Sprite (our 15 year old puppy) has quite a regimen in the morning… or should I say “I” have that regimen?!? She keeps me on my toes… everything has to be punctual, and everything in the correct order. (She didn’t used to be like this!)
When it is wet outside, I have to carry her over the muddy area of the yard which is right up against the house. Our oak trees provide too much shade for the grass to thrive. When we moved into our house over sixteen years ago, we made sure to plant evergreen oaks so that they would shade the house. We simply hadn’t thought that too much shade makes grass difficult to sustain. We had wonderfully thick grass until our oaks grew to be so enormous that they now provide the shade we wanted from them, at the price of grass.
Anyway, Sprite loves the feeling of the mud in between her toes (or should that be paw pads?) Of course, on days when it is raining, this is a big drag for me. I have to stay right with her while she’s outside, unless I want to give her a bath… That’s how much she loves the feeling of mud.
After she comes inside, we get down to business! By this, I mean that I have to cajole her to swallow two very small pills. Sprite doesn’t know any traditional dog tricks… She doesn’t roll over on command, she doesn’t “shake” her paw with anyone, she doesn’t even sit on command. But, she does have one trick>>> She can find a little pill inside of whatever you wrap that doggone thing in… She will peel the food right off of the pill inside her mouth, and then spit it out.
I have tried to outsmart her, but, apparently I don’t have dog psychology down! She is the one with the psychology-thing going! She knows that if she spits the pill out, she will get another (and then another!) morsel of food with the same little pill. And she takes these two little pills in the a.m. and then again in the p.m. Double the fun for me!
Maria BearMountainBooks.com says
Have you tried peanut butter? It’s sticker. They can lick the stuff off (and will now and then) but it might be a little easier.
Oh the things we do for our pets!!! We still haven’t gotten feral cat Scamp to believe we aren’t trying to eat her for dinner!!!
Anne says
Get Sprite a “pill popper”…it is like a pea shooter and the pill goes right down their little throats easy cheese and then give the treat…they will outsmart us every time and that little gadget has saved me commiting homicide of the pet more than once.
Also…plant Mondo Grass under the trees. It is short, doesn’t need mowing and fills in those muddy places really nice. I would love to have my oaks now. They are so beautiful.
Now that I have changed your life for the better….lol…my work here is done. LOL
Shirley says
Oh my goodness do I remember those days trying to give my furkids medicine. It’s not an easy job and they, just like Sprite would find the pill, spit it out and happily eat whatever I stuck it in. I did find using peanut butter to hide a pill worked. I used to play a game, 1 lick of peanut butter no pill, then a lick of peanut butter with a pill and a lick of peanut butter without a pill quick after the pill. They are just too darn smart. I don’t envy you with the mud, I guess Sprite thinks it’s like a day at the Spa with a mud bath.
Sandra says
Yeah, sounds like our house with our two “grandchildren”…2 little yorkie poo brothers named Guinness and Jameson…who get away with so much more than we ever allowed our own daughter (now age 30) to get away with….spoiled rotten little boys sure do give us a lot of love and happy tail waggin!! And they only backtalk some of the time. Such good therapy for the tired old soul, aren’t they?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Yes, Maria, we tried crunchy peanut butter for a very short while… Even with Sprite missing several teeth (due to old age) she was eventually able to find the pills and push them out of her mouth. I still don’t know how she was able to differentiate between the chunks of peanuts and the pills! (We also discovered that she is allergic to peanut butter, along with such other things as GRASS!!!)
Poor Scamp! Sounds like she is going to show you just how single-minded cats can be! You would think that on the unusually cold days that we have experienced here in southern Texas, that she would “get over it”… but I remember back to when I had a cat… She absolutely knew that she was the boss in our relationship!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Anne, my husband read your comment about the pill popper and thinks that might be the way to go. He sent me a link for one that gets very good reviews. So, I will be getting one to try.
I so appreciated your “commit homicide” comment! Now that Sprite’s hearing is so bad, I have to raise my voice when I want her to hear me. But, I have to admit that during our pill rituals, I raise it even more!
My husband also looked up the Mondo grass and sent me a link. (He’s very good at sending me links!) Our house is built pretty much on a rock… which means there is not very much top soil. I hope that the Mondo grass doesn’t need a lot of soil to thrive… I’m pretty sure that we are going to go that route.
Thanks for both suggestions…
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Shirley, I have tried the “one without the pill, next with the pill, one without…” trick. Actually, my husband came up with it while I was visiting my daughter at school for a few days. It worked >>> for a while!
Hmmm… I will try to look at her love for mud as simply a “day at the spa” type of relaxation and fun for her!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sandra, my niece has two “teacup” Yorkie Poos. They are absolutely precious!
I have a friend here in town who lives alone… Her husband left her after 25 years of marriage, and her second child just moved out a year ago. I don’t know how she can stand not having a pet! I have suggested that she get a cat (since she could leave him/her at home alone – all day – while she is at work) but she insists that she likes the freedom of coming and going as she pleases. Every time she talks about how lonely she is, I wonder why she doesn’t get a pet. (I don’t suggest getting a pet anymore, because she is not at all interested.) I truly think a pet would help.
PS>>> I know that she doesn’t mind me “talking” about this, otherwise, I wouldn’t…
Maria BearMountainBooks.com says
Danna,
Didn’t you say you had oaks? That is likely your problem, not the shade. Oak trees have a chemical in their leaves to prevent seeds from germinating–so if you do try a grass, you’ll want something that is a pallet, not in seed form. I don’t know that you’ll have much luck getting most kinds of seeds to germinate (it’s not true of all seeds, but I certainly don’t know the grasses that will grow under oaks!!) Maybe some web research.
We tried buffalo grass. It does much better away from the oak trees. The St. Augustine (weed, more than grass) grows fairly well under our oaks, but it’s a creeper grass.
Good luck!!! (Junior loves mud too. Cats are supposed to hate water, but so long as there is soil with the water, he’s all over it!)
Anne says
So glad our trial and many errors paid off to pay it forward. Good luck to you and Sprite.
I lost my little terrier last summer and I can tell you that those were some lonely months before I got my new puppy. I cannot imagine not having my pets. They keep me sane.
Mondo grass almost sits on top of the soil so I think you will be ok on your rock. It fills in great and short enough to walk on. Very durable. A ground cover more than a grass, really.
Please let me know how the two suggestions work out for you.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Anne, I just tried putting Sprite’s pills in “Idahoan Baby Reds Flavored Mashed Potatoes” (a package mix), and it worked. There a little chunks of potato in the mix, which fooled even the master of pill-tricks! She actually spit out one of the chunks of potato, instead of her pill. We’ll see how long this good fortune lasts!