Dogsitting Days

[curlytails]

Bowpi's been with us about two months now. Last week she finally got to meet the Welsh Terrier that we often dogsit. This WT is one of the reasons we decided we wanted to add a second dog to our pack, especially an older, mellower dog. The WT is 11 years old, a little bit arthritic, but still quite lively for an "old man." Bowpi's still in her prime, even on the lower end of ages we were considering (we were looking at 5 to 8 year old dogs). Still, she is quite mellow at home and easygoing… apparently this is uncommon for female basenjis, from what forum members and others have mentioned! She and the WT seemed to be quite comfortable with each other right away.

It was the first time we've ever had three dogs in the home all at once.

Meanwhile, it is nice to see Bowpi really learning how to stretch out and take up more space, at least when she wants!

I think it's an indication of how much more active a lifestyle she is living with us that she actually tore up her paw during the week the WT was here. Her nails were REALLY long and her paw pads were pink and soft when she first came, because her previous owner seldom walked her. It's weird how much we take for granted with our shiba… like the fact that daily walks have toughened his paw pads so that we've never had to worry about them.

I applied some antiseptic and bandaged her up for a day, which she wasn't too happy about but I didn't want the torn skin to get infected. By that night, it had stopped bleeding. I wanted to keep her in a bandaged Vetwrap bootie for another day (letting it air out at night) but my bf thought she seemed fine without it, so she's been free to walk on it since and she seems okay. Hopefully we can continue to toughen up her paw pads so that this is an isolated occurrence!

[nobarkus]

Great pictures and story. Do you think Bowpi possibly stepped on something sharp?

[tanza]

They are not wild "wicked" women…gggg... I know of a few "mellow" ones.. and usually I have found, it is the boys that are pretty wild in their younger years, more then the girls most of the time.

There is stuff you can buy to put on her pads to protect them while they toughen up... and she would be one for sure that I would be very careful with on pavement/roads/sidewalks in the summer when the sun has really hot... that is what can really bother their feet, tough or not..

[curlytails]

nobarkus, we live in kind of a trashy neighborhood – literally. There are some blocks where garbage (and often, broken glass bottles) line the sidewalks, though you turn the corner and the entire block might be all lushly gardened, freshly-painted homes with hybrid cars in the driveways. At first I assumed it was a cut from something sharp. My bf walked her that night, and says she didn't yelp or cry out, which I assume she would've done if she stepped on something painful (she's a bit of a yelper, as we've found out). He didn't notice anything amiss -- it wasn't until I came home late that night and she came limping up to greet me that I saw her paw was a little bloody. Not gushing blood, mind you, but it looked painful!

So we don't really know how it happened, but I have my guesses. She is very curious about everything on our walks, likes to pull hard to sniff things sometimes. It's possible that she could have torn her paw scrabbling along the sidewalk. At any rate, we're staying vigilant.

I saw some paw ointments at the petstores, but didn't take a close look. At first glance, I didn't think they were what I wanted. Ointments for cracked and peeling paws makes me think they're supposed to "soften" the paws, like hand creme, but maybe this is what you mean, tanza? We usually walk in the morning, well before noon, and at night, skipping the hottest parts of the day. But when we go to parks (which we did a lot of last week), she likes to RUN and run and run. Even on grassy or woodchip surfaces, I imagine her paws are still getting used to it. I'll look into some paw conditioners. Recommendations welcome.

[nobarkus]

@tanza:

They are not wild "wicked" women…gggg... I know of a few "mellow" ones.. and usually I have found, it is the boys that are pretty wild in their younger years, more then the girls most of the time.

There is stuff you can buy to put on her pads to protect them while they toughen up... and she would be one for sure that I would be very careful with on pavement/roads/sidewalks in the summer when the sun has really hot... that is what can really bother their feet, tough or not..

The 2 females I had were tough and devoted. Good point about the heat. That hot pavement is a killer and I don't think people realize it either.