Posts by Foster Dog

Friday, May 27, 2011

Update, May 27, 2011

It's been about 10 days since I did any sort of OC update, and I thought maybe I should hie my butt out here and post something.

Real life has been kicking me over here, so that's my excuse. And I'm sticking to it. :)

OC is doing well. He's gained the weight I thought he needed, and then some. About a half pound more than I'd like to see on him. So we're tweaking his food. When I weighed him last, he was coming in at 10.8 pounds. He really should be closer to 10. Since he's been neutered, he seems to keep weight on. Before, he just ran it off. So the neutering has definitely helped with that.

He's also doing nicely with the pack hierarchy. He's settled into second on the male totem pole, and no longer challenges Elvis (who never cared that much anyway). He's also stopped marking. Even when Elvis (who isn't neutered), hikes his leg, OC just walks on by without a backwards glance.

Which brings up another point. If someone asked me if OC was housebroken, I wouldn't be able to answer. With Elvis here there are very frequent potty breaks (medicine driven). Because of that, it's really hard to say just how housebroken this dog is. As I said, though, there's no marking, and the only times I think I can attribute an accident to OC, it's been pouring down rain outside.

His coat continues to bug me. Shaving the area around the base of his tail solved the hot spot problem, but he is constantly chewing or licking. I've not seen many fleas, though this could be a reaction to the ones he does have, but I'm thinking more and more that it's either a seasonal allergy or something diet related. He does seem to have very dry skin, so I've started giving him 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil a day, and he's getting brushed good once a day. He's also on Benadryl twice a day, and that has stopped his sneezing, and seems to help with the itching.

He's due for a bath and flea treatment early next week, but I may leave off the spot on treatment for a few days in favor of two baths with conditioner added. I want to see how much that will help him.

I STILL haven't gotten him on a leash. My bad. I hope to do that in the next few days...it's tough because I have trouble with my balance. And until I can get him on a leash, I can't do any sort of testing to see how he'll react to larger dogs. And that's a must since he had some trouble with it at the shelter.

He's definitely learned the joys of chasing squirrels, and he and Skeeter go pelting around the yard giving chase to any squirrel brave enough to set foot on the dog side of the yard. While he's not as committed to this as Skeeter, its only because he lacks the experience. :)

And despite his high energy level, he showed me again tonight that he's really loving the people thing. He spent most of an hour on the sofa either between my husband and me or in my lap while we watched a movie. He dearly loved the petting and attention, so there's no question that while he'll be a good activities dog, he's also going to excel as a coach potato when called on to perform that duty.

And again, whoever adopts this boy HAS to get him a crate. He dearly, dearly loves his crate, and is in there sleeping in it much of the day. Matter of fact, if the door is shut on his, he'll go into Elvis' and nap there. I've never had a dog love a crate so much, and I suspect a lot of this is because it's the first place he's ever had that was really, truly his.

Hopefully this next week I can get some photos, too. I'd love to get some outside, but it has been so hot here, and his coat is so thick, that I don't want to leave him outside for too long a time. Fingers crossed, though, that I can get some.

I'll post again next week after bathing him.