Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Back To The Dogs

I am trying not to make every post a dog post but they are running my life right now. I left both dogs at home today. Reagan went to work with me yesterday. Jojo hates her crate and I had to push her in. No matter how many treats I put in there she will ignore them until I come home and let her out. Then she sneaks back in to the crate, drags everything out and happily chews her treats. Today she did a lot of damage to the plastic crate slats and managed to bend the bar that holds the door shut. That, along with the info that I gathered about kennel cough, and my exhaustion trying to keep both puppies happy but still separate, made me decide to just go ahead and put them together. I read that a dog can be contagious for up to 3 months! There is no way I can keep this up for that long. I called a vet and asked about the kennel cough vaccine. She said that Jojo was already exposed at the pound so she could already have it since it takes up to 10 days for symptoms to show. The vaccine takes 2 weeks to have an effect and I would have to keep the dogs separate. If she gets kennel cough, I can give her antibiotics and it should be over in 10-20 days.


So, the dogs are together now. Jojo is definitely the alpha dog. Reagan, in the photo, is still weak and skinny. She has long legs for a puppy. I'm glad they are together so I can spend more time with both of them. They are both happily chewing treats on my RV floor.

Tomorrow I will put them both in the bathroom in the mobile home where Reagan was living. There is less for Jojo to destroy in there. Hopefully they won't have any potty accidents. Reagan was in there all day today with no problem. We'll see what Jojo does. At least it has a tile floor for easy clean up.

I worked on the kennel a little bit when I got home. I changed the design a little and hooked up the door.


The door isn't on the side that I wanted but I don't have a choice. It has to be on an end. I have no idea how I am going to string the chain link.


But if Jojo behaves herself in the bathroom tomorrow then that will buy me a little time. Then the cat will have her RV back during the day and the dogs will only come in at night to sleep. I certainly don't want to rush the kennel set-up. It has to be puppy and neighbor dog proof.

I saw the neighbor dog again yesterday. Remember him digging in my big pot? He is twice as big, maybe 3 times. Definitely pit/great dane mix. He seems more mellow now. Reagan barked at him but he didn't mind. He also jumped in my truck which was a little unnerving to me. I hope the neighbor dog doesn't dig under the kennel while I'm at work and set my puppies free. That would be bad for sure.

4 comments:

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

They should be a lot happier together. I hope that works out and you get the kennel set up without too much more trouble. It's already Wednesday, so the weekend will be here before you know it.

Daizy said...

I'm not sure they are happier. Jojo is a bully and beats up Reagan. I'm starting to worry about leaving them together all day. I'm ready for Jojo to be adopted now!

Got Dog Kennels said...

My papillon never eats while we are gone either. He just waits until we come home regardless of how long we are gone.

Daizy said...

Got Dog Kennels, that is the strangest thing. No wonder some dogs starve themselves when they go to the pound. They are waiting for their humans to come back. That's so sad.