Exploring in the country (Oso's Rescue - Day 2)

Today was the first day of the rest of your life. This morning I arose at 5:30 am to check on you and take you out to potty. Just so you know, this 5:30am thing isn't going to be a habit. I am not an early bird, but we wake up at a leisurely time of around 7 or 8. The only time we get up that early in the morning is for DockDogs or hunting.

The moment I flipped the light on in
the hallway, you greeted me with a loud whine/bark sound. I heard the clack, clack, clack of your long toenails as you pranced around in the front part of your kennel. You had bunched your blue fleece blanket to the back of the crate to curl up on. "Those nails are num
ber one on my

list of things to do today", I thou
ght. When I got to your crate, you could hardly contain yourself. I leaned over and peeked inside to see if there were any potty accidents.
None! Yipee!


When I first began to open the door to the kennel, you began to wiggle your way out; nose first. Ha! The oldest trick in the book. I kind of giggled, then quickly closed the door and told you to wait. You had the funniest, most puzzling look, on your cute little face. I swear if you could talk you would've said, "but I gotta pee!" I slowly began to open the door again without a word. Albeit a little slower this time, you started to head right out the door. I closed it on you once again, with a little "ah, ah, ah". There was that lo
ok again (it was s
o hard not to laugh). But this was serious business, and an important lesson to learn. So I put on my best poker face and waited a few mo
re seconds before opening the door one more time. And VOILA! Just in a matter of minutes you figured it all out. In fact I didn't have to scold you at all when I opened the kennel door throughout the day. I reminded you to wait, and you did it with perfection. You are smart!


Once again you woofed down your meal and yelped for more once the bowl was clean. I tried to explain to you that your tummy might be a bit sensi
tive, but I really don't think you cared. I promised to feed you snacks today every time you went in your kennel. You liked that idea, and had fun chasing the kibble of food that skittered across the floor of your huge kennel.


This morning we went outside and I had a chance to take a look at your lengthy nails. Wow, they were long! I decided that using the dremel wod take too long and might scare you, so I decided to make quick work of it by using the nail clippers. I'm sure they could be shorter, but this was definitely much improved. You were fairly patient, but were a curious pup, and kept getting your nose in the way.


Once your nails were trimmed, I noticed that your toes lo
oked better too! They were closer together. Before your
nails were preventing them from touching. I was amazed at the difference, and wondered if had ever hurt to walk on your toenails like that.


I was excited to take you on your first walk around the property. I brought my favorite whistle and thought I'd see if we could work on your recall. I put you on a 25' flexi-lead and off we went down the trails to the pond. You weaved your way all the way down th
e straw-covered road, all the while sniffing the air and prodding every tuft of grass with your nose. We made our way down to the creek, and you lapped up the water like it was your last drink. Another tanker in the house. I'd seen this behavior before with our 3 year old rescue, Buddy. I'd be willing to bet that all those hours in a kennel, he didn't have access to water. It took a long time for Buddy to learn that the bowl is always full. Even now (2 years later) occasionally if I he sees us put down a freshly filled bowl, he'll drink up every last drop.


Intermittently I would blow my whistle, give a quick tug on the leash, and call you to me. We practiced this many times while you explored the edges of the stream and the pond. Pretty soon, just the sound of the whistle seemed to get your attention and you kept happily trotting back to me for a good chest rub.


I decided to let you try a short off-leash play with the other dogs. You were nearly beside yourself when the 3 other dogs went rushing by you the first time. You wanted to play with them all so badly, you had a hard time deciding which one to pounce on first. Unfortunately it was the biggest dog that you picked. You practically jumped over his head and onto his back. With a ninja-like move and one the help of one really l
arge paw, Buddy rolled you. Unscathed, you jumped up, shook off, and tried again. But this time you changed your approach. You looked cute in your play bow with your tail wagging. This approach was much more acceptable to Buddy, and he obliged with a bow in return. The two of you looked quite jolly as you bounded across the yard together. Buddy was much too fast for you though, and would turn around to wait for you to catch up.


As you all ran along the edge of the pond, I was impressed by your impromptu braveness. As the other dogs leaped into the pond, you followed them fearlessly. At least until you realized that it was deep water, and that you didn't really know how to swim. I thought for a moment that I was going to have to dive in to rescue you. Your little brown head went underwater. It seemed like many seconds went by before I saw the splashing of your thin legs and inexperienced paws. But within moments, you reached the shore. You did this twice more, but definitely preferred to play in the shallows of the creek bed.


After a short play
I noticed that you were slowing down and having a hard time catching your breath. I decided it was time to be done. No need to push it on the first day. We would talk to Dr. W later today about your wheeziness. I had to hose the mud off before we went inside, but you didn't mind at
all. I rinsed the mud off your face, and Buddy slime off your head, and told you that someone was going to be very lucky to have you someday.


Later that evening we went for another ride (this time in a crate in the back of the truck) to see Dr. W. Your temperature was much better this time. But when I talked to him about your "hah, hah, hah" breathing I had heard earlier, he decided to put you on antibiotics for kennel cough; Just in case. And bummer for your socialization, because now you will be quarantined from the other dogs for 10 days.


When we got home, I knew I had to keep you entertained in your kennel so that you wouldn't raise a raucus again. I had a long marrow bone in the closet, so I scraped yogurt on the insides of it for you to lick. I think peanut butter would have been a much better choice, but we were out. A few hours later I replaced the bone with a giant Kong toy stuffed with a few large pieces of the Natural Balance food roles. It was funny to watch as you shoved your entire lower jaw into the hole in hopes of getting even so much as a taste. That kept you busy for a while!


This afternoon I posted your story on our blog and on facebook in hopes to find you the perfect home. Our friends say you're the luckiest dog on earth. I think they're right. Now let's see if we can find the persons to match!


Tonight, you were peaceful. You rarely let out a bark or whine, and settled right down to sleep when the lights went out. It only gets better from here little brown dog.