25 Weeks

25 Weeks
62 lbs
25 inches tall

Still dealing with hives, wondering about the source of the hives (I still blame the change in shampoos for the initial outbreak, and the grass pollen for the rest. DH insists it's chiggers, though he does not have the bites on his belly, or bugs between his toes that all of the websites I've read point to...), observing hair loss, waiting for hair regrowth... Monitoring the itching that has begun intermittently in recent days... I don't feel there's been any new hair loss, and the itching seems to mostly be on his sides, with the hives seeming to be recurring on the hips and flanks. I bathed him yesterday (with one of the usual shampoos) without incident. The homemade skin and coat spray I've used in the past on the other dogs has been helpful. I've also experimented with variations of that recipe, depending on what I have on hand. I'll post them all below.

Skin and Coat Spray

2 bags chamomile tea
2 c. water
1 c. apple cider vinegar
1 t. lavender oil, or dried lavender
1 t. rosemary oil, or dried rosemary

Simmer chamomile tea in water and set aside to cool (if using dried herbs, put them in to steep).
Strain tea when cooled (if using dried herbs). Add ACV (and essential oils if using those). Pour into spray bottle. Store in refrigerator. Mist (and brush through) as needed.

Variations:

I have used a combination of 2 black tea bags + 2 Twinings Lemon and Ginger tea in lieu of chamomile because I didn't have any. All other ingredients were the same. It seems to work just as well.

Also in lieu of chamomile, try 2 bags Twinings Lemon and Ginger (I bought this for colds/sore throats, but it is funk nasty!) tea, plus 1/2 c. witch hazel. 

24 Weeks

24 Weeks
59lbs

Hair loss from the hives has begun, resulting in bald patches all along Kal's ridge. I can't tell how much is seasonal shedding and how much is from the hives, really. They still haven't totally gone away, and we're wondering about other possible triggers, though the shampoo still seems the most obvious culprit. The skin on his back is flaky (Leo's always was) and dry, but nowhere else. He's a bit itchier than usual, but not much. Another sore between his toes (rear left, this time) to keep redirecting his attention away from and focus on healing...

We'v'e had to limit his interactions with Kansas, because he plays too rough and keeps hurting her bad leg. This is the second time in a week she's had to mostly be on bed rest. We haven't actually seen him play rough with her, but we know he's constantly body-checking her when outside, and even in the house. She's good about just sitting down and being still when he tries to initiate play, but her balance isn't great, and her hips get strained easily. Poor guy, he doesn't understand why his main playmate can't play with him, anymore.

Airlie does her best to avoid playing with him at all, too. He's just too big and too rough now.

23 Weeks

23 Weeks
56.5 lbs
24.5 Inches tall

All baby teeth have fallen out. All of his adult teeth are in, though those middle ones are still just barely crowning.

This morning's walk was interesting. We opted to avoid the park, because a neighbor had warned us of a pair of "aggressive" dogs he'd just encountered while walking there. Instead, we took the weekend route, up to the elementary school (where we had to turn around because they were spraying the grounds with whatever), past the pasture with the pair of cows (after pausing to observe for a bit). We tried the park on our way back, but had to turn around in an attempt to avoid a pair of off-leash dogs (one yellow lab, one smaller, black mix with a greying muzzle). Avoiding them was unsuccessful, they left the park and crossed the road to "meet" us. Kansas was at home, thanks to a lame leg (courtesy of her psycho brother), so that made the meeting easier. The dogs were excited, but friendly, and wanted to play. Airlie got kind of fed up with the excessive sniffing, and Kal got a little scared, but the dogs eventually went on their merry way and we headed home.

That's when we encountered our first box turtle (in Oklahoma), in the middle of the street. Airlie is always on the lookout for turtles, having found several box turtles during our walks in Houston, she thinks every turtle-sized rock or leaf might be one. She sure can tell when it's a real turtle, though- even from far away! She kept trying to bite at this one, and I didn't think to get a photo of her with it until we were well on our way (having moved him/her out of the road and positioned him/her facing the same direction they were headed). I read Anne Allbright Smith's excellent book a while back, about monitoring eastern box turtles in NY with the help of her two cattle dogs. It's a fun and interesting read, and her Facebook page is also excellent. I'd messaged her about her book a few months back, and I'm subscribed to her newsletter. She's always asking if we've found any box turtles yet here. I was excited to be able to email her photos of today's find, and surprised we'd found one at all. Mid-July is late in the season.

Today, we also determined that the raised welts all over Kal's torso are hives- most likely from his bath on Sunday. For some reason, I opted to use this shampoo, when we normally use this one. I'm surprised it made such a difference (though I've used it before to wash his irritated ears and I do recall it seemed to make things worse, rather than help). Ironic the shampoo we normally use has fewer ingredients, but the specially formulated one caused the problem. Tropiclean is what I always used on Leo, for his sensitive skin issues. It's marketed for pest control now, which his why I decided to try the Theraneem one, purchased years ago at the excited proclamations of a pharmacist, but never used. So, now it's Benadryl and wait. At least Kal doesn't seemed bothered at all- it just looked bad. And I brushed him, thinking that might help, but it only made things worse. I mixed up a batch of itchy coat spray, too, and some essential oils to apply to his collar to help repel insects. At first, we'd suspected bug bites... or a grass allergy... but, no. It's my fault. He actually was lying down in the bath tub while I was bathing him, so one side of his body got more of the suds-ing than the other, and it's obvious that it's the shampoo, because that side of his torso is really bad, while the other side is barely affected. Plus, I washed his ears, which were fine prior to the bath, but are now red and bumpy.

Lastly, Leo's floppy dog is now sans ears. Kal decided that Friday night was a good time to chew them both off. It's frustrating, because it's an old dog toy and I did give it to him to enjoy, but... it was Leo's, and while Petsmart still sells a similar item, the ones they sell these days are smaller, and not as good a quality (I mean, we've had 3 of the originals for 10 years...). He'd already chewed off the nose a few months ago, and I've had to mend ripped seams several times. I found some scraps to make new ears out of, and am in the process of deciding what to use for a nose.

This morning, he ripped open the giant yellow plush Peeps bunny from Easter and unstuffed that.

22 Weeks

22 Weeks Old
53.4 lbs
inches tall
(Daddy is falling down on the weighing/measuring job, keeps forgetting to do it, then wants to wait until the next time- usually Tuesdays and Fridays, lately not at all, or barely once a week) so we really don't have an accurate weight, nor have we had a height measurement in over two weeks, now.)

Baby teeth: just one last premolar hanging on. Lower jaw is hysterically void of teeth in the middle- he has the front teeth and all of the back premolars/molars- and nothing but empty sockets in between! On both sides!

Both upper baby canine teeth fell out over the weekend. I noticed on Friday that one was missing. Sunday was the first time he gave me a decent chance to look in his mouth at the other side- which was already sporting a new canine. I guess we missed it.

I did manage to snag/save one baby premolar. It happened at 4am Sunday morning while I was awaiting the reappearance of that final leg of plush lion, which he ingested Thursday. He's puked a few times since then, but due to circumstances (us being not home, or him puking so quietly it didn't wake me up in time), if he threw it up prior to Sunday, he re-ingested it again. Probably more than once. This time, I was ready. I had the air conditioner turned up so that it didn't come on and drown out the sounds of imminent hacking. I had towels at the ready. I heard him start smacking and licking like they do right before,and I promptly got up, shut the bedroom door, turned on the light, grabbed a towel, opened the crate, and voila! Caught one very putrid plush lion leg.

He later un-stuffed a plush raccoon and ate some of the filling, and was pooping out white stuffing during Monday's walk.

Over the past week, Kal has encountered on our walk-

a tractor, plowing up an empty lot, prepping to lay a foundation. He found that very interesting.

3 kids on scooters, during Saturday's walk. They passed us on 3 separate occasions. The first was observed off the path,from far away, and caused some curiosity and lots of barking. The second time, we were much closer, but off of the sidewalk and well out of the way.  That went ok til the kid bringing up the rear started going faster, which created more noise and caused Kal to startle and balk. The third time, they were approaching us at a place where the path narrows, and there wasn't much room for passing, although we moved out of the way as much as possible. That went ok, but it occurred right after a man walking behind us had experienced a coughing fit,which had also startled Kal and made him attempt to flee, and then continue to glance behind us suspiciously for several paces.

Monday morning, he hesitated and barked,hackles raised, at a woman sweeping her sidewalk, though the yard work she was performing prior to that he found interesting.

Talking to a neighbor holding a tiny chihuahua on his way to be neutered Friday morning was fine, though.

Possibly, we're experiencing a fear period.

He pulled a lot on Monday's walk and was really difficult, in general, all morning. Excess energy and excitement. Sunday, he was walked by himself, at his own pace (much faster than when we all have to slow down for Kansas) and for about 20 minutes longer than usual. Both girls were having a "rest day" since they'd both been limping on Saturday (he plays far too rough now that he's older/bigger, running full-tilt at a reclining Airlie that afternoon, at which point, his right leg connected with her head. He limped for quite a while, but recovered, and I guess Airlie hasn't sustained any head injuries, though one of her rear legs seemed to be giving her trouble after that. Kansas was limping on her left foreleg Friday night and then Saturday during the walk, so... ), and I was trying to tire him out. I succeeded. I guess it's time to walk him and Airlie together, and take Kansas on her own walk.

Saturday, it finally occurred to me that if I flipped the blinds in the bedroom the other way, there would be less light (and also less heat) coming in during the day- especially in the mornings- and that maybe this would solve the "puppy won't sleep (or let anyone else sleep) past 6am" problem. I mean, it's been 3 months, dude... He wakes up at 6 or 6:15 (or 4am like he did Thursday morning...), and I've been taking him out to potty and putting him back to bed, where he has been mostly quiet til 7, but not much longer. This, in itself is an achievement as he was previously refusing to go back to bed and sleep/occupy himself appropriately. But it's been a couple of months, now, and he should be at that stage where he waits quietly til I'm ready to get everyone up. Not so.

I don't know why I didn't think of it, or notice the blinds sooner. All of the other blinds (in the main part of the house, anyway) are flipped for those express purposes. I guess I just thought I'd already done it. But I noticed the blinds in both bedrooms were like that. At least we've only had a couple of weeks of actual sunny, summer weather. I sort of feel bad for the electric bill that I didn't change things sooner, but then I remember how many weeks of overcast, rainy days where temps didn't get much into the 80s and so I think it's ok.

Definitely makes a huge difference in the bedroom temps now, though,and the a/c doesn't cycle as much. The thermostat is right in between both rooms,so...

The a/c here is ridiculously loud, and comes on far too often, stays on too long, no matter what it's set at. Last month, I had to set it at 74 just to get it to come on at all. Over the past two weeks I've changed it to 76 and then 77, just to try to get it to stay off. But then it doesn't come on enough at night and the dogs get hot, in spite of the ceiling fan.

I think maybe I've got it figured out, finally.