Nico and the Vet

This post is actually less about Nico and more about Nico's vet. Vets get a bad name. They are often accused of trying to make the most money out of a pet owner as possible and giving an animal every test under the sun in order to do that. There are many vets that are like that but not all of them. My vet is not like that. I don't have pet insurance for Nico because of the vast number of things it wouldn't cover anyway. Instead I have money saved for him. My vet knows this and as a result always tries to do things the cheapest way that she can while still doing the best thing for Nico's overall health.

Nico has allergies and he bites at his feet as a result. It looked like a skin scrape would be required to work out what he was allergic to and that was booked in. But here is the fabulous thing; his vet changed her mind. She decided it wasn't worth it. She knew it was expensive but more importantly she didn't want to cause either myself or Nico undue stress and in his case, pain. The treatment requires scraping at the dog's skin almost until they are bleeding to get a suitable skin sample. Nico would either have to be awake for this or go through a sedation which is worrying for me and certainly not fun for him. The vet changed her mind, gave up the money that procedure would have gained the surgery which was a nice sum, and decided to try him on shampoo instead. The shampoo is expensive as far as shampoos go but way cheaper than the scrape and certainly less emotionally draining on me or my boy. If it doesn't work other steps will need to be taken but I think bringing this to light is important.

Nico's vet seems to put the animal first and I can go into the surgery feeling that Nico will achieve the best care in the best way. I can go into the room feeling the vet cares and not like they are plotting to take me for everything I have. From talking to friends that seems to be a rare thing. 

Sam's Best Friend

Well, maybe not my BEST friend but he's certainly up there is my Nico. He has been through his grass ban and today was the first day the weather and circumstance made it possible to go out to the quarry together. It was wonderful to see him get so excited about it all! We were there over an hour with him sniffing at everything, going back and forth, and just getting to know the place again. I let him control our pace and just plodded along behind him really, enjoying the crisp air and the silence. I think he has really missed being able to run around on grass and take his time investigating his environment rather than just being walked around concrete pathways to protect his wee feet. It was for the best but wasn't the most riveting experience for either of us. The most interesting thing he will meet on our usual journeys is a house cat and the odd rabbit. If he is lucky he will see a squirrel dart across the path.

Nico with a treat post tail brushing. 

At the quarry he can see all sorts of creatures buzzing about and darting around when they think we can't see. He is not a chaser. He shows no interest in approaching everything but likes to sit and watch and learn. Cats he loves to walk up to and kiss on the nose because he lives with one but he always walks happily and his wee tail drops if they decide they want nothing to do with him. He's a good chap like that. He'd rather make pals with a cat than a dog really.

He can't 'tell' me that he's happy to be back at the quarry but his body language says it all. When you have a dog, they can tell you all sorts if you just look and listen in other ways. He is flat out knackered this evening after his adventures in the wild followed by a rather rugged tail brushing session but he seemed to have fun and that is so important to me. I don't have a dog for the sake of having a dog. I want him to be happy and take as much from life as possible. I want him to meet other animals, run around, have fun. I'm willing to brush the tugs out when he gets his tail wrapped up in a branch and pick up his poop every day. I knew what was I getting into getting Nico but I don't think I ever expected to get so much BACK in return. Seeing him happy makes me happy.

Of Mites and Haircuts

When I have pets, they tend not to get ill very often but do tend to get weird and wonderful problems. Nico has been diagnosed with an allergy to grass mites and this British summer has been wonderful for the little buggers to breed. He constantly wants to chew at his own feet despite the mites themselves being long gone now. He bites because it itched before and it itches now because he bites. It is a vicious circle. Steroids are an option but he would need them every couple of weeks until October and I don't want to hurt his overall health in the long run.

So, at the moment the answers are no more grass until October, a spray that gets rubbed into his feet until he stops munching on them and to make sure the spray actually gets in and things are less able to latch onto his wee feet, bald legs. He has a poodle coat. He looks like he is wearing pantaloons. It isn't a good look. He looks very big because of all his fur and then he has this skinny wee white legs poking out of the bottom. It is a wee shame but hopefully will work out for him. I just want to balance his comfort now and his overall health in the best way that I can. Unfortunately, the vet said he should get his feet shaved asap and my groomer couldn't see him asap so I had to get in there with my scissors. It took me 2 hours, looked like a small animal had exploded across my living room and left him looking very bedraggled but I got it done in the end. It was an adventure to be sure and I'd like to think it brought us closer together or something. Luckily the groomer did tidy him up in the end and he is all booked in to get a full groom soon so the rest of his coat can get cut off and he will look less....out of proportion.

'They' are talking again

Owning Nico has given me another rude reminder that people always like to think that they know better, even when their opinion is neither wanted nor asked for. Everyone thinks they know how to raise my dog and more importantly that they have the right to tell me this. They don’t. The fact is, Nico is my puppy and it isn’t like I’m going into this blind. I have been around dogs before with family and I’ve done my research. I’ve talked to behaviorists  vets plus I’ve read books and blogs and papers on the matter. I’m probably in the minority given I’ve done that much. I don’t pluck my facts from thin air when I defend my choices with Nico but the fact is I shouldn’t have to.

I think many people believe that they have learned about one breed of dog and therefore know about them all but a Pug is very different from a Labrador and a Poodle a very different kettle of fish than a Dalmatian. Different dogs have different needs and capabilities and all my readings and experience with dogs have taught me that I need to respect that. I’m not an expert on my dog and I’m certainly not an expert on yours but I’m not trying to be. I’m trying to learn and do the best for my pup. I’m learning about his breed. I’m trying to find his limits. To me, you can’t even compare Nico to adults of the same breed because Nico is not an adult, he is a child. His bones have yet to set and he is still learning about the world around him. He isn’t even in his ‘teenage’ years by dog standards. No, he won’t be walking the same miles every day that an older dog of the same breed might enjoy and he certainly won’t need, or want, the exercise regime of a working dog. He is a little dog, with little feet, that has his own needs and I aim to meet them and not the expectations of others.

So what is important? Loving him. That is what I really think. 

Nico's First Haircut

before the cut, and hardly able to see.

Growing up, I have been around a decent number of babies. I myself have three brothers that are a lot younger than me and remember their toothless drooling stages well. Parents often get emotional over their child’s first haircut with some even keeping a lock of the baby’s hair and growing up I found it to be utterly ridiculous. People would talk of what a big moment it was in the child’s life and how something was different afterwards and I scoffed inside because the baby would still drool and try to shove a crayon in its mouth when it got home. It is just a haircut right? People get them all the time and it is not like the child is only ever going to get one so in my eyes there was nothing to get worked up or fussed about.

Then Nico needed clipped.

Suddenly I got it parents of the world, I just got it.

I booked him for his first grooming session when he was 18 weeks old and found myself getting steadily more nervous about the whole thing. Part of it I put down to my General Anxiety Disorder and the way everything gets me wound up but there was something more to it, something that just felt like it would have been there regardless.  There were the normal things to get anxious about, of course, like how would he be in the groomer’s bath considering his escape attempts at home and would he sit still long enough to get clipped?  I knew the woman would know what she was doing but still I worried he was going to move at the wrong moment and get a chunk taken out of him. Nico is just as unpredictable as a human child in that way.

Then, there was the fact that he would look different. He would be moving on to another stage in his floppy eared life and not be a right baby any more. He gets more independent and bigger every day and while it is amazing to see, there is also a feeling of loss in there too. I gain a wonderful personality a little more each day but at the same time his ‘puppyhood’ gets chipped away. This was going to be a rather large chip I slowly realised.  I’m still pretty sure that the sharpness of his claws and the fact that he was half blinded by his own coat was what made me stick to my guns.

When he was younger I was all for letting Nico’s coat grow out so he would look like the stereotypical Lhasa Apso dog you see on the front cover of books, but I decided against that as soon as he was getting outside. Nico is fond of rolling around in grass, and brushing him after that with a short coat was hard enough work as it was. Then came the fact that he would get his claws stuck in his coat very easily despite the brush going through his coat with no problem at all. Apart from the fact that it is easier on me if his coat is at a shorter length, Nico seemed to be getting genuinely irritated with his coat as it grew longer and since his clipping has seemed more content. He can see, which is a bonus.  The getting his foot stuck to his own head two minutes after a brush did play a part in my decision though. It is very easy for people to say ‘if his coat was brushed properly that wouldn’t happen’ but he is a puppy. He likes to roll around like a fool as I said and that doesn’t bode well for his perfectly brushed locks.

His nails needed clipped and I confess getting the groomer to do that is because of a lack of confidence on my part. I have the clippers required but when I try I just can’t tell if I am hurting him or not and while I can afford to get his nails done with his trim I don’t want to risk it. We walked along and it started raining halfway along but hey, he was getting a bath so I didn’t feel too bad about presenting a drip to the woman. He was a happy drip.

I was able to see everything that would be used and proceedings were explained before the choice came as to whether to stay with the wee man or leave. Nico was perfectly content to wander around the room sniffing things and didn’t seem all that aware of my presence now he had new things to explore. He had the previous week gotten a hold of my glasses and chewed them, putting some scratches on the lenses. (We had words about who they belong to after that and since they have been safe) I decided to leave Nico in capable hands and see about getting some new windows as it were. If he was going to squeal the whole time, I wasn’t sure I could handle hearing it and I admit I took the cowardly route out and toddled off down the road. However, I was assured this was a good thing and must once again bring in the dog to toddler comparison. If was there, Nico might have tried to get back to me at the waiting area and been constantly aware of what I was doing or how I felt about things and he would probably be nervous enough about the giant buzzing clippers coming towards him without me feeling just as, if not more, scared in the corner. So off I went.

right after. totally different dog!

I returned to find an adorable puppy sitting on the woman’s lap at the computer some hour and 15 minutes later and did a double take. He looked nothing like the dog I had deposited there just over an hour before! As you can see from the pictures, he is far lighter now. I adore being able to see his eyes and it was a rather emotional moment to see him hop down and come running all bright eyed. He just felt so soft and I guess I felt a deep sense of relief that no meteor had hit earth because of my choice or something. I was assured the groomer would do what Nico allowed her to and not force him and cause him distress and gave herself 2 hours to work, thinking she wouldn’t need it. She was right and Nico was a star that behaved perfectly. I must add, it was wonderful to get his bum hair cut. People don’t like talking about it but little dogs with big coats can get poop stuck to their bums and cleaning that up is about as much fun as changing a nappy.

I just kept looking at him for most of the remainder of the day. As a reward for good behaviour I got him a bone and that meant he just sat at my feet for most of the afternoon while I fawned and stared. They don’t warn you about going all soft at your pup’s first haircut that is for sure. It was a very emotional experience in many ways and yes I admit to being sappy over it all. He’s just so damn cute though, I can’t help it!

Sam and Nico