Friday, February 28, 2014

Doggie Daycare

Since Maya started to have some greeting issues, I have been trying to find better ways to socialize her with other dogs. Lucky, another Shiba Inu owner recommended a daycare that "gets" Shibas and Maya was able to pass their evaluation last September. After a few months of struggle with her health issues, she's finally out of the cone, got her new "quick release" collar, took the required Bordetella vaccine, and was ready for her first day of school in mid-December.


When we arrived at the daycare, the owner/trainer walked her into the room while I watched over the counter. She growled a little at the dogs that came close to her, but didn't snap or lunge. The trainer took her leash off, and after peeing on the carpet (how embarrassing) she sort of settled in.


That evening, Maya's daddy went to pick her up and was greeted by a different trainer. When he asked how Maya did, she gave him a long sigh and a big head shake. She said Maya basically growled at every dog coming close to her, got angry when any other dog received a treat, and even got mad when she accidentally walked into another dog herself... Uhh! 

Being super concerned, I wrote to the owner to ask for more information the next day, and got the response:
"Maya does not like dogs brushing next to her, so she will show teeth and growl. She tends to go after dogs who sniff her as well. She did not play with dogs but she also was not in a corner. Maya laid around with the group as a typical Sheba would.

I am willing to have her keep coming in for half days for her to be more comfortable and you as well. She does needs to be socialized more, I believe."
Well, at least she's not expelled.


Two days later, I took her to the daycare again. At the end of the day when I picked her up, I got some surprising good news. I was told that she only growled at one dog throughout the day and "he probably deserves it". Whew... Since then, we continued to take her there for half day (6 hours) daycare once a week and heard nothing but positive comments. Earlier this month, she even stayed there for a full week while we traveled to Asia. 

In the past few months, we stopped going to dog parks, not only because she would just wonder around looking bored, but would also tend to get itchy afterwards. At daycare, she still just wonders around and doesn't really "play" that much, but at least we don't need bore ourselves out watching, and since it's indoors, no worries about worsening her allergies (the wounds on her face actually all healed up nicely during her one week stay). I don't really care if she "plays" with the other dogs or not, I am satisfied as long as she's comfortable in the environment. After a few trips, she actually did find a few dogs she likes to play with.

All in all, I am really glad we found a place where she can safely interact with other dogs and someone to look after her while we travel. And of course, a tired out pup at the end of the day is always a bonus. 


Thursday, February 27, 2014

Monthly Expenses: October - December 2013

It's pretty obvious I've been slacking on updating my blog these days. Between work, travel, and having fun with the dog, there's really not that much time to sit down put my thoughts in writing. However, I do still keep track of my monthly expenses, so maybe from now on I'll make these posts bi-monthly or quarterly... We'll see.

October 2013
  • Accessories: $36
  • Food: $85
  • Grooming: $13
  • Supplements: $18
  • Toys: $7
  • Vet & Medical: $260
TOTAL: $419

November 2013
  • Accessories: $9
  • Food: $118
  • Supplements: $34
  • Toys: $8
  • Training: $331
  • Treats & Chews: $11
  • Vet & Medical: $614
TOTAL: $1,125

December 2013
  • Accessories: $12
  • Daycare & Boarding: $200
  • Food: $114
  • Supplements: $9
  • Treats & Chews: $15
  • Vet & Medical: $158
TOTAL: $508

YTD TOTAL: $4,994


Accessories

For accessories, Maya got a new collar and name tag, because daycare requires them to wear "quick release" collars. She also got a new mat for her crate, to replace the blanket that never stays in place.

After reading stories about dogs in car accidents, I decided to let her ride in the back seat instead of in the trunk of my hatchback, so I got her a doggie seat-belt that locks to the seat-belt buckle of the car and attaches to her harness on the other end. She wasn't very pleased of the new restrictions...


Daycare & Boarding

As part of our effort to better socialize her, we started to take her to daycare at least once a week. The facility is located near my office, so the half-day (6 hours) daycare works good for us. After paying full price for the first stay, I got her a 10 half-day package.


Food

For food, we had some trial and error. I tried putting her back on kibbles because she wasn't doing well on raw, so I got her a bag of Nature's Variety Instinct Salmon Meal Formula. Well, her poop was nasty since day one. We thought it was because of the meds she was on, but after 3 weeks and being off the meds, it was still bad, so we had to stop.

I took the leap of faith and put her back on the Honest Kitchen Zeal. We stopped feeding her Zeal because sweet potatoes and eggs were listed as her "trigger foods" by the Glacier Peak Allergy Test. However, it has always been the food she was eating during her "best days". On the 2nd day she switched back, her poop firmed up, so she's been on it ever since. We purchased a 4 lbs box and two 10 lbs boxes during this period.


Grooming

One day, while Maya's daddy was walking her with the cone of shame on, a lady told him she used a shampoo on her itchy dog and an army of fleas came out. She recommended us to try the shampoo on Maya as well. Maya's daddy then sent me off to find it with the limited information he gathered: "Pet Food Express", "smells like clove", and "brown bottle". To my surprise, I did find the product she was saying, which is Natural Chemistry Flea & Tick Shampoo. Fortunately and unfortunately, there were no fleas coming out of Maya, but the clove smell is nice and it doesn't hurt to have some extra flea prevention, so we kept using it.


Supplements

For supplements, she got some coconut oil, dandelion root tea, and Chinese medicine. She also got a small bottle of Dermoscent Bio Balm, which did not do much help. My friend who is studying Chinese medicine helped getting me some moxa sticks, but I have yet been able to find a good location to use them. I don't want the smell in the house, but I'm afraid if I use it in the park, people might call the police.


Toys

Toys were mostly results of my impulse shopping... You know, the holidays and everything.


Training

We had one more session with the behaviorist to help with Maya's reactiveness towards other dogs. We are also still continuing her agility training at Zoom Room, even though there were some fall backs. We had to stop for a while when her itchiness got really bad. When she got better, we went to their "tricks" class instead, so she can have more space and time to itch. Now we are picking up our pace again and going back to agility 2 to work on the foundations.


Treats & Chews

For treats and chews, we got a bag of Wellness Pure Venison & Salmon Jerky and a bag of Grizzly Nutreats. I also made some dehydrated treats from fish fillets, canned fish and canned pumpkin.


Vet & Medical

Over the three months, we continued our long journey to combat Maya's itchiness, including appointments with the holistic vet, a semi-emergency visit to the regular vet, some prescribed medicine, including steroids (Prednisone) and antibiotics (Baytril). Last but not least, the biggest portion of the expenses goes to the pet insurance purchased in November.



And that concludes our 2013!