Dog.
I am house sitting my aunt's dog right now.
Let me tell you a few things about this dog:
His name is Blue. Originally, this was because my dog is named Maizey and my aunt is cutesy like that. She later decided that this was very appropriate because this dog is constantly singing "the blues".
He is the neediest dog on the entire planet. If you are not in the room with him, he will howl until you are. He howls when I go to the bathroom. He howls when I go to bed at night. He howls when I am sitting on the couch EVEN THOUGH HE COULD EASILY COME TO THE COUCH.
He gets a treat for everything. He gets a treat for pooping. He gets a treat when he goes to bed. He gets a treat when he wakes up. He gets a treat every time he goes to the pantry door and scratches it because THAT IS WHERE THE TREATS ARE. AREN'T YOU CUTE ASKING FOR A TREAT HERE HAVE THE WHOLE JERKY BUCKET.
He doesn't like eating his dog food, so it needs to be mixed with cheese. Uh. Okay. If I got as many treats as this dog does on a daily basis, I would not eat my boring kibble either.
He's been having a tough time with the fireworks lately. And by tough time, I mean that as long as they are going off, he is barking at them.
He busted both his ACL's this year and needed a few surgeries. This has actually made him slightly calmer and less noisy. BUT NOT ENOUGH.
He is on some medications. He takes tremedol for the leg pain, a powder stuff for arthritis, and melatonin for sleeping. Yes. This dog is so high strung he needs sleeping supplements. Now, unlike what the vet gives my dog, these are not bacon flavored chewables. Although I suspect that if they were, he still would put up a fuss. The powder gets mixed with milk or ice cream (guess which he prefers). The other pills you either have to put in a piece of cheese or peanut butter. And he's still not very good about taking them. He'll lick the peanut butter a few times and walk away and not come back no matter how many times you call him. He will chew on the cheese for a moment and then spit it out and walk away. Putting everything in ice cream sometimes works, but runs the risk of leaving some of the pills behind. And, of course, he has a beard, so if you give him milk, not only will you have to chase him down the hall and corner him to make him finish it (I had to add whipped cream today because dammit he NEEDS the pain meds.), but it will soak his face, smell funny, and drip all over the floor. And he will obviously head straight for the carpet when this happens.
This morning he decided that 4AM was an appropriate time to start a howling spree. This is the only morning he has had a wake up call. Of course it is the first morning this week where I have to wake up early and go to work (just not 4AM early). Of course this was after a night where the fucking neighbors with their stupid fireworks were also up extra late and thus the dog was also up extra late barking at them.
I have been here for three days and I am already considering praying to a deity I don't believe in for deafness and a really bad case of doggy laryngitis.
How much I miss my nice, quiet labrador.
Let me tell you a few things about this dog:
His name is Blue. Originally, this was because my dog is named Maizey and my aunt is cutesy like that. She later decided that this was very appropriate because this dog is constantly singing "the blues".
He is the neediest dog on the entire planet. If you are not in the room with him, he will howl until you are. He howls when I go to the bathroom. He howls when I go to bed at night. He howls when I am sitting on the couch EVEN THOUGH HE COULD EASILY COME TO THE COUCH.
He gets a treat for everything. He gets a treat for pooping. He gets a treat when he goes to bed. He gets a treat when he wakes up. He gets a treat every time he goes to the pantry door and scratches it because THAT IS WHERE THE TREATS ARE. AREN'T YOU CUTE ASKING FOR A TREAT HERE HAVE THE WHOLE JERKY BUCKET.
He doesn't like eating his dog food, so it needs to be mixed with cheese. Uh. Okay. If I got as many treats as this dog does on a daily basis, I would not eat my boring kibble either.
He's been having a tough time with the fireworks lately. And by tough time, I mean that as long as they are going off, he is barking at them.
He busted both his ACL's this year and needed a few surgeries. This has actually made him slightly calmer and less noisy. BUT NOT ENOUGH.
He is on some medications. He takes tremedol for the leg pain, a powder stuff for arthritis, and melatonin for sleeping. Yes. This dog is so high strung he needs sleeping supplements. Now, unlike what the vet gives my dog, these are not bacon flavored chewables. Although I suspect that if they were, he still would put up a fuss. The powder gets mixed with milk or ice cream (guess which he prefers). The other pills you either have to put in a piece of cheese or peanut butter. And he's still not very good about taking them. He'll lick the peanut butter a few times and walk away and not come back no matter how many times you call him. He will chew on the cheese for a moment and then spit it out and walk away. Putting everything in ice cream sometimes works, but runs the risk of leaving some of the pills behind. And, of course, he has a beard, so if you give him milk, not only will you have to chase him down the hall and corner him to make him finish it (I had to add whipped cream today because dammit he NEEDS the pain meds.), but it will soak his face, smell funny, and drip all over the floor. And he will obviously head straight for the carpet when this happens.
This morning he decided that 4AM was an appropriate time to start a howling spree. This is the only morning he has had a wake up call. Of course it is the first morning this week where I have to wake up early and go to work (just not 4AM early). Of course this was after a night where the fucking neighbors with their stupid fireworks were also up extra late and thus the dog was also up extra late barking at them.
I have been here for three days and I am already considering praying to a deity I don't believe in for deafness and a really bad case of doggy laryngitis.
How much I miss my nice, quiet labrador.