[Dailydrool] Dog park, Jersey

[Jane Hay]

Three of the four Houndettes love the dog park but Ginger is just like
Snoopy. She hoots and hollers and snarks at any strange dog that comes near
her. We thought it was just a matter of socializing her but her behavior
just got worse over time instead of better so I finally emailed Dawn, the
trainer that we worked with in the past. She strongly urged us to not take
Ginger into situations like that. Her feeling was, given Ginger's other
aggression issues, she probably feels insecure and scared in that kind of
situation and would be better off just staying home. I have to say, since
we've decided not to foster any longer and have kept Ginger out of those
stressful situations, her behavior has improved tremendously. She seems to
need a routine that is essentially the same all the time without the ups
and downs that go along with bringing in different dogs all the time or
subjecting her to different situations. It breaks my heart to not foster
when I know there are so many hounds who need to be rescued but we know
that Ginger is with our family for a reason so she has to come first. Maybe
if she had come to us at an earlier age things would be different. We'll
never know. Dale, you might want to talk to a behaviorist and just see what
their take is on Snoopy's behavior. He has "baggage" like so many rescues
do and maybe he'd be better off just doing the walks that you do with him
and skipping the dog park altogether.

Our old Jersey girl has a horrible ear infection. It always seems like it's
her left ear that has a problem and it is that one again this time but now
it's a real bad bacteria that she has to be on antibiotics and drops for
six weeks to make sure we get rid of it. I knew she had something going on
at the end of the week last week because her ear smelled bad but really
thought it was the beginnings of a yeast infection. She wasn't scratching
at her ear at all so I just waited till the appointment for her annual
checkup on Monday. Even the vet didn't think it was anything remarkable
till he looked at the slide and saw rod type bacteria. Please sling a
little drool in Jersey's direction if you have any to spare.

The vets office has a new computer system that requires a birth date for
our pets so they wanted Jersey's. Well, she's a rescue so who knows! We
finally decided on Valentines Day and made her ten years old (even though
she might be 11 or 12). She came to us in February six years ago and was at
least four or five then. Plus she has her paws firmly wrapped around my
heart so Valentine's Day seemed pretty appropriate.

The Houndettes are sending heart healing and get well drool to all in need.

Jane & the Houndettes
Jersey, Shadow, Suzy and Ginger
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