My next door neighbors got a new puppy

[TorchTheWitch]

If anyone remembers not too long ago they lost their big Bubba Bull Mastiff to cancer, and the little girl was just beside herself with grief. Little by little she was getting better but still seemed a bit sad. They'd been waiting for her to made the decision when she was ready to accept another dog and secretly bought all the puppy essentials and stashed them in the basement for a later date. Well, yesterday she said she wanted to go to the SPCA and "just look". Ha. We all know what "just look" means.

The whole family fell in love with an adorable mostly black but with brown brindle markings mutt that the SPCA thought was a Rottweiler and German Shepherd mix, but they discovered he has webbed toes, and he certainly does appear more like a Lab than a German Shepherd particularly since he doesn't have even a hint of longer thick fur and definitely doesn't have an undercoat. And suddenly the little girl was no longer sad. Already she's inseparable from he that is now known as Max (not terribly original, but it really does seem to suit him).

Max is a sweetheart with these kooky fold over periscope ears - they launch upward when he's particularly interested in something. I never heard a peep out of him last night, so he's happy in his crate learning to not use the house as a potty. So far, not a single accident. He's 12 weeks old, so he may have been potty trained already by someone else before he got to the SPCA, and he just seemed to know right away to use the yard to do his business.

He just had his neutering surgery though you'd never know it, but that might have been several days ago, so he would have bounced back by now anyway. He does have a lot of itching skin though. The SPCA put some kind of flea stuff on him, but the neighbor's just noticed that he seems to have a lot of flaking skin like excessive dandruff though his actual skin looks fine... not to pink or red, no rash, etc. I wonder if he's had some kind of reaction to the anti-flea stuff though maybe it's an allergy or something like that. He goes to the vet for a basic check up and for the vet to get him set up with a file and start keeping track of at what times he would need an annual check up or various shots or whatever in a few days, so they can look into that then.

Yoshi is just thrilled to pieces. He's been missing Bubba though at Bubba's age and with various old age aliments he wasn't exactly all fun and games, but they did like just to have each other's company. Until Max gets bigger though Yoshi will have to be content with playing with him separated by the fence since he's just way too excited by Max and clumsy to boot... he'd bowl Max right over. Max isn't intimidated by Yoshi at all though and they're having fun doing synchronized running up and down the fence, which is so funny because Max is at that long legged lanky stage, and when he runs it looks like his legs have a mind of their own and are trying to go in 20 different directions. Yoshi is not at all happy with having to be separated by the fence though... he wants to play with Max sooooo bad, and he gets frustrated when he runs to collect toys and bring them to the fence for Max and him to play with and can't get them passed the fence to Max. Both me and my neighbors will have to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't secretly try digging under the fence to get to each other. Soon after I got Yoshi though I used some lengths of hard vinyl house siding that I buried in the dirt about half way down up against the fence as a barrier since Bubba used to bury his bones along there, and Yoshi was trying to dig just under the fence to steal his bones.

I'm hoping to get so photos soon but the lying weatherman has been calling for rain for the next few days, and it does seem like something is coming right now since the wind just picked up a whole lot and is whipping the trees around. Yup, rain just started... I can hear it hitting the window, so now I have to go convince Yoshi he can stare hopefully at Max's back door all night if he really wants to, but he's tucked in for the rest of the night, and Yoshi will just have to wait until tomorrow... he's likely to sulk for the next half hour or so.

[a la izquierda]

1. Aww, new puppy!

My big boy had very bad mange when we found him, and has always had some dandruff after we apply topical flea stuff. We've had. Heck of a time finding a food for him that doesn't aggravate his never ending skin allergies.

It ought to be fun watching the little ones grow up together!

[TorchTheWitch]

4. I was wondering if it might be mange

Mange is one of those things that's just too easy to catch and can spread like mad to other animals. I can see how something like that would be really hard to manage in a place like the SPCA or other shelter that has a lot of dogs together in one place. It's easy to treat though, so when Max has his check up they can treat him if that's what it is. And hopefully that's all it is. Allergies can be a damn bugger to get figured out, and if it's an environmental allergy then all you can really do is treat the symptoms.

My first dog had compromised immunity, so he had constant issues with allergies that showed up usually with his skin and he already had sebaceous adenitis (a genetic skin disorder) to begin with. I'd be so thrilled to get through periods where nothing seemed to be bothering him since those periods were always followed by a down turn and it was back to switching foods, topical treatments, trips to the vet, etc. I really feel for you, it can be so frustrating, but all you can really do is the best you can and try dealing with each thing that crops up. With that dog it seemed like he was fine with something relatively new, but once he had it for awhile then his system would start balking, so it was back to trying something new again.

I'm so happy that Max has been the ultimate cure for this little girl. I was afraid she'd just never get over Bubba's passing, and it was especially difficult for her since she was really too young to completely understand the whole concept of death to begin with. Maybe kids have a special ability to bounce back better than adults though. Once she really figured out that Bubba was gone forever and could never come back she had a remnant of sadness about her that was just so sad to see. I think it was wise of my neighbors to let it be her decision when she was ready for another dog since she was the one in the family most effected by the loss of the last one. I can imagine how secretly thrilled they were when she just suddenly announced at breakfast that she wanted to go to the SPCA and see what dogs were available. She hadn't been saying a single word about either Bubba or another dog, so it was the first inkling they got that she had decided she was ready. They've had the travel crate and blankets and a few toys stashed in the car where she couldn't see them for weeks just waiting on her to decide the time was right. They said that while at the SPCA she made a beeline straight to Max's cage where nose to nose she just announced that he was the one with full agreement from the rest of the family, and that was that. They barely noticed any of the other dogs.

And with Max she's suddenly just like her old self, and bless his puppy heart he seemed to just know how badly she in particular needed his attentions. He's stuck to her like superglue constantly, and once again she has a fur baby to cling to or just know that he's right there beside her ready to offer his love and support at a moment's notice. Since she was born with a fur baby always there with her she's lived her short life of always having that special tight bond with a fur buddy. Even though Max is just a baby he knew right away that she was the one who needed him the most and just stepped neatly right into that role. How amazing dogs can be!

I'm so happy that she's just thrown herself into accepting Max just as fully as she had with Bubba. I was really starting to think that she'd never really get over Bubba's loss or ever be able to bond so strongly with another dog or even another type of pet. But she's suddenly right back to her old self with a dog firmly attached to her hip except that it's just a different dog now but one that's young and can be expected to be there still attached to her hip when she becomes a teenager though he may be a bit slower with a little bit of gray in his muzzle my then.

[Phentex]

2. I remember!

and I'm happy to hear the little girl has a loving new friend and Yoshi has a new playmate.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Ahhh, Yoshi brings toys to the fence!

How sweet!

It will be wonderful for the little girl to grow up with this pup.

[TorchTheWitch]

5. Now Max is doing that too!

He has a pink ball about the size of a whiffle ball that seems to be his favorite toy, and now he's racing it over to the fence and trying to shove it through to Yoshi. I'm really hoping that instead of having to just wait until Max gets bigger that maybe the novelty for Yoshi in his being here now will wear off enough that they can at least interact somewhat without having to be separated by the fence. I rather doubt it though. He just can't contain his thrill of other dogs and he doesn't seem to realize how big and strong he is compared to most others. He has his big doggie buddies that he can play roughly with but I think it's just too much for smaller dogs, so we'll probably have to wait after all.

One thing that happened tonight that was really strange was that when Max went out for his last potty break before bedtime he went over to the fence where Yoshi was excitedly waiting, turned around and pooped right at the fence line in front of Yoshi's face, and Yoshi was noticeably just thrilled by this "gift". What in the world does that mean? I also remember that when I first got Yoshi the first time he met Bubba through the fence, Bubba lifted his leg and peed on Yoshi's head, but he was also tickled pink by having been peed on, and the two of them were best friends ever since. So, now after Max and his poo offering episode both me and the neighbors are wondering if there is some kid of odd ritual that is normal for dogs to make special friends with each other by pooing or peeing either right in front of them or actually on them. Between all of us we've had a number of dogs in the past yet none of us have encountered this peeing/pooing ritual before and that in both incidents clearly made all dogs involved very happy about it. Damnedest thing that's got me really scratching my head.

I'm so happy for little T__ that she's seems right back to her old self with a dog glued to her side with such obvious devotion. Though Max is only a baby he seemed to just know immediately that she needed his special love and attention and has stepped right up into that role that Bubba used to fill. Angels in fur they are. I just can't imagine life without a loving pet as such a big part of it.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Oh my! You have me laughing out loud here.

I have no answers to why the "offerings" thrill Yoshi so much, but it is hysterical to us humans. But then again, I don't get the appeal of sniffing butts either.

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. Well, I can offer this...

The only dog that my Sheltie ever loved was another DUer's dog...who happened to be a Corgi. ****Here is your warning if you are easily icked out, but it was hilarious***

Jessie (my dog) had to pee and my friend's dog was enthralled with her and following closely behind (they were both pretty much puppies). Jessie piddled, friend's dog decided to drink it... The choking, throat-clearing sounds he made were hilarious--and they were fast friends. Literally excited to see each other every time and they would play for hours. This is my little princess who hates all other dogs. She will become fast friends with people, however, and would probably leave me (even after almost 12 years) for the first person to call her a pretty girl.