Albuquerque Journal Articles
13 week old Mick is not too young to learn basic skills. Dogs are programmed to earn resources like food and attention from their leaders. Mick already knows how to sit on command. I showed him the treat, backed up a few feet, and then told him, “Mick, Come!”. A little tug on the leash can set his brain and body into motion. You can back up several steps as your puppy comes toward you. As soon as he/she arrives reinforce with the resource (food) and share your delight by telling that pupster how good he/she is. Touching (petting…
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Third in a series Would dedication be enough? I knew when double checking my repairs of Ruby’s internal injuries that they were secure but it was her high risk of post operative infection that scared the daylights out of me. We had already administered IV antibiotics and, on our way out, irrigated her deep Doberman chest and abdomen with copious quantities of warm saline. My conversation with Charley, Ruby’s committed person, had been brief. As Amos and I carefully carried our trauma patient from her car I quickly explained that the outcome was uncertain. We got the go-ahead to do…
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A dog racing through an open door can knock people down and risk him getting loose. Mick is learning to sit at the door and wait for the “OK”. As he catches on we have him wait a little longer and sit a little further from the door. He has fun with this new game because he earns a pet and a “good boy”. He also earns access to the other side of the door. Everybody wins.
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Second in a series My first instruction, with Charley Garcia still on the phone, was NOT to remove the stick from her dog Ruby’s chest. Leaks can kill. That grotty elm branch, with its abundance of dirt, bark, and bacteria of many varieties, may have been keeping her alive. A projectile that has impaled a body, whether an arrow, spear, or part of a tree, can temporarily plug the holes it caused in blood vessels and lungs. We soon came to learn how important that was for Ruby. It was a mighty good thing Charley followed my advice. As soon…
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Young Mick’s BFF is Gaston, the white fuzzy guy. Despite the language barrier they often play well together. But this time, despite Mick’s entreaties, Gaston just said No!
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First in a series “Dr. Nichol, Charlie Garcia’s dog Ruby has a stick in her chest. What shall I tell her?” Martha Peterson, our composed client service specialist, had appeared quietly at my elbow. I could feel her presence before she spoke. Emergencies of all kinds seem more common just before closing time. We’d been busy that day with the usual vomiting, coughing, limping pets. I was just finishing a medical record, ready to head home. A stick in her chest? Maybe it was a small stick causing a minor wound but I had known Charlie Garcia for years. She…
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Mick enjoys meeting other puppies and he’s doing it at the right time. Their developing canine brains, between ages 7-12 weeks, has them ready to be socialized with people and other dogs . The Aztec Animal Clinic has these weekly classes for vaccinated puppies so they can learn, during their essential sensitive period, that people and dogs are generally trustworthy. These kiddos have good fun too.
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Incarceration-No. Scavenging-Yes! According to our dogs, the great famine could strike anytime. They’re natural predators but, gee, how often can they snag a slow rat in time for dinner? Their fallback is to sniff out delicacies like moldering carrion. But don’t they trust us to deliver the groceries? They’re dogs first and pets second. They assume nothing. You would think that moving in with Diane and Richard would feel like dying and going to heaven for a street dog like Jasper but their human domicile stymied his attempts to self-actualize. This dog, in serious need of honest, canine-specific labor,…
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Young Mick is fitting into our family nicely. His toys are lucky to be just toys. With this wild Border collie channeling his inner predator, his whale and sheep would not survive long.
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Third in a series Don’t lock him up Bang, bang, ding, dong! Just as Diane walked into the house, finding more of Jasper’s daily carnage, somebody was outside! Fresh scratches on the door, pillows disemboweled, and a reeking fecal pile was no kind of welcome home, especially from this starving beagle they had rescued from the road side. Bang, bang. And who in @#%&* kept banging on the front door???!!! Wishing hard that her husband Richard would arrive – like now – Diane squared her shoulders, stepped over the poop, and opened the door. With chin out, hands on hips,…
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