Icarus Udpate

Little Icky is in the hospital. After talking to the vet and having her look over him, she told me that it seems like kidney failure. We decided to still run the blood work to confirm, but it doesn't look good.

I don't think Icky is coming home.

How weird that I could be so attached to him after only a couple weeks. I started crying as we discussed it. The sad fact of the matter is that he is not my dog and I cannot afford to pay for expensive treatments for a foster. Nor can my shelter, really. There are so many more things we could do than try to extend the life of an old min pin.

I also found out his whole story today. Apparently his owner died and the person who inherited him surrendered him to the humane society because he was biting (no teeth!!!!). The humane society transferred him to us because of his attitude and age.

How sad that this boy had to live the end of his life amongst strangers. Strangers who love him, certainly, but not the people he has known and loved for his entire life.

He is such a sweet little dog and he deserved better than this. I am just glad I got to meet him. I am glad he got to spend these past weeks in a home and not a shelter.

The first day here...


Hanging in the yard with Sport

Smarty Pants and Icky-poo

I have never practiced "Leave it" outside of my house. I usually only use it for cheap parlor tricks (put a piece of food on Sport's foot and tell him to leave it until I release, "Okay!") or when I drop something I don't want him to eat (like chocolate) and then I reward with a treat.

Today on our walk, my little boy surprised me! I had him off leash and he was bounding through the field. I called him back and he came running and stopped right before he got to the trail. He looked down and sniffed. I walked over to him and saw a BLOODY RODENT SKULL just as his little jaws were opening to gobble it up.

"Leave it!"
He looks up at me.
"Good boy!"
He looks down and opens his mouth again.
"Leave it!"
He looks at me.
"Let's go!"
He runs towards me and we go down the trail.
"GOOD BOY!"

I honestly was expecting to have to pry it out of his mouth. I made the mistake of rewarding him before I called him away. He is used to me saying "leave it" and then releasing him to eat it with "okay" so he thought I was releasing him to eat the skull. But he still listened to me!

Even more amazingly, he still left it alone when I went back to take a picture of it (because I am a zoology major/nerd and I wanted to see if I could identify what kind of rodent it is). It had to be tempting since it was very fresh. Probably just killed a couple of hours ago.

I'll spare you the pic, it even grosses me out. But I was really proud of him.

I am worried about Icky, though. He hasn't been eating again and he has lost quite a bit of weight. He ate some turkey tonight, but hasn't has a meal since Monday. I am taking him to the vet tomorrow to run some blood work. I am so disheartened about him sometimes. Who is going to adopt this goon? But honestly, if I find out that he is sicker than we thought, I will be willing to keep him. It's not like he is any trouble. I bet my parents will even take him on...

Icky-poo!

Overwhelmed...

I'll admit it. I am constantly in a bad mood lately. It's silly because I don't feel like I am in a bad mood, and I don't act like I'm in a bad mood... but things that used to make me happy don't so much anymore.

I really dislike my classes this semester. I struggle to stay awake in each one, to understand the concepts, and to get the grades. And when I do badly, I don't even care that much.

Blase. Apathetic. These are the things that I feel.

At work, I am annoyed. By both people and dogs. The dynamic between the dogs currently residing there is... strained. There is a lot of fence fighting and tiffs. I am frustrated and upset and this causes my concentration to be shot. That is why I got bit today. It wasn't a bad bite, no broken skin or anything, but I have a feeling that in the morning, I will have a nasty bruise on my thigh. It happened because a beautiful dog named Empress decided that she didn't like the looks of fluffy dog named Wylie (and his buds, Snowflake and Georgia). So she tried to eat them through the chain link as I was walking her past. I was pulling her along and like an IDIOT, I tried to body block her with my thigh.

Rule #1: Never use your body to block a dog that is snapping.

So I pushed my thigh into her face, and her teeth collided with me. OUCH. I yelled and scolded and she hit the deck. I felt like a complete jackass. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't as if she tried to bite me, I just got in the way of her gnashing teeth.

Then not ten minutes later, I am carrying a wiggly puppy to her crate, and she swings her head around and clocks me in the jaw. I swear my ears were ringing for at least an hour. I'll probably have a bruise there too.

Some would say these types of injuries are just part of the job, but in all reality they aren't. Honestly, if you are careful and respectful, you won't get bit. I have never been bitten by a dog. (my definition of a bite does not include a dogs face colliding with my thigh or any other body part) I have been snapped at, and I have come very close to being bitten, but contrary to popular belief, most dogs do not want to bite people.

But I know that these injuries are all my fault because I was not paying attention like I should. I swear my head is not screwed on right.

This unrest is seeping into my home life as well. More often than not I find myself shooing Sport away from me. I am currently living in a zoo, so I am a bit frazzled. My parent's cat is staying with us for the next few weeks. Plus I am fostering an old min pin with no teeth. He likes to bite a lot too, but he does no damage.

Icarus (Icky) is a little grump

Tiramisu hides in the sink. She hates the dogs.


Sport is confused by the new additions.

Life is exhausting and the only time I am content is Sport's massage time in the evenings. Then I can relax with my favorite boy.