Petey's Very Bad Week

It started a week ago yesterday. My sister came to town with her two children ages 11 and 8. As has already been established Petey does not like very many humans. Most he only tolerates. My sister is one human that he took an instant liking to, jumping in her lap the first time they met. The children on the other hand are an entirely different matter. They have good dogs that like humans in their house at home, so it is difficult for them to understand that Petey is not like that. They want to be friends, Petey does not. Our theory is that little people just move too fast for Petey. They like to skip and run and jump and often even they aren't sure which way they are going, much less a grumpy old dog. So...

I took him to Mama's thinking maybe the neutral territory would help, it didn't. Of course, I like my sister and her family and wanted to maximize my time with them so I left Petey at home from then on. That way I got in some good visiting time and no one got subjected to Petey's growls and snarls. Unfortunately for Petey, that meant I was not home. That breaks Petey rule number one. He just couldn't win.

Things got worse when my niece and I decided to make supper for our whole family. We had a fabulous time, making pizza with homemade crust and yellow cake with chocolate frosting all from scratch. Petey didn't have as good of a time as we did. He ignored her unless she was giving him treats.

Things digressed even more when the family started showing up!! There were 12 of us dining on the pizza & cake. Poor Petey had to hide under the table most of the time.

My sister and children went back home yesterday, so things were surely looking up for Pete - no so!! When I got home from work last night, I saw evidence that he'd had a bath. John confirmed that Petey had yet another bath, because John saw a flea.

Once he was dry from the bath, Petey was subjected to the further humiliation of a flea treatment. He doesn't quite know the depth of the humiliation because we did not tell him that the flea treatment was for a C-A-T. One of Petey's public suggested cat treatments thinking they were milder. He didn't react as strongly to it, so maybe we've found something workable.

Now John, his number one, is gone on a day trip. Could things get any worse for Petey? Probably.

The Flea Situation Update

One of Petey's faithful fans suggested that we try flea treatments for cats because they could be milder than the dog treatments. I thought it was a fine suggestion and mentioned it to John in front of Petey. I wish I had a video of the moment. It was as if Petey understood exactly what we were saying. He laid his ears all back and looked sad & pitiful, as if to say "Please don't put cat stuff on me." While we aren't sure that Petey knows he is a dog, he does know he is not a cat.

So far, Petey has been spared the cat treatment. There are two reasons for this. First neither one of us has been to the store to get one. And second, we haven't seen any more fleas. He was still gnawing at his backside so we decided it was residual itchiness left over from the bites, sort of like a mosquito bite. AHA!! Why not put some Benadryl lotion on his bites like we do ours. What a fine idea!!!

So I did. I rubbed Petey down good with it, and he really didn't resist very much because I think the rubbing felt good on the itchies. Suddenly, it occurred to me that it wouldn't be a very good idea to ingest that stuff. I knew Petey would immediately try to lick it off, and the bottle said contact poison control if ingested. I had killed Petey!!!

For the next hour, I diligently watched him and would not let him do anything close to licking the area where I'd slathered on the death potion. I slept fitfully that night, not knowing if I'd find Petey alive. I was so thankful to hear the little tinkle of his dog tags as he came in to greet me the next morning.

That afternoon, after returning from work, John & I both noticed that Petey was much calmer and not gnawing at himself at all. So...it didn't kill him the night before, why not try again. This time I was a little more sparing with the lotion and he didn't balk at all. I think it must be soothing to him almost immediately. Generally, Petey does not like to be bothered - about anything!! I put a little more on tonight, and he's left himself alone. We may be on to something here - as long as the fleas stay away.

Another Bath for Petey

We have thought for a day or two that Petey had picked up a flea. Any other pet owner in the world with such suspicions would just put a flea treatment on the dog and go about their business. Not us. Petey hates flea treatments, we have tried one brand after another to find one he can tolerate. So far we have been unsuccessful. Our solution is to only put a flea treatment on when an actual flea has been spotted.

I knew when Petey came tearing in to the bedroom this morning and got in his box something bad was about to go down. My knowledge was confirmed when John walked in with a flea treatment in his hand. We have no idea how Petey knew that was about to happen, but I've blogged about those sorts of mysteries before. John dragged Petey out of his box, I held him and John applied the treatment. All is well, right? Wrong!

Petey continued to gnaw at his backside and had made the skin raw back there. So it was time for a medicated bath. We have some very nice shampoo given to us by Petey's aunt, that is just the ticket for irritated skin for just about every dog in the nation, but Petey. We use it anyway. Since his previous bath was interrupted, I took advantage of this photo op. These pictures are inside...
In the shot on the left you can see how red his back parts are. Thus the bath.In the shot on the right you can see the indignity and humiliation he is suffering!!In the one above, he seems to be pleading with John to get him out! In the lower one, it is hard to tell he is in the tub, be he has stopped looking at us, hoping, I suppose, that we will go away!

I am sure that this is just the beginning rather than the end of the flea saga!!

Happy 4th!!

Petey wants to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day!! Here are a couple of flag pictures to help you celebrate. Petey didn't feel like posing this morning.

Bath Time for Petey

We are still having great weather here, so John decided to give Petey a bath outside in the big washtub. Petey has a real love/hate thing with baths. We think he really likes it but gets cold from being wet and that is very upsetting to him. John thought it would be fun to share a few pictures with Petey's faithful public so I grabbed the camera. This is what I got.

We didn't get too far with the picture taking, when two sales women came walking up our driveway. Petey barked for all he was worth to get rid of them. Here he was in the nekkid nude not only getting a bath but also having it documented for his public, then two strange women come up the driveway. By the time we were able to convince them that we did not want any of their cleaning products the moment was over. I could not get any more shots. He'll have another bath and maybe we can get some better pictures then.

Petey's very favorite part of the bath is when it is over. He races through the house like he's had a shot of adrenaline. He'll tear up and down the hall as fast as he can. I couldn't get any pictures of that, the shutter speed on my camera isn't fast enough!! I did get a couple of pictures of him catching his breath...
I like the one on the right, it looks like he's sticking his tongue out at me. I'm sure I deserved it!

Petey's Way or No Way

We have had gorgeous weather in Nashville the past few days. It is hard to stay inside when the sun is shining and the temperature is so moderate. It is unusual for it to be so nice this time of year. John and I decided that we would sit on the front porch for a while and just enjoy being outside. Petey, of course, had to be with us.

It is part of the Petey code - stay with your peeps regardless of how horrible it may be. This was one of those horrible times. We aren't sure why but Petey pouted or growled at the other people outside the whole time we were outside. Any time either of us made a move at all that could be interpreted in the slightest way that we might be headed indoors Petey made a beeline for the door, like we would accidentally leave him outside.

After John and I decided on our own to come back inside, Petey came in and ran directly to the back door to go out. I asked Petey why he hadn't peed when we were just outside. Clearly, I had to let him out. He trotted out and did his business, came back in and demanded a treat.

Go figure...

Growling & Traveling

So, to finish the last post...

In the evening times lately, when I go to do my bedtime routine, Petey sneaks in, gets on the bed and under the covers. I almost never see or hear him when this happens. I am not often surprised to find him the the bed because the covers are all mussed and I expect to see him.

Having established in the previous post that I am the softie, I just gently push him over because he is always in my spot. He'll get up after a bit, and I'm on all sorts of allergy medication and I take 5 shots twice a week now. I should get something out of it!! The other night I go to do my usual push and I got a growl!!! I was shocked and amused. I think it bothered Petey that I was not afraid. He got up. I was punished for my bad behavior by the absence of his presence. :)

As far as the travels go, Nanny took a little trip to see my sister in Raleigh so John & I picked up her mail and checked on the house while she was gone. Petey, as you know, loves to get in the car, but often realizes that he's made a huge mistake just a few blocks away and is nervous for the rest of the trip. We take him anyway, because sometimes that is easier than leaving him behind. So, during the time she was gone we'd ask if he wanted to go to Nanny's house. He would respond eagerly and run to the back door before we could change our minds and leave him. On the next to last trip, Petey laid in my lap for several blocks. Then he sat up in my lap and watched through the windshield as we went along. He was calm and sane, much unlike his usual car self. I pointed this out to John but neither of us had an explanation. He did this both there and back. On the last trip there and back. He laid in my lap the entire trip!! That is huge. Petey does not cede control that easily. I guess he'd learned the pattern and knew what was happening so he trusted John to get us there and back safely without having to monitor his progress continually. This is a huge breakthrough for one of them - John or Petey - I'm not sure who...