home from work in a few minutes. To my
amazement, although very eager to get out of there she didn't try to drag my
arm off getting out the door, and heeled well on the way home (a five minute
walk). Now she's sacked out on her bed. She had some food, and some water,
and gave the cat a poke. We have antibiotic cream and pills for five days
and instructions to leave the foot unbandaged as much as possible, so we
also have a huge Elizabethan collar to try out when we aren't right by her.
She's to stay bandaged for the night, though, tonight. Rest for a week,
"take it easy" for three more until the stitch comes out an dthey have
another look at it. A sock and a plastic bag on it for potty breaks. She's
leaving it alone and just seems tired, not really down or anything. I'll
post updates on hr progress with it all.
--Katrina