Month: August 2023

Part of our cougar deterrent costume

So my little brother is an avid kayaker, like one of those crazy kayakers who scouts creeks by himself up old logging roads. He posted this on Facebook a few days ago and made me spit out my coffee with his adventures.

“Today was an interesting day.

I was riding my bike down a logging road to go kayaking and I came around the corner. There were a couple deer in the road. They were totally uninterested in me, staring down the hill. I thought “that’s odd.” I gave them a minute, then tootled the horn on my Tiny E-bike. They bolted into the woods.

I continued down the road and saw a few more deer in the clear cut to the right boogieing away from the road.

After I went around the corner, I thought “there’s someone behind me.” I stopped and turned around and there was a cougar about 40′ away in the bushes sitting down, staring at me. I calmly got off my bike and grabbed my pepper spray and tested it off to the side of where I was standing.

I’m guessing because of my age she didn’t have much interest in me. I did some aggressive bear posturing and huffing.
No Effect, same blank quizzical stare.

I threw some rocks, she stared at me even more quizzically.

Then I tootled my bike horn non stop, Beeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!
Success! If you’re obnoxious enough no one wants to be around you.

Later, I stirred up a yellow jacket nest, and maced the shit out of them (And Myself). That shit would be tasty on some tacos!
Not the yellow jackets though….”

It started me thinking about what I would do if I ran into a cougar (which could very likely happen) when Dudley and I do our evening slough walk back into the woods across from my house. I found a good sturdy branch that had fallen alongside the road and then a few giant skunk cabbage leaves where we turn around. I know that if we ran into a predator, I would most likely have to be the defender…especially since Dudley loves everyone and everything. So I fashioned my impromptu costume out of two giant skunk cabbage leaves and a big stick. I think we will be good if we run into a cougar, probably get the same reaction my brother did 😀

I have discovered now that the blackberries are getting ripe, I can pick blackberries while Dudley decided to take a break…so I will need to bring along a blackberry container as well. I can leave that by the blackberry bushes since they are closer to the house but my “walking stick” can’t be left along the slough as my neighbors will pick it up for firewood on their evening walk. A few years back, my husband was leaving sticks in the road back into the woods so he could see if cars were going back there. The sticks kept disappearing and he was convinced that Bigfoot was stealing them. Turns out it was the neighbors who were picking up our sticks and using them in their fireplace. My neighbor said “there was just this perfect little pile of sticks along the road”

Living out in the woods, it’s all about improvisation. My other neighbor was telling me about a yellowjacket trap he saw on youtube that he’s going to try out. chicken cutlets attached to a board and then flipped over a tub filled with water just below where the chicken cutlets are with a little dish soap added to the water. Apparently the guy that tested his homemade trap got 700 wasps as opposed to the 200 that the store bought traps caught.

. 

This was said to me this morning by a woman who we have joined up with in pack walks at our usual spot multiple times. I’m starting to get the feeling that it physically pains her to see Dudley out walking with other dogs. She knows the whole adoption story, that he was at the rescue for 2 years because no one wanted to adopt a 3 legged dog, that we do acupuncture once a month and yet she still is concerned about Dudley walking. It is just the oddest thing to be shamed for having my dog interact with other dogs when he has a “disability”.

I’m sure that many of the community have experienced the same type of interactions. Ironically the last time we all walked together, she commented on how happy Dudley is. I have decided that the next time she expresses her concern, I will just respond with “Why?” She’s a nice enough person but I joined up with her little dog clique because of a friend who walks with the group. Dudley will slow down when we are heading back to the parking lot and sometimes he takes a break but he’s fine. He isn’t in pain and the other dogs don’t pick on him.

I almost want to say to her, “I worry about your dog when he’s down running on the mud flats and not responding to your dog whistle. Or when you panic if another dog gets too close to your expensive lagatto romagnolo.” It’s one of those things that I just have to shake off, because Dudley loves walking with this particular group of dogs. We had just gotten past the bully breed stigma and now we have to deal with the tripawd stigma. It’s almost like I shouldn’t be bringing him out in public…which just made me chuckle to myself. Since I am as stubborn as my dog, I will just continue to parade him around until those who doubt he should be out walking change their minds…or don’t. Dudley isn’t a delicate flower who will wilt 🙂

Dudley has been a bit of a grump lately. He seems to have seasonal dry grass allergies and has a few spots that are slightly irritated on his stomach, chest and the areas of his front legs just above his paws. My acupuncture vet suggested a strong black tea wipedown after going outside. I also attempted a diluted ACV wipedown but he had such a strong reaction to it emotionally that I said “Hmmm…he associates the smell with a bad memory. ” He literally jumped off his bed as soon as he smelled me opening the bottle of vinegar and hid underneath my computer desk. He had a pretty serious case of skin issues when the rescue pulled him from the street, so he most likely associates vinegar with that memory.

My co-worker had suggested a product that she has been using for her dog with skin issues and I ordered a bottle. It’s a leave-in conditioner with aloe, mangosteen, etc and has really good reviews. We don’t do baths often but he does tolerate them although the sight of a 3 legged dog trying to shake off water and dry his butt sent my youngest nephew into a giggling fit. My sister doesn’t have a fenced yard so Dudley was on a leash and was flopping about everywhere. I also forgot how much odor comes from a wet dog and said to the nephews “oh no, your mom is going to say something about the smell as soon as she walks in the door” And of course, the first thing she said when she came home from work was “has Dudley been farting? Why does it smell wierd in here”…

This summer has been good to us. We’ve gotten a lot of dog pack walks in, spent time with the nephews and developed a closer bond. We are coming up on our year anniversary of our “gotcha” date and will probably have a little party over at my sister’s house for the Dude. This weekend, there is a wooden boat show in the town my sister lives in and they have a dog pageant, which is pirate themed. I found out about it at the last minute and probably won’t subject Dudley to a costume when it is going to be warm. He doesn’t deal with any sort of clothing or harness that goes around his body well…so we will figure something out for next summer! I do love a peg legged tripawd! He’d probably tolerate a pirate hat and an eye patch…for the win!!!!

Speaking of Dudley’s intolerance for things going around his chest and waist…I have a confession to make. The harness that was gifted to me by the foundation didn’t work for Dudley. I’m sure I could have forced him to wear it, but he is such a stubborn boy. I would have regifted it back to the community but there was this situation that just made me think that it was meant to be. We’ve been walking with a really nice young guy who has a GSD who is developing hip issues. His dog is named Koda, which is the same name of my GSD that I had before Dudley. My Kota passed away last summer and it just seemed like the right moment to pass the harness on. I told him to try it out and if it worked, he could keep it. We saw them a week later and his Koda was wearing the harness. He told me that his dog loves it and you could even see that Koda felt more confident wearing it. This young man gave me a set of booties that he had bought for his dog that didn’t fit proper in exchange. I totally would have moved the harness back into the community but it felt like it was the right exchange.

I’m going to purchase one of the light weight harnesses from Ruffwear for Dudley to see if it works and if it doesn’t, I will definitely see if anyone from the Tripawd community can use it. Part of the issue with Dudley is that if his leash gets caught underneath his front leg, he just stops. I think he has probably stepped on his leash before and had a fall. And of course, his brain says that anything underneath his body is restriction. Factor in the stubborn Dudley and his mind is made up. He must have been a cat in a past life!

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my 18 year old scrappy street cat last week. My wallet had decided that she was more important with our acupuncture sessions since she was older than Dudley. So she had a year of successful acupuncture sessions once a month for her arthritis and chronic respiratory issues. Now that she is gone, we are moving Dudley into her spot to provide treatment for his leg and shoulders. He does amazing with the acupuncture…I need to bring a pillow or a book for the 25 minute session because he completely freezes up once the needles are in. My acupuncture vet did probably 30 needles along his spine, back leg and shoulders and Dudley was completely still, after one complaining groan. He battles falling asleep the entire time. I don’t have to keep him company like I did my elderly GSD mix. He just stays on the floor and huffs at random.

Tonight, after his session, we went for an evening walk back into the woods across from my house. Dudley did a full loop of around 1 mile without having to stop and rest or tiring out. He usually will tucker out halfway through and slowly meander back, smelling everything and taking a break. It was so good to see him being able to poke around, run up to me as I walked ahead and also see that he felt good. He does have some restrictions that I have recently become aware of needing to reinforce, however. Dudley has an obsession with fern diving. He will burrow into the sword ferns in the woods and roll about underneath them. I thought it was so cute to see him going bonkers and snorting dirt, leaves, etc. He wasn’t rolling in anything stinky, just enjoying the glorious smell of the forest. And then we were walking back and I noticed that his muzzle was extremely irritated. He has a bunch of welts on his face from fern diving that thankfully didn’t turn into open sores. So that will not be an option for his version of forest bathing!

I had the last 2 weeks off from work and we went out to our spot along the river (the unofficial dog park) every single day. My neighbor would bring his 3 dogs out and meet us there as well as meeting up with at least 3 or 4 other dogs that were early morning walkers. I am amazed at how social Dudley is considering his background. He loves dogs, people, anything that will pay attention to him. His foster mom said that he must have belonged to someone at some point before he ended up on the streets in Houston. Dudley is a very conflicted dog…he loves meeting new people but with me, it took almost a year for the bond to really set. He’s not snuggly with me, but he watches me constantly. He’s happy to see me, but it’s more of a half hearted tail wag. We are getting there though!!!! I can turn around from my desk and see him staring at me…and he is doing amazing at riding in the car!!! He has graduated from sitting on the floorboards to riding in the back seat <3 We even went for a short car ride with my 7 year old nephew in his booster seat with Dudley sitting in the back seat next to him and it was fine!