Teensy

Yeah, I guess, I still feel like it's not an emergency, but I'm not comfortable just letting it go without professional evaluation and treatment. She also came to me with all these scabs on her head, which her owner didn't seem particularly concerned about, but she's been scratching at them, and has one all bloody again. If it were my dog, I would be a bit more proactive about getting that healed up. Looks like she's been at this head scratching thing for a while. She has a spot on her head that is completely calloused over.

By the way, the state of the wound today is that when I look at it without touching the area, the hole is closed. If I pull on the fur around it, it opens up. So, closing but not healing over. No matter what I'll take her to have it looked at tomorrow. Enough playing amateur vet. Really, it's the least I can do, since my dog did the biting.

Sue, thanks for the disinfecting advice. Very much appreciated. Tina

Oh, that's a good idea to shave the fur. She may not tolerate the shaving, but maybe I could at least clip some of the fur out of the way.

Hmmm, ok. This is really not larger than the width of a pencil at the opening. There was really no blood around the wound, and probably not more than a drop or two on the fur, and we've all been in the same room, so I'm sure she wasn't licking it all away. I don't know. Maybe I'll have my neighbor surgeon look at it later, just to be sure. ETA sorry to hear about Diamond, by the way. She's a beautiful dog.

Ok, sounds like the common sense approach is just to clean and watch. That's what I'll do. She's not bothered by me handling her and cleaning it, so I also don't think it's hurting her. Thanks for the reassurances, folks. Tina

You know, she was really nonchalant about the whole thing, and seemed sort of rushed about it. The greyhound we're sitting, by comparison, arrived with his crate, his bed, sweater, heavy coat, light coat, two pairs of boots, a bin of food, and a bin of a thousand other things that he might want or need (toys, three different kinds of treats, first aid kit, interceptor dose, extra collar, toothbrush and paste, muzzle), instructions about behavioral stuff, and an emailed list of vet, e-vet, microchip and other assorted emergency contact information. This dog came with a leash, and a key to the owner's house where the food is. Not even so much as a poop bag. I can't imagine ever doing that in the first place. I guess if it were my dog, and it didn't look like an emergency, if it didn't look infected or gory (fat chance with a greyhound, though), I would not go to the emergency vet. I would wait until the regular vet opened, again, and have it looked at (for sure), so that's what I'm leaning toward. I've never had to deal with a bite wound, though. If someone said, "that would be an automatic e-vet trip in my house," I might change my mind.

So Irene bit the non-grey we're dog-sitting (perhaps a topic for a future discussion about space guarding), just to prove that no good deed goes unpunished. The dog is a chow/wheaten mix. It happened this morning, and I didn't even notice the wound until now. She wasn't complaining or acting out of sorts, and she didn't even yelp when they got into it. There was a very small amount of blood. It's not bleeding anymore, but I can see a puncture wound. I washed the area with water and grapefruit seed extract and put some neosporin on it, and then I called the vet. The vet is closed, of course, but I did speak with an assistant who told me that I should take her to the e-vet if possible, or keep it clean and have her seen on Saturday. Her owner is in Turkey on vacation, unreachable. I have zero experience with dog wounds, but this dog has a big scrape on her head that her owner is allowing to heal on its own, which makes me think that maybe wounds are not such a big deal on non-greys. On the other hand, this is a bite wound. What do ya'll think? Is this really an e-vet moment? Wait and see? Where would you as owners draw the line? Thanks in advance.

Irene also had a little cut after walking in the snow, but she did actually yelp (I'm told). She's never been one to suffer silently, though. AND I can't find the neosporin (what we call oinkment). I keep waiting for her to yack up the tube. I just cleaned it off with some diluted grapefruit seed extract. Tonight I started putting Tuff-Foot on her paw pads. Hoping that helps. I've read that it's pretty common for the feet to get a bit raw from the salt and ice. Seems to me there was a mail about it from on my rescue's list serv, too. They recommended booties. Some people use Musher's Secret. It's been covered here, surely. Maybe try a search?

Oh my lord, they just done come any more handsome. Those ears!

My vet recommended it, too (1mg), and there was recently a post in the raw chat yahoo group about dogs growing fur from taking melatonin (3mg). I haven't tried it yet. I'm giving kelp (1/4 tsp 2x/day), and it's seems to be working.

Yeah, the reason they don't allow uploads is simple. It would take up too much space on the server. Welcome from Baltimore!

Whoa, we have the same issue. This confirms my decision not to let her sleep with us. I don't like it at all, actually. It seems like it only sounds like a good idea in theory, and for a select few, it works out fine, and for the rest it just doesn't work out all that well. We're just crating her at the foot of the bed now.

Thanks. I started a thread there. Surely there will be more.

Thanks. We think she's the business.

Can a new momma brag for a minute? Is this a face or what?

She's not totally quiet 100% of the time. If one of us passes by her crate or makes eye contact or speaks to her, it gets her going, but it doesn't last long, and otherwise she's been quiet. I went to return the zipcar and Eric said she was quiet the whole time. She gave me a "down" for her dinner, too. I was dead impressed. She just sounded like a dog that would be fun to work with. When I read your description of her, well, if I had been a dog, my ears would have been standing up, you know?

She is a seductress, it's true. We met a terrier in Patterson Park, and it did that thing where they come up and sniff and then suddenly bolt away. Irene took for the bait for second and got a little excited, but I didn't have any trouble getting her attention back. It was very cool. She's a great dog to walk.

So, we've made it through the first night, and she delivered, as promised, small hourly operatic performances, but it actually wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated, and they got shorter as the night went on. We did actually visit the Canton Dog Park this morning, as it was deserted but for a man with three fairly old dogs, which Irene had absolutely no interest in. She also showed little interest in running, except when I started running, but she had a good sniff of the place. Here is a picture. The good news is, Eric is on a call right next to her cage and she hasn't made so much as a peep since we got home. I think she's sleeping, now (edit: unmuzzled for the photo only, lest you think I didn't take the warnings seriously)

We believe Irene should have a background in the sciences for a successful retirement... And with this, we enter the great elevated feeder debate...she'll be eating in her crate for the foreseeable future, but we have the option!

Glad I could spread the anxiety around. I should probably let you in on the fact that we're not even leaving for the foster home, one hour away, until 6:00. Depending on how late we get back, there may be no pictures of her tonight, but I'll probably post some more teasers before we leave. I'm waiting on a package from Drs. Foster and Smith.

hehehe...that charm was pre-approved for Irene. Earplugs are on my list of things I need to pick up today.

Thanks, everyone. Here are some more teasers... Her martingale, with the terrifying open stairs in the background. Her home, complete with squeaky frog.

Thanks. We are insanely excited.