Pippin's Progress

We ended up going in to the RSPCA to help with some rehab work on an Apricot Standard Poodle they have in. He's a lovely dog but scared of most everything right now. He's not as bad as Pip was but we sat with him and his little friend (a silver toy poodle) and took him out of the cage for a while.

Today we went in again and took Pip with us. Wasn't worth taking Dougall because he's too dominant.
Pip seemed to have fun. They got on alright. Pip wouldn't play as much as Trevor wanted to but didn't seem to mind when Trevor was climbing in our laps.

I have some pictures of Trevor (standard poodle) and Cupcake (toy poodle *rolls eyes*) to post

♥ Em

Pip seems really happy of late. We've not really been getting them out at all but he's coping well. He plays with stuff and chases flys and goes for runs around the backyard. He spends a lot of time watching interestedly out the front or back door. Dougall spends most of his day sleeping. We're going to have to do something with him. He'll get fat so quick. He sleeps a lot and put weight on quick. We try and get him to wake and do stuff but he's not up long before he's back asleep. Then he wakes me up when I sleep.
But yeah Pip keeps coming up and saying hello and wanting a pat and making eye contact. He's doing really well with the interaction thing. It's been just over a year now since he came into the RSPCA. April 1st we'll have had him a year. We should have a party. Doesn't seem like that long and yet it seems like forever.

♥ Em

Vets went fine this morning.
We didn't get enough sleep but managed to get out and there mostly on time.
Mum picked us up and added Pip to her account there and then took off to find out how certain dogs were going. *g* She worked yesterday and today was her first day of a three week holiday.

Pip wasn't happy in the room with the vet he was a bit shakey and his tail was right between his legs but he did well. Didn't even flinch with the needle. Was happy to get out of there though.
He's 21.8kg. Not bad. We think he's settled into his proper weight now. We were originally aiming for 25kgish but he's got muscle tone now and you can't see all his ribs sticking out any more so he's a good weight. He was 17kg when he came in and had to be taught how to eat a tiny bit at a time. He was 19.5 when we got him. He's so much healthier now though.
I think he'll always have problems on and off with his ears, they're so hairy and they are long so he'll always be prone to yeast infections and stuff. He's been going okay with that too though.
And I think when he's older he'll have trouble with his back hips at least. He didn't get what he needed as he was growing so his joints are a bit dodgy.

Dougall how ever is getting fat *g* We noticed when we shaved him that he was bigger than we thought and have cut his dinner down by about half.
I've never had a little dog but when we got him he was about 5kg and that's what Mister weighs. So I figured I'd feed him the same amount as the cats, who despite being middle aged and lazy, aren't over weight.

Dougall has been funny with food since we got him and he wouldn't eat out of a bowl for the first few weeks. So when he was taking forever to eat his dinner and not always eating it I just thought he was being funny again.
But yeah, now I've cut it back he's eating it pretty close to the time I put it down for him and he's finishing it off so it must be a better amount for him.
He's 6.1kg now. Whoops.
Mind you the past few weeks he's really slowed down and he's just been laying about and sleeping. I'm keeping an eye on him but I think it's just the heat.

Hopefully it will start to get back to less insane temperatures again now and we can get them out for plenty of walks. Shouldn't be too hard to get him back to about 5kg.

On the way home from the vets we stopped at a cafe in Lovedale.
Mum had driven past it before and wanted to stop. It was a nice little place. They have Llamas and tiny horses and you could have dogs at the outside tables.
We had a nice coffee and chat to the woman who owns the place and then headed to mums.

We got to see the baby rats which aren't really babies any more. About a week away from being taken from mum. They are still getting milk but also eating solid food and drinking water.
I didn't have my camera so I was using mums but OMG sooo slow! I really don't think I could deal with a cheap point and shoot digital any more. They're too frustrating.

♥ Em

So the other week we got Pippin shaved and today Ruth shaved Dougall. He wasn't coping with the heat. I didn't know what he would look like but he looks like an adorable puppy.
Well we've just ticked over to full speed again so it's picspam time. I don't have access to the before photos because of not having my TARDIS.

( puppies with their summer coats (caution the photos are very big) )

It's so cute. The boys have spent the day alternately playing like mad and crashing out. They've played more today than in the past month I think. Poor things were hot.
I've spent most of the day sewing up a pink knitted pterodactyl.

♥ Em

We just decided that 3 1/2 hours sleep wasn't enough and they weren't coming so fuck it, we'd go to bed.

Guess who just rang.

They're on their way back to Newcastle and would we be around at about 2pm.

I am now eating cheese on corn thins and tomato cup-a-soup.

*props eyes open with matchsticks*

♥ Em

I GOT MY CAMERA BACK IN MY GRABBY LITTLE HANDS!
And that means doggy pic spam.
I'll start photographing other things soon once I can get out of the house and all but for now you get pics of the boys and Ruth too.




( photos of love )

♥ Em

If I don't post these now I'll forget.

Rather large pics. Not dial up friendly at all

One cold winters morning when we only had one dog.

( photodump )

I have some photos from today and last night of the dogs on the oval that I need to edit and put up and I have some that I took before my camera broke that I didn't have time to edit because of wedding photos and commissions that I'll get around to eventually.

I also finally got access to the photos we've taken on the phone camera these past few months so I've put the best of them up at flickr.


You can go to the phone camera set at flickr to see pictures of the dogs including Pippin's floofy self after he got groomed, Dougall having a bath and a Blue Tongue Skink Ruth rescued from next door.


The boys are great friends now. Pippin has problems with anxiety due to his neglect background.
He's really bonded with Dougall and has improved a lot. Because of this we're probably going to end up buying Dougall.

One of Pip's problems is that when he's laying down and feeling vulnerable he will growl at any other dog that comes near him. He's getting a lot better with that. Sometimes he will still do that with Dougall and other times they'll lay quite happily together. Dougall takes it all in his stride and will just move away if Pip gets cranky.



Pippin on the way home from being groomed for the first time.
It was getting way too warm for Pip's winter coat. It had grown in so thick and lovely that it was almost a shame to cut it. He's much happier with the heat now though and we hardly have to brush him any more *g*

His coat mats really easily and it was so thick that it took a long time each day to keep it maintained. He's not too bad about being brushed. Much easier to get him to sit still than it ever was with Angel but he'll only take it for a while before you have to give him a break.

We took him to Dog Overboard in Adamstown and they did a pretty good job considering we had to leave him and his separation anxiety is so bad.. He usually pitches a fit as soon as he can't see us.
He also hates having anything done to his face. Clippers, scissors, anything. So his muzzle was a little uneven but it's grown in fine now.

We asked for the same length all over except the face and the feet short so we could keep him clean but we ended up with the boofy head and ears and a very floofy tail. *g*

Oh and that purple spot in his hair is a flower rosette hair tie they put in. It matched his collar *g* We kept laughing at it all night and most of the next day. I was expecting him to take it out right away but he didn't touch it. We took it out before we went to the Doggy Day Out.



Pippin and Dougall curled up together. So cute.

♥ Em

Ugh. Every time it's time to go to bed the dogs start playing.

We went and bought Pip a new lead and collar. His old lead was getting worn and looked a mess, so we wanted something newer and preferable softer. So, we got a purple KraMar Braided Lead, plus a collar to match, because they were on special. Didn't pay much over $20 for both! Bargain! The collar fit Pip beautifully, and the lead is really nice and soft.

Ruth