Tag: Chuck
Football, dinner, dog
Tell me this doesn’t happen at your house. Chuck knows he’s supposed to be sitting on his blanket all the way across the room, not at Wadly’s feet . . . but Wadly’s watching Sunday football and not paying attention so that’s where Chuck’s little butt is parked. His little ears are pointed at me and he knows he’s in trouble . . . I can hear him mumbling “Mom, don’t notice. Mom, don’t notice.”
Chucky, version 2.5
It’s been two and a half years since Chuck came to live with us. When he first arrived I had to chase him down and corner him to touch him.
Through the months we went through many stages of acceptance and trust. He came to accepted we would touch him but I couldn’t reach for him with both hands. Then I couldn’t touch him if we were outside. Then I could touch him outside but with only one hand.
Just recently he’s started rolling over on his back to have his tummy rubbed. This is a 180° shift from the dog who slept with one eye open with all legs tucked under him prepared to bolt to safety.
As his trust and confidence grew he changed from a scared little mite who would bolt in a heartbeat to a regular guy, confident enough to follow me around the hardware store among strange people.
The picture on the left is Chuck, version 2.5, sound asleep, upside down and snoring. It’s not very dignified but it makes me smile.
You’ve come a long way, baby.
The spring of Chuck
I think I’ve finally got a solution for keeping Chuck relatively comfortable. Fleas have been driving him nuts. I had a flea collar on him for a while and that did nothing noticeable, even when I sprayed him with Cedarcide each time he came in. The Cedarcide helped, but it only kills the fleas that are on him and does nothing to discourage more from jumping on.
The combo that appears to be relatively effective (I hope) is a combination of Ortho’s Home Defense sprayed on the rugs (one application lasts for ~12 months), Zodiac Flea and Tick Spray on Chuck (good for ~2 months) and a quick once-over with Cedarcide when he comes in from outside. No, I am not going to try and treat our property for fleas. I have free range chickens and we have 12 acres. Between the chickens and the property size, treating the outdoors for fleas is not a reasonable idea.
There remains a very small amount of scarring on Chuck’s right eye which doesn’t significantly impede his vision. I think the surface of the eye has healed as much as it’s going to.
A better picture
Today’s “cold days” picture is even better. This guy makes me laugh out loud.
Carhart warmth
We’re having a “cold” day. It’s chilly out. Not cold enough to run the heater but not warm enough to do without the basic comforts of warm bean bags. Chuck feels the cold pretty quickly. He looks pathetic and shivers. Wadly kindly donated a Carhart sock to act as Chuck’s “stay warm” rice bag. His pretty red one bit the dust a while back. The sock makes a nice replacement. I can dump the rice into another sock while this one’s being washed.