Pea Pods

Nero has a new love - pea pods. He had been staying with my mother, and she gave him some shelled pods to eat. He loved them! Of course he only like the crunchy green ones, not the old white speckled ones. And the odd pea falling his way is yummy too! Peas on earth goodwill for man!!

Bedrest and a sedentary life

I have been put on bedrest for medical reasons and am getting a dose of Nero's days. Sleeping/ Lying down all day is something most people would envy. But it must be one of the most boring things in creation!! No wonder Nero is so thrilled when hubby comes back home in the evenings.

Though I must say he (nero) is far better and organised at resting than I am. He has his rest areas well marked out - some for total inaccessibility for humans (under the lounge bed), others for when he needs a cool space (main bedroom corners), sunny spots in the verandah and part sentry spots (under the living room sofa) where he can keep track of activities in the house/ has a clear view of the kitchen doorway/ is next to the main house door to bark at visitors). He has the household daily routine pretty much figured out as well. Morning time - wake hubby, walk, do his business outside, eat, check on me, see hubby off. Mid morning, bask in the sun or retire to semi sentry spot when house gets cleaned, bark at doorbell ringers, come out to investigate if anyone enters or remains at the door for longer than usual. Lunchtime - hunt me out, get his tidbits, go back to sentry spot or lounge. Early evening, remain in lounge sleeping, or unearth uneaten bones/ toys and look for ppl to play with. Late evening, take up position in front of main door waiting for hubby, fawn all over him, shadow him till walktime, go for walk. Night - eat, wait for us to eat, gets more tidbits, lie down with us, watch tv and go to sleep. A place and a time for everything, forever ready for a game or a nap.

I do think he is getting far too sedentary, though how much is truth and how much is my own frustration with bedrest is difficult to distinguish. With winter setting in and days getting shorter, his walks are getting shorter too. But I have plans for him. Just lemme get over this confinement. (cue evil laugh)mwah mwah mwah!!!!!

Of spas, pigs and rainy weather

Life has been generally quite chilled out for Nero lately. He made friends with our new maid, got his second year booster vaccines and got pampered at a doggy spa!

Here is Nero sitting in the tub at the doggy spa.


The owner/handler was Nero's old friend (he used to work with Nero's vet before opening his own store). Nero was put into a tub and given a good scrubbing! He was as good as gold when my hubby wasn't around, but as soon as he returned, Nero started getting naughty. The shower was fine but nail clipping...ugh! He hates getting his nails clipped. Finally, he made so much fuss that any thought of clipping one of his front paws had to be abandoned! Still 3 paws out of 4 ain't too bad!

Apart from that, life has been just peachy with lots of fun and naps...especially with his li'l piggy!


The only dark cloud on the horizon are the monsoon clouds. Nero hates it when it rains. He gets sooo scared, gets into a corner and tries to dig through the tiled floor. Even biscuits and treats get ignored! Poor baby. The funny thing is, he has no problem with the rain when he is outside! He will happily walk, frolic and get wet in the rain. But inside the house, as the barometer drops, so does his tail. Aww baby! Come to mama!

Happy 2nd birthday!

Nero turned 2 on May 14, 2009 and was thoroughly spoilt. He got his favorite boiled eggs for breakfast and dinner; a garfield squeaky toy; a ring toss toy; lots of bones and a starring role in a video! 

Here is the video.

Loldog

 

Nero debuts on ICHC with the following pictures.

Dognapped

Sadly, this is not another fun post on Nero sleeping. It is about the real thing.

Nero’s only friend in the neighborhood, Scooby, was stolen day before yesterday. We were completely shocked when our maid told us. Apparently, there were 3-4 people in a car, who stopped to talk to the boy who walks Scooby, lured Scooby (who loves to ride in cars) into the car and drove off!! In broad daylight! And on the same road that we walk Nero. Sometime back, I had posted a picture of a road lined with trees with yellow flowers…well about 10-20 meters down the road from that place was where this horrible crime was committed.

My heart goes out to Scooby and his family. Firstly, poor Scooby, caught with strangers, God only know how they would treat him. His walker and minder, had told us he was very finicky about eating, would only eat from his dish, and would eat specific food. We too noticed that he would never take biscuits from us, even while Nero would be all over us clamoring for one. I hope he is taken care of. And the poor family, who has had him for so many years. I cannot even begin to imagine how they must feel. I really hope the police are successful in getting him back.

Apart from being distressing, I also found it strange that Scooby would be stolen. Though a pure breed and not neutered, unlike Nero, he is not a champion specimen (or at least never looked like one to us). He is a pretty placid and quiet dog. Never reacted to Nero jumping all over him. Not aggressive or particularly energetic. A fairly staid, average-joe dog, going his own way in life. Not particularly young either…about 4-5 years old. In the same apartment block, there is another person who actually breeds Labradors. Now his dogs are glossy, perfectly conformed, and look champion material. Scooby, just looked like an average dog, affectionate, but not a breeder champion. Of course, this assumes he was stolen for breeding value. If he was stolen as simply a home/guard dog, well I don’t know what to comment except that if he went so willingly with strangers, he’d probably not make a good guard dog. Labradors aren’t really known for guard qualities, like say a German Shepherd anyway. And if it was for a more sinister reason….no I don’t think I even want to go there. He is such a sweet dog :(

He was the second of the three musketeers. While Nero was growing up, they were a trio of dogs who used to meet at the park in the evening. Pepsi, a 3 year old yellow female lab, Scooby and Nero. Pepsi moved away last year when her owner shifted house. Slowly the evening romps dwindled, till Scooby and Nero just met on the odd walks. But every time Nero saw Scooby, even at a distance, he was literally uncontrollable. Standing on his hind legs for a better look, straining to get near him, dragging us on his leash, uncaring of getting choked, jumping all over Scooby, doing mad jumps about him, running in and out entwining their leashes…and all the while Scooby would stand placidly and bear this hyperactive half-grown dog’s antics.

Scooby, our wishes are with you. May you stay safe and come back home soon.

Allergies and More

Nero had his vet visit today, where he was cleared of any suspected chest/ respiratory congestion or infection. He also did not hack or reverse sneeze today. A couple of times he seemed to start to,  but controlled it. His vet said it was probably a bronchial allergy. Ruled out kennel cough which was a relief. Since he hadn't had an episode of hacking or sneezing today, we decided not to give him the anti-histamine, but got a strip of Cetrizine home just in case. So its wait and watch for now. Meanwhile, his deworming tablet is due on March 14 (1 for 10kgs) so we got those too. Its a complete job to get him to take those...even with his feed!!

While walking through the market, we discovered that the vet's previous assistant had opened a pet grooming salon and shop nearby. Oooh! Last time hubby gave Nero a bath, they broke the hand-shower head! So this alternative looks good. Of course, hubby said he would miss their baths together....so we plan to make the salon visit a special treat (for both of them) for now, if at all! In any case, a good option to know and have in the neighbourhood :)

Sneezing, Hacking, Wheezing

A week or so back, the week after his kennel stay, we noticed Nero giving lots of small sneezes, especially when he went for his walks. Not big ones, just small, continuous ones like he was trying to dislodge something.

Now for the last couple of days, both hubby and I noticed bouts of hacking and wheezing, like he's trying to throw up or is choking!! I saw it last evening on our walk, where he did it twice. Hubby had noticed it earlier one or two times. Then this morning, before his walk, he was doing the same thing again.

Yesterday evening, I looked it up on the internet, and we think it is reverse sneezing. But we're not sure, so tomorrow, we're taking him to the vet. 

Trying the list causes when I saw him do this. The first time was when I was taking him for a walk. He had been sleeping the whole day, stretched around a bit as checked on the house and was pulling on his leash when I was locking up the house. The second time, it was generally while he was on the walk...there didnt seem any one trigger.

As I write this, he has had the hacking fit again. Its almost like a snorting, hacking, can't-catch-my-breath kind of fit. He was lying on the bed against the cushions when he suddenly started hacking and sat up. I tried rubbing the sides of his face and blowing on his snout as some of the websites suggest. I don't really know how much it helped, but he subsided within a few seconds or so. Poor boy, he had such a woebegone, whats-happening-to-me face during the whole fit :( Then, the doorbell rang, and he leapt off the bed, raced to the door, barking his head off to see who it was....completely normal, seemed as right as rain.

The websites I read said reverse sneezing (if that is what this is) is fairly common in dogs, not harmful by itself (unless accompanied by fever, loss of appetite etc. where it might be better to check it out) and the cause for it is unknown. It is also supposed to affect small dogs more, though that isn't the case here. 

My other fear was he picked up something at the kennel, but the sneezing started almost a week later, and these new fits just a couple of days back. When it was just sneezing, I thought it might be some allergy. Maybe its the change in weather...its been getting warmer. 

Whatever it is, its vet time for Nero tomorrow. I hope we dont have to put him on antibiotics, he just finished a course in December for a skin infection. Aww baby...whats happening with you!

Sharing Stories

After watching Marley & Me, I visited John Grogan's site, where he has a place for people to share their stories (Click here). I was hooked. As I read through them, I realised I wanted to share mine too. So I started writing. As with all my writing when I really get into it, they become rather long. So when I finished I hoped it would be too long. Unfortunately, every time I tried submitting it, it gave me 500 Internal Server Error! :( Dejected, I'm posting my story here instead. Maybe if I link it to the site it might work (Edit: Didnt work :() . Well this is my story then:

Hello! This my black lab mix Nero (Yes, he chewed off the end of his collar as can be seen in the photo. How he managed to contort himself to do that we never did figure out!!)

I read Marley and Me in July 2007, just a few days after we got our very first dog Nero. I was struck by the similarities I felt. Young couple, trying to settle down and have kids, me killing plants, deciding to get a dog, getting an exuberant puppy who quickly burrowed into our hearts and made it his permanent home there. I had started a blog about him. It is the only blog that I have started and have written in consistently. Marley & Me did also in some way help me in being consistent about blogging about Nero, helped me see how important it is to create a memory bank about how precious he is to me, and how precious each moment with him is. I even wrote about Marley & Me in my blog then. Here is the link to that entry: http://pal-illusion.blogspot.com/2007/07/life-love-death.html  

One and a half years have passed since then. Nero is all grown up. I saw Marley & Me, the movie last night. And yet again, it touched every emotion in me. I could now relate to even more experiences. The chewing, though he soon grew out of it, the being dragged behind him when we go on walks, and even in our personal life, a miscarriage a couple of months back, after trying for so long. Heres the blog entry I wrote after seeing the movie yesterday: http://pal-illusion.blogspot.com/2009/02/marley-me-revisited.html  

For me, Marley & Me is more than just another doggie story. It touches chords on a personal level on being a family, of being in a stage of life where you become more than just individuals, but become an extended entity, creating and nurturing to make more than what you start with. I keep Marley & Me as a beacon of hope, that one day we might have kids too; as a symbol of love, through thick and thin, across ages and species; as an expression of joy, at what we can have, and what precious memories we can build to savour each moment, long after its gone; and as a sharing of the sorrow of loss, that never goes away, but helps on being shared.  

As I read the other stories here, I feel a kinship with each of them. Each at a different stage in life, and yet all bound together with shared love. And I would like to thank John (& his family), for sharing his life experiences and creating such a space for others to share their experiences; and all other posters who care so deeply that it reflects in their sharing. Humans and dogs are social animals. Sometimes, its just enough to know that you are not alone. Thank you all and God bless.

Marley & Me revisited

One and a half years ago, when Nero had just about come into our lives, I read the book Marley & Me. I wrote then about how I felt...about the book, about our new puppy, thoughts on life and death. (Click here)

Just now, I finished watching the movie...laughing, sobbing, cuddled up with my hubby and Nero on the bed. Nero, now, is no longer a puppy. Time flies so fast. He has never been truly destructive, is not scared of thunderstorms and only chews his own toys. He loves to curl up close to us, but is also comfortable padding off and sleeping in his own special nooks and corners. He is much calmer, though still playful; more obedient but still guided more by biscuits than instructions and just as loveable as ever. 

He is always there for me. 2 years of personal upheavals, trying to have a child unsuccessfully, sometimes tragically close; giving up my job; looking for a purpose, an identity, a reason. Feeling lost, adrift..numb in limbo, personally, professionally...in every which way. He's always here, unquestioning, unjudging, uplifting. Throughout these 2 years, he has seen me at ... and through my lowest moments. And he's always there, with his silky head, melting expression...reminding me when to feed him, walk him, play with him. Staying away but within reach when not needed. Accepting me for what I am, even when I can't accept myself.

As I watched Marley close his eyes in his dying scene, and Nero let out a few gentle snores, I felt emotionally silent...a silence of acceptance of the inevitable and deep deep thankfulness for the present. 

First Kennel Stay

Nero had his first ever kennel stay last week (20th Jan to 23rd Jan). 

Normally, when we go out for a few days, we leave him with my mom. He loves their place and is well settled there. But this time, we were all travelling together and poor Nero had nowhere to go :( So we decided to explore other options.

As I had written in my September post, we had explored 3 options then, Kennel, his trainer and my mum. We finally went for the last option which worked out well. However, this time it would have to be one of the other two. A fourth option got added when the owner of the Pet shop we frequent mentioned he boards dogs as well. However on further discussion we realised that he lives in a small flat and normally keeps the dogs chained. We never chain Nero, and the thought of him chained wasn't acceptable at all, even though the owner said the dogs are usually fine with it. Well it wasn't fine with us!!

Finally, we decided to go with the Kennel option. It would also give an opportunity for him to socialise with other dogs under professional supervision. I talked with the Kennel owner and he was quite helpful. But before we made our decision, we decided to visit the place first...with Nero of course.

So one fine Sunday, we set off to have a look at the Kennel. It wasn't easy to find, in fact we had to be guided to it. It was indeed a big farmhouse set deep within a farms/industrial area. Sufficiently far from the industrial area to be a healthy green place, but not too far from the main road. The people there were very helpful. They have a daytime manager, a cook and about 10-15 handlers, of which about 6-7 actually live there. The place was big and clean. There were 3 enclosures with dogs in them, the really aggressive ones were isolated. Some of the friendlier dogs were running around outside the pen in the lawn and in and out of the house! It was a lovely lawn, and there was separate sidewalk away from the pens and house, and at a far corner of the lawn for pooping and peeing. 

The house inside was clean. There were pens and sleeping areas in the basement, as well as a room on the ground floor with blankets for dogs left open. The handlers seemed very dog loving and the dogs looked happy and frisky. 

Overall the visit was a success. All they needed was for us to fill a form and furnish Nero's medical records to ensure all his shots were updated. They even had a pick up and drop service for dogs! We came away convinced that it was an option worth trying out. Since we were only going out for a couple of days...we figured it was a good chance to try the Kennel out without a long disruption in Nero's routine. If it worked out, then we had a place apart from mum's where we could leave him when we went for a long vacation!

So the decision was made and D-day approached. It was a workday, so we realised we couldnt drop him off till evening. But the Kennel owner suggested they pick up Nero earlier in the day as he would find it easier to settle in during daylight than at night-time, and it would give them some time to introduce him to a few friendlier dogs and supervise it. So we decided we would get him picked up, and I would ride along with him; then hubby would come to pick me up in the evening. That way, I would be with him for the ride, the inital settling in and hubby would also get to see how well he was settling in. 

With all plans in place, we were completely on track. Except that I was a wreck the night before. I felt like a mother hen whose chick is leaving the nest unsupervised. Would he adjust? Would he miss us? Would he be scared of the new place? Would other dogs terrorise him? Would he get enough to eat? Would he eat? Would he be comfortable? Would he get lonely and depressed? Anxious thoughts kept me up all night, while he slept the sleep of the innocent. Oh my god...what are we doing!!!! Why can't he come with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next morning dawned nice and sunny. He was to be picked up in the afternoon. We had no arrangements to make. He was not supposed to bring any of his own stuff. All I had to do was take the form and his medical records. They even brought their own leash! 4pm and the car was here. It was starting....

Nero and I got into the back seat. The car was clean but had an overwhelming doggy smell...and not a nice smell. I felt sick. Nero didnt seem to be doing too good either. First, he wouldn't go with the handler till he saw me walking. Then he wouldnt get in the car till he saw me sit in and call him. Throughout the ride, he sat in a crouched position, his tail lower than low, his shoulders hunched...unable to relax. I sat next to him and stroked him, murmuring encouragingly. His hind legs kept trembling, whether from fear, or simple stress of staying in a crouched position. For the first few minutes his heart was beating really fast, but with my stroking that seemed to calm down. But his hind legs kept trembling all the way. And he panted. A lot. All over me. I had to cover my lap with spare papers to prevent being totally drenched. The papers were a goner by the time we reached the Kennel. It was a pretty harrowing ride, and the car's strong smell did nothing for my stomach or Nero's sense of well being.

When we reached the Kennel, we were immediately surrounded by 3 dogs roaming free, a daschund and a couple of golden retreivers. As Nero jumped off, he stuck close to my legs. The dogs started sniffing him, especially the daschund and Nero turned round and round his tail firmly down within his legs. We reached in a tangle of dogs and 1 human to the porch near the pens where the other dogs in the pens started a tremendous barking. Nero was now doing some doggy butt sniffing of his own, but firmly close to my legs. I asked one of the handlers to give him some water and then throw a ball to play some fetch with him. The 'fetching' instinct won out and within a couple of throws, his tail..if not wagging, at least wasnt stiffly held down either. Over the next few minutes, he sniffed around with the few open dogs, played a bit of fetch, drank a lot of water. He seemed to be getting a little more comfortable. I went inside to finish the formalities. He stayed outside playing with the dogs! It was working!!

Formalities over, I gave them instructions for his food and checked the place he would be sleeping in. Since he wasn't socialised with other dogs yet and was in a new place, they planned to keep him in the ground floor room with another dog. Some of the handlers apparently also slept in the room sometimes. By now it was getting dark and all the dogs were taken inside. I asked one of the handlers to bring a leash and take Nero to the place where he could relieve himself. I decided to come along too so I could encourage him on what he needed to do. Not that he needed much encouragement...a couple of sniffs around and he found a place to do his job. He was taking to this place really well!!

Back to the house, we checked out the place where he would sleep. Though he is used to sleeping in a closed room with us, I wondered if he would stay there on his own without us. So we took him into the room with blankets and closed the door. I reminded them about putting another dog with him, and they put one of the golden retrievers with him. I went out into the office and generally chatted. Hubby was coming in another 15 mins or so. It would be enough time for us to see how he would do. And he did fine! No whimpers or barks. When hubby came, we peeped into the room. Both dogs were near the door. We patted Nero, told him to be a good boy and then left quickly as advised by the staff. 

Back home, it felt really weird without him. Very very weird. Next morning, we flew off for our trip. Througout the 3 days we were out, there was a HUUUUGE temptation to keep calling the kennel to check on him. But I hung back. They already had our numbers and would call if there was any problem. Flying back on 23rd, we dumped our bags in the hall, took out the car and went to get him immediately! We didn't call in advance coz we wanted to see how he would be at the Kennel without alerting anyone. Not that it worked much. The gate was locked and we did have to call them to open the gate!

From through the cracks of the gate, we could see a big black dog inside a pen, standing upright as if waiting for something. Turned out later that it was Nero, I guess he had heard the car locking system and was standing alert! As we came in, one of the staff took him behind the house as we had warned them about his tendency to run out of gates. He was happily playing with the handler and didn't even immediately notice us! Then hubby whistled his special whistle and he saw us and came tearing towards us! Awwwww!!

He seemed well adjusted and happy. I was sooo relieved!! We had a chat with the staff about his behavior. They were very positive about him. Apparently he didnt cause any trouble, got along with the other dogs, and got specially attached to Ramesh, one of the handlers, whom apparently he had even followed when he went for his shower! He had slept in the ground floor room, and had had company there of the handler (and prolly some other dogs though they didnt mention it specifically). He seemed perfectly happy to play fetch and went to the designated sidewalk to poop before getting into the car! Gosh it worked! Massive, Massive relief (pun unintended)!!!

Once back, he mostly slept for almost 2 days. The owner had warned us about this. They tend to play a lot and get tired, especially apartment dogs, and Nero was just happy to sleep the tired sleep of the deserving for the next couple of days, before getting back to his usual routine. 

Overall, a fun experience for him, a harrowing 3 days for me, a lot of relief in the end and a new door unlocked in Nero's life! :)