Friday, July 07, 2006
A LITTLE ABOUT MISS MANDY.....
Several people have asked about Mandy recently. I realize I haven’t written much about her lately so I’ll try to fill you in. Amber’s absence has been less painful because Mandy has been here to take up some of the slack. In caring for the pets we ‘have’ we naturally have less time to think of the one who is missing. I sometimes think God sent Mandy to us, knowing Amber would soon be taken from us. At any rate it has been good to have her. It in no way diminishes our grief in losing Amber but it helps to work out the pain. Pet owners will understand what I mean.
Mandy has been here now since April 23rd…..it’s hard to realize she has been with us over two months. In looking back I can see how hard it was for her to adapt to a new family with more pets in the house than she was used to. She came from a young couple and one other dog and one cat to our home where we had three cats and one little dog. Rocky and I could hardly be called a “young couple”….just young in heart.
She was over two years old at the time and will be three next month. August 29th is her birthday. She had an ear infection and the previous owners sent her prescription with her but Mandy didn’t seem to respond to the treatment. When we took her to our veterinarian he cleaned and treated her for the ear infection and gave us some pills for an allergy which had caused her to chew on her feet and scratch constantly. Both have helped her but is something we have to continually deal with. Part of it is her breed and part of it is Missouri where we have more noxious weeds, plants etc; than any other State in the Union.
Mandy is a joy. She wants to please and is a smart little doggie. She had not been trained with a ‘lead’ so at first when we took her out on her leash she was almost humiliated. Instead of walking ahead and realizing this was “potty time” she just stood and looked at us. We didn’t dare let her out without it……even if we were with her. She didn’t know where her boundaries were and would dash off in any direction, helter-skelter.
Over the weeks she learned the length of the leash and just how far she could pursue the three outside cats before getting choked and coming to a screeching halt. The outside cats learned quicker than she did and would run just far enough so that Mandy couldn’t get them. It took a while but now she is pretty well educated to the whole idea and our walks are much shorter in duration.
Mandy would love to play with Callie, Chevy and Lovey but she sputters and snorts and chokes on a dead run to get to them and it freaks them out. If she could curb her impulse to run after them like a charging buffalo they would like to play but she’s a little too much dog for them yet. They are getting less and less afraid of her so now it will just take time to settle her down enough.
She loves to go in the car where the bank and drug store send a doggie bone to her at the drive-up window. She has learned to hang out the window on Rocky’s lap so the clerks can see there’s a dog in the car……they always talk to her and send her a doggie bone…..Mandy loves the attention and the treats.
At home when she comes in from her potty walk she gets a “nummy”…….a word Rocky used with her and she picked up on real quick. After her potty, she races to the house dragging whoever is hanging on to her leash because she knows she gets her nummy when she goes in. I buy wieners for her and break off a piece of one each time and she knows the drill so well, she runs to the frig once we are inside. Otherwise she is fed her Science Diet dry food which is much better for her, I’m sure. But doggies do love wieners…….trust me.
Well, that’s a little bit about Miss Mandy. She has brought a lot of joy into our home and we are thankful she came our way. Sometimes the best gifts come on four legs……..
Until the next time,
Essentially Esther
Mandy has been here now since April 23rd…..it’s hard to realize she has been with us over two months. In looking back I can see how hard it was for her to adapt to a new family with more pets in the house than she was used to. She came from a young couple and one other dog and one cat to our home where we had three cats and one little dog. Rocky and I could hardly be called a “young couple”….just young in heart.
She was over two years old at the time and will be three next month. August 29th is her birthday. She had an ear infection and the previous owners sent her prescription with her but Mandy didn’t seem to respond to the treatment. When we took her to our veterinarian he cleaned and treated her for the ear infection and gave us some pills for an allergy which had caused her to chew on her feet and scratch constantly. Both have helped her but is something we have to continually deal with. Part of it is her breed and part of it is Missouri where we have more noxious weeds, plants etc; than any other State in the Union.
Mandy is a joy. She wants to please and is a smart little doggie. She had not been trained with a ‘lead’ so at first when we took her out on her leash she was almost humiliated. Instead of walking ahead and realizing this was “potty time” she just stood and looked at us. We didn’t dare let her out without it……even if we were with her. She didn’t know where her boundaries were and would dash off in any direction, helter-skelter.
Over the weeks she learned the length of the leash and just how far she could pursue the three outside cats before getting choked and coming to a screeching halt. The outside cats learned quicker than she did and would run just far enough so that Mandy couldn’t get them. It took a while but now she is pretty well educated to the whole idea and our walks are much shorter in duration.
Mandy would love to play with Callie, Chevy and Lovey but she sputters and snorts and chokes on a dead run to get to them and it freaks them out. If she could curb her impulse to run after them like a charging buffalo they would like to play but she’s a little too much dog for them yet. They are getting less and less afraid of her so now it will just take time to settle her down enough.
She loves to go in the car where the bank and drug store send a doggie bone to her at the drive-up window. She has learned to hang out the window on Rocky’s lap so the clerks can see there’s a dog in the car……they always talk to her and send her a doggie bone…..Mandy loves the attention and the treats.
At home when she comes in from her potty walk she gets a “nummy”…….a word Rocky used with her and she picked up on real quick. After her potty, she races to the house dragging whoever is hanging on to her leash because she knows she gets her nummy when she goes in. I buy wieners for her and break off a piece of one each time and she knows the drill so well, she runs to the frig once we are inside. Otherwise she is fed her Science Diet dry food which is much better for her, I’m sure. But doggies do love wieners…….trust me.
Well, that’s a little bit about Miss Mandy. She has brought a lot of joy into our home and we are thankful she came our way. Sometimes the best gifts come on four legs……..
Until the next time,
Essentially Esther
