Tag: Rosie and Sophie

I’m thinking the puppies have adjusted. Rosie and Sophie have been with us 12 days now and have turned into little balls of energy. Rosie still has a bit of a cough, but they spend much of the time that they’re outside their pen in some form of wrestling frenzy. It is fun to watch — for us, not sure about you, dear readers — though we sometimes have to break them up.

Rosie is the quicker of the two, so she gets the better of Sophie indoors — mostly because she can use the furniture to keep Sophie off step. Sophie, however, is stronger and tends to win outside when they tumble around in the snow.

And they certainly are getting more comfortable by the minute, taking over the house (but not exceeding their bounds — at least not yet).

What is striking to me is that after just a dozen days — and way too many people in and out of the house — these little mutts are incredibly attached to us. They follow us around, climb into our laps if we sit on the floor and look for us when we get up in the morning and sneak into the living room.

Annie asked me tonight — jokingly, of course — if I was having second thoughts. The dogs were in active mode and I was trying to write a column. My answer was simple: No. No second thoughts. None at all.

The dogs are settling in, though Rosie’s kennel cough seems to be getting worse. It’s a terrifying thing to watch as she coughs and then almost chokes. Annie is a bit scared, but Rosie and Sophie — who seems completely over her lack of appetite and lethargy — are going to the vet today.

On another note, they are amazingly curious little animals and we’ve probably given them a bit more freedom than is good for them or us so far. For the first time last night, Sophie cried when we led her to her pen to go to sleep. I had to sit in the living room until she fell asleep (and, yes, I dosed off on the couch). I’m not sure how wise that was.

This morning, getting them into the pen was like corralling cats. I think that, next week, once it is just the dogs and us, we will be able to develop a real routine.

We knew very little about kennel cough until yesterday, when we picked up the pups. So we hit the trust internets (or is that the interwebs?) and found this:

‘Kennel Cough’ is the term that was commonly applied to the most prevalent upper respiratory problem in dogs in the United States. Recently, the condition has become known as tracheobronchitis, canine infectious tracheobronchitis, Bordetellosis, or Bordetella. It is highly contagious in dogs. The disease is found worldwide and will infect a very high percentage of dogs in their lifetime.

The symptoms include

a dry hacking cough sometimes followed by retching. Many owners describe the cough as having a ‘honking sound.’ A watery nasal discharge may also be present. With mild cases, dogs continue to eat and be alert and active. Many times, there is a recent history of boarding or coming in contact with other dogs. In more severe cases, the symptoms may progress and include lethargy, fever, inappetence, pneumonia, and in very severe cases, even death. The majority of severe cases occur in immunocompromised animals, or young unvaccinated puppies.

Part of me wishes I hadn’t read this — the worst-case scenario is difficult to get out of my head. But it is best to know what we are dealing with.

She’s on antibiotics — both of them are — and we’ve boiled up some chicken and rice to see if she starts eating tomorrow. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

The dogs (Sophie to the left; Rosie below and to the right) are home and they are amazing — and a bit perplexing. We have a pen set up in the living room constructed from eight 24-inch-by-36-inch metal grates and the two have been tumbling around, napping and playing with their toys.

We fed them and have been trying to train them using a book by Tamar Geller, The Loved Dog, that our friend Carol recommended. It argues for training your dogs in a non-violent or aggressive manner, eschewing striking the dogs or shouting in anger. The idea is to praise them and encourage them, getting your dogs to behave because they want rather than because they fear misbehaving.

It seems a logical approach, one that contradicts years of assumptions about punishment. Geller likens most training methods to the kind of abusive approaches used in prison to control dangerous prisoners — an approach that hasn’t worked as a criminal justice tool, so there is little reason to believe it will work with rambunctious, fun-loving puppies.

It’s only been a few hours, of course, and we have no illusion that this is going to be easy. But we’ve been won over by these amazing little mutts and look forward to the effort.