Another Chance Ranch

Doggy Update

This sweet little girl, Pepper, isn't so sweet anymore. 

If you will recall, I asked for some advice regarding our girls that were fighting all the time. 

I really do appreciate all your advice and words of encouragement. 

A couple of people mentioned talking to the Dog Whisperer, Cesar, so I went to his website and did a little research. I learned that we needed to be the dominate ones instead of letting one of the dogs dominate things. I am pretty sure a couple of you mentioned that as well. So, we started dominating more, and that has helped tremendously.

We have only had one more fight since we have changed the way we are handling things. It was the strangest thing. Little Miss Pepper, sweet as she could be girl, was the one that started the fight. Abby did not want to fight, and tried to get away. I was able to grab Pepper and keep them from fighting. 

Earlier this week, McD and I went to San Diego for a few days, and took Pepper to the vet to be spayed while we were away. We are hoping that she is still young enough that spaying her might help. 

We will see.

I wanted to let everyone know that we are keeping both dogs. We are working with them, and hope to see more and more improvement as time goes on.

Thanks again for all your feedback!! 

Dog Fight & A Hard Decision

Cute, huh?

Abby (left) & Pepper (right) had a blast the day I took this photo. But it isn't always fun and games with these two. They fight like cats and dogs, you know what I mean. 

Abby is the dominate female.  The other dogs know this, and don't dispute it. Abby is also very, very moody. And jealous, man is she jealous.

Pepper, on the other hand, is the sweetest dog ever.  She never picks a fight, and even tries to stay away from Abby. After a fight, Pepper is the first to go to Abby and lick all of her wounds. Eventually, Abby will lick on Pepper too. 

The fights first started when we would let the dogs out, and Pepper would bump Abby or just look at her the wrong way. Seriously! We started letting Abby out first, and holding Pepper back so she wouldn't bump her or anything. The last time this happened we let them out at like two in the morning to go to the bathroom, and the fight was on. That certainly woke us up! McD ran outside sporting nothing but undies to break them up. It was quite a sight!

The fighting stopped for a little while, but then started up again when we would drive in the driveway. They run like crazy dogs when we drive in, and Pepper won't even have to bump Abby. Abby flat out starts a fight with her, and Pepper won't back down. I don't blame her. In order to stop the fighting, we started leaving one of them in the house while we were gone. It worked! I thought we had everything settled. 

But, then...

This morning, as I was sitting here writing about something completely different, I let the dogs out to use the bathroom. They were fine. I watched them for a few minutes. Abby had gone one way, and Pepper the other. I came back to the computer, sat down and got busy. After about thirty minutes I decided to check on them. I looked out all of the windows and didn't see them. I assumed they would be sunning and I didn't want to disturb them by opening the door. I walked to the kitchen to look out the back door, and there they were. They were bloody and wanting in the house. They both limped in, and went to their favorite places. 

This is going to be a much longer post than I had expected. Sorry.

After looking both of them over, I called McD. I told him what had happened, that I didn't know what started it, and that I was going to have to take Pepper to the vet. I asked him what we should do about them. He answered, "I don't know." 

I called the vet, and they can't get Pepper in until five o'clock this evening. She is in a lot of pain, and that is saying something because this little one has a pretty high pain tolerance. 

I went to check Abby over again, and have found that she has some pretty good cuts on her as well. 

The decision I have to make is this - what to do. Do I put Abby down? She is the one that is causing all of the problems. Obviously, nothing else is working. 

Any thoughts?

edited to say - I don't want everyone to think Abby is a horrible dog, she isn't. She can be loving. 

Puppy Love

Here's one of my favorite photos of Mia and Abby. Abby was less than a year old, and we hadn't had her ears cropped yet. She looks so little here!

Fast forward!

Abby will be three this month, it is unbelievable how time has flown right by us! Here's a more recent photo, she's grown quite a bit.

She is a super sweet girl when she wants to be, but in a blink of an eye her mood can change.  She was named after Pauley Perette's character "Abby" on NCIS. We *love* that show!!

Isn't she beautiful! 

Mourning L'Amour

Yes, you read that right.

Right before I left for Honduras, I stopped to pet L'Amour and to give her a couple of treats. It was my way of saying that I would see her when I got back. Yes, I literally said that to her, and she knew exactly what I was saying.

When I got home I received a text from a friend asking if I had seen L'Amour lately. It appears L'Amour hadn't been seen for while.

Yesterday I drove around looking for her, but I knew I wouldn't find her. We are all worried that she met up with a pack of coyotes.

It would be great if she would just show up again, but I am afraid that won't happen.

It was nice to have her around while it lasted.

If you missed the whole L'Amour story, you can catch up here and here. Oh, and here.

More About L'Amour

Let me tell you a little more about L'Amour.

I first introduced you all to her here, feel free to read take a moment and read this if you haven't yet.  I was pretty pleased with the photos of her.  She is such a sweetie!

Quick facts to refresh your memory if you read the other post:  saw her roaming around by our gate in January, very standoffish at first, and now loves Milkbone dog treats.

Okay, now that we are all caught up, here's more about L'Amour.

It turns out that I am not the only one with a soft heart here in our neck of the woods.  We have a neighbor, Fern, that is also softhearted.  It seems that Fern has adopted L'Amour. 

One day I stopped to talk to Fern on the road, and she started telling me that she thought someone was feeding her dog.  (She's calling her "her dog", so she must have adopted her.  Right?)  I had to explain that I had been feeding her since January.  The only thing that gave me away was that I fed her next to the road one day.

Fern seemed okay with me feeding her, so I just kept doing it. 

Then one day I decided that we needed to name her because we would refer to her as either the dog, or your dog.  In my opinion, every dog should have a name.  In this case, she'll never learn it, but we will always refer to her by her name.

So, to answer some of your questions.  We will never bring L'Amour to live with us.  She has a family now.  But I will continue to take her treats, cans of dog food, and dry food whenever I can.

 

Meet L'Amour!

I must apologize for leaving you guys hanging on the name for our stray friend.  Just this morning, I was asked by two different people what her name ended up being.  (Thanks Rose & Heidi!)

McD and I never really discussed the list of names everyone submitted, because McD made the pick without me. 

Her name is now, L'Amour.  Thank you for the suggestion, Lisa K.!  Thank you to everyone for submitting such good names!  Just for the record, I was going to call her Chance.

Here's a little L'Amour story for ya.

Yesterday, as I drove down the road, L'Amour saw me leaving the gate, and started running out to meet me on the road.  Well, I was in a hurry, and I didn't have any food or treats with me so I kept going.  It really pulled on my heart strings to have to do that to her, but it was necessary. 

Today, I grabbed some dog food and a treat to be ready in case we saw her on our way to town.  We drove a little out of our way to see if she was hanging around, but she wasn't any where to be seen.  Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her.  She was running down the hill.  She had seen us, and knew that I'd have something for her. 

I gave her a treat, and poured some dry food out for her.  She was soaking wet, due to the rain, and just wanted a little attention.  I love the way a brief two minute stop along the way really made my day.

Can You Help Us Name This Dog?

As a lot of you know, our girl Pepper came to us in January of this year as a stray I found on the side of the road.  And before Pepper, our girl Mia found us.  So, needless to say, I have a soft spot for dogs.  Especially, stray dogs. 

If I could, I would open a shelter for dogs and I would just take care of them all.  Of course, I don't have the money or facilities to do that, and I know that McD is happy about that. 

After I brought Pepper home, I saw another stray dog roaming around our gate.  She was a bit standoffish, but I tried to get her to come to me each time I saw her.  I even started taking her food.  I mean, at the time, I didn't know if she was being fed.  I would pour the dry food out on the ground, walk away, get back in my pick-up and drive off, and then she would go eat the food.  I would have to watch her from my rearview mirror.

I started keeping dog food and treats in my pick-up, just in case she was around. 

Eventually, she started coming to me and letting me pet her.  Then, she got to where she would give me a kiss, and roll over onto her back so I could scratch her stomach.  She whimpers and whines the whole time. 

For some silly reason I never even thought to take photos of her, until today. :)

This is how it goes every time I see her.

Here she is laying around watching her buddies, the horses, play in the water.  Okay, they are cooling off, but playing sounds like more fun.

Here she comes.

Before you know it, she is stepping all over my toes and begging for attention.

First, I give her a Milk-Bone biscuit.  She loves them!!

She knows that I am going to give her something else, but today she is in for a surprise. 

She noticed that I had the bag of food, but I also had a can of Alpo.  She wasn't taking her eyes off of that can.

She likes it!!

Have you noticed that this little girl has a heart on her? 

For a minute, I thought she was going to lick the enamel off the bowl.

But just when I thought she was going to come over to me, you know...to thank me, she headed for the empty can.  My aging joints did not react near as fast as I hoped.  She grabbed the can, and headed back for the pond.  She stopped occasionally to glance back my way, but she was not coming to thank me. 

She deserves to have a name.  We call her The Dog, and I have decided that I want to name her.  She may never know her name, but we will.

Help me name her!

Being Treated Like Queens

Abby, Mia, and Pepper are quite the queens (read: spoiled rotten).  Several months ago, I was watching Good Morning America (I think it was) and they had steals and deals or something like that on.  You know, one of those for a limited time offer or a deal too good to miss.  Well, I fell for it!  Hook, line, and sinker!

I honestly, have felt sorry for our dogs that have to bend so far down to drink their water or eat their food.  Yes, really.  But think about it.  When we get old we don't bend as well as we used to, and I am sure they don't either.  Watching my boy Hoss grow old was when I realized just how hard it must be for him. 

So, when I saw the Neater Feeder come on with a "too good to be true" deal I had to order one.

See how it is raised up! Isn't that cool?

This is even cooler, check this out!

The best feature, especially when you have dogs that drip and drop their food and water, is the little tray that lets the spills drain to the bottom and catches the food. 

I just wish I would have taken photos of how much water used to be on our floor after Pepper would take a drink.  She would get more on the floor than she got in her mouth.  Abby tends to get a mouthful of food and then walks away, dropping food as she goes.  So far, this Neater Feeder has kept our floor a bit drier (not completely though) and less food to be stepped on.

I promise you and your babies pets will love it!

My Dog, My Camera and Me

Last Thursday I went for a jaunt with my camera, and my sidekick, Pepper. 

We made our way back to one of our ponds so I could take a few shots of the catfish that have just shown up out of nowhere. 

Pepper is the kind of dog I've always wanted.  Don't get me wrong, I love my Abby and Mia, but Pepper is my sidekick.

So when she got into the water I got a little antsy.

This just happened to pop up about five feet from us.

I tried to get a shot of all of him, but he was just too stinkin' big.  I think it was about six feet long.

There was a second snake swimming around but it was only four and a half to five feet long, and it wasn't as thick as this one.   Look at that forked tongue!

We saw pretty butterflies.

And some weeds that just happen to remind me of fireworks.  They look like little bursts.

Then, we finally saw what we came to see.

They might be hard to make out, but those are catfish. Bullhead catfish. They just showed up outta nowhere.  I've heard that birds can bring the eggs in, they hatch, and then we have fish.  However it happens, it did.  We have lots of fish. 

Later that day, when McD got home, we went back to the pond toting a .22 and some ammo.  Those snakes flipped and flopped after they were shot. 

Now, my sidekick is sitting here waiting for me to go over to the garden.

Coming soon, photos of my garden.  :)

She Stole My Spot!

Mia was relaxing on the couch in my spot.  I am really quite resourceful when it comes to getting her out of my spot.

I say, "Mia, do you want a treat?"

And she looks at me like this.

I ask her again, just to make sure, and she looks at me like this.

Occasionally, I have to ask her three times, just to see her turn her head again.  If I would have walked to the pantry she would have jumped right up, but I kind of like that look.

No worries, I gave her a treat.  In fact, I gave them all a treat!

And, I got my spot on the couch back!