Friday, February 20, 2009

Teamwork

Benjamin throws the pillows off the sofa as he is trying to arrange everything to his liking and Sol makes herself comfy on the pillows that Benny has strewn across the room.  This is why you have to have more than one pug.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Hamburgler

After we had constructed the pugs’ makeshift leashes we started the trek to the car.  Sol keeps a different pace than Benjamin, Henry & Luna and since we were walking on leashes made out of poppy bags, the three fawns trotted along and Sol and I followed along at our own pace.  The boys and Luna were pretty much out of site when we passed a little pavilion where a family was having a cookout.  We passed them on the way in, but in all the excitement the pugs did not pay much attention to them.  When we got to the pavilion, Sol stopped dead in her tracks and stood still with her nose in the air sniffing and snorting.  This got everyone’s attention and two ladies came over to pet Sol.  While being petted Sol’s nose was still working overtime and she gradually made her way over to the pavilion.  The ladies said they had an extra hamburger left and Sol was more than welcome to it if she was allowed to have it.  I figured what they heck and they broke off a few pieces of the hamburger and gave it to Sol.  She gobbled it up and went back for seconds.  After eating about half a hamburger it was time to go.  I gave the poopy bags a little tug and Sol came trotting along so very happy with herself.  We made it back to the car and Sol was the happiest pug on earth.

After I brushed the sand from my feet, I got in the car and laughed.  I could just imagine what the ladies at the pavilion thought and what they might tell their friends.  “Funny thing happened today, we had a little black pug crash our cookout looking for food.  We just had to give her something because she was being walked on a leash made out of newspaper sleeves.  Who knows how long it had been since she had eaten!”  In any case, I’m sure we gave them a good laugh.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Just Sol

I love the contrast between her black fur and the orange wall.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  Hopefully, by Monday I will have everything back in order around here.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Resting

I wanted to share a photo of Sol now that the growth on her eye has been removed.  Its weird, but I am still getting used to not having the thing in her eye there.  I didn’t realize how used to it I had gotten.  It was like her Cindy Crawford mole.

But I am glad its gone because I am sure it was an nuisance to her.  Hopefully when she is feeling better her big brown eyes won’t look so sad.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Come

Sol has been adjusting very well to life here with us.  And I think we have been adjusting pretty well to life with 4 pugs.  The hardest adjustment for us has been figuring out ways to communicate with Sol since she is almost completely deaf.  But I think we have settled on a hand signal for “come” that Sol seems to understand pretty well.  We have been patting our shin with our hand and Sol trots on over.  This has come in very handy when we need to signal to Sol to let her know it is time to go out to go potty or that we need her to follow us for whatever reason.

There are a few downsides, however, but these are the negatives of any hand signal.  The first is that Sol needs to be looking at you.  Another is that the hand signals don’t work too well at night or low light situations.  But even with the limitations, the one hand signal that Sol has picked up on so far is working really well.

The next signal we are working on is one for “quiet” or “no bark” because the little lady gets a bit overzealous when we eat dinner.  She just goes crazy whining and begging for food.  We have been very careful not to give her any food while we are at the table, so I think she is just trying to hurry dinner along because she knows that she may or not get something from the plate while we are cleaning up in the kitchen.

On an unrelated note, Sol goes in on Monday to have her teeth cleaned and have the thing from eye removed.  As soon as I get word that everything is finished I will let you know.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Spoiled Already

Well it sure didn’t take Sol long to become a spoiled little girl.  Here she is begging for some of the chicken I am carving.  It is pretty much a Sunday ritual.  We get the rotisserie chicken from Sam’s club each Sunday and carve it and use it in some form for our lunches that week.  Sol has been here for at least 3 Sundays when we do this and she knows what is coming.  The girl is quite fond of chicken!

Spoiled Already from obp on Vimeo.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Ladies Day at the Vet

Last Friday, we took Sol & Luna to the vet.  Luna was going in for her annual exam and shots and Sol was going in for a thorough checkup, shots, microchipping, blood work and an overall evaluation on her current health.

Luna went first, took her shots like a champ and got a great report for annual checkup.  Her blood work came back fine, her heart sounded good and everything appeared to be in working order.  Her eyes continue to be her weak area and while they are by no means normal, we are doing the best we can to maintain her tear production and keep her vision from getting worse.  She will be going to the ophthalmologist in a about a month to get her eye checkup.

Sol was up next and she was very well behaved while on the table.  The doctor estimated her age to be between 10 - 12 years old (probably closer to the 12 end of the spectrum than the 10).  We had a complete Senior blood work panel ran for her and received her results earlier this week.  We were very relieved to find out that everything was in the normal range.  From her exam, we learned that she doesn’t have any chronic issues, just some of the normal issue that can occur with aging.  She has moderate arthritis in her hips and lower back.  We will be putting her on Synovi soft chews (the same thing that Henry takes) to help with the arthritis for now.  One day she may need to go on medication for her arthritis, but for now it is not necessary.  She has a cataract in her one eye which impacts her vision a bit (mainly depth perception).  And one of the things that hit me the hardest is that she is almost completely deaf.  I had a sneaking suspicion that she didn’t hear very well, but the vet confirmed it with a little hearing test.  She had virtually no response to the test.

She will be going in for a much needed dental in February and while under she will have the growth on her eyelid removed.  I was worried about putting her under for a dental considering her age, but the vet assured us that she has no health issues that would make putting her under for a dental troublesome.

We are very relieved to find out that Sol does not have any pressing health issues other than those associated with aging.  Her cataract is concerning, but I feel like we are very prepared to handle that issue.  Luna has taught us a thing or two about caring for eye issues and we have a very good relationship with Luna’s eye specialists.  When we take Luna in for her checkup in a month, we will take Sol and have her eyes looked at as well.  I will be relieved to have a better understanding of her current situation and I would feel more comfortable having a baseline so that we can monitor things over the coming years.

The thing that has been weighing on my mind the most is her hearing.  A deaf dog is new to me and I have been trying to digest as much information as humanly possible on the best ways to communicate with Sol and make her feel comfortable.  Its hard because my only office mates are pugs and I pretty much talk to them all day long.  Benjamin, Henry & Luna rely heavily on verbal cues and come on my whistle without fail.  Even the cat comes on my whistle - most of the time.  She is a cat after all.

My main worry is that one day she will be without two main senses - hearing and sight.  Even though her vision is not great now, it is still a huge asset for her.  Around the house, I don’t worry so much.  Everything is pretty much dog proof and she can’t really get into to much trouble.  However, I worry when taking her out for walks.  I know that Luna’s lack of vision has gotten her into trouble a few times in the past and I worry that Sol’s lack of hearing puts her at a huge disadvantage when out and about.

The good news is that these are all my worries.  Sol gets along very well.  She isn’t timid at all when on our walks and is learning to trust and take cues from the boys and Luna.

I know I am going to learn a lot from this little girl.

Oh, and if you are wondering why we are taking Sol to our vet and planning on taking her to the ophthalmologist, check this out.  Come on, you didn’t really think we weren’t going to be foster failures, did you?