Get Ready - Groomer Next Week

I'm doing some anticipatory worrying. Rox is going to the groomer next week for an Ears & Nails visit. I'm nauseous just thinking about it. Here's why... we can't just take her and drop her off - that would mean a cage at the salon, and she'd be nervous I'm sure (read: Mom is nervous about it). Also, we've never taken any dogs to groomers, so we don't know if they will treat her right (read: we have no idea what they do.)

It's obviously a given that we are over-protective and still not completely aware of Rox's "full personality" yet... we admit our quirky outlook. Done.

We're going to a place where they will let us be with her while they do the nails. I sure hope this is not a mistake. I have half a mind to make Bob take her while I stay home quilting.

1. Will Roxie stand on the table?
2. Will she try to jump off?
3. Will she let the groomer do her nails? She won't let us....
4. Will she try to bite the groomer? She's never tried with us.
5. Do we need to ask for a muzzle right up front? How insulting to her!
6. Should we stand right in front of her to distract her? Use steak bits for bribes? Steak bits work for lots of things!
7. Will our presence be a distraction to the groomer?
8. Should we abandon her to the groomer and hope for the best?
9. Will the groomer let us come back for a second visit?
10. Will Rox be pissed with us when we get her home? She can really hold a grudge...
11. How neurotic are we?

I'm thinking about this now so I won't have to next week. I allow myself one day of worrying, then I try to forget it (if you believe that I have a bridge.....)

I can't forget the scream she let out when the vet techs tried to do her nails at the first visit... I really hate the idea of someone calling her a drama queen........ even if she is one.

The Intro, Such as it Was...

This was the first time Roxie met the family. I hope it's not the last!

The 75 mile trip began with Bob and Roxie in the backseat. I had a premonition that made me dibs the driver seat, and I was right. She howled, barked, cried and screamed for about 30 miles. She finally jumped into the front seat, turned around three times and went to sleep. (One of these days I'll get a video camera with audio so you can listen to her. She's incredible.)

It seems she likes the front seat.

So, that problem solved, we continued on to the family gathering, wondering if she would have her good company manners on. She didn't.

First I had asked Bob to make sure the dogs met each other outside. Of course, he didn't listen. Of course... the dogs met in the front hall and right away the little dog thought she was the boss of the bigger dog. Sound familiar?

Roxie's cousin is Zoey, a Brittany, who is around 12-ish, not in the best of health, and a wonderfully sweet little girl. I'm sure she choked when she met Roxie.

Saving drama, I'll say right up front that Rox was bossy, growlie, pushy and feeling very alpha to Zoey. I would have more pictures to share but whenever I got close to clicking, Rox would get all territorial and snarky at Zoey. Hence the single down-angle pic. I can't imagine what the Zoester thought when her Aunt Gena and Uncle Bob brought such a pushy little dog for Xmas...

On the whole, Rox was ok, but she felt so comfortable she helped herself to the sofa many times, much to the consternation of Grandma Sonja. While we were pleased that Rox jumped off the sofa when called, we nonetheless feel she may not get any return invitations.

They tried to play a couple of times, nose-to-end, tails up and wagging tentatively. But with so many family there, at the very first hint of a growlie, many hands reached to separate them. I have to conclude that it was probably not the best event to introduce them. So bad on us...

Lessons learned:

1. Just because we love her doesn't mean everyone loves her.
2. Just because we think she's sweet doesn't mean she's sweet when visiting.
3. Re-think about obedience school.
4. Get out the Cesar Milan book to review.
5. Don't introduce two dogs at a large holiday family gathering.
6. Make the back seat the preferred travel location for Herself.

All in all, it went well enough. No bites, no blood; everyone said Roxie was cute. They all said they liked her. But we wondered after we left what they were REALLY saying. Zoey probably wanted to move and leave no forwarding address! Poor Zoey........... sorry baby girl. We'll try to make it better next time!

Am Thinking of How to Write About Christmas Eve...

Taking a day or two to figure out how to describe Roxie's intro to the family....

So far, I can write with confidence that she seems to hate riding in cars. In the back seat.

And she left her company manners at home.

No dogs or people were injured in the making of this Christmas Eve visit.

More later after I've chosen the right verbiage to convey the spirit of the season...

Roxie's New Job

The water pump in our dishwasher died.... two days before Christmas. Roxie, being the holiday-spirited girl she is, has offered to lick all our dishes clean.

Isn't she sweet?

Scraggly Beard and Fangs

Belly Up and Feets to the Sky - A Favored Way to Sleep.

Finally, asleep so I can get a close-up of the beard and mustache. It was much fuller before the picker balls attacked. I'm assured by readers that it will grow back and was reminded by those who know more that I do: dachsie beard and mustaches = "furnishings."

Please forgive me for calling to your attention her beautiful little fang teeth, so sweet and pearly white. Good breath, too, which makes those (inadvertent) laughing-french-licky-kisses so much easier to tolerate.

Post Possum Vet Visit

Kind of a catchy title, yes?

Rox seems fine this morning and I do too. In the bright clear sunny morning things look a lot less upsetting. Well, not to the possum I guess...

Update: Talked with our vet, and in the absence of bite marks and with a recent rabies vaccine, we don't have to bring her in today. Just keep an eye on her.

Also, I checked where the possum had been.... GONE! Little footprints led away into the neighbors yard. On one hand I'm glad the critter isn't dead, but on the other.... looks like this might happen again if Patty Possum doesn't move on down the street.......

Funny thing, today our fortune cookie from lunch said I'd experience something exciting soon. Timing was off a bit.........

Afterthoughts

Wide awake and not sure how to wrap my mind around this latest adventure...

Was this a crisis or an adventure? Positive or negative, scary or exciting? Is there anyone to blame, any thing to do differently?

Rox was outside alone in a fenced, secure back yard. It's normal to "let the dog out" before bed. Who thinks of stupid or crazed wild animals in suburbia?! True, we knew the possum had been on the fence a week ago, but in our silly naivete we joked that it had learned a great lesson and moved on down the block. Obviously we were too flippant.

It wasn't Bob's fault because he rightly avoided possum bites to his head by keeping a distance. The ER doc would surely have chastised him if he had waded in to grab Roxie. From Bob's perspective, Rox was "winning" the fight and didn't need Bob's help.

But is fighting really a natural thing? Is it OK to let her fight just because it's instinctive? And were we really "letting her" - at the moment of battle, was reaching in between two snarling animals the wise thing to do?

We don't have critters in our yard for the entertainment of the dog. That possum, while I'm sure was cute to its mate, was a huge wild rat too stupid to move on from the yard where the fighting dog lives.

Is this something I need to feel guilty about? If so, how would I remedy the situation? How do you prevent critters from getting into your yard? Will we have to always go out with Rox from now on?

Rocky hated the outdoors. He'd pee and poop and run back inside. Roxie is a nature girl who loves to sniff and snort through woods and spends hours exploring our yard. Even the snow doesn't seem to deter her.

She seems confused by our reaction, or lack thereof. I get the idea she was expecting us to celebrate and adorn her with treats for her protection. I'm sure she thinks she protected us from the big rat. She isn't going to let any critters come into HER yard and bother HER people.

Was this just an ordinary occurrence of nature, or a crisis that will keep me up at night?

And a final thought, oh jeez louise.... what to do the next time she wants to lick my face?! Possum mouth! Shiver.........

Portrait of a One-Eyed Huntress

The Mighty Huntress, posing after the kill.

Remember the possum? Dead.

Once again tonight we hear screaming barking and see moving fence with our heavy flashlight. Again, the back neighbor turned on his floodlights, giving us a clear view of the offending critter. I'm amazed at how like a huge rat it looked in profile, back-lit by the floods. Like a huge RAT scampering along the top of the fence. Until it came to the end of the fence.

By a fluke, the critter was toppled, and fell into our yard. Sh*t. Should have fallen the other way into the neighbors yard.

Bob was ringside to the fight with the leash in one hand and flashlight in the other. Roxie went immediately for its neck and shook it back and forth. Bob watched as the possum tried to bite Rox. They were rolling around in deep snow and he's not sure if she got bit. Bob took the safe road and didn't bend over. Although he did proudly relay all the fight sounds to me. He thinks Roxie is brave..... sigh....... guy thing.

After Roxie dragged the dead critter up to the house to show me, we finally got her to drop it by throwing pieces of steak at her. It seemed a much quieter way to retrieve her, one that didn't wake all the neighbors again. Once she was far enough away, Bob collared her and brought her back in.

She's pretty darn proud, as you can see in the picture above. Notice the calmly arrogant stance and brave defiant look. Also note Bob in the background talking to our son in Seattle. Reassuring him after I called in tears then hung up to pace. "No, Mom's ok, she going to throw up, then she'll be fine." And "you should have seen her, just went for the throat and crunched it's skull."

We wiped her down with wet paper towels and found no blood. The ER vet told us to take her in tomorrow for a booster rabies shot and a closer inspection for puncture wounds. My heart is pounding and I'm about to hurl.

We are both shaking our heads. It's been three dachsies ago that we had a hunter. Lady brought us 12 birds one summer. Ick. Rox had to wade through deep snow to get to the back of the yard - she obviously was determined.

Oh well, my sleeping pill effect has worn off after the adrenalin rush. Guess I'll be tossing and turning tonight.

Roxie is rolling on the carpet, sharing the dead critter scent with us.... gag........

Can we survive the adventure that is Roxie? Is the possum really dead or just faking? Shall we always keep a supply of leftover steak handy for emergencies like this?

The Slipping of the Collar

Remember I've mentioned Rox has a little trick of slipping her collar? Well, amazingly I captured it on disk. If you look really closely you can see the collar at the very end of the leash. It has just come off her head. (Click on the picture for larger view)

What she does is turn around facing you, backs up and wiggles her head and body until it slips off. What a stinker! Here, Bob wanted to bring her back home and she wanted to continue on her walk to the corner. Luckily Bob and I both yelled "Roxie, bad girl" and she turned and ran to me on the porch. She is a very sensitive girl and when you raise your voice to her she is crushed. Had she been in the house she would have immediately rolled over and pee'd, then run to hide in her bed.

Let me say right here that we rarely scold her or raise our voices (really only twice that I can think of, including today). But when she slips the collar it's the only way to get her to stop running away. Bless her little heart, she runs right back and rolls over at our feet and pees. Of course, she is so cute we immediately want to pick her up and love her. Talk about sending mixed signals... Ceasar Milan would shake his finger at us!

The first night I had her on the trip home, she slipped her harness in the parking lot of the hotel in Pittsburgh. At night. After dark. In a strange city. Right on the edge of the interstate. I about pooped my pants...... can I say that on this blog? I haven't been able to write about it until now because I was so devastatingly upset.

When I yelled/screamed "Roxie, bad dog" she turned and ran back to me. I picked her up and sat right down on the parking lot with tears in my eyes. Wondering what in the world I had done driving 1100 miles by myself, wondering if Bob and I should ever have gotten another dog after losing Rocky, wondering if we should have gotten a 4 year old dog at our ages of 56, wondering if Roxie was the right dog for us.

Well, can ya tell I can get a leetle e-m-o-t-i-o-n-a-l where my dogs are concerned? From the adrenalin jolt of thinking our new dog was going to be lost at night in Pittsburgh to now, seeing her slip her collar outside in the cold, blowing snow, I've come around to a comfortable knowledge that she will come back when called.

The joke was on her today though - she attained freedom and the only place she could run away to was freezing cold deep snow.

She ran right back to the house. Good Dog!

And on a final note, the answers to all those parking lot questions: yes, yes, yes and yes.

Snow Pictures

Can you see me prancing? It's my snow dance! Easy walkin' where the snowblower was...

Um, could you call the tow-truck Mom? Thanks.

It snowed last night. A lot. Roxie thought she'd get up this morning to her normal routine. She didn't.

Up at 6:00 AM. Looked out back door at snow, turned right around and ran for the front door. Apparently someone told her it doesn't snow out the front door. Ha.

Bob took her on a "walk". Made it two driveways and she wanted to come home. Snow was deeper than her height in some areas. Deep snow + driving wind = poor walking conditions for weiners.

Still dark. Mom, Dad and Roxie sat in red chairs wrapped in quilts until sun came up. Roxie was in bad mood, all she wanted was quilt wrap on lap. And don't talk to her. She was mad, buried her head.

Later pictures are of the two snow bunnies. You can see the snow is still flying. The wind won't go home and weather reports are for heavy snow again today.

Rox is in her bed this afternoon no doubt wondering what is going on....