Attention, those of you who know stuff about dogs! Becca needs help. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments, or you can email me and I’ll pass your email along to Becca. Thanks!
I love dogs, but never really had one as a pet, so their behavior totally eludes me. Here’s why I ask:
On July 31st, my grandma passed away. She had a Chihuahua, Butchy, for between 6 and 9 years – none of us can remember when she got him, thus we don’t know how old he is. For Butchy’s entire life, it was him and my Maw, and the occasional cat – at any given time, Maw had at least one cat living with her, inside or outside. Butchy was very attached to Maw, he knew us, and would play with us, ask for belly rubs, etc., except for my dad, he must have scared Butchy early on – we think it was because Dad would rev up his motorcycle right outside the window and Butchy would go berserk over the noise. Butchy would freeze up and give Dad the evil eye when he was around.
My grandma passed away in her home, in her sleep (a shock to us all, but that’s a great way to go). Dad found her that morning (visited everyday, they were neighbors), called an ambulance, etc. I don’t know if the ambulace had it’s sirens on, but if so, that would scare Butch. So that day there were many unfamiliar people in and out of the house – Butchy stayed in his crate all day. He wouldn’t come out at all – he stayed curled up in the back and would shake, lay his ears back, and slightly growl if anyone tried to pet him. We didn’t want to traumatize him, so we let him stay in the house, one of us went over each day to fill up his food and water and slightly try to coax him out to go potty. He never came out. He’d hide.
On Aug 4th I managed to get him to come out of his hiding place and go into his crate, shut the door and loaded him into my car. He did wonderful on the 45 min drive to the town I live in, didn’t make a peep. My best friend decided to take him, give him a home. This was really wonderful of him – none of the family members could take him due to other pets, allergies, or, in my case, work required travel. The first day Butch came out of his crate on his own, checked the place out, drank some water, and went back to his crate. Again he would growl and snap at us if we tried to touch him.
So, we didn’t try to do much with him for a few days so he could get used to his new surroundings. He barely ate, only his treats (roast beef, and cheese- this is what my grandma fed him), and drank very little water. On Saturday, we were able to get him out and take him outside, where he seemed quite happy, even lying on his back in the grass for a belly rub. Sunday, people came over, a usual thing, which really, I wish they hadn’t cause everybody wanted to talk and pet him. He of course was not having it.
Monday I went over to let him out in the afternoon, and he was happy as a pig in mud to see me. He ran some little circles, even played a little bit, and covered me in puppy kisses (which i really don’t like, but he was so happy I let him). I snuggled him and loved on him for a few hours. My friend, Josh, was at work by the way – we’re wondering if Butch just doesn’t like men. Tuesday, I went over around 3 to let him out and Butch did not approve. He growled at me, and was shaking. Later last night I went back to try again – and he was all happy again! He even took a nap in my lap! After a couple hours of lovin on him, I left.
Josh says he’s still hiding under the kitchen table or in his crate when he’s there. This morning he growled at Josh and his dad. It occurs to me, the times I went over and he was happy I was wearing my favorite pajama pants (which I wear for 3 or 4 days between washes). I don’t know what to do. I thought he would be a little bit better by now, warming up to Josh more… I don’t want to keep going over there (Josh and I just broke up a couple weeks ago, still friends tho) and I don’t want Butch to expect me to be there, I don’t want him to be attached to me- for above reasons. But it breaks my heart that he’s so scared.
He’s a really great dog – cute, smart (when told to “go get ducky” he will retrieve his duck toy, etc) and a total lap dog. But it’s like he’s forgotten everything – he seems so lost without my grandma, which makes her passing even harder. Rehoming her dog was maybe the saddest thing I’ve ever done, made her death real, I guess. Butchy is a little piece of her, and I want him to be happy and know that he’s safe.
I’ve done some research, and from what I can tell, he wasn’t socialized well…I guess, but everything talks of how to help puppies, and young dogs. Butch is gray of the muzzle, can he be resocialized? I just have no idea. Anything, ANYTHING, will be of help. I feel like, just leaving him alone should work. Time to get used to Josh- but it’s been a week… And he’s still barely eating- evident of him barely pooping. Help us if you can- or do you know of a helpful resource?
Again, if anyone can help please leave a comment or email me. Thank you!
I learned last week that your second odor solution (Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking Soda and Dishsoap) works terrifically on a dog that’s been sprayed by a skunk. Also gives him some stylish highlights. Just wanted to pass that little tip on.
I did not know that – thanks for the tip!
(Did anyone out there who grew up in the 80s try to give themselves highlights using Hydrogen Peroxide? I didn’t try it myself (that I remember), but a friend’s brother did, and his hair turned a very unnatural shade of red. I’m sure he’s not the only one who tried that particular trick!)
My Hoover commerical vacuum has both a rug and bare floor switch. I’ve only got bare floors to can’t testify to how well it does rugs but I have used the smaller brush head to vacuum the furniture and I’ve been quite pleased. For $100, what do you have to lose?
P.S. Even though I KNEW what was going to happen in the spider video, I screamed anyway.
I am 99% sure that I did buy that very vacuum at some point in the past, and for some reason or another it just didn’t work out for me. It wasn’t in this house, though, and now I’m thinking that the issue was that we had carpet throughout most of the house in Madison, so maybe here where there’s more hardwood than rugs, it might work out better for me. I’m taking it under consideration!
And I jumped, gasped, and put my hand over my mouth even though I knew what was going to happen in that video!
Previously, 2007. Bahahahahahah!
and
I’m glad I’m not the only one that was cracking up over the ’07 entry. Especially the part about the chances of keeping MaryAnn/Stinky being “nil”. 
and
The 2007 entry is funny. Did you ever try the kool-aid pickles?
and
I had to laugh when I read on you “Previously” for 2007—six cats (permanently living in the house) are our limit (famous last words). Who would have thought?
That’s regarding this entry, wherein someone asked Regarding Maryanne . . . I was wondering, what are the chances since Fred is her favorite, that he relents and wants to keep her??? and I responded with, I’d say the chances are nil that Maryanne will be staying. She’s cute and playful (though still skittish) and we like having her around, but six cats (permanently living in the house) are our limit.
Yeah. Four years later, we’ve doubled the cat population. You may have noticed that these days when someone asks if we’re going to keep one cat or another, I don’t say a definitive no because I have LEARNED never to say never.
(And no, I never did try those Kool-aid pickles!)
I’m just catching up here so forgive me if I am repetitious with comment content, but I HAVE to tell you 2 things: First, that little Molly Peppers is GORGEOUS. Would you call her a gray tabby? A silver tabby? Whatever you call her, she’s a looker.
The other thing is, when I saw that you had named them “the Peppers” and that there were 5 of them, I was sure you had named them after that old-timey book series “5 Little Peppers and How They Grew” or some shit like that. I looked it up on Wikipedia and found this awesome description of one of the plots: “Things change for the Peppers after Phronsie is kidnapped by an organ grinder.”
Molly Peppers is considered a silver tabby – though if you referred to her as gray, I wouldn’t disagree with you.
And several people mentioned that book, and I have to admit that if I’d read a description like that, I’d probably have gone along with the naming theme. Well, except that the kids in the book were comprised of three boys and two girls, and I’ve got three girls and two boys. I’m going to have to keep those names in mind for a future litter, though, because “Phronsie” would be an excellent kitten name.
Also, Robyn, you won’t regret the Miele vacuum. We bought ours almost 20 years ago and it’s still going strong. It loves cat litter, too. Last week, when I was trying to open one of those huge square bags of litter, I spilled about 5 pounds of it and that Miele was so happy, it almost turned itself on to get to it.
That certainly does sound like my kind of vacuum!!!
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
If I might add on fountains:
stay far away from the cheaper/regular Drinkmate. I’ll also recommend the Petmate fresh and flow. Perhaps most important: the quality of your water will drastically effect how well the fountain works. Another thing to keep in mind with fountains for anyone considering buying one… does the water fall actually splash into water? That’s noisier/etc…one of our cats doesn’t like that style (the drinkmate) but is fine with the other style (the Petmate)
One thing (well, two things) I forgot to mention about the Cat Mate fountain in yesterday’s entry is that it’s by far the easiest fountain I’ve cleaned. It comes apart simply, and there aren’t a lot of nooks and crannies that you have to scrub with cotton swabs because they’re too small for your fingers. The thing I don’t like about it is that the cord is really, really long, and since my fountains are fairly near to the outlet, I end up with a pile of fountain cord sitting next to the fountain and it’s annoying (but since the cords are covered, I don’t have to worry about the cats chewing on them).
You’re like Oprah! I kept on imagining you would tell me to look under my chair and I would find a Ham-Mick and some Nose Offense! I can’t think of any suggestions, cat-related or otherwise, but I will cheerfully take yours. Thanks!
I thought about having a thing where people could enter to win one of each item that I mentioned, but there were a lot of items in that list. Also, it was kind of a spur of the moment topic, so I didn’t think of that until about halfway through the post. 
(I should have called it “Robyn’s Favorite Things”, though. Can’t believe I didn’t think of that at all!)
You must check out this site…I’m laughing. And figuring out how to convince my cats to stay on the scanner long enough to be scanned…
I don’t currently have a flatbed scanner, but I had one in the past, but I’ve never successfully scanned a cat. Usually when the scanner started up, whichever cat that was hanging out on it would skedaddle.
I did scan the spud’s face once, though, back in 2001.
Hee.
Once again great pictures…but an important question emerges: Did you paint your kitchen to go with Jake’s beautiful green eyes?
The way you’re asking the question makes me think that there might be people out there who don’t decorate the house to flatter their cats, is that what you’re telling me?
Actually, that wall doesn’t have that tinge of green to it, in real life. It’s a cream color. And when we painted the walls, Jake and Elwood weren’t even a twinkle in their mama’s eye.
I’ve been thinking, now that we’re coming up five years since we initially painted the walls of this house, that it might be time for a repaint, if not an update (I still love the colors of our walls). When we painted, though, the house was empty and I didn’t have to worry about a zillion cats wandering through and brushing up against wet paint.
All of which is a long way to say that no, we didn’t match the walls to Jake’s eyes. But we should have!
Harlan looks like Clove to me – could we have a side-by-side comparison? Photos are enough, since I know the Peppers still can’t enter Gen Pop.
People said that he looks like Corbie, too, so here’s a picture of Clove, one of Harlan, and one of Corbie, and y’all can draw your own conclusions. (That’s an awful lot of spotted stripey gorgeousness, isn’t it?)
Oh my goodness Harlan is a fluffsome little cutie. Something about his head shape and expressions reminds me of this sand cat kitten.
If anyone knows of a way I can get me one of those Sand Cats, please let me know ASAP, thanks.
(I’m kidding, of course. But my god is that a cute kitten.)
I definitely see Harlan’s resemblance to the Sand Cat kitten, though. Or the Sand Cat kitten’s resemblance to Harlan. However you want to look at it, there’s a resemblance, is what I’m saying.
The many faces of Everett Peppers.
I love his “frosted” look.
“I haz an angry.”
“Hmm. Everett cannot be bothered with you and your silly camera. Everett has better things to worry about.”
“Go ‘way.”
“If I close my eyes, you’re not there.”
I originally thought this was Everett, but the crossed eyes lead me to believe this is actually Lucy with her floofed-up self. So, surprise! It’s Lucy Peppers!
“Lord, it’s so hard to be this beautiful.”
“Did I mention go ‘way?”
::glare::
“Am so sleepy… is hard to keep the glare going…”
Cilantro, in a rare non-licking moment.
“Who, me? I’m not up on the step to the platform! I wouldn’t do that!”
(She is, as far as I’m concerned, allowed to go up there all she wants, but she acts like she’s not supposed to be up there.)
Corbie the beautiful.
Previously
2010: Damn her, she was right!
2009: It’s a rough life, but someone’s gotta live it, right?
2008: ”What are we going to do when we find out?” Fred asked. I still don’t know the answer to that. I just want to KNOW.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Right now, Fred’s upstairs trying to snooze while Mister Boogers comforts him.
2004: Does she think she’s Paris Hilton?
2003: Me, earlier today: “I swear to god, I’m going to go on a shooting spree!”
2002: ME LOVE LOBSTER, have I mentioned?
2001: No entry.
2000: It sure is good to be home!
Re: Butchy – perhaps puppy prozac might help?
Butchy might benefit from a pheromone wall plug in to calm down. Its carries less risk than medication and is cheaper. This is the one we’ve used for our dogs and in a closed off rooms it works wonders:
http://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Zone-Modification-Plug-P/dp/B00076KPPM
Not sure I have any advice about the doggie, other than just saying it’s too bad the granddaughter can’t keep him. Dogs grieve the loss of their owners, it’s been proven time and time again. Maybe he’ll slowly improve, but it’s possible he really doesn’t like men. My dog, Rambo (a minpin) doesn’t like men in general but gets along well with my nephew and brother-in-law. Good luck.
Since Butchy has what sounds like an aversion to men, I would start with a vet visit for prozac or something similar to help with the transition. Then, Josh will likely need to dedicate time to “reset” Butchy. If he they do medicate him – you should try to give him the pill (unless he will eat it in a pill pocket or something – don’t let the men forcefully give him a pill – it will set them up for failure).
First, try to let the men and only the men, provide the preferred treats and all food. You need to help Butchy understand that men can be good and are associated with good, yummy things. Lots of praise – men sit on the floor and talk quietly and encouragingly. No loud or forceful corrections from the men until Butchy’s fear subsides a bit. As the female, you can visit and provide support, but try to sit next to Josh or other men in the house….you coax Butchy out and have Josh give him the treats with you there.
Men scare him, so the men should focus on getting down to his level and building trust. You need to restore his confidence and let him know that he will be safe.
It will turn around, it just takes time and patience. But he deserves it – all pets do, especially one that just lost his true love.
Good luck and I hope you give us an update.
Great advice..
I’m not an expert, but I love dogs. Can you leave those pants for him to have in his crate so he feels more at ease (unwashed of course). I definitely agree that he needs to go to the vet also. Also I think patience is important.
I sent you an email, but its going to take longer than a week with that dog. It took Tita about 6 months.
That poor little dog! Breaks my heart. I just want to reaffirm that it’s going to take a lot longer than a week, but don’t give up! We got a dog in February, and it was scared of my husband for about 3 months. Now they’re doing really well. As Gina mentioned, Josh and his dad should be the only ones to give treats. Whenever you visit, Josh or his dad should be present while you’re with the dog, doing whatever you are doing (sitting, playing, talking, etc.) to help Butchy realize that they are okay.
I’m so sorry for your loss! Butchy’s too.
I’m actually a bird lady,but I watch and read a lot about dogs and other animals.
I just saw an interview with Temple Grandin(an autistic university professor and animal expert)and then not long after, I saw a commercial for a doggie “hug”coat/sweaters.
Rather than lots of little pets and pats,animals really calm down when they are “hugged” with long hugs. Soooooo,I saw the ad for the pressure sweater/coat and it claims to help dogs with anxiety,barking and trauma conditions. Ms Grandin recommends hugging techniques as well.
I do not know the name of the pressure coat/sweater,sorry…
Also,there’s a lady Linda Tellington-Jones, who uses massage for all sorts of species(even a boa constrictor).I have seen videos where she calms down ,in mere minutes,one of those giant Clydesdales horses who was fighting having his hooves worked on.
The zoo snake,who was having digestion problems and was doing very poorly,rose up 3 feet to greet Ms. Jones upon her second,followup trip to the zoo. I would like to think that even though snakes are not supposed to be very bright,somehow the snake knew that she had helped him to feel better.
She has videos,books and a web site…
Yeah, it’s going to take weeks to months for poor Butch to warm up. If there’s a room he can be given that’s his own private space (crate, food, water, toys, bed outside crate) that the men don’t come into, it might help him relax a little. The men can open up that door and escort outside for potty breaks, but not otherwise get up in Butch’s space.
Instead of approaching the dog, especially standing, they might try 2-3 very short (90 seconds) interactions with Butch while laying on the floor and offering treats and kind words. To that end, though, dog trainers are not terribly expensive (ours is $60/hour, and they’ll probably only need her to come out twice for an hour or less each time) and can show them very quickly how to work with the dog.
Honestly, a quick session with a trainer is probably the best and kindest possible thing they could do for everyone involved. Ask for referrals from the vet, friends, and check Yelp. I’d say find a woman trainer to start with.
That middle picture of Corbie….*thud*…He is so handsome I feinted.
Those little babies just get cuter and cuter. Thank you for fostering them.
Take Butchy to dog obedience class… it will help human help dog help human
Worth every penny.