The Christmas spirit has arrived at our house. It began to snow late this morning. It was a calm, light fluffy snow. The kind that invokes thoughts of good cheer and peace.
So I got out our little tree and decorated it. All of our animals love the tree, but especially the cats. They take up residence underneath and you can find one or the other of them there for the season. After a few squirts of Bitter Apple chew deterrent, they stop chewing it for the rest of the season.
Thumbprint cookies
After lunch, I made a couple batches of cookies we traditionally have around the holidays. First, I baked the thumbprint cookies and filled them.
Molasses crinkles
Then I made molasses crinkles from a recipe handed down from my mother’s Aunt Clara. Mine are never as good as Aunt Clara’s but they are delicious nonetheless. I suspect Aunt Clara used lard in her’s.
Now I am ready to relax for the evening with a couple of cookies and a good book.
I normally post the books I have read for the month in one post, but this one is so good I just had to share now-The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton.
Mason Reid is a dog trainer. His four dogs, a German Shepherd, two smooth collies, and a golden retriever, are all cadaver search dogs. The youngest, Vira the golden, turns out to be a superdog with with stellar abilities. I won’t give more away.
Their work on cases is gripping. I couldn’t put the book down. It is a crime book so be prepared for that. I highly recommend giving it a try!
We had some excitement a few days ago. I bet you can guess who was the source of it. Yes, it was Zekie. Our problem child. You can read why at this link. No Mistakes
I had some bread dough formed into three loaves and it was sitting on the counter for its final rise before going into the oven. You can already see where this is going, right? Living with multiple dogs (currently 6) and two cats, we have swinging doors on our kitchen that we close with a bungee cord to keep the animals out as needed. I stepped around the corner for a second to look out the window and I turned around and was down to two bread loaves and no one was even chewing!
We didn’t have any evidence of who it was except that Zekie’s breathe wasn’t quite the same as usual. Didn’t smell like yeast though. And he was acting guilty. That could have been coincidence too. Claire the sheltie does occasionally put her feet on the counter too. But she is awfully small to have eaten that much, that quickly. And with Zekie’s reputation…well, it usually is him. We put him in his special crate made of aircraft steel incase he got sic.
Something was niggling in the back of my mind that this may be more serious than just an upset tummy. So I got out my phone and began to research “dog ate bread dough”. It turns out that this can be exceedingly serious. Zekie only ate one third of a batch so I was hopeful, but the more I read, the more worried I became. The bread dough can continue to expand inside the stomach and may eventually cause pressure on other organs and potentially the stomach could burst in the worst case. It is also possible that the yeast can ferment and form ethanol in the stomach. This could result in a drunk dog or it could be lethal.
All sites agreed that it was wise to get the dough out of the stomach stating that this could be difficult via vomiting depending on how gelatinous the mass of dough became. If you were going to induce vomiting to try to regurgitate the dough, sooner rather than later produces the best results before it starts to mix with stomach acid.
Next step was to search how to induce vomiting in dogs. Miraculously, I have never had to do this before. Hydrogen peroxide was recommended. Use ONLY 3% hydrogen peroxide at 1 teaspoon per each 5 lbs. of body weight, up to a maximum of 3 Tablespoons, no matter the dog’s weight. This is what my on-line sources said. I also called my daughter and asked for her advice on this procedure since I know she is familiar with it. Calling to ask your daughter for dog medical advice is pretty cool!
So, I got Zekie, a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide, and a measuring Tablespoon and headed out to our fenced pasture. I gave him the correct dosage for his size, about 37 lbs., and waited. All I knew was that it should work pretty quickly. I did not know what “pretty quickly” was. For a bit I thought it wasn’t going to work. Apparently, pretty quickly is about 10 minutes. That’s when I saw results.
The bread dough came up. Yes, the thief was indeed Zekie. I had to throw a bag over the “used” dough while I went to get a scoop, so that he wouldn’t eat it again. He vomited a second time but most of the dough was up.
And thus was my indoctrination, and hopefully only experience, into the induction of vomiting in dogs. Long live Zekie!
People think smart dogs are easier. Sometimes this may be the case. Not always.
Zekie is wicked smart. He understands most things he hears. After I correct him several times for misbehavior and he doesn’t listen, I can ask “Do you want to go in your crate?” Only once in a blue moon do I have to follow through. He understands and capitulates.
He can figure out ways to do most things he wants. Opening bins, trash cans, and more. He knows to do these things when I am outside so I don’t catch him in the act.
Talk about brains. Yesterday, we drove past the parking lot where we often stop to go walking. We didn’t stop. We were going someplace else. Zekie whined as we drove by because we didn’t stop.
It is a challenge staying one step ahead of this boy. He is a no mistake dog. If you make a mistake, you pay. He is my kind of dog. I love him.
Zekie and I took a walk around our property this evening so I could get some fall photos. I decided this was a good opportunity to work on sits and stays.
Zekie in front of the burning bushes
I was pleased. He did very well. We also worked on his paying attention to me and sitting whenever I stopped walking. That went pretty well too.
Zekie and squash
He even did a sit-stay on the house steps. Those treats in my pocket worked wonders!
I have been working on teaching Claire to sit and stay. It is very handy for taking photos. She does sit, it just takes her a few seconds to respond. We will have to spend time now achieving a swift response.
We are also working on the stay. As soon as I back up enough to take the photo, Claire pops back up. That will be easy enough to extend her sit time with practice.
Zekie and Shelby have it down. They sit and wait throughout my corrections and work with Claire. Zekie learned quickly from watching Shelby. I would give the stay command and he would look at Shelby to see what she was doing and if she was upset that I was walking away. He saw that she was not upset so would stay and await further instruction.
Claire takes more repetition before things click, but she will get there.
In the meantime I get to enjoy practicing with these photo opportunities.
Phoebe was our third greyhound. She is the only female greyhound we have had. She was very girly and liked to wear clothes, fancy collars, and jewelry. She wore a string of pearls or shiny beads at all times in her mature years. If you took them off of her, she was not happy. She stared at you until you put them back on her. The girl liked her bling.
She had tons of personality. From what I have experienced with the greyhounds we have had, each one is unique and different. But we have loved them all.
I posted this meme on Facebook earlier and it got me thinking. You know what’s coming. I was thinking about Zekie and our struggles. I have had pretty good results with modifying behaviors in other dogs, both our own and foster dogs. Not so with Zekie.
He’s been with us almost three years. As my husband said, “Of course you kept Zekie because he’s crazy and you must have a crazy dog at all times.” I can’t say that’s not an accurate statement. I love a dog that worships and needs me.
That being said, Zekie has shown improvement over the past three years. But he is still so far from being a normal or average dog that I have given up hope that he ever will be. I have not, however, given up hope that his behavior will continue to improve.
Zekie has many trying behaviors that are similar to that of my heart dog Duncan. Duncan did not become a dog that I could rely on and trust his behavior until he was about 7 or 8 years old. Zekie is now 7. Here are a few behaviors that both dogs exhibited at some time:
Waiting at the door or window for me to return, whether I have gone outside to the mailbox, or to the grocery store. Time is irrelevant.
Following me from room to room. To be fair, many of our dogs do this. I have not gone to the bathroom alone in over 35 years. Lol…
Taking and eating or chewing things from the kitchen counter. i.e. wooden spoons, plastic containers, mugs, and also actual food. This is why we have swinging doors on our kitchen that can be bungeed shut.
Opening the doors under the kitchen sink to get into the garbage can. This results in a wooden spoon between the cabinet door handles so they are barricaded.
Leash reactivity-Lunging and barking at passersby on walks. With Duncan, the problem was just bicycles and we overcame this. With Zekie, it is bicyclists, joggers, and especially other dogs. After 3 years of training he has learned to be ok with human walkers most of the time, especially if they are friendly and greet us. The Covid masks have set this back a little.
Opening the dog food can which contains a 40 lb. bag of food and eating said contents. This resulted in us keeping a bungee cord across the top of the can.
Stealing trash out of all cans. This results in the cans in every room of our home having lids. Duncan learned to operate the ones with levers or pedals in short order. We had to keep them up high. Grandma would put hers on top of the refrigerator when we visited. This not only applies to cans with food, but all trash cans. Kleenex, food wrappers, and other items seem to have equal appeal.
Barking at cars that drive by, especially when out in the fenced pasture. They always go away so it works, right?
Trying to chew or claw through doors and walls to get to where I am.
Excessive barking at unwarranted sounds. I suppose what is an acceptable sound is in the eye of the beholder.
The need to sleep in a crate in our bedroom so as not to bark endlessly because I am too far away. The crate is needed to keep them out of trouble during the night.
I’m sure there are many other similarities. Duncan was easier to deal with because he could be crated so that I could have a time out or go away. He did well in a crate and was content to chew a bone or nap.
Zekie does not do well in a crate. He chews out of wire crates and Vari-Kennels in short order. He drools so much that his body is drenched in saliva and it pools in the bottom of the crate. This causes him to drink for minutes when he is released resulting in his frantic need to go out and pee a little while later. We tried prescription drugs, homeopathic medicines and herbs, and behavioral modification. None helped. Some made it worse. He has broken off all four canine teeth and some molars in his attempts to get out of the crates.
Now Zekie has a crate made of aircraft quality steel and marine grade butterfly latches. He must be crated when we go away for his own safety and the safety of our house. It is entirely possibly that he would go throw a window, or worse, to look for us. We try not to go away often if Zekie can’t stay with us or one of us can’t stay at home.
Still Zekie has shown improvement in the years he has been here. This is the boy I love.
Sanctuary Acres 