Boarding Tessa--Leap of Faith

[Catia]

My gosh does Tessa LOVE hard boiled eggs!!!

After her 1st taste of a 1/4 of an egg, she swiped up the full 1/2 from my hand & headed STRAIGHT FOR MY BED--because Tessa hides her "high value" items UNDER MY PILLOW.

Isn't that sweet? Doesn't that sound just so cute???
Umm hmmm.
I have rolled over in the middle of the night to find various toys, bones, a piece of pizza, & a locust 1/2 out of it's pod...And these are the things I am aware of.
Tessa is quite stealthy about removing & putting things back under my pillow--even when I am in bed.

At any rate, I had to act fast BEFORE the egg made it under my PILLOW, but I'm all gimped up from abdominal surgery, so I can't move as fast as usual.
Got Tessa to give back the egg 1/2 & I cut it up so she would have to actually eat it, & showed her there was plenty more.
Disaster averted.

Then I wanted some, the craving was undeniable--so we ate a few...probably too many, but it was a nice mini-binge.

Tessa seems to have no gas issues from the eggs.
Can't say the same for myself--good thing it's just us
My intestines are still not back to normal after being sliced from hip to hip.

Tessa did eat her Orijen too-albeit gravy covered.
I suspect there is some high value smelling food additive in the Purina One that when both foods are side by side-Purina wins over her olfactory senses. It appears if there is no purina present, there may be no issue. Maybe.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Glad she's eating it!

my two love eggs too lol though I can say that neither has ever attempted to hide things under my pillow!

 

[Catia]

There's a heirarchy to Tessa's caches.
The super high value stuff goes under my pillow in the bed.

She will actually pull blankets/sheets & put them back. If we're in bed & she wants it, she's pretty slick for her size, & I usually don't notice much--but if I am sleeping on top of her stash, like if I don't know it's there, & am on my back, with my head full on the pillow, I will sometimes wake up to hot breath on my face while she is standing over me trying to figure out how to get it out from under me. Then she'll take it for 5-10 minutes & put it back.
I have to be careful if she wants out in the middle of the night-being too sleepy to check her mouth before I let her in has freaked me out more than once-especially when the locusts were hatching.

The not as high value stuff goes under the new sofa cushions. She couldn't stash with the old danish sofa. One of the 1st things she did with the new sofa was figure out where she could stash stuff. I actually watched her test the sofa--she needed to see what was removable-so she took cushions off & put them back on. She's pretty good at it. Unfortuneately, the 1st thing she hid in it was a tennisball that had been sitting in her waterbowl all day. That part I did not see--but felt...

 

[ruthcatrin]

lmao

Arty stashes, but we're really OCD about keeping him from doing so, or picking up after him cause he stores his left over food and since we feed raw thats an issue.

 

[Catia]

***Tessa is having multiple accidents since return from boarding***

I didn't post about this when it 1st happened, I figured it was my fault that time, between healing from surgery & sleeping a lot & not keeping a tight schedule like before & Tessa readjusting to being home.

Her accidents are occurring by the door, luckily each time on a removable area rug.
It's a LOT of pee, not dribbles.

The 1st time Tessa had an overnight at the kennels/farm, I *did* have an issue, but she had a urinary tract infection. Her hoo-hoo was inflamed, which totally freaked me out when I saw that, plus she peed multiple times in tiny amounts, & she was paying a LOT of attention to the area-constant cleaning etc. Her accident occurred in her crate.
I took her to the vet & they gave her 10 days of antibiotics & a steroid shot for inflammation. I think she got bitten by a spider or something in that area, due to the way it was swollen, vet said it was possible sleeping outside. Everything cleared up quickly, & I completed the antibiotics.

This time, I have not noticed any swelling, but I'll take a closer look. What I have noticed is that she is drinking a LOT of water since she has been home. Since she felt so thin & boney, I thought she might be a little dehydrated also. She's been eating fine & she stopped feeling as boney within 2 days-& her face isn't as sunken, so I think maybe a little dehydrated. She still needs some weight, but that will come.

What's happening is this: I fall asleep on the sofa for a few hours, I wake & find a huge puddle by the back door on the throw rug. Last night it happened, so I let her out,picked up the rug & threw it in the washer & scrubbed the floor underneath. I went back to sleep for a few hours, woke up to another huge puddle on the other rug.

I get it--there's been a lot of change-she was sleeping outside for 3 weeks. The kennels have an in & out building with free access, then I bring her home & am not following my usually strict schedule. She still pees everytime I let her out.

Other thing is, Tessa will not, & has never barked or made any noise when she needs to go outside. Most I get is a look, or if she really needs to poo-she will actually nose or nuzzle me til I wake up if I am sleeping. She's never had an issue holding her pee overnight, but now it's about 5 hours.

Not sure what to do or expect. 1st plan is to go back to strict schedule with crate just like when I am working. Thoughts?

 

[ruthcatrin]

Will your vet check a urine sample without you bringing her in? Just to make sure she's not having an issue?

But yah, I'd say its entirely possible and even likely that its a side effect of her having been in a kennel, and hte lack of schedule etc.

 

[broccolini]

If she's drinking a lot more water, then it makes sense that she'd have to pee more often. Have you tried taking her out twice as often until she gets back into her groove?

Are you worried about why she's drinking more?

 

[Catia]

Getting a urine sample from Tessa would be an almost impossible task--she bashful about peeing...I have no clue how to get it into the vial--I do have a vial somewhere from the vet.

Also, yes I am a little concerned about why she is drinking so much more water. I understand she will pee more if she drinks more--that wasn't the concern.

I do believe she was a little dehydrated when I brought her home.
Now she seems more concerned with having access to water. I don't want to limit it if she needs it, & I don't want her not having free access to water right now.
I think all of the activity & sharing things like waterbowls with other dogs may've shaken her up a bit on water as a resource--she may not have been getting enough with all of the extra activity & stress of different environment.

I think I need to put her back on the schedule even though I am home & not back to work yet, just for the structure aspect.

Farm life for 3 weeks was a little rough on Tessa...She is a bit of a spoiled princess.
She has a whole new appreciation for upholstered furniture.

She howled a lot for the 1st week she was there I was told. Not just at night either.
She'd go into the buildings & howl her heart out.
She also has some boo boo's on her elbows--the baby callouses from sleeping on hard surfaces. Been putting VCO on those & hope the fur grows back quickly.

Looked closely at her hoo-hoo-nothing looks abnormal. I don't think she has a UTI--I think it's all of the change/disruption & never having been in a kennel.
Of course I think it would be better if I could just get her to bark if she wants out, but she just won't do it.

 

[broccolini]

Of course I think it would be better if I could just get her to bark if she wants out, but she just won't do it.

Yeah. We have that problem with D'Argo. He gives almost no indication that he needs to go out. All we get is a look.

Athena has been ringing the bells on the door since the day after we brought her home.

Two different dogs.

 

[Catia]

Have you been able to teach D'Argo to "speak" on command???
I know you said he is 'barky' right now.
My 'theory' was if I could make the connection with her barking on command, I could make the connection to stop. Had worked with EVERY dog I've ever had.
But alas, that 'theory' was wrong.
I tried with Tessa until she was about a year old. I tried everything.
On the rare occaision she actually barks inside the house, I reward her too--

Outside in the yard is a different story. If she wants inside, she will bark & bark & bark-like a broken record. But if I tell her to be quiet, now she will stop & lay down at the door most times & it will buy me another 15 minutes or so.

Tessa did do the bells when she was a pup-they worked fine at 1st.
She made that connection fast.
Then she made another connection...only at night...
I removed them because at night it became a game of 'let's make mom jump out of bed' every time I started to drift into a sleep, when she did not need to go potty.
I needed sleep, & Tessa needed to survive puppyhood...
So her strict schedule was started so I could get her to sleep at night.
She's still a light sleeper at night, but she'll not wake me unless necessary, or 4:30am when the squirrel wakes up, whichever comes 1st.
She'd been on that schedule until the week of my surgery, as I dared not to deviate from it.

Maybe the bells could be given another try, now, before I am back to work-that way if she decides to play her game of making me jump out of bed for no reason-I'll know & the consequences won't be as dire.