Ruby woke up at 1.15am, 3.00am and 5.30am and pooed in her crate twice. She does have an area with a puppy training pad and duly did her business on the pad. However, she wanted to let us know that (understandably) she did not want to sleep with poo near her bed. In her eagerness to tell us, she must have stepped in the poo and spread it around a bit. There was some on her bedding, some on my T shirt and a bit on her teddy.
Apart from being a bit tired this morning, there was no damage done. Ruby was her relaxed, confident self and so at 9.45am we set off for a trip to the vet. The little darling sat on my daughter's knee without any fuss at all. In the vet's surgery, she sat quietly. No fuss, no whining or barking and no struggling. There was a cat and a large spaniel type dog in the waiting room and Ruby did not cause any fuss whatsoever.
After being called in, Ruby stood on the vet's table and tolerated being poked and prodded for a while. Then, when I started on my list of questions, she duly laid down on the table and fell asleep. She only woke when the vet gave her an injection. Even then she merely opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times.
Her eyes are a little red but the vet was not concerned. Both eyes were the same and it is likely just her getting over 8 weeks in a barn full of other dogs, sawdust and straw. She seems good and healthy and so she goes back in 2 weeks for her booster injection. 2 weeks after that, she can go for walks amongst other animals. The vet was a really nice Irish guy who sounded EXACTLY like Father Dougal (Ardal O'Hanlon) from the Father Ted series. If you're reading this thinking "why the heck did you mention that?" I only point it out to remind me in years to come. It's the little things that you tend to forget :)
After getting home we decided to give Ruby a quick bath. I realise that bathing a dog is not something to be done too often or too early in their lives. However, after 8 weeks in a barn full of other dogs, she really did pong. We used a little plastic bucket/bath on the floor of our wet room. Ruby wasn't entirely impressed by the whole thing as this picture will testify...
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| soggy doggy |
However, she took it in her usual calm manner. She did struggle a little, but never made any really concerted effort to get away. Apart from a couple of whimpers, she was brilliant. I didn't go overboard with the bath; just a bit of baby shampoo on her back, sides and tail. By that time she had had enough so we rinsed her off and put her in some fluffy towels. In the process of towelling her dry on my knee, she fell asleep and I took the opportunity to give her a good brush. She loved it and by the time she wanted out, she was clean, fluffy and silky smooth.
Later in the day, I decided to go down the treat method of training and did a few 'sit' lessons with her. She did really well and a bit later when I gave her the sit command, she did it straight away. Boy, she does learn quickly.
Another example of her quick mind was when I began rolling a tennis ball for her to fetch. I would say "fetch" as I rolled it. She would pick up the ball and bring it back to me. Getting her to "leave" it was a bit more tricky. After a couple of attempts (with Ruby displaying some reluctance), I rolled the ball a third time. Again I said "fetch". However, this time she got the ball and only walked half way back towards me before turning her back and laying down to play with the ball. She certainly isn't daft.
Finally for today, I introduced her to one of her new 'Nylabone' chews. This one is an edible bone and out of all her chews to date, she likes this by far the best.
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| om-nom-nom |
I allowed her some quality time with the chew and then took it away. I think I will save this one as a 'special treat'.
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