[Dailydrool] Introductions

[Jane Hay]

Bringing a new dog into our pack is my least favorite thing to do. We have
Ginger who thinks any new dog is edible so she puts a whole new twist on
things. We generally keep everyone apart for a few days. The Houndettes and
the visitor are allowed to sniff each other through the fenced yard and
through the gates in the house (yes, I have gates everywhere inside) but I
don't let them all together for a bit. The crowd here gets used to sniffing
the new hound's smell through the gates and in the back yard for a day or
so and then I let the Houndettes with the new one individually. Jersey,
Shadow and Suzy are usually terrific with any dog. I haven't figured out
yet what is the safest way to introduce Ginger though. We've tried letting
her loose for the meet and greet and having her on a leash so we can
control her a little more if she decides to eat the new dog and neither way
is perfect. She was actually the best when we brought Tybee in. I'm not
sure if it was his age, gender or because he was quite a bit smaller than
she is but Ginger was wonderful with him and just loved him the whole time
he was here. So, if anyone has some good ideas how to introduce a new dog
into a pack that has a very aggressive hound, please let me know. I'd love
to simplify the process!

We have actually used an over the counter flea and tick product for the
past couple of years with very good success. It's called BioSpot and is
supposed to be a more natural topical antiflea/tick preparation (I have no
connection to this company). I have an elderly cat who is actually allergic
to flea bites so we have to keep them away for Minnie's sake and it has
worked well so far (and we live in the south so you know fleas and ticks
are bad here). Our vet tried to talk me into a prescription med that took
care of fleas, intestinal parasites and heartworms at one point but it was
VERY expensive and I still would have had to buy the BioSpot for the ticks
because this stuff didn't cover those too. I've kept the Houndette on the
Iverheart Max for heartworm/intestinal parasite control for the past few
years and everyone has done well. It's about $50 for a six month supply
through our vet and everyone has an annual heartworm test that has been
negative so far. But I NEVER miss giving it to them. We have only had to go
through heartworm treatment with one of our foster dogs and that was enough
to convince us to never forget to give the hounds their meds once a
month. The treatment was a miserable process and very painful and I hope to
never have to put another dog through it again!

Get well and heart healing drool is being slung to all in need.

Jane & the Houndettes
Jersey, Shadow, Suzy & Ginger
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