12 November 2017

Kisses and huggies

She comes up next to us on the bed, makes a few pirouettes to make sure the spot is perfect and rolls into a ball. The usual napping position. And she heaves a sigh that says "I am comfy and happy now."

She is disturbed before she can nod off to the land of dreams by a couple of soft touches on her back.

But the back is not the best spot for petting. She unfurls and rolls on her back, waiting for the much more pleasant belly and chest rubs. The hand complies and gently strokes the light fur a few times. But the owner of the hand eventually gets distracted and the rubs stop. The arm is lifting.

The spoiled little dog does not allow this slip in the petting programme, so she wraps both her paws around the wrist, hugging it to her chest. Her eyes sparkle "You're mine now. Don't think you can get away with just a couple of rubs. Keep them coming!"

There is no escaping now

23 October 2017

Scarface

Arr! The pooch has gone out to sea, trying her luck at becoming a pirate. She even fought in a vicious sea battle that gave her a new nickname for a while, Scarface.

How did that happen? Did she come out of it victorious? Was there any treasure?

It all started with a short trip to the seaside with some friends, where we also took little Aschiuta. Now this was last year and you will be happy to know that the pooch has no need for an eye-patch.

You must know that our pooch is not the kind of dog that can be off-leash, least of all on a crowded beach. She runs off to meet people with food, throw sand on towels and pick a fight with other dogs if there are any. So, we always keep the leash on her.

One time though, she was napping on the sand so nicely, that I assumed she would stay like that while I read a bit, so I let go of the leash. Poof! Poochie performed a disappearing act.

Very comfy pooch. Too comfy...

She ran off a few towels farther after a dog she saw behind us, which she began to quarrel with. You must also know that, although she seems vicious, she really doesn't hurt any of the dogs she fights with. But she also doesn't know that they can hurt her.

We ran after her and Scorpio managed to catch her and break the fight. The other dog was fine, but Aschiuta had a nasty scratch on her left upper eyelid that was bleeding slightly.

We of course picked up our things and, since we were in a small village with lots of fast food places but no vet (none that would be open on a weekend anyway), I made her some chamomile tea to at least try to disinfect the eye and we drove off for home. Why chamomile tea? Because I used to have frequent eye infections and the chamomile tea helped. There was an improvement in poochie's scratches too.

We quickly went to a vet and, after consulting her, said that only the inner lid was a bit grazed, but the eye was fine. She must have had the reflex of closing her eyes, phew. The doctor disinfected the wound, prescribed her some eye drops and sent us home.

This photo was taken a day or so after getting back home. She was squinting because of the camera flash.

For a few days, the left eye produced more tears and we were often wiping her eye, but slowly, it got better and now you can only see a very faint scar if you look very closely. Most of the hair and eyelash in that spot also grew back. We are very happy that she has recovered so well.

This was taken close to her birthday this year. You can barely see any scar.

I must say though, it was all my fault for letting go of the leash that day. I was careless and things could have been worse. I'm sorry, poochie!