[Dailydrool] Nails, tails and fences

[Jane Hay]

Ginger (aka Pita!) has gotten worse about having her nails trimmed as time
goes on. We got three feet done last month and I took her to the vets for
the the fourth thinking that they'd have some special way of trimming them
that I could learn. Nope! They had as much trouble getting the one foot done
as we had doing the other three. So this time the DH took her for a run
before we tried to trim anything. Then we put her on the floor so she
wouldn't be able to get as much leverage as she can when we have her on the
couch. It was a struggle but just mouthing and fighting with us till we got
to the last foot. Then she got serious. She is always such a good girl with
people but would have bitten either of us in a heart beat so we felt that we
had to do that last foot then and not let her get away with that kind of bad
behavior. Got it done but have decided that we'll use the muzzle next time
and not even give her the chance to get nasty like that again. We always
used to use the muzzle with Jersey because she would really put up a fight
when we trimmed her nails and we knew she wouldn't hesitate to bite. It took
us three years to earn her trust but Jersey has finally gotten so she just
hums and lets us do what we need to do. No more muzzle for her. Suzy and
Shadow don't like it but they seem to know that we're going to do it and
tolerate it without any fighting at all.

Three of the Houndettes have white tips on their tails. Jersey is an open
tri and Suzy and Ginger are closed tri's. Shadow is mostly black with a
little white and brown on her face and chest. She is the odd ball and has no
white on her tail. She kind of looks like a large dachshund but she is
basset through and through.

Thank goodness CBHR didn't have a fence only rule when we adopted Jersey. We
told them we planned on putting a cable out back and would walk a couple of
times a day. We maintained the same system when Shadow came to us as a
foster. Then Suzy came and we decided that we wanted to continue to foster
so a fence was necessary for our sanity! We opted for a regular fence mainly
because Jersey is pretty hard headed and we were sure she'd charge through
the invisible fence if the motivation was there. Plus, it'd be difficult to
train a foster to the invisible fence when the hope is that the dog would go
onto his forever home fairly quickly. We also worried about another dog
coming into the yard uninvited so a physical fence seemed to be the best
option for us. We never leave the Houndettes outside when we're not at home.
All of the Houndettes are so friendly that they'd go with anyone, especially
if they were offered food! I recently saw a news report about how people are
stealing dogs and I guess I'm paranoid enough to think that my hounds are
sweet enough that anyone would like to take them home!!

The Houndettes are slinging get well drool to all in need. Wishing all of
you a happy and healthy New Year.

Jane & the Houndettes
Jersey, Shadow, Suzy & Ginger (aka Pita!)
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