Week 16

It has been a period of ups and downs since the last entry, thankfully I have recovered from all the health problems but there was the whole Christmas/ New Year period to deal with.

Poor Lewi had a bad Christmas Eve. We went to visit my mother. His travel sickness has not got any better and the journey of just over an hour to get there was not very pleasant for him. Mind you, once we were there, within minutes he was totally recovered, another garden to explore (and whose destruction he could plan), Mum making a fuss of him and nice fresh turkey giblets to enjoy. There was the unpleasantness of the 10 minute drive to my step-dad’s nursing home, but once there, after a short wait on his own in the car while permission was sought, inside to face the terrible ordeal of being fussed, stroked, patted, cuddled and given bits of cake by every nurse and resident of the home. Oh it was so difficult for him, but he faced it bravely.

After spending last year’s holiday period in Rio visiting my youngest son and all the family being there, this was going to be a very, very quiet and lonely Xmas, so a last minute invitation to spend the day with the in laws in Halifax was most welcome. Unfortunately, Lewi had to stay at home. Charlotte did look after him though. Boxing Day was another few hours without me. When I got back at around tea time, Charlotte was there trying to clear up a mess. He’d had an upset tum. He had another bout in the night. I am not sure what had caused it. It might have been the rich food (giblets) in too large a quantity, or the upset of me being away on 2 consecutive days. I had given him a squirt of a herbal anti flea and tick spray on Xmas Eve (having found a little visitor on his back), maybe that had been the cause. It was all over in about 24 hours though.

Since Xmas we have had some excellent walks around Milton Keynes. There have been a couple of exciting moments; he very bravely decided to walk out on the ice of the small nearby lake. He was scared by the slipping and sliding around and I was terrified that the ice would break and I would have to go in and save him. The part where he was – just 2 or 3 metres out - is only about waist deep but at sub zero temperatures it was a horrifying prospect. He had his first close encounter with horses this week. I hadn’t realised that they were in the far side of the field that we were passing, a quick under the fence, through the bushes and a run over the field. Another nail biting moment. But to be in a big open field and watch him running free, or in woodland where he is sniffing through undergrowth, following  invisible scent trails that’s what life with a dog means.

We had a funny evening a couple of days back. I had called him up onto the settee with me. He was laying down, graciously accepting my stroking, then decided to put his paw on top of my hand. Remembering the pop dog psychology, I thought “He’s trying to establish dominance”, so I put my hand on top of his paw. There followed a battle of wills lasting several minutes, each of us trying to be the one whose paw was on top. I won and he decided that he’d just get down on the floor again. I had music playing and suddenly a rather loud track came on. No interest in being top dog then, he was straight across to me and tucked himself under my legs – fair weather leader!

The last couple of days have not been so easy. It started yesterday when he seemed not to be interested in his food at all. No matter what I tried, he did not want to eat at all. It wasn’t until early evening that he let me know what was wrong. Biting anything and everything, stroking the side of his face with his paw. I could not believe we were having more teeth come through. The blood on the toys that he chewed was the real give away. One of the adult teeth is coming through without the older baby tooth coming out. I can see an expensive dentist visit coming up! I tried to put Bonjela on, but he didn’t want it. (That is a major understatement) I knew that the Bonjela would reduce the pain and discomfort, all he could see was that he was in pain and his human was holding him down and trying to force foul smelling stuff into his mouth. He was quite scared. The end result was perfectly predictable - a very bloody hand, but on the third attempt the Bonjela went in! He does seem to have forgiven me at last, but we are off to the vet tomorrow for his adolescent check. I will have to ask his opinion of the tooth.