Mr. Buddy Rose the Pit Bull Part XI

(Parts I-X of this story are posted below. If you would like to read Buddy's story in chronological order please scroll down to Part I below.)

Tuesday, July 6
An old children's nursery rhyme starts out, "Over the meadows and through the woods..." Well, this is not exactly where Buddy is dragging my sorry behind, but he is dragging me everywhere else. Through our neighborhood, bushes, trees, shrubbery, the park. You name it, if it's outdoors, Buddy is probably dragging me through it behind him. I have zero control over him on a leash. This morning, Buddy, Mollie and I walked to the park. Buddy finally had the chance to be introduced to a couple of mine and Mollie's dog walking friends and their four-legged companions. It was almost unbelievable. There he was in the park in the shade, Mr. Buddy Rose, on all four legs, being a real dog. It seemed like a very long time ago that walking him to the park was only a dream of sorts.

I have spent hours trying to "leash-train" Buddy. I have employed every method I know including stopping, turning around and treats, just to name a few. Buddy is too busy hunting for cats in the shrubbery to be concerned with leash training. "Stopping" - just gives him the chance to get a good sniff of the shrubbery. "Turning around"- he really doesn't care which direction we are going, as long as he can hunt cats. "Quick turns"- yea, he seems to do a little better at this and tries to pay more attention to where, I, the supposed pack leader, am going, then he smells a cat, and all hope is lost. "Treats" - Buddy can sit, stay, lay down, get the treat and go back to hunting cats. "Pack leader" - I make Mr. Buddy Rose and Ms. Mollie be calm and submissive before I open the front door. I do the same on the front porch before we start our walk. I have reigned them both down to short leashes and corrected them to the side when they pull. Mollie could really care less about cats, unless they run from her. She is very dog sensitive and pulls and yaps at every dog she sees. Buddy could care less about dogs because he is too busy hunting cats. I have so little control over the two of them together, I don't walk them together anymore unless I it's an absolute must. Now, instead of getting two walks to the park a day with Mollie. I am getting four walks to the park a day, two with Buddy and two with Mollie.

At the pet store this past week-end, on the clearance shelf I found a large size "gentle-lead" for four bucks. I thought this was a real deal and for four dollars, I couldn't pass it up. A gentle-lead is one of the different kinds of leashes and attachments I have read about to help control the uncontrollable dog on a leash. It has a regular collar with another loop attached which fits over the dog's nose. The leash attaches to the bottom of the nose loop. When the dog pulls, this pulls his head back around to face you, thus eliminating the dog's ability to pull away from you. This particular leash had a very soft covering on the nose loop. I sized it up to fit Buddy, making sure the nose loop would fit far enough back on his nose and was loose enough he could still open his mouth to pant, or bark. I was excited that my new, inexpensive tool would actually help get Buddy leash-trained.

In a nut shell, Mr. Buddy Rose hates this gentle lead. He does not like the loop over his nose. Before we got out of the front door, he was trying to claw it off with his front paws. I thought, I'll get him outside, he'll forget about it and go back to hunting cats. Not a chance. He rubbed his head on the ground trying to get it off. Actually got it off one time and I put it back on him. We made it all the way to the park, but instead of a dog pulling me down the street, this time it probably looked like I was trying to break a small horse. He bucked like a little pony. If I allowed him to stop, he would claw at his nose or rub his nose in the grass trying to remove the nose harness. By the time we got to the park, he had scraped the end and top of his nose and they were bleeding just a little. I took the "gentle lead" off of him, put it in my pocket, hooked the leash back to his collar, and went back to trying to leash-train him. Which, to say the very least, isn't working very well.

On Tuesday, we needed to call our regular vet for a follow-up on Buddy. Of course, we called and left a message and he returned our call later that afternoon. We told him how well Buddy was doing. I asked him how much exercise would be too much for Buddy. His answer was, "well, you can walk him around your yard. Whatever you feel is okay for him without putting him into a stressful situation."

I asked, "I am already walking him more than a mile and a half a day. Is this too much?"

"You're kidding. He's walking that far."

"Yes."

"And he doesn't seem to be hurting or stressed?" the vet asked.

"No, when I see him tire, we rest in the shade. Sometimes he lays down on his own in the shade to rest. He has never shown he was in any pain, so I still am not sure about that, but, I don't think walking is hurting him. He is much, much stronger than he was."

The vet decided he wanted to evaluate Buddy again. We made an appointment for the following Friday, thirty minutes after we were to drop Mollie off at the groomer to get her Schnauzer hair cut. Friday morning came, we herded the dogs into the car. Mollie onto a pillow in the back seat and Buddy in his kennel. As the Colonel took Mollie into the groomer, Buddy and I sat in the parking lot. Well, I sat and listened to *WOOF* *WOOF* *WOOF* until the Colonel returned.

It was a big day for Mr. Buddy Rose. For the first time, he actually walked into a vet's office and did not have to be carried in. I remember the first day, I carried a smelly, stinky dog into this vet's office and sat there dreaming that one day, Buddy would walk back in under his own ability.

Today was also the first positive vet visit we have had with Buddy. Again, the vet did a complete physical exam with the Colonel and I in the room. As he started the reflex tests on Buddy's legs, we could actually see reflex response. He checked his rear legs and told us that Buddy's rear leg reflex response was normal. Then he checked his front legs and told us his front leg reflex response was normal. We really had hoped for a good visit with the vet, but to find out that he had gone from almost no reflex response in all four legs to NORMAL response in all four legs was unbelievable. We were overjoyed!

One concern for us was, even with Buddy's healthy appetite, he had lost six pounds. The vet said this was due to the exercise Buddy was getting. He said Buddy might be a little on the lean side, but his weight was healthy, and as long as he was eating well, being a little on the lean side was fine. We also discussed Buddy's vaccinations. Today, Buddy received his kennel cough and the first of two triple vaccination shots which includes Parvo. In three weeks, Buddy will need the booster for the triple vaccination and his rabies shot and then his shots will be completely up-to-date. The vet cautioned us, since Buddy has never been vaccinated, we would need to watch him for the next twelve hours or so to make sure he did not have an allergic reaction to the vaccinations. The vet said to look for signs of hives or his head and tongue to swell. The Colonel and I looked at each other and started laughing right there in front of the vet. The vet just looked at us, he didn't get the joke. "So tell me, you see the huge size of Buddy's head, how are we supposed to know if his head is swelling?"

We had plans to visit the Colonel's Mom that afternoon and since we needed to make sure Buddy's head didn't swell in reaction to the vaccinations, we took him and Mollie with us. The Colonel's Mom has a big fenced grassy yard with lots of shade and Buddy, since he has been walking, has never been outside not attached to me by a leash. We figured this could be a great time for him to run around in a big yard and be safe.

If you have never been to the central valley of California, you may not know this is a very large agriculture area. If you know this is a large agricultural area, then you may not know that from February to November, it doesn't rain here. This place would literally be a desert if it were not for irrigation systems. All of those great veggies, fruits and nuts grown in the central valley must have water, if they are not irrigated to get water, then they must be watered manually.

The Colonel's Mom has several great fruit trees with irrigation trenches dug around them. You put the water hose in the trench around the tree and turn it on, then a big puddle forms around the tree in the trench. I had filled two of these trenches and was working on the third when I turned around and there was Mr. Buddy Rose standing knee deep, in muddy water taking a drink. Sometimes, you can't help but laugh at him. He's gone from crawling in the mud to standing in it. He's quite the big goofy guy.

I called him out of the muddy water, used the hose and washed the mud off of him, but this gave me an idea. Since he had a great vet visit this morning, I decided he needed a present. I went to Tru Value Hardware and spent $16 on a kiddie pool for Mr. Rose. We really had no idea what he would do when it was filled with water, but, since he seemed to like mud puddles and irrigation trenches, maybe he would be interested.

I put the little pool in the grass in a shady area and put about three inches of water in it. Mr. Buddy Rose waded through the pool a couple of times, stopping to take a cool drink. Mollie didn't wade into the pool, likely because she had just had her hair done, but she did join him in a drink from it. About the third time he waded through, he started turning around, like dogs do before they lie down. Then, he plopped right down in the cool, clean water. He didn't stay there very long, maybe a minute or so. Then he stood up, shook himself off, waded out of the pool, found a sunny area of grass and started rolling around.

Although we have had Buddy only seven weeks, we have come so very far. He has one more week of 20 mg. of Prednisone daily before we start reducing his dosage. Maybe his progress didn't quite fit our original time frame or plan. His improvement has been in small steps, but it is dramatic. So far, he has overcome every hurdle his life has thrown at him. He is healthy and strong. He can walk. He has had the first of his vaccinations. Mr. Buddy Rose is a great dog and an extraordinary animal.