[Dailydrool] Activity Cysts, mailmen, and potty breaks

[Katie Strobel]

Thanks for the info guys - Watson is doing better since we've started
the sedation but he's still sad that he's stuck in jail. His leg and
the cyst already look so much better than they did on Tuesday! He was
NOT ok with the compress and acted like we were trying to pull his leg
off whenever we tried to touch it...
He is pouting and refuses to even entertain himself with a kong full
of peanut butter. He used to love peanut butter and now rejects it.
Yesterday we tried cream cheese - which he liked the first time but
then refused this morning. So, we've reverted to stuffing the kong
with broken up milk bones - and for now, that entertains him long
enough for me to get out of the house in the morning.

I wanted to hit on a few of the threads -
First with the potty break thing - Watson and the other two dogs at
our house have a doggy door and full access to the whole house most of
the day. Usually, Watson can make it for 8 hours overnight. When he is
not on crate rest, we usually kick the dogs out for an hour at night
and shut the doggy door so they have to stay outside from like 9 to 10
every night, burn off some energy, and go potty. Usually, if we do
that he can last until about 7am - unless he simply decides that he
doesn't want to and wakes up at 5. His general rule of thumb is that
if it's light outside and he has to pee, he's gonna wake us up to let
him out. If it's dark, he seems to know better than to cry to go out -
unless it's an emergency. Anytime after 5 that he cries to go out, we
just let him out and go back to bed - he's fine with hanging out in
the backyard during the mornings, and we're happy to get a few more
hours of sleep. I have known him to be able to hold it for 10 hours
when we couldn't get home - and one day I almost killed my parents for
not letting him out for 12 whole hours! He was so good though - no
accidents :) He probably spent 20 minutes peeing all over the yard
that day ... poor guy.

On the mailman issue - our dogs hate just about anyone in uniform - my
mom is a judge and sometimes has to sign search warrants during the
weekends for cops who are investigating crimes, and the dogs
absolutely hate policemen (or police-women) - they also are not fond
of the UPS guy, the mailman when he has a certified letter, or anyone
who seems official. We usually have to yell through the door for those
people to hold on while we wrangle the dogs into their crates and then
go out to the porch to sign for whatever it is they're trying to give
us. I am always sure the police are going to think our dogs are rabid
the way they carry on....but we've never had any problems yet.

When we have people over or when the police do come around to get
warrants signed by my mom, Watson is usually the only dog allowed out
of his crate because he's so friendly. He just wants to sniff and say
hello - he's never met anyone who he didn't like. We'll exile the two
border collies in the yard, and let Watson sniff and greet whoever is
coming to the house. Cops are usually tenative to pet Watson but soon
realize that he is not a danger to their safety so they usually warm
up and sit rubbing his ears while my mom reads the warrant.....never a
dull moment around here.

Now that Watson is on crate rest, whenever anyone rings the doorbell,
he howls and cries like we're holding him captive. I even had a child
who was selling candy bars ask me if my dog was ok...so funny...

Drool and belly rubs to all who need it...
Katie and Watson (let me out!!!)