Fern the destroyer

We made our first trip to the vet on Friday, and Fern didn't appreciate the adventure. Why did we go to the vet, you ask? Because Fern chewed something plastic to near extinction. M was sick on Friday, so Fern was out of her kennel, sleeping next to M while she slept. Sometime during the time M was asleep, Fern got up and found something to chew to death. I'm not positive, but I think it was a flashlight. I still haven't found the non-chewed parts, like the top with the light bulb and glass, the switch and the batteries. I have absolutely no idea where she would have gotten a flashlight, though, so maybe it was something else. She started throwing up, so away we went for an emergency trip to the vet. After two x-rays, she was pronounced good to go. The cost for her misadventure? $125, with the 25% discount. The refused to do payments, so I had to do some creative financial juggling to come up with that money. Not fun.

Two days before the flashlight incident, Fern got up in the middle of the night and chewed a chunk off of our wood futon. I woke up to splinters of wood everywhere. I checked her mouth and there were no splinters, so I cleaned up the mess and didn't make a production out of it, even though I was mentally swearing at dealing with it a 0530. 

I contacted CA and they said she could be chewing because she's bored. They recommended putting out a rawhide bone for her, in case she wakes up and is bored at night. That won't work though because rawhide bones are like crack to Fern. Shen she gets one she goes crazy, running around the living room to show it off and chewing non-stop until it's gone. If I tried to put out a rawhide at night she wouldn't sleep until it was gone, which would defeat the purpose to begin with.

She hasn't chewed anything that I know of since Friday, so maybe getting so sick has turned her off of it. I hope so, because I can't afford to run to the vet once a week. And I'm not crazy about having possessions destroyed, either.

A mortifying trip to Krogers

Let me preface this by saying Fern is usually so good that any odd behavior is unexpected. I don't want to give you a bad impression of her with this story, so keep that in mind.

Yesterday Mika had testing after school until 6:30 (don't even get me started on that), so I would take care of Fern until that was over. I don't like to leave Fern alone more than necessary because she's in the kennel while Mika is at school. (Long story there) I needed to get a few groceries, so I took Fern with me to Krogers. Big mistake.

Fern was trying to sniff everything while I walked to the pharmacy, but I didn't think too much of it. She actually sniffed the leg of the guy in line ahead of me. Fortunately he's a dog lover and didn't mind at all. After I got my prescription I went back and got a cart to do my shopping. I had the cart for no more than 2 minutes when I turned around and saw Fern pooping in the middle of the produce section. I nearly screamed. There were several people around initially, but by the time I had the emergency clean up supplies out they were long gone. Thank heavens because I was already embarrassed enough. To make it even more frustrating, as soon as she was done, Fern came over with her wagging tail and smiles like she was so proud of what she did. GRRR....

I got everything cleaned up and the tied up bag thrown away and tried again.

To make a long story short, Fern was awful. She tried to sniff at everything and everyone. I know this can be a sign of stress, but her tail was wagging and she would smile at me when she bothered to look up. She's been to that store at least 3 or 4 times, so she should be comfortable in it. My trip that should have taken 20 minutes took me 45 and my hand was sore from holding onto her leash while she was pulling. Darn dog. 

For everyone who is thinking "Why didn't you take her potty before you went in the store, you idiot" I want you know now I tried. She did pee beforehand, but she's going through a spell where she only wants to poop after a 30 minute walk. Yesterday morning and today she wouldn't go at all, even though she got the normal 30 minute walk. I have no idea why she's being so fussy! It makes it really hard though. 

It's a good thing she's a good dog 95% of the time because that 5% is really frustrating. 

An unexpected travel complication

So this summer, I'm allowing my daughter to plan an ambitious trip back to the home state. It's both amazing and frightening to think of her doing this. This is the first time we've made plans for her to be away from home for such a long time, and it's not without some anxiety on both of our parts. Still, the thought of having Fern with her really helped encourage M to try this.

Our original plan was to have her take a 3 week trip back to the upper Midwest. We would fly out together on a Thursday and catch up with all of our friends. I would take her to band camp on Sunday and fly home solo. She would stay in the university dorms until Friday, when camp ends and go home with her grandparents from there. She'll hang out with them until Thursday, where she would head to her best friend's house until Sunday. On Sunday, she would be picked up my her grandparents and taken to Girl Scout camp for the week. She would be picked up on Friday and fly back here on Sunday. Sounds good, right? If only things were so easy.

When I registered M for band camp I told them that she would be traveling with a service dog who would stay with her the entire time. The camp director directed me to the Hall Coordinator and to say I got a rude response would be an understatement. The woman was so rude I actually contacted CA and asked how to handle her response. That lead to a long phone conversation with the follow up guru (I love that woman). She had significant reservations about Fern going to band camp when she hasn't been exposed to such an experience before. I can certainly understand that. A band of 300 kids is not going to be a quiet experience. She waffled on GS camp, but M is going to a horseback riding camp and we would have to find something to do with Fern during the hours she was with the horses. I agree that it may be best for Fern to miss both camps.
It's hard for M, but when I explained why we made the decision she understood. In fact, she has become worried that new things might bother Fern and is starting to become anxious.

So now I'm in a quandary. I hate the idea of letting M go away for weeks at a time without Fern there. I have come to trust Fern to help Mika if needed and having to rely on strangers to help does not sound like a good plan to me. On the other hand, this is the first time that M has felt confident enough to even try something like this. I sure as heck am not going to hold her back. So right now the tentative plan is to bring Fern with us for the 1st weekend of hanging out with friends, and then I'll take her back home with me. I wish there was some way to get her back to M when camp is over, but I can't afford to make several extra flights to make it happen.

I guess this is one of those times that I'll just have to grin and bear it. Hopefully Fern won't be too upset without Mika. And I sincerely hope that this doesn't harm the bond between the two of them. CA said that they had no doubt this wouldn't harm their bond and I'm just going to have to trust them on that.

kennel success

I have to take just a moment and brag about Fern. Do you remember the first week we had to put Fern in the kennel? It was awful! It took lots of bribes and 10 minutes to get her to reluctantly go in and then she would whine and fuss. I had major guilt. I followed what the trainers told us at camp. I put a Kong with frozen peanut butter in it to keep her busy. I would alternate the Kong with a rawhide bone, which she loves. I would keep her favorite toy in there. I would leave the radio on for her to listen to and I left a light on in case she wanted more light than daylight. She wouldn't eat her rawhide or peanut butter, which can be a sign of stress. Let me tell you, both M and I were showing signs of stress, too.

So I came up with a half baked scheme to convince Fern that her kennel was the best doggie place ever. We have always kept her bowls of food and water in her kennel, so that was a good start. Then I started keeping all of her toys in the kennel, so she has to go in and get whichever one she wants to play with for the moment. That was a big help for sure.

We've also settled into a routine, which I have no doubt helps also. When we first came home we would feed her and then take her for a walk right away in the morning (think 0600). For the past couple of week, we've switched to taking her for a walk after we're all ready for school/work. That has worked better for all of us, as no one in our house is a morning person/dog.

I think what sealed the deal was the dog bed. About a week ago I bought a big pillow for Fern to lay on because I don't allow her on the sofas. It took her a day or two to warm up to it but now she loves it. M puts the pillow in her kennel in the morning and then takes it out as soon as she's home from school and Fern loves it. The pillow goes in first, then the toys, then sometimes a rawhide bone follows and last is a large Milkbone treat that she only gets when she goes into the kennel.

I am now convinced that we found the magic formula. Yesterday she went in as soon as we had things arranged, even before she got her treat. Today, as soon as we took off her harness from her walk, she bolted for her kennel. I actually had to convince her to leave the kennel so I could get the pillow in first. I didn't even get the pillow arranged perfectly (hey, I like them straight and in order) before she was curled up on it, obviously waiting for her toys. I put in her 3 favorite stuffed animals and her Kong ball (yes, she's that spoiled) and by the time I came back with her Milkbone, she had the toys arranged on her pillow so they were two on each side of her. She gently took the treat from my hand and settled onto her pillow, obviously ready for me to shut the door.

I'm so excited she likes her kennel! I know I'm tooting my own horn, but I am really happy we found a way for her to enjoy alone time and made her kennel a fun place to be because it makes it so much easier on all of us!

Cute pictures

I have a couple of cute pictures that I have to share.

Doesn't this say it all?

Fern's puppy ears mean she is ready to play.

This is how Fern likes to sleep.

Fern antics

Fern is starting to show a mischievous side that we hadn't seen before. The past week has been full of funny moments. You want examples? I'm so glad you asked.

Fern loves stuffed animals of any kind. In fact she has three that we keep in the house and one that we keep in the car. She'll carry them around to show off, but doesn't really want you to touch them, just admire them. Well, M loves stuffed animals, too, so there are plenty around her room. Fern has found no less than 6 stuffed animals in various places. When we figured out she liked them M put all of hers up in the closet or on a shelf. Well, Fern found a couple under her bed and brought them out. The pic below is where Fern grabbed an armadillo puppet off the middle of my bed (which she's not allowed on).Then she found a couple that were by the reading chair in my bedroom. She found one that my brother sent M from Finland by reaching up to get it off of the 3rd shelf of the bookcase.  And she took one from Mika while she was sleeping. I heard talking at 4 in the morning and came running out of my room thinking something was seriously wrong. Fern was sitting on the floor pretending not to hear or see M talking to her, holding the teddy bear between her two paws. I got the bear back for M and Fern refused to sleep on M's bed for the rest of the night.

The past week Fern has decided she loves the texture of plastic in her mouth. M has lots of Littlest Pet Shop toys in a basket. When M's friend was over last week they were playing with them on the floor of her bedroom. Fern watched for a while then stealthily walked over and picked up a plastic bed. She came bouncing out of the room, tail wagging, smiling as she showed me what she had found. She was very reluctant to give it up. Mika was upset Fern got something that could choke her so she shut her bedroom door while they played. Fern has never had Mika shut away from her before and she stood in front of her door for 10 minutes before she gave up. I felt a little mean, but it was better than knowing she liked little toys that could choke her.

Fern pulled a little con on M this Wednesday. Fern adores rawhide bones, but I limit the amount she can have so she doesn't get sick. I gave her a medium sized rawhide in the morning to keep her busy while M (who was sick) slept and I went to work. (On a side note, M is now able to stay at home by herself!) She called me when on my lunch break and we talked about how she was doing. She mentioned that Fern brought her the bag of small rawhide bones, so M gave her one. She was so proud that Fern asked for one instead of taking them all. What she didn't realize was that Fern had gotten the bag out of the box they are kept in by going into her kennel, moving a box across her kennel roof, going outside the kennel, standing up to balance herself on the outside of the kennel and reached into the box to grab the bag. So Fern had a good time eating more rawhide bones than she's normally allowed in a week. Silly dog.

Rude questions

I knew going into the service dog process that we would get rude comments. Heck, most of Mika's life I've heard "But she looks so normal!", and that's definitely not a compliment. I even wrote Dear Abby about what to say. And she actually answered me! I feel so famous. :-)
Anyways, Abby didn't object to my politely telling strangers to mind their own business. And yes, I'm trying to be polite and, boy is it hard. I asked her what to say to acquaintances when they asked. They are people I can't be rude to, but I'm not comfortable giving information to. She told me to say "Oh, I don't want to bore you with the details" and then change the subject. It's good advice but I'm not good at coming up with new subjects off the top of my head when there's not much shared background. I need to come up with a good go-to topic. I'm always happy to default to baseball. Some people love it and will be happy to talk. Some people hate it and will do almost everything to avoid it. It seems like a good option now that I think about it. I'll have to try it and see how it goes.