Dogs

Well, crap. Want to know how dumb I am? Let me share: I had on my calendar that both dogs needed their distemper and rabies shots. I make an appointment and bring them both to the vet today. I get there and the tech says they're not due for their distemper until next year. I check my papers and sure enough, she's right. I say, but they both need rabies. She says yes. I get home and reexamine the sheet and only Turtle needed her rabies shot. Eddie still had another year. Neither I nor the vet tech noticed this even after examining the distemper dates. I can't undo it now and I don't suppose him getting a shot a year too early is that bad, but sheesh. The paper even clearly says due October 23, 2007. I keep getting the year all screwed up in my head. I think it's because I'm not working, so I don't write the date over and over and therefore have no clue what year it is. That or I truly am getting dumber.

The good news is that Eddie was a perfect angel at the vet. When we were leaving Denver, we had a couple of horrific vet appointments where Eddie wouldn't even let the vet near him with the stethoscope. They had to muzzle him and get two large vet techs to hold him down while the vet gave him a shot. When we got here, I automatically had him muzzled when we'd go for fear he'd nip a tech or the vet when getting examined with anything other than hands. However, since we've changed the rules of the house, each vet visit has gotten more and more pleasant. This time, he had no issues whatsoever. He got into a down position when I told him and let her give him a shot with no issues and, even better, he let her put the bordatella stuff up his nose without a fuss. He really hated that before.

Anyway, I can clearly see differences in his behavior on walks when we've started to lax on the rules a bit. Basically, too much letting him on the bed or the couch too often results in walks being more challenging and him starting to try and take over. We have all sorts of other rules that we've implemented that I know help the situation, but the only rule we tend to lax on is inviting the dogs up on the bed or couch. I don't think this is a bad thing to invite him up on the bed or couch occasionally, but frequency does seem to have an effect which I find interesting. Also interesting is that whenever we get back from vacation, I find that Eddie will try and lay on the couch or bed without permission. I know that he's not laying on a couch at the kennel, so I'm not sure if he just figures it a good time to try and be top dog or what. After a couple of times of correction (correction being just saying "off" when I catch him), things go back to normal and he stops challenging. I think this stuff will always be fascinating to me. In comparison to how the rules work with Turtle, I'm always amazed. Eddie's behavior is clearly linked to how many rules we have in place. The more rules, the more well-behaved he is. With Turtle, she's basically the same no matter what. Anyway, any doubts that I had that these little rules were not connected with bad/aggressive behavior have disappeared. It's all connected.

Oh, the other great news: Turtle has lost 3 lbs since her last vet appointment. She is now below 70 lbs! 69 lbs to be specific. I think I was more excited to see that weight loss than if I had lost 3 lbs.

I'm now off to walk the dogs on an extra long walk to reward them for being so good at the vet.