Two more, bath and vet

Today it was Lilly and Big Boy's turn.  First the dog wash.  Lilly wasn't too bad.   The biggest problem I had with her today was catching her in the kennel so I could get a leash on her.  She is rather shy and scared of me, and even my hotdog bribes didn't impress her (she didn't seem to know that they were edible). She struggled a bit in the bath in the beginning, but once she was mostly wet she accepted it and let me do my thing. 

No problems at the vet, she seems healthy, and she was also heartworm negative. I noticed a tear on one of her ears, probably from self-scratching, and a lot of head shaking.   The vet thought she had an ear mite infection.  So she has some drops for that, which will hopefully clear things up quickly.  She seems to be spayed already, which is very nice. That makes her ready for adoption, but folks will need to realize that she is going to need some socialization and bonding time.  She reminds me of my girl Gypsy she we first got her.  She had never bonded with a human and didn't seem to know that she was supposed to.  That's kind of sad, especially for a shepherd, because bonding is the one thing they all seem to do very well.

I have noticed that when she's at home and is excited about something, she can hold both of her ears fully erect.  They seem to have a variety of possible positions.

 

Big Boy's bath was a bit of a wrestling match.  He had youth on his side, but I outweigh him by more pounds than I care to mention.  I also had help, thank to Florence who met me there and did most of the washing while I held him in the tub.  He finally gave up and just tried to hide in the corner of the tub, hoping that if he didn't watch it would just all go away. 

Lilly had been given a bath at the shelter so she was relatively clean.  Big Boy's water ran brown for quite a while, and even after a couple washes and rinses, he was still rather smelly when we got him to the vet.  I think the residual smell was mostly from the head and neck, where it is more difficult to soap and wash thoroughly. 

His vet visit was a breeze, well, mostly, except we discovered that he is cryptorchid, meaning that he has only one testicle in his scrotum.  The other one is in there, somewhere, but it means that he will require more invasive surgery when he is neutered because they have to go in and find it.  It's not uncommon, but it requires more extenstive surgery than an ordinary neuter.  He is also very shy, but at least the lack of confidence in these dogs isn't manifested as fear aggression. 

Meghann met us at the vet for a 5:00 p.m. appointment so I was able to take both dogs in at once.  It helps them, I think, if they have company, and it makes for a faster, more efficient visit.  She also took Big Boy home to foster for a few days while she's in town, which will be very good for him.  He cleaned up nicely and is really a very pretty boy.