Dog Germs™

Hondo blew his coat this month. We’ve never seen a dog blow coat this fully before. We were literally a little embarrassed to be seen with him for a week or two because he looked so homely. He looked like a glue horse with scraggly feathers..

But soon we started noticing that he seems to be putting on weight. His ribs don’t show any more and he looks very healthy. And his hair is growing back quickly and it is very soft now. The photo above was taken after his hair had grown back in for about a week. He just looks like we shaved him. Not too bad at all.

We’ve had Hondo for over 3 months now and he is a great dog and becoming even better. He obeys the “no cat” command, sits very easily, knows “wait” very well and has generally become much more pleasant to walk on a leash. He’s still too rough with Raven but they tolerate each other well and play inside occasionally. Outside Hondo just bowls her over and she doesn’t want any part of it.

The dogs had a banner weekend to turn the corner to March. On Saturday we packed up and drove out to Lake Corpus Christi State Park on a very windy day. First we trekked the river trails below the dam. It was the first time any of us had been there and the trees definitely blocked the wind quite well. Fun was had by all when my arm wasn’t getting pulled out of socket by Hondo’s “monkey on a chain” impersonation. But really he was surprisingly well behaved and of course Raven was a princess as always.

When everybody had enough of the river we drove on over to the State Park and sat in the shade so everyone could cool off. The wind was sustained at about 30-40mph and the temps were in the mid 60s so we all cooled off really quickly. Then it was off for a walk around the park. Hondo had a momentary dominance lapse when he wanted to chase something in a culvert but the “off” command with a little squirt of breath spray got his attention and he was great for the rest of the day. A good time was had by all and the dogs had a good nap on the way home.

On Sunday we hopped on over to Padre Island National Seashore for Hondo’s first beach trip at Padre Island National Seashore. It was an instant success. He started talking when we arrived at the park while we were still driving. He was so excited he just didn’t know exactly what to do when we started walking down the trail toward the beach. He just wanted to run. After he got his feet wet in the Gulf we started off down the beach. A little dune hunting and then a little salt water wading and back to the dunes again. When we stopped to rest on a log, Raven started digging a hole (she likes to dig for sand crabs). Hondo must have had a whiff of whatever she smelled because he pushed her out of her hole and started digging to China. Pretty funny.

A ways down the beach I climbed up on a big log and called Hondo up. Well Raven jumped up instead. While I was trying to guide her down to keep her from injuring her front legs, somehow Hondo’s leash got yanked out of my hand. He started running straight down the beach chased by his retractable leash! I ran behind him calling “Hondo!”. Nothing. “Here!”, nothing. He just didn’t respond to anything and I couldn’t keep up. I thought maybe he was running from me because I was running at him so I stopped and called. Duck kept running after him. He got about 100 yards ahead of us and suddenly looked back to see where we were. I don’t think he could hear us because the wind was blowing about 20mph. and he was upwind. Duck put her hands up in the air and motioned to him to show him where we were. I did the same. For a second he may have been thinking about whether he should come back or continue running but he decided to come back. He ran straight back to Duck and she gave him a big long hug. I told him “good boy” and we both bragged on him for coming back. So he really does want to be our dog. If there was ever a place to run away and not come back it would be the beach wilderness of PINS. It’s about 80 miles of nothing but dunes and scrub and deer and jackrabbits and all kinds of stuff to chase and smell. Well we were very happy and thankful he likes his new pack enough to look for us when he runs ahead. I’m looking into making a “leash leash” to attach the leash to my wrist to prevent future near dog-owner heart attacks. Anyway I started calling him “The Comeback Kid” after that. And he has a new dog-song…

He’s the Comeback Kid
The Comeback Kid
He came back
Yes he did
Oh yes, Oh yes, Oh yes he did
He’s the Comeback, Comeback Kid

We continued our walk after that and he repeatedly looked back to make sure we were there. I think he got a little scared when he saw he was alone. So all-in-all it was a good day. Everybody came home tired and happy. We made Hondo his own place in the bedroom and set up a makeshift bed for him. He didn’t sleep in it but he did use it for a pillow. Raven woke up the next morning happy with no stiffness. Hondo woke up licking and climbing into bed. 73 lbs. standing on a guy’s privates is not the best way to wake up in the morning. But our dogs really love their morning wake-up rituals.

Visit the Lake Corpus Christi and PINS galleries for more pics.

Starting Monday the 23rd we let Hondo sleep in our bedroom. We put up a gate to keep him in so we could monitor him. He seemed very happy to be in the same room with us and he went right to sleep and slept through the morning. Of course when he heard us stirin the morning it was doggie kisses all around. Thanks Hondo, but I prefer to take my shower at night.

Hondo wasn’t really interested in chewing the rawhide bone we offered him for the first week. He didn’t seem to know what it was used for even though Raven was eagerly showing him the method on her own chew bone. The second week I bought them both raw beef knuckle bones and sterilized beef bones which we filled with peanut butter. He liked the peanut butter but the winner was the knuckle bone. He really lunged at it when I offered it to him like he knew what a real bone was. I would bet he has eaten a few scrap bones in his old life. Well after he started chewing on the knuckle he became interested in his other bones as well. Now he really likes chewing on rawhide as well but he’s still mastering the methodology. His favorite method is laying down on his side and chewing without lifting his head. When he discovers that he still has his front dewclaws he’ll surely become super efficient at demolishing bones.

This dog is fast and he’s a real jumper. While Duck and Raven were sitting in the back yard, Hondo jumped right over them with such altitude that he slammed into the wooden fence about 5′ behind them. That dog can sail! So I raised the hog fence in the back yard from about 4′ to 6′. Now I’m not worried about him jumping it. I think he’ll have to dig under if he wants out now. But he’ll be supervised in the back yard for the foreseeable future. He really seems to enjoy sitting outside on cool days when people are out there with him. On warm days he turns right around and wants back in the house. I let him watch (securely tied with a rope) while I raised the fence. Post fence-raising, when he is loose in the back yard he runs around like a lunatic and wants to play fight with Raven and with me. He plays rough but he doesn’t bite people. He’s too rough with Raven though and we have to call him off of her when he gets too rambunctious. He likes to hold her down and put her whole neck in his mout and generally bowl her over. She’s already submissive to him so it’s a little out of line but he has never hurt her. He plays like a puppy that doesn’t know how big he is. He also loves to play fetch with a ball. I am pretty sure that his previous owners must have played fetch with him because he brings the ball back to you after he retrieves it. But he’s no Lab. He’s good for 4 or 5 fetches and then he just looks at the ball like, “You go get it, I’m done”.

Hondo already knows his daily schedule and he knows the paths we take on walks (and there are many of them). He loves putting his feet in the water at the bay. When he comes out from wading he starts running around like a crazy dog afterward. He’s definitely going to be a wader when his stitches heal and he might even turn out to be a swimmer.

On Sunday the 22nd we went to Goose Island State Park for Hondo’s first road trip and first adventure to the woods. He and Raven both did an excellent job using the new dog ramp and neither of them are skiddish after only a few times going up and down it. Raven is the model traveler and Hondo settled into the traveling rhythm very quickly. They both found their places and took turns looking at stuff out the windows and taking short naps.

The woods were a huge hit of course. Raven loves pulling you down the path as fast as you are willing to walk. And Hondo was so excited he just couldn’t run quickly enough back and forth across the trail to smell all the wild smells that must be out there. He was relatively well behaved until he got a good look at his first armadillo. Then his Mr. Hyde personality came out. He started pulling so hard that I could barely control him. He wasn’t listening to commands at all. I’m sure it must have been funny to watch me struggle with this pulling beast but it wasn’t funny to me at the time. This dog is the strongest dog I’ve had. When I did succeed in getting his attention I had to remind him that I am alpha dog and that he has to follow me, not visa-versa.

While we were sitting and resting by Copano bay, Hondo was listening intently to every bird sound,and there were a lot of them. He looked as if everything was completely new and mysterious to him. He became very concerned when he saw a small motorboat approaching us heading for the boat ramp. He followed the boat with his eyes all the way from the horizon to the shore. He’s a very observant and inquisitive dog.

He has a strong prey drive. He wants to chase birds and cats for sure. Obviously this extends to armadillos and I’m sure it will be the same with all small wild animals. But in only 2 weeks he has come a long way in terms of restraint. We use the “off” command and he is getting better and better about leaving cats alone. I think in a couple of months he will be able to walk by a cat without being very interested.

Friday the 27th the stitches came out. Now he doesn’t have to wear the e-collar at night any more. Our regular vet did the honors and he thought Hondo was a great dog and very gentle. The staff all love him. Our vet says he thinks Hondo is right at 2 years old. He gained 3.2lbs. over the last 2 weeks and he now weighs 73.3 lbs. He is looking better every day. His ribs aren’t showing quite so clearly and he feels a little less bony to the touch. I’m betting he’ll be right at 85lbs when he is up to weight.

Visit the Week Two and Goose Island galleries for more pics.

This week we named the new dog “Hondo”. We wanted a macho-manly name. Hondo is a John Wayne movie and character as well as a Texas town and river. Hondo, Texas is where they have the sign that says, “This is God’s country. Don’t drive through like hell”. He looks like a Hondo to me and it’s easy to yell and growl. And he’s as big as one of John Wayne’s horses. So there you go. I dub thee Hondo.

Runner-ups:

• Quinn (ie. “Quinn the Eskimo/The Mighty Quinn”. Doesn’t every Bob Dylan fan name their sled dog Quinn?)
• Titus (ie. New Testament bishop. Common name for large dogs and, though it’s a biblical name, there have been some bad dudes named Titus)
• Quanah (ie. Comanche chief Quanah Parker. Too hard to yell and could be considered disrespectful.)
• Rocky (ie. Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon”. Too common and Duck thought it was from the Stallone movie.)
• Hawk (“Raven” & “Hawk”? maybe too thematic)
• Primo (Spanish and Hawaiian Pigeon meanings. Duck not so enthused about it.)
• Tank (Too jock sounding but it does fit)
• Shotgun Willie (ie. Willie Nelson. People might think we’re crazy. But he is a Red Headed Stranger.)
• Flint (Hard to yell a “FL”)
• Marley (ie. Robert Nesta Marley. Hippie dog name, and isn’t there some movie about a dog named Marley?)
• Victor (ie. Smoke Signals, “Hey Victor, what about your dad?”. Too Latin).

One of his “pet names” is Mr. Bultitude (after the bear in C.S. Lewis’ novel That Hideous Strength. Our new Mal is a big as a bear. The name seems to fit.

Even though in my adult life I have successfully trained 3 great sled dogs, a Cocker Spaniel, and a cat, I bought a dog training book this week called Shelby Marlo’s New Art of Dog Training. It’s really an excellent balanced book. She focuses primarily on using food rewards to encourage good behaviors but she also uses correction when necessary. I think most of what is in the book, such as need for consistency and dominance advice, I have been practicing for many years. But I did pick up the “off” command which Marlo uses for keeping dogs off of objects they might want to pick up as well as keeping them off of people, furniture and other objects that they might want to jump on.

In the past we have used “down” and “drop it” but the “off” command is working very well for us and is less confusing to the dog I think. Marlo also suggests using human breath spray to reinforce the “off” command. One little spray in the mouth really does get a dog’s attention. I think this has made training go much faster and it’s much better than other types of physical discipline. Less than a week of using this method and I don;t need the spray any more. The off command is working with cats and couches and people etc.

Also this week Hondo learned the “here” (which is the command we use for “come”), “sit”, and “wait” commands. He sits very quickly. He will come quickly if you can get his attention. We’re working on “down” command occasionally.

He has to wear an e-collar at night. He sleeps in the kitchen at night and during the day he is locked in the room with me while I work until he had his first bath.

I gave him his first first bath this week. He was surprisingly cooperative. He wasn’t crazy about the idea but he was pretty patient and he ate treats while I scrubbed him with soap. Anyway, he smells and feels so much better now and we also let him into the rest of the house after his bath.He was ecstatic to have free range in the house. He found his place at the foot of the couch and laid on our feet all evening while we relaxed in front of the TV.

We’ve been letting Hondo meet Raven in the back yard and on walks. They have been playing with each other but the new dog is too rough with her and is dominating her relentlessly. They’ve had a minor argument or two but they are starting to like each other. Raven has been very submissive with him but what choice does she have. He’s a lot bigger.

He is also having dominance issues with us but he’s learning quickly. He was trying to mount us occasionally for the first week but he quickly learned that we don’t allow it. Raven did the same thing when we got her. It’s just a sled dog dominance thing. He tries to climb on top of you when you sit down or get too close to his level. The “off” command with a little breath spray squirt nipped that in the bud in about a week. He also puts his nose under your hand and flips it up demanding to be petted. That’s a dominance thing as well and so we are making him sit in order to earn petting and retain our dominant position. I really can’t tell that this dog has ever been trained in his two years on earth. But he’s in boot camp now. Here at the Rock we have a few rules…

He seems to be very needy and follows me from room to room. He sleeps at my feet everywhere. If I go to the bathroom he wants to go too. If I answer the phone he follows me. He’s very affectionate with all people. He gives great lean-hugs, head-burying hugs, and lots of kisses. He is acting happier and looking healthier every day. He’s starting to groom himself.

He wouldn’t eat vegetables the first week. He learned to like carrots after a few days of offering them to him. Wouldn’t eat chicken at first but he tried to scarf down a discarded tortilla while on a walk. He is eating 5 cups of dry food a day and he has a very healthy appetite.

Visit the Week One Gallery for more pics.

Day Two saw a more rested and happy dog. First thing in the morning we all walked down to the bay and took a nice long walk. The new Mal got another look at waves and salt water. This time he got to get his feet wet and even have a little taste. He was very offended that water could be salty. His face was hilarious. The next day he tasted it again but I think he has already learned that salt water is not for drinking. It took two tastes for my previous Malamute to learn about salt water. My Husky still wants to drink salt water after 5 years. She seems to like it and we have to stop her from drinking it. Go figure!

We let him meet Raven again today while we were at the park. They both ran at each other, reared up like bucking broncos and hit their chests together in rowdy play. They were being a little rough so we only let them play for a few seconds. But we were encouraged that they didn’t growl at each other this time like they did in the store.

Fortunately Duck had Monday off so we had a nice quiet day of walking, eating, resting, and lots of petting. The new dog’s fleas were gone now but he was still filthy and he was shedding undercoat like crazy. There were dog hair tumbleweeds all over the kitchen floor. The kitchen floor looked pretty bad.

We were still thinking about names. Duck had been calling him “Puddin” but I knew he needed a good macho-manly name since he was such a big macho manly dog. I was calling him “Boy” for now. It didn’t matter much because it was almost impossible to get his attention outside no matter what you called. But he did respond to whistles and he was already learning to come when called (if you could get his attention first).

The new dog was still very tired but he was on the right path now for health and happiness. He seemed very enthused about his new surroundings and his new routine. And he wasn’t stingy with the doggie kisses and lean-hugs.

Visit the Day Two Gallery for more pics.

On Saturday night, February 14, 2009 our TAMR liaison emailed to tell us about a Malamute in a shelter in Corpus Christi. He had been at PetSmart all day Saturday and she sent some photos taken by another person in Corpus who had been looking for a rescue Mal. Amazingly, the TAMR people learned of this dog from the Doberman rescue guy who inspected our fence. From the photos he looked like the exact dog we were hoping for.

We woke up early Sunday morning and were at PetSmart in time to see the shelter volunteers walk the Malamute into the store. He was beautiful and “the little woman” wanted him as soon as she saw him. So she ran in to tell the rescue people she was interested in him. So we both met him through his cage bars and he was very affectionate toward us.

He was obviously very underweight with rib bones showing through his coat and backbone protruding like a ridge from head to tail. We also discovered that he was heartworm positive. And he was covered more completely with fleas than any dog either of us had ever seen. To top it all off he had been neutered only 2 days previous. We just couldn’t leave him in his cage. The only thing left to do was to introduce him to our Husky to see if they would get along. Well they didn’t. When we let them meet in the store they both growled at each other. But it really was a very stressful scene on a Sunday at PetSmart. Not only were there about 30 little yippy dogs all incessantly barking from their cages, but there were all kinds of dogs on leashes and a constant stream of shoppers interrupting our crucial canine first “meet and greet” mission to tell us how to raise a malamute or how to introduce dogs. Everybody in the store that day was an expert on Malamutes and general dog psychology, and to tell the truth, even I felt like biting somebody so I couldn’t blame the dogs for being a little testy. So we decided that we would just take the new dog home and introduce him to our Husky in a quiet, non-stressful environment. Worse-case scenario would be that we would get him up to weight and train him a little to make him suitable for a new home.

We lured him into the truck with a bone and when we got him home we made a little place for him in the kitchen where he could be isolated and rest. He was so very tired and so very thankful that we had rescued him from the shelter. It turns out that the shelter took him in as an “owner surrender” on Thursday. On Friday they had him neutered. On Saturday he was in the cage at PetSmart all day. The shelter volunteers said he stood up all day Saturday. On Sunday morning, when we met him his legs were weak and shaking. At home we noticed that his neutering incision didn’t look quite right. He was completely exhausted so we let him rest in the kitchen and made an appointment with our vet for the next morning. We took him on a couple of quiet walks. In the afternoon we took him for a short walk to the Bay park near our house. There he got his first look at salt water and waves. He was fascinated by the wave action and wore a very funny and inquisitive face while he tried to process what moving water was. After the afternoon walk he rolled over for us to pet his belly and we got a good look at his incision. It looked very infected and gaping with obvious discolored discharge. We couldn’t let it go overnight.

We hated to do it to him when he was so tired but we took him into our emergency animal clinic immediately. The vet said it was very good that we brought him in because indeed his incision was very infected. They had to put him under and clean out his wound. They also had to add a couple of additional stitches because the wound was too open. He went home with antibiotics, an e-collar, and a pill that killed all of his fleas within 24 hours.

He weighed 70.2 lbs and stood about 25.5″ at the shoulders. The emergency vet guessed he was probably two years old or less. She said his heart and lungs sounded very good and he was “a very athletic boy”. (The shelter thought he was around 3 years old and called him a Malamute/Husky mix. The shelter’s vet wrote on the rabies vaccine certificate that he was about 1.5 years old and a Husky). We don’t see the Husky in him ourselves. Judging by his appearance and temperament we think he is all Malamute.

So the rest of the night he slept, ate a good meal, took his medicine, and got lots of love and reassurance.

Visit the Day One Gallery for more pics.

So we decided we wanted another Malamute. We started talking about it around November or December 2008 and by early February we decided that we would really like a new Malamute companion for us and our Siberian Husky. We prayed about it, as we do with all big decisions. And I always like to put in a special order since God has always seen fit to humor my preferences in the past. So we wanted a full blooded Malamute, a puppy or an adult under 2-3 years of age, a “wolfy” look to his coloration and markings, close to AKC standard size at around 85lbs, and a very affectionate disposition which we have learned to associate with Malamutes.

We considered buying an AKC registered Malamute puppy. We had rescued three sled dogs in the past but we had never raised a sled dog puppy before. We did a lot of research about reputable Malamute breeders in Texas. We contacted every Texas breeder we could find. Most of them responded to our email or phone call. A few were helpful and kind beyond anything we could have expected, offering to answer Malamute questions for us and generally sharing the excitement of our puppy search. None of the reputable breeders we spoke to, however, expected to have any litters available before October 2009. While we were willing to wait for the right puppy from the right breeder, we were also considering adopting a rescue malamute.

Our previous experience with rescued arctic breed dogs has always been very positive. In the past we have rescued a Samoyed, an Alaskan Malamute, and a Siberian Husky. All became very special members of the family after a little love and training. So while we were talking to breeders we were also talking to the folks at Texas Alaskan Malamute Rescue Association (TAMR). TAMR has a very stringent qualification process. I joked with my friends that they wanted DNA and blood samples before they would approve a person to adopt one of their dogs. It really isn’t too far from the truth. After a lengthy phone conversation with a TAMR volunteer and lots of emails back and forth they remained concerned about the condition of our backyard fence. So they sent over a local man who runs a Doberman rescue to inspect our fence. Well after the inspection they still wanted photos of the fence and we were beginning to become concerned that they were not going to approve us to adopt one of their dogs despite our 30 years of experience with rescuing and rehabilitation sled dogs. But a funny and propitious thing happened along the way…