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I had thought Carter was just really high energy and a little hyper which was why he was so thin.  I was wrong!  I think he was just so stressed from Katie attacking him all the time (after coming to us so stressed out from being crated in rescue).  She's been separated for a few months now and he's actually had to go on a diet!  Carter, the dog who was probably 75 lbs when he came, is now Carter the plump.  I'm guessing he's probably about 125 lbs now.  He's a lot calmer now too and seems to be a lot happier and more content.  I had thought we might consider trying to find someone to keep him company if I could find another home for Katie but now I'm thinking we won't.  He's quite happy being by himself.  He's not unhappy to be around Eider or Jesse but he's not that happy with them either.  Eider and Carter both think mom is theirs exclusively and get rather jealous and pushy about the other being near me.  Anyway, just figured I'd share my excitement that Carter the skinny has turned into Carter the plump!  He's a happy boy!

I'm glad I saw what happened or I'd probably have freaked out and rushed to the vet.  Eider caught a toad and then pretty quickly spit it out.  Pretty soon he was foaming at the mouth!  Last time he foamed at the mouth we rushed to the vet PRONTO!  It ended up that it was a real live poisoning emergency last time.  This time it was just a toad.  Poor Eider has had an upset tummy and lots of drool for a while though.  He did take another sniff of the toad a while after he dropped it.  I wonder if he'll remember next time around? 

Carter just came back from a full run down at the vet.  Last week he could not use his back right leg all week.  It has been a problem off and on since he came and it has been checked inconclusively once before so it was time to get a full checkup with x-rays.  I hated to do it since I knew he would not be happy about being manipulated and also about being confined.  I was right on both counts!  Since I'm the one who did this evil thing to him, I'm on his bad list right now!  Boy, is he ever p.o.ed at me!  He won't talk to me at all.  It's gonna take me some serious sucking up to get back into his good graces.

We didn't really figure out the problem, but we did eliminate a bunch of possibilities.  His hips are excellent.  Would probably make OFA excellent according to the doc.  No problem with the knee joints either, not by manipulation or on the x-ray.  He said if it was an ACL issue with the length of time we've seen this, there would be some indication on the x-ray but it is as clean as can be.  No arthritis showing up anywhere either.  His joints are beautifully clear on the x-rays.  They also x-rayed his spine to see if there were any disk issues.  He kind of walks hunched up a bit so that was definitely a question.  He sometimes puts full weight on that leg, lifting the opposite one to urinate.  Other times he can't seem to bear any weight on it at all!

Basically Doc thinks he has something like a sciatic nerve problem going on.  His stomach doesn't handle Rimadyl well when he was having the problem but it did seem to help some so we're going to try some prednisone for a week and see if we can get some improvement that way.  Not sure if this is good news or not.  Nerve issues are difficult to deal with but at least we aren't facing surgery.  I keep reading about people here trying to keep their big paws quiet after surgery and just know how impossible that would be with my big goof ball!  He's a wild thang!

Then there is Katie.  She's still a major problem and getting worse.  Carter is up at the house full time now.  Her attacks were becoming more frequent and more vicious and I was very much afraid that she would do some serious damage.  She seems to want to kill Carter and it only gets worse all the time.  She's an absolute doll around humans, sweet as can be, sugar on a leash!  When she gets close to Carter though, she wants to kill.  I tried walking her on a leash with a muzzle figuring at least she could still have her walks but she still tries to go after him with the muzzle on!  She spends the whole walk trying to figure out how to get at him.  I have finally figured out the problem.  He does not initiate the confrontations and actively tries to avoid conflict, BUT he does not submit.  She will tolerate nothing less than absolute submission and he won't do it.  We've been working with the Anatolian rescue group to try to place her but they don't have any foster situations where they can keep her separate.  The prior owners want nothing to do with her.  They said we should put her down. I can't keep Carter up here indefinitely but we can hold on for a while. 

So there it is, the good, the bad and the ugly.  It has been a looooong month!

First are Eider's video shots - first one is him barking at the hissing can of Coke (protecting mom).    In the second video he's killing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2lSuKC2D8g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsC4ghVoG6E


Then a few pics of Eider - carrying his towel after his shower, then later sleeping in the shower while I was cleaning the bathroom. 

We're having a lot of problems with Katie.  She has been viciously attacking Carter almost daily now.  She attacked him a lot when she first came but it wasn't this vicious and we figured they'd work it out.  It let off for quite a while and the attacks were rare, they played together and seemed to have worked out their differences.  Now she's back at it.  Any slight infraction on his part (always unintentional, he has not a mean bone in his body) will yield a full blown attack from her.  He's mostly deaf so he doesn't hear her warnings (sometimes there is a warning growl, sometimes she just attacks).  It is getting to the point where I am concerned with the kids (or even myself) getting stuck in the middle.  I'm about ready to contact her prior owners and send her back I'm getting so frustrated.  Here's hoping someone has some brilliant ideas.  

Thor was my walking companion but when he died, there was no one to walk with but Eider who is DH's dog.  I reluctantly started working with him to see how he'd do as a walking companion.  Then we ended up getting Carter and Katie so I didn't really need to power walk Eider any more.  I still walked him, just not on the road.  He's a Lab and thinks he needs to sniff EVERYTHING.  He is much better to walk in the fields - I would meander, he would run all over the place sniffing.  Some days I almost levitate walking Carter and Katie so they certainly provided all the road work I needed. 

With the summer heat and my health difficulties, I haven't walked Eider in months.  DH has walked him or the kids have done it for me.  I've been feeling a bit better lately after some medication adjustments, DH has been working a lot and Eider was not getting walked as much so he was FULL OF IT!  I decided to go ahead and try 3 at once!  What was I thinking!  LOL!  I have to boogie to keep up with Carter and Katie's 200+ lb of dogginess!  How much more difficult could another 70 lb furbag be?  Plenty when it hasn't been walked on a leash in months!  Yeeeehaw!  It is pretty interesting.

Eider seems to like going with the big dogs.  He walked with me once last week, then again last night.  Tonight while I was standing next to DH he kept bumping ME, not DH!  He kept pointing toward the leash, trying to lead me to it.  Poor DH!  Eider is a traitor!  He thinks he should be a big dog.  When we walk, he wants to be right up against Carter.  Carter stands at least a foot higher than Eider.  Carter is white and fluffy.  Eider is slick black.  They could not be more opposite.  Eider even learned to lift his leg today.  The transformation to big dog is complete. 

I'm just hoping that with a little practice he'll get into the swing of the walking thing a little better.  I feel like I'm being pulled in 3 directions, probably because I am!  Eider sprained my thumb a few months ago and the healing is very slow.  It doesn't help when he goes spinning around to see what Katie is sniffing back behind me...  He pulled it about 3 times again tonight!  I should have learned with kids.  2 kids, 2 hands, mom is not outnumbered.  3 kids, 2 hands, mom is outnumbered.  Same applies to dogs.  Gotta keep life challenging.  No sense in it being dull.

Just some silly pics of Eider these last few weeks. 

First - that computer desk must make a comfy pillow.

Second and third - the laundry basket makes a cozy bed.

Fourth - water tastes better out of dad's cup (he does this every chance he gets!)