Month: December 2023

So we are about 1 year and 4 months into the inclusion of The Dude into our family. There are a few things that I have observed that I can’t quite sort out. He has this persona that he presents to strangers and other dogs where he is just this absolute joy and “perfect dog” but with me, he puts up a little bit of a barrier. There is this thing where he just plops on the floor and presents his paws to the vet for nail trimmings but heaven forbid I try and handle his feet…even with snacks. If I try and get him up off his bed to go outside, he will retreat to a safe place and posture/growl like he’s going to protect himself. We have made due with tossing kibble or partial treats to get him up off the bed but I worry about an emergency situation where I need him to get up immediately. He will actually stretch his neck as far as possible to reach a treat before actually getting up or stare at the treat willing it to make it into his mouth through some doggie form of mind control.

I know that the area he was rescued from was especially traumatic…people will shoot strays with guns (his foster mom currently has a dog she rescued who was shot in the shoulder and will be going through amputation) or deliberately run down by a car, which is probably what happened with Dudley and caused him to lose his back leg. He was with the rescue for 2 years and was most likely used to going to adoption events and presenting his best self. Mind you, he is a dream dog…he met a 2 year old girl and her companion dog today and the little girl fell in love with him. He was sniffing her face and wagging his tail so hard…they walked around and just did their thing <3 He is just a joy to introduce to other people and dogs and is fantastic with our various cats…he just digs his heels in with me. I figure that I have MOM status and he feels comfortable enough to be his authentic self with me. I’m used to being a cat mom so all of this is old hat for me but I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this type of behavior. It’s almost like he knows that he needs to be the “best dog ever” to get adopted.

3 atmospheric river events in November and now we have the usual coastal winter “almost freezing but maybe it will rain but it might be sunny where you aren’t but it could also start pouring rain as soon as you leave to go on a walk” weather. Something I’ve noticed with Dudley as we enter a week off from work…his body is changing and I’m not sure if he is reaching a point where the changes are causing him pain. He’s been reluctant at times to get up and go out for walks. Some of it is probably due to physical changes but there are things that I am noticing that are probably due to his mental state of being on the streets, being rescued and in a shelter for 2 years and finally making his way to his final home.

We are still doing acupuncture treatments once a month and have started him on salmon oil and chinese herbs for arthritis as per our acupuncture vet. Dudley has a reputation for being very sensitive to his environment so I can’t tell if he is in physical pain or bored/irritated with the current living situation. I keep telling him that I can’t control the weather but he seems to think otherwise.

He also has some issues that I need to figure out how to work through from his time living on the streets. I know that people in the area he roamed were not kind to strays. The people who feed the strays in the area he was from saw dogs being abused on a daily basis. The residents would shoot at them, beat them and deliberately try to run them down. Our biggest hurdle is trying to get him up off his bed when he doesn’t want to move. He instantly moves into protective mode and will posture like he’s going to snap at me. He doesn’t follow through but he goes into that mindset that he needs to. I instantly give him space when he reacts but I don’t try and comfort him because I don’t want him to think that he can react like that every time I ask him to do something he doesn’t want to.

He’s dealing with the addition of the cat to his living space. She will get a wild hair and run back and forth from one end of the trailer to the other but she doesn’t try to get on his bed. He growls but it’s gotten quieter as he realizes that she is just doing her cat thing. She basically is glued to her little heating pad on the couch and wants nothing to do with him 🙂 I donated his bagel bed to a friend with multiple dogs as it seemed to not be working with his missing back leg. He’s back to sleeping on the futon square with pillows and my nephew’s sleeping bag, which he absolutely loves.

We shall see if this melancholy state is physical or mental after the holiday season. I figure as soon as I have money, we will get x-rays of his spine and see what is going on. He is prone to having these mopey sessions but I want to make sure that if he is in pain, we can treat it sooner than later. Personally, I think that he is too complacent about his bed and if I can get him up for more short walks, it will help. He definitely is a couch potato and it might be a little too much potato for his body!

Update on Mr Melancholy: Apparently when he is ignoring me, I’m not supposed to ignore him. I gave him a good brushing and played “where’s Dudley” with his blanket. He jumped around on his bed and thrashed his head about, snorting and being ridiculous. The classic situation when you ask someone “what’s wrong?” and they say “nothing…” I think he might be jealous of the cat…

Happy Holidays to you all!!! I would post pictures but my files are too large and I need to figure out how to make them smaller