Operation Nightmare

Continuing with our Nightmare story...

We were scheduled to go to the vet with her to get some tissue samples under anaesthesia.

We arrived there very early in the morning, when the doctor and the nurses were just having tea. The vet seemed very confident but we were apprehensive because of the sedative and also her infection...

The doctor and a nurse got ready and took the dog in one of the back rooms for the surgery and we were asked to wait in the waiting room. Of course we asked to join her as moral support, but we were politely asked not to.

My husband said he would go to a shop a few streets away to take out money from the ATM machine and also buy a few snacks. I waited patiently, tried to read, stare at the walls, make small talk with the older nurse, but I just couldn't concentrate. It was taking too long. The surgery and my husband's trip. Although my watch was telling me otherwise. I should know, I stared at it every other minute. Luckily, the older nurse was allowed to peek into the back room, so she checked and told us the dog was safely sedated and didn't show any problems.

My husband was finally back and we waited together, sampling some ridiculous "fruit water" he had found at the shop. The surgery really was taking too long.

After about two hours or so, the older nurse came in to tell us the doctor was stitching up the dog's forehead and she would be awake soon.

When the doctor came out, we bombarded him with questions. He had in fact cleaned out the infection completely, so it should heal without any more medication. He had also taken the tissue samples and would send them to a laboratory. He was very optimistic about the black dog.

We asked if we could go see her. He said yes, so we hurried to the room. She was lying on the floor, crying and trembling. She was trying to move, but her muscles were no help. Her pupils were dilated and I doubt she was able to see anything. My husband said her hearing sensitivity was most likely also heightened. We stayed with her, petting her, holding her and preventing her from hurting herself.

She gradually stopped whining and her pupils adjusted. She was eventually able to lift her head, then stand up.

Meanwhile, my husband went to the front to pay, when he realised he had forgotten to take out the money from the ATM. He had taken the card back but not the money.

The vet needed cash for the lab tests because he had to pay them in cash too, so we drove back to the shop (it was the closest ATM) and we took out more cash. He was also able to confirm with the shop manager that nobody had taken the money and the machine had retrieved the bills.

We hurried back to the vet and I waited in the car while my husband went to pay and fetch the dog. When he came back, he said the vet had undercharged us - we pair only the lab tests and the anaesthesic (probably less than the normal fee). He had insisted to pay more (we are not short on money anymore), but the vet would not have any of it. He had also taken to the gentle black dog.

My husband afterwards sent the vet a couple of small gifts to thank him for helping us with the dog. I also included a couple of tatted trinkets for the nurses.

The test results were in shortly and turned out fine, so the black dog should have no complications. We would still need to take care of her head and make her wear a protective collar, but she was going to be OK.

Our dear little Frankenstein's monster having breakfast in bed.

Nightmare's stay at the vet

I am back with another installment of the Nightmare tale...

If you remember, we had left the black dog at the vet's and left to Brasov.

We were supposed to only stay for 5 days, as promised. But we had a call with the clinic and they were asking us to try to pick her up faster.

It seems she didn't take well to having to stay in the cage and was making a lot of noise at night. She was crying very loudly and the vet and his family couldn't rest properly. The clinic is actually a part of their house.

We considered asking a friend to go get her, but it was not feasible. The big black dog had a problem with walking too far on foot. So we went home a little earlier and picked her up.

Other than the noise at night, she had felt right at home. She enjoyed sitting on the scale, got used to asking to go out and in and was very friendly with everyone.

We took her back home, along with more antibiotics... It seemed the infection on her forehead was not going to go away so fast. We had to bring in the heavy artillery...

A new hope

This is another episode in the tale about Nightmare.

You might remember that we were going to leave the town for about a week and nobody to leave the new black dog with. At the last minute, a young couple agreed to adopt her. We met with them at the vet and they asked to take her the next day, but promised that they would not back out. So we went back home, half hopeful, half worried.

The same evening, we got a message from them saying they wouldn't be able to take the dog in. They were worried about giving her the antibiotics and about their other dog and... Well, you know, excuses.

The next day we kept trying to find her a new family. Someone said they found a lost dog post on a private group and the dog resembled our girl. They told us to check if she answered to the name Sara. I tried but she didn't budge. I also tried a few other popular names for black dogs or dogs in general, but still no recognition. The person asking about the dog named Sara never got back to us when we asked for more info.

My husband and I tried to find a solution, but nothing was feasible on such short notice and for so many days. Eventually, we remembered that the vet was keeping some cats over for treatment and supervision. Maybe he would be willing to take the dog in too?

I called the clinic and pleaded with one of the nurses to take the black dog in for a few days. I was hoping that, since we were somewhat loyal customers (with Aschiuta), they wouldn't believe we would abandon her there. And also everyone at the clinic had taken a liking to the sweet black girl.

The vet was not in, so the nurse would call him and then call me back. Brrr, the waiting was driving me nuts. She called soon after and said that normally they only take in small dogs or cats and only for treatment, but they knew we were in a tight spot, so they would make an exception. We would of course pay for her stay and they would only keep her for 5 days. We were very happy.

We drove the dog there the next day and then left for Brasov, hoping that the black doggie would be a good girl.

A new family for Nightmare

Back to our Nightmare story...

As I mentioned before, we were only going to take care of the big black dog until we could find her a home. We also had a trip to Brasov coming up for a darts tournament and a mini holiday, so we had to get her adopted fast. Those who have rescued animals and tried to find them new homes and families will understand why "adopted fast" is a contradiction of terms... We were also still hoping that her former owners hadn't been the ones to give her the wound on her head and that they would be willing to take her back.

My husband took it upon himself to post an announcement on the lost and found pets Facebook group in our area. Our friends also helped to spread the word and we also checked all the lost black dog posts we could find on the internet. Our searches unfortunately didn't turn out any leads towards the former owners.

This is the photo on the Facebook announcement.

A few people answered the announcement and tried to give ideas or opinions or suggest other lost dog sites to check. We had almost lost hope and were wondering if we should leave the dog back on the street, but really hoping we wouldn't have to do that... My husband and I lost a lot of sleep worrying again.

But then something unexpected happened. Someone contacted my husband saying they were looking to adopt a second dog and would like to take the black dog in. We were both so happy that we wouldn't have to abandon the sweet doggie. We made arrangements with the future new owners to meet at the vet, where we would have the dog checked.

We took the dog by car (here are some car safety tips, if you are interested) and she acted like she had been in one a hundred times before. She was actually less nervous than Aschiuta in the car and wasn't even sick. It made us think she had been on such trips before.

The new owners would arrive a bit after us, so we went in with the dog to have the vet check her. She made friends with the nurses there and seemed to like sitting on the scale.

The vet first scanned her for a microchip, as it is required by law for them to contact the owner if she had had one installed. There was none though, which didn't mean much, because some people never take their pets to the vet and thus don't give them a microchip.

He then started palpating her to check for any hidden problems and also cleaned and felt the wound on her forehead. The new owners also came in, just in time to see him prodding and checking, with the doggie barely showing any reaction. She seemed very tame and never even had any intention of biting or struggling, not even whimpering.

The doctor recommended antibiotics for the infection and said that the dog looked ok otherwise. He also checked her teeth and mentioned they were very worn for her age. Apparently she was young (probably younger than Aschiuta) but had been chewing on something very tough.

The new owners, a young couple, were sitting shyly in a corner. The woman even seemed a bit scared and only touched the dog very lightly after the vet proved the dog would not harm her at all. They also commented that the dog was larger than they had thought and were skeptical about the vet's evaluation about the dog's age.

We also found out that they would be keeping the dog at their new house that was being built and wouldn't be able to go see her too much. When the vet said that someone would have to give the dog antibiotics every morning and evening (orally, of course), they were afraid that the workers at the house wouldn't want to do that.

There was also the problem of their other dog, who was apparently very energetic and they were afraid the two would fight if unsupervised.

All in all, our faith dwindled and we didn't believe they would want to take the dog in anymore. They insisted however that they wouldn't back out on their word, but asked us to meet again the next day so they can take the dog.

My husband insisted that we would pay for the check-up and the medicine the vet had given us and the couple left. The vet had been very open and encouraging about the dog, "advertising" her as much as he could to them, but afterwards admitted that he believed they would back out. We felt the same way, but decided to give those people a chance. They were pretty much our only hope. We were supposed to leave town in a couple of days...

Car safety for furry passengers

I mentioned car safety accessories in my last post. Traveling can be stressful enough as it is for pets, but we also need to think of their safety. I will talk here about accommodations for dogs to travel by car, since we haven't needed much extra protection when going by train and we have not been on a plane or boat yet with our poochies.

Welcome dear furry passengers! Please buckle your seat belts and keep all your paws and noses inside the vehicle at all times!

Seat belt for dogs? Yes, they exist and we have two of them and use them every time we take our dogs for a car ride. They are pretty simple to use. One side plugs into the car seat belt buckle, the other is a clasp to attach to the harness of the dog.

We always keep two of these handy in our car.*

It is important to use a harness instead of a collar, since in the case of an accident the impact could be quite forceful and harm the dog's neck. The harness distributes the force better. I also saw some vests that can work instead of the usual harness, those seem much more comfortable. Of course, they should only travel in the back seat.

I have also seen some sort of harness seat belts for dogs, similar to the ones used in toddlers' car seats. The dog is strapped in completely, almost standing on its hind legs, with its back against the back seat backrest. It looks very safe, however I doubt Nightmare (or even Aschiuta) would be very comfortable in one, sine they are a bit bigger than your average toddler...

Now, regarding keeping your noses in the vehicle... A lot of people seem to think it is fine to let their dogs take their heads out the window, but that is very dangerous. Better just to be safely strapped in the back seat. Here is an article that explains some of the dangers of doggies sticking their heads out the car window.

Protecting those leather seats from scratches, fur, drool etc...

I have mentioned before that Aschiuta has had problems with being car sick before and still is from time to time. We usually took care of this by having one person sit in the back seat with her, with plastic bag and wet wipes at the ready, watching her every drool.

This was until my husband found something interesting in the pet shop... a dog car hammock. It is a protective cover that is also water proof that covers the entire back seat area and straps to the headrests and upper handles. It also has velcro openings for accessing the seat belt slots. We don't have leather seats, but they are certainly cleaner this way!

The metal cage?

I honestly do not like these, although I have seen them used by one of our vets when transporting Aschiuta to the dog hotel. They are usually kept in the luggage area of small vans, where there is more room and the cages themselves are well anchored. The dog is quite safe inside, but not too comfortable and since it will be all alone, not very happy either.



Well, whichever method works best for you and your pooch, remember to stay safe!

* Sorry for not having actual photos of what we bought, but these are pictures from the store where we bought them from. My babble is not sponsored in any way.

Trials and tribulations with Nightmare

Continuing the Nightmare tale...

If you remember, I mentioned that the dog had a pretty bad infection on her forehead, which had oozed out and caked the fur around the wound.

My first order of business the next day after taking her in was to try to clean the wound as well as I could. The only disinfectant I had around was medicinal alcohol, but that one really stings. So I went with "grandma's recipe", camomile tea.

It took me about half an hour to clean the fur and then the wound and, even if the tea is very mild and wouldn't hurt her, my patting and rubbing surely caused her quite a bit of discomfort. Surprisingly though, she made no move to stop me or draw away, she just lay there with her eyes closed, in complete resignation.

Feeling down in the dumps, poor girl...

She was actually quite lethargic the first couple of days, sleeping a lot, eating only a little and generally unwilling to walk around much. She was also picky about the food and didn't want the kibble or treats Aschiuta had at the time. I eventually bought her a can of dog food and she seemed to like that. She also liked mozzarella. I later on bought a brand of kibble (Bosch) that we used to feed Aschiuta when we were on a budget at the vet's recommendation and which we have kept giving her from time to time. The big black dog seemed to like the kibble, so it is again a staple in the dogs' diet.

But I digress... After cleaning her wound, I continued to do it from time to time, since it was still suppurating. I decided I would have to finish work early and try to take her to the vet. This way we would get her wound checked and also verify if she had a microchip.

Our vet is not very close by and usually with Aschiuta it takes me about 30 minutes on foot. I gathered my usual supplies of bags and tissues, put the leash on the dog and we were on our merry way to the vet.

Unfortunately, we didn't get too far. We had just reached the public street (yes, there are private streets in my town...) in front of our building and made a few steps, when the dog decided she was not going to take another step. In neither direction. She planted herself on the ground, just like when climbing stairs, and would not budge. After a few good minutes of trying to coax her to go further, I had to spend almost as much time convincing her to go back. We were going home, no more scary long walks.

We would need to switch to plan B then... taking our car. Luckily, we have our own car, complete with safety accessories for doggies. But more about that next time...

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!

Happy belated holidays!

We want to wish you a happy belated new year and a lot of accomplishments!

We have been busy these past few days, coming to visit with my mother-in-law (wow, such a long name) and our godparents at the mountains. We were lucky to have had some snow for Christmas and it's still snowing now. Aschiuta couldn't be happier.

We got here by train, of course, with a doggie ticket for pooch and regular priced ones for us. It was nice and spacey for once and we had time to take some interesting photos.

"Woohoo, first class! I'm taking the window seat and the aisle seat!"

Poochie already bored on the train and lying down on the floor.

Christmas was fun, we shared some champagne (yes, from Champagne in France) with the family and stuffed ourselves with traditional dishes. Of course Aschiuta had her share, as always.

I had to go back and forth for the New Year week, since I was working every day. I left on the 31st in the evening to join everyone at the mountains, then went back home the next day. I have to say, work was tedious, but luckily, I have another week off and so I'm back here with everyone for some more relaxation.

Poochie has been quite nice, without making a lot of confetti, but she did swallow some pieces of gum. Good thing she got rid of it.

She has been extremely excited about being here and for the snow as well. When we go out with her, she sometimes makes very quick dashes from one side of the other, as far as the leash allows her. All I can do is hold on for dear life, there's no way I could possibly match her speed. She even broke her extensible leash doing this and my husband had to go buy another one. It seems better quality, but too bad it's not red, as that is poochie's wardrobe colour.

Aschiuta taking a break from running.

And speaking of wardrobe, I made some adjustments to her winter coat. I replaced the leg elastic, so it wouldn't wobble left and right on her back and added a little embellishment, made by me. I think it looks fetching on her, don't you?

A much better fit and a snowflake. See my other needle works here, if interested.

Aschiuta goes on holiday

I will start this post with some good news: my fiance and I got married! Yes, it was a wonderful day and we had our friends and family to celebrate with us.

And what do people normally do after getting married? They go on a honeymoon. Ours was a honeyweek, but nonetheless quite fun and relaxing. However, poochie didn't come with us to Bulgaria, she had a different holiday on her own.

We often take her to a dog hotel when we need to go away for a few days and can't take her with us and this is where she spent about a week and a half.

She played with the vet and the other dogs and I am proud to say she was the cleanest doggie there (our good potty training showed, heh). She has been getting cheeky and I was upset that she would fight with other dogs, but it seems that she was well mannered enough not to growl at them first.

Aschiuta has been going on a lot of holidays lately, it seems.

A few weeks ago, we decided to go to the mountains to actually go hiking on a trail in the woods. This time, poochie was right there with us.

We bought her a dog ticket for the train and off we were to the mountains. I'm sure the dear girl had no idea what was in store for her. She kept running off ahead as soon as we got off the train.

Hiking was good fun, since neither of us had done that in quite some time. We each had a backpack and I was holding Aschiuta's leash. She must have had more energy than us and a better traction on her four paws, since she didn't tire very quickly.

We got to a cabin and set up camp there, in our tent. We slept huddled together with poochie in the middle, to keep warm. It was nice that two huge rescue dogs were keeping guard outside. It seems they never stayed too close to the tents, but they must have felt protective towards Aschiuta.

Photo by Scorpio, one of my favourites. This was taken high up by the cabin.

When we came back, it rained a bit and we had a few falls in the mud, but luckily, nothing too serious. Needless to say, Aschiuta behaved quite well and even started learning a few commands for choosing the right track.

We hope everyone had or is having a nice holiday. Don't forget the sun screen!

Aschiuta's first boarding experience

We're back! And so is Aschiuta, of course. A couple of weeks ago I told you in the post Pooch away on holiday that we sent Aschiuta off to a boarding place for dogs. Thanks to everyone for your comments, we had fun, but so did pooch.
 

"What, home already? But I was having so much fun..."

Spoiled little doggie

You see, the place was nice and comfy and she had a huge space to run in. And she sure loves running. She also had a nice indoor space, the blankie and the food we brought for her. They even offered transportation and we were relieved that we didn't have to take her in a taxi again. She gets car sick and it's very troublesome taking her for a ride. We even prefer to walk most of the way.
 

The person who runs the place is actually a vet and was really nice to Asciuta. He walked her and played with her and I'm sure she was very spoiled. She didn't even miss us, just wanted to get more attention from her temporary caretaker.

And the happy owners (happy not to wonder what she chewed on)

Scorp called every day to check on her and we were happy she was having fun. Her first boarding experience was great and I only wish we could one day offer her even a small garden to play in.

I would recommend this place for other people who want to send their dogs boarding (although only available  in Bucharest, Romania), the site is Pensiune Canina Bucuresti - Aldo.

Pooch away on holiday

We sent Aschiuta off to a dog hotel today. It was just on the spur of the moment, since we didn't think we'd have the money to go to a big darts competition. However, a couple of good friends offered to help us out, so here we are, about to go away for a couple of days... without Aschiuta.

Aschiuta... home alone

We have never been away from home for an entire day since we got Aschiuta and even a few hours alone would make her sad, anxious and bored. And what does Aschiuta do when she's bored? She chews on things. Lately, her newest obsession has been the headboard, which is made of wood and her teeth almost wouldn't want to part with it. Unfortunately, she also chews on wires sometimes and after she got a small shock from the TV cable, we were hoping she'd learned her lesson about not biting thin long plastic things. Yesterday though, she chewed on other, more dangerous cables connecting Scorp's monster sound system. We don't want to take any chances.
 

Even with the great new toy, wood is still yummier for Aschiuta. Hence her name.

 
Doggiesitting mom

I originally asked mom to doggiesit, but she was going out of town for the weekend too. After finally agreeing to take care of the crazy pooch, we had second thoughts. Yes, we can't trust mom with taking care of Aschiuta. She lives with us, but stays far away from her and has never walked her. She even insists on giving the doggie away to my grandpa, which we vehemently refuse.

Five star hotel? Does it have a jacuzzi?

We searched around on the internet and found a few dog hotels that offered nice accommodations, with a small indoor space for each dog that had heating through the floor. Which is in my opinion perfect for a dog (I'll tell you more about this later). They offered to walk her 2 or 3 times a day and I'm pretty sure Aschiuta will be comfortable there. We sent her the blanket on the bed, food, treats, her toys, even "how to" instructions in her medical dossier. She also loves meeting new people and dogs, so if the caretaker will become friends with her, I hope she won't miss us... too much.

Maybe the blankie will make her feel more like home.

Missing silly pooch already

However, waiting to hop in the car and leave, we can't help missing her already. Nobody to greet us at the door. Nobody to jump and run around my legs and sniff everything in sight. We can leave the door open without the blonde hurricane darting out.

Hope she'll be ok there. Take care Aschiuta!

Danger in the grass

Remember my old posts, The doggie hits the road and Of booboos and stings? I said I would tell you more about Aschiuta's first trip to Brasov, especially our little medical problem.

Wrong way

Since Brasov is in a valley surrounded by mountains, we took Aschiuta and walked along the old city walls, at the foot of a smaller mountain, covered in grassy slopes and shady trees.

Tag! You're it!

We stopped at a bench and Scorp suggested we let Aschiuta run around without the leash, since she is very fast and loves to run in the grass. She took off like a bullet, prancing in zig-zag, like a rabbit. We ran with her and it was great exercise for everyone. Until we heard noise of broken glass. There was a pile of shards hidden in the grass. Aschiuta dashed away without care and went over the shards a second time before we were able to catch her.

Look mom, no pain!

Since Aschiuta didn't seem hurt, nor did she limp, we decided to go back. On the road we discovered that her hind paws were red and, after we looked closer, we realised she was bleeding from glass cuts. She hadn't even whimpered once. We took her in a taxi and rushed home.

At home, there were three of us washing Aschiuta's cuts, trying to stop the bleeding and worrying about the dumb pooch. We called the vet, but they said it's ok for a doggie's pad to bleed a lot, since there are a lot of blood vessels in there. One of her toe pads was split and bled for a few minutes. We bandaged her paw as well as we could and tried to get Aschiuta to calm down and go to sleep.

Aschiuta calm down? It's like telling a tornado to calm down. She kept trying to take the bandage off to lick her wounds and a couple of times the wound reopened and we had to bandage it all over again.

The next day, we went to the vet, who also bandaged the paw, but with such a sturdy adhesive plaster, that some parts of it were still stuck to her fur a couple of weeks after that.

Little Paw - Brave Pooch

Aschiuta eventually got all better, but she had to wear her little "sock" all the time and it was a bit uncomfortable for her. But she was a very brave little dog, although maybe if she had felt any pain at first, she would have stopped running. Although, would that have stopped her from enjoying a green sunny field of grass?

Did I step in something?

Walking, sniffing, tugging, jumping - all in one

I'll admit, I'm a lazy ass and don't take Aschiuta out as much as I should. But when I do, there's no stopping her.

 

Woo, what's that?

Living in a dirty neighbourhood and very close to the market doesn't make for very nice places to walk in. Plus, there are a lot of people and cars all around.

I'm not a very sociable person, but when you walk your dog, it's inevitable to meet other people and dogs. Here are a few approaches to meeting Aschiuta...

Other dogs

If the dogs are strays, things are quite simple. They are either protecting their territory (and we have to keep our cool and show them we're not afraid of them), or they want to know and play with Aschiuta. There is a lot of sniffing, a bit of shyness. Then we will see some dancing and jumping and there's no splitting the new playmates apart.

Some dogs walking with their owners can be a bit different though. Of course, there are the friendly dog&owner pair, when we usually exchange the "is your dog a boy or a girl?" "oh, she's so friendly!" small talk. Sometimes, the dogs are a bit grouchy and bark (I noticed Pekingese are like that... and there are a lot of Pekingese where I live), so we just go on our way. The weirdest meetings are when the owners don't want their dog meeting other dogs. The usual inexplicable paranoia (like all paranoia cases, actually).

Other people

Maybe they smell in a certain way. Maybe they also have dogs at home. Maybe they bought something yummy from the market. Maybe they're children. Whatever the reason, Aschiuta selects some people to desperately try to meet. This often implies tugging on the leash towards them or trying to jump on them happily. This behaviour is also triggered by "dog calls" (you know, whistling after a cute doggie passing by? or maybe at their cute owner) or kissie sounds or just waving hands in front of Aschiuta.

The dog-squeamish people will just hurry along the way or give a startled "oh!". But the people who want to attract Aschiuta's attention sometimes don't know what they're getting into... Aschiuta shows affection in a very jumpy, clingy way. And, like I mentioned before, our streets are often dirty and muddy. We always warn them that the dog will get them dirty, but sometimes...

One very funny incident happened when we were getting back from Brasov. Aschiuta was wearing her cute winter coat, but she was very muddy from the train floors and from walking most of the way from the train station. Right in front of our building, a nice young lady came and she was all "oh, such a cute doggie!" and kept patting her head. We told her "please be careful, her paws are muddy, she will get you dirty". Her only response was "aw, bad doggie, you sweetie! getting people dirty like that!" and just kept playing with her. She was wearing a cream-coloured jacket. The kind that doesn't wash easily. Only when she turned to leave, did she realise what had happened. One more inexplicable thing for you, my dear readers...

Have fun walking and remember... Doggies are cute, but they also leave a lot of pawprints...

Happy New Year!

It's already the 2nd of January and we're back home from a very lovely trip to Brasov. We really had fun, even if we still didn't manage to go skiing or anything fancy like that. It's just being in that city that makes us feel good. And the holidays, of course.

The train ride

We had packed everything the night before leaving and I was going to meet Scorp at the train station with Aschiuta. Everyone keeps asking "you're taking her with you?". Yes, we take her with us and she even has a special ticket too.

The taxi ride was just awful... Aschiuta was sick and the driver didn't pull over when I asked him to. You can imagine the rest.

The train ride was the usual standing in the hallway with Aschiuta on her leash. This time it was very cold and wet on the floor, so she kept trembling. Scorp's mom suspects she caught a cold on the train and that's why she wet the bed... twice.

A well-dressed doggie

But no more of that now, because she got Aschiuta a Christmas gift (see, I told you she was a good girl) - a great little coat with fur on the inside. No more trembling for her and she was really pretty in it.

New Year's Eve

My own mom came for New Year's Eve and we all stayed in the kitchen and had a nice dinner. I was impressed that my mother played with the doggie and let her stay next to her without complaining. Though I'm sure she still doesn't like the dog hairs.

At midnight, we went out and lit fireworks, with the pets inside. I'm sure they got pretty scared, because, although we had quiet fireworks, there were some neighbours who bought really loud bombs. Such recklessness...

The ride back home

We went by train again, except this time it was slightly faster than the ones we usually take. Aschiuta was frightened for some reason... She kept trembling and whimpering, even with all the attention she got from everyone. So, we stayed on the hallway again.

We walked most of the way from the train station, trying to teach Aschiuta to walk beside us. Long trips like these are good for walk training. She actually caught on and didn't pull on the leash as much, so I hope to teach her some more later on.

This was our little holiday in Brasov. And even if it's a bit late, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!

The doggie hits the road

How far away is your vet? Do you need to grab a bus to the closest park? Maybe you want to go on holiday and bring your pooch along.
 

She wants us to take her with us when we leave. Sometimes, we do.

 
There are many ways to travel with your dog, the most common being the walk. But if you have a long way to go, you might need to go by bus or car. And there is something that can prove a big problem if you don't know about it: dogs can get motion sickness, just like children.

Motion Sickness - Preventing and Symptoms

You're in a car or bus with your dog and it suddenly starts salivating and panting and looking pretty uneasy in general. Then you might see again that quick lunch you gave to your dog before going on the trip.

It is embarrassing if you're in public transportation and people start turning their noses at you and your sick puppy. It happened to me and I was caught by surprise. I had some tissues to clean everything up, but an old man still thought it was his duty to scold me about it. If you can, try to take your dog in your own car, rather than public transportation.

I used to get motion sickness all the time as a kid too. My parents' car was the "ride of doom and nausea" for me. I remember I used a lot of things to make it better, from menthol to rubbing my wrists. Fresh air is the best though. And no eating in the car. I eventually grew up and didn't get sick anymore.

So how can you help your dog feel better in a car? Web MD has 10 tips to prevent dog nausea. Among them, some of the most useful are keeping your dog in a carrier and not feeding it too much before the ride. An important rule seems to be that the dog should get used to going for car rides, but I haven't tried that, as I don't have a car yet.

Also, there is medicine that prevents nausea, but if you want to try something natural, ginger has had proven effects on humans too and menthol is also recommended. You could make or buy dog biscuits with menthol in them.

Train is the way to go!

This summer, we decided to visit Scorp's mother for a nice holiday in the mountains. Since my own mother, who lives with us, doesn't have the time and patience to take care of our doggie, we took Aschiuta with us.

Of course, she got sick on the taxi, there was no helping that. But we always have a plastic bag and tissues with us now. Always pack these things, plus water and some food and even a toy for your dog when you go for longer trips.

The four-hour trip was going to be by train (I don't think dogs are allowed on the bus) and we were hoping Aschiuta wouldn't get sick there too. We bought her a dog ticket (half the normal price, just like my student ticket) and we were on our way.

She was very nervous during the trip and we had to sit on the hallway with her, but she wasn't sick at all and she didn't get the floors dirty. She did try to get out whenever the train doors opened, but it was alright in the end. Everyone liked her, since she is very friendly and cute.

The return trip was a bit better, as she eventually calmed down and napped a bit next to us.

More about the Brasov holiday in another post.