Well, the first two weeks were pretty intense with Dino.
When I got Dino he had the name of Sparky. That was a variation of Spooky which is the name the owners had when they turned him in. I had thought keeping the name until I realized how many dogs had that name, including Charlie. I decided on Dino, after Dean Martin. I had like that name for a long time. I realize it is ethnic and unusual, but it really fits him. It is short and quick.
When Georgette brought him to Hayward, to my apartment, Dino had a small abscess on his left side. She pointed it out and said to keep an eye on it. Well, it got bigger over the next couple of days, which were Christmas Eve and Christmas.
Tuesday, I called Irvington and told them. I was able to get a 5 PM appointment. When I brought Dino in, he was not letting anybody take his temperature or touch him. I tried to put a muzzle on him, and he said "No" and fought and freaked out. We had to reschedule for Thursday and I got some tranquilizer and I took the muzzle home to practice with a clicker to put it on.
The next day we worked many times with the clicker and I had him putting his nose into the muzzle and keeping it there for several seconds.
On Thursday morning I gave him the Ace pill and brought the muzzle. I got the muzzle on him and brought him in. At the end of the day I went back to pick him up and head the big E collar on him and four nasty drains in him. Earlier in the day I called Georgette to tell her about the price of $500 to do the surgery and blood test. She OK'd the price since they would be paying for it. Later in the day I got a call from Karen, their bookkeeper at GDR and I gave her the number for Irvington and she paid for it over the phone with them. What a relief not to have to deal with paying for it and having to wait for reimbursement!
The next few days were pretty rough because Dino wanted to keep chewing on the area and it was draining pretty badly and it hurt and it itched. We made it through to Tuesday and having the drains removed that AM. I had the tranquilizer and used the muzzle again, and at the end of the appointment Dr. Rue had me take the muzzle off and Dino went right up to her and sat next to her. It was pretty cute!
The next few days he kept licking the area where the drains were and they slowly closed up. He was still taking the antibiotics to help heal the area. By Saturday we went to the CV dog park and he was able to run around and let loose. He seemed pretty happy.
What a rough few days. Luckily I was home because I couldn't put him in the crate because of the E collar and I couldn't do much training with him because he was so distracted by the draining and collar. We just had to do day-to-day stuff.
I got a halter for him because he is such a puller and oblivious to me. This time there was a DVD that showed how to properly fit it, how to train with it and how to use the leash. They didn't have that when I got the halter for Scout. I learned that I had it too loose and how to make it righter, which really makes a difference so it is not sliding all over his head and face. I even made Scout's tighter around the head because her's was always slipping side to side.
I started to teach Dino how to stand with a clicker. I have to take his photos, but I will need to do it on my own. I can use my film camera and my tripod. Since I have the scanner to email them to Grateful Dogs. He is picking up on it very quickly. I started to add "stand" on the third lesson, and he was responding. Add the hand signal.
