My Brutus Boy is such a nervous Nelly! It just breaks my heart. His nervous habit of choice is licking, and it isn't like he chooses to lick my floors and clean them up, or clean his whole body. No, my boy licks one spot on his body, over and over and over until he literally just can't lick it anymore.
This time it started with Don leaving to go deer hunting. As silly as this sounds, Brutus is very much a two parent dog. When dad doesn't come home between 4:00 and 5:00 (which is when Brutus starts sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for him) there is obviously a big reason to get nervous and start to worry. He gets a very sad face, and will pace around for a while. When he finally gives up and comes to bed, he lets out several big sighs and lays his head down on his paws and looks at me like he's saying "where's my dad, and how can you possibly just be laying there like that"?
To add insult to injury, I went to my mom's for Thanksgiving. I was only gone for the day, but since I would be gone the whole day, and Brutus couldn't come with, I had to kennel him. The kennel we take him to is great, and he's been there before, so it isn't like we're just dropping him off some place that he's never been. Actually, I had taken him in there a couple days prior to his drop off day just to say "hello" and get a belly rub and a treat to ease the stress of drop off day. But, he's used to getting a good ten hours of sleep a night on a king size bed in total peace and quiet, and at the kennel I'm sure there were dogs that cried all night for their families. Also, his kennel is located inside of PetSmart, and the store itself is closed on holidays, so I had to drop him off the night before Thanksgiving, and pick him up the day after, which meant two nights away from home. So now we have dad gone, and staying at a kennel. Double stress!!
Don came home from Thanksgiving and picked Brutus up from the kennel, which was like Christmas, but two days later I am hit by a Mac truck that happens to be carrying the flu in it, and honestly, I'm still not recovered, so he hasn't had a walk from me in quite a few days. So not good! He's used to getting walked close to every day, if for no other reason just to mark all of his territories. That's important boy stuff!! Now we're up to triple stress!!!
Now throw in Don taking him to the lake last weekend. Honestly, he was doing the right thing because Brutus LOVES being at the lake, but Don had plans on Friday night and Saturday night, so you guessed it, Brutus was home alone. Lick lick lick.
So this is where we are today. Fair warning, it isn't pretty. It's hard to tell, but this is his hind paw. He was very fussed up about me even taking a picture of it, as I'm sure it's very sore. I've been trying to put antibiotic cream on it, and a few times I've put a sock over it, but since he's licking it all the time, I'm sure the antibiotic cream isn't doing a whole lot of good. You can probably all imagine how long the sock stays on! I contacted our family friend Cori who is a veterinary assistant, and she thinks we can "lick" this thing at home. Pun totally intended. Somehow, I need to distract him long enough for the antibiotic cream to soak in. She also suggested getting one of those cone collar things to put around his head if he won't leave it alone. That would be great fun! Honestly, I can see a couple of the cats taking great advantage of that one!! Funniest home videos, here we come.
So, keep your fingers crossed, or paws crossed. Whatever works. A trip to the vet to look at something that "hurts" would definitely mean sedation for Brutus, or death for the vet. :( We'll keep you posted.
This time it started with Don leaving to go deer hunting. As silly as this sounds, Brutus is very much a two parent dog. When dad doesn't come home between 4:00 and 5:00 (which is when Brutus starts sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for him) there is obviously a big reason to get nervous and start to worry. He gets a very sad face, and will pace around for a while. When he finally gives up and comes to bed, he lets out several big sighs and lays his head down on his paws and looks at me like he's saying "where's my dad, and how can you possibly just be laying there like that"?
To add insult to injury, I went to my mom's for Thanksgiving. I was only gone for the day, but since I would be gone the whole day, and Brutus couldn't come with, I had to kennel him. The kennel we take him to is great, and he's been there before, so it isn't like we're just dropping him off some place that he's never been. Actually, I had taken him in there a couple days prior to his drop off day just to say "hello" and get a belly rub and a treat to ease the stress of drop off day. But, he's used to getting a good ten hours of sleep a night on a king size bed in total peace and quiet, and at the kennel I'm sure there were dogs that cried all night for their families. Also, his kennel is located inside of PetSmart, and the store itself is closed on holidays, so I had to drop him off the night before Thanksgiving, and pick him up the day after, which meant two nights away from home. So now we have dad gone, and staying at a kennel. Double stress!!
Don came home from Thanksgiving and picked Brutus up from the kennel, which was like Christmas, but two days later I am hit by a Mac truck that happens to be carrying the flu in it, and honestly, I'm still not recovered, so he hasn't had a walk from me in quite a few days. So not good! He's used to getting walked close to every day, if for no other reason just to mark all of his territories. That's important boy stuff!! Now we're up to triple stress!!!
Now throw in Don taking him to the lake last weekend. Honestly, he was doing the right thing because Brutus LOVES being at the lake, but Don had plans on Friday night and Saturday night, so you guessed it, Brutus was home alone. Lick lick lick.
So this is where we are today. Fair warning, it isn't pretty. It's hard to tell, but this is his hind paw. He was very fussed up about me even taking a picture of it, as I'm sure it's very sore. I've been trying to put antibiotic cream on it, and a few times I've put a sock over it, but since he's licking it all the time, I'm sure the antibiotic cream isn't doing a whole lot of good. You can probably all imagine how long the sock stays on! I contacted our family friend Cori who is a veterinary assistant, and she thinks we can "lick" this thing at home. Pun totally intended. Somehow, I need to distract him long enough for the antibiotic cream to soak in. She also suggested getting one of those cone collar things to put around his head if he won't leave it alone. That would be great fun! Honestly, I can see a couple of the cats taking great advantage of that one!! Funniest home videos, here we come. So, keep your fingers crossed, or paws crossed. Whatever works. A trip to the vet to look at something that "hurts" would definitely mean sedation for Brutus, or death for the vet. :( We'll keep you posted.
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