Scooting? Anal Gland Expression?

Ruki started scooting a few days ago. Nothing that was too noticeable. I first noticed it when she was playing in the snow and then just started scooting in the snow. And then I noticed that in the morning she might do a few scoots--three or four scoots on the carpet.

Here's a thread from the Bulldog Domain on scooting and anal glands/tail pockets:

http://thnlnk.com/bulldogdomain/Anal.Glands/907

So we're not sure if it's an anal gland issue just yet. We're going to keep on it. Keep her area clean with baby wipes. Watch the scooting. Check for the poo/fishy oil smell. And feed her a wheat biscuit or two every day. And give her some real good play and exercise and maybe her anal glands will express themselves.

Ruki Loves the Snow

Today we got a nice thick powder of snow. When Ruki first was introduced to snow, she just jumped around trying to eat the flakes. Then when the snow collected, she loved eating it. I worried initially that maybe it'd make her sick--no real reason why I thought this, I just did.

It hasn't made her sick. But she does love it. We let her run around free in the snow, and she loves plowing around in it, and she loves burying her face into the soft stuff and chomping away.

Who am I to rob her of pure joy?

Bananas and Poo

So since I've been eating more bananas for breakfast, we've occasionally been feeding Ruki bananas because... Well, she loves 'em. But then I worried if they'd mess with her digestive system. Most people seem to think that they constipate dogs, just like with people. I don't know if that's what they do to Ruki, but I do know that while we were feeding her bananas, her poo was a little looser than usual.

So from our one-time experiment, if you feed your dog bananas, expect at least that her poo might be a little looser. Thinner--and not the nice meaty ones she usually throws out there--and wetter.

Another Wart Update

So Monsterface's warts started showing up around Feb. 22. It's now March 16, and they've been starting to shrink. The one on the inside--the one that showed up first--started to shrivel and looks like it might fall off! (It's the one that looks more like a cauliflower, but even more like a whitish artichoke.) The one of the outside--that looks like a pink sea anenome, or a traditional wart--has gotten shorter and thinner. Maybe it'll go soon!

The Interplay from Joy to Responsibility

I've been real busy the past week or so--and for the next week or so. Like today, I left home early, waking Ruki up before 8 a.m. and leaving by 8.40 a.m. And I got back late, a bit after 1 p.m. My plan was to try and make it to work by 2 - 2.15 p.m. That left me about half an hour with the Monsterface.

I love playing with Ruki. She's a joy and a pleasure. It's fun taking her for walks, or to the park to play. But this isn't all the time. Today, it was a responsibility. I admit, that it was fun, but that wasn't the main purpose. The main purpose is that she needs exercise, she needs some discipline--we did some training, and then she needs some time with me.

The key point here is my motivation. If my motivation was my own joy--which also comes from Ruki's joy, then, sure, I received joy. But joy is inconstant and joy has many methods of fulfillment and denial. On the other hand, responsibility has a framework. With discipline, it is constant and the inputs and outputs are predictable.

I think that the prime motivation should be responsibility. And then try to attain joy in every moment of that responsibility. That way it's about Ruki, and not about me. And in the end I think that a puppy trained and structured through responsibility will be better able to deal with life than one that tries to adjust to and figure out how you can be motivated through joy.

Right now, she's just chilling out, laying down, chewing on a toy nearby. My joy might be to play with her. Right now, the joy would be forced because I want to write this and it might not be so fun. My responsibility might be to play with her. Right now, I think my responsibility is to make sure I'm here, just around, with Ruki nearby, and so that's what I'll do.

Wart's Still There!

It's March 5, 2007, and the wart's still there! Almost two weeks...

On another note, Ruki's totally going crazy right now and running all over the apartment.

Dog Mouth Warts

Update: Added gross pictures of Ruki's warts. 

So Ruki developed some warts on her lips a few days ago. I found the one on the inside of her lip first. It looked like a weird, white mushroom--not the bumpy, sea anenome type that you expect. I thought that maybe it was a cyst or something weird, like a tumor. I worried a bit, thinking it would just go away.

Then, almost directly through the skin, on the outside of her lip, she got the typical wart: pink and bumpy. I bet if you stuck a pin through the outside wart it would go right into the inside wart, like they're the same thing.

I then found some pictures to confirm that the weird-looking inside-the-lip white, mushroomy thing might also just be another kind of wart:

http://thnlnk.com/crvetcenter/Oral.papillomas.warts.in.a.dog/670

So, OK, a wart. It should just go away over time. Apparently, they're also pretty typical in older puppies. I might try the recommendation on the above page ("Viroplex contains lysine, an amino acid; copper, zinc, calcium citrate, vitamins A, C, B1, B2, niacin, and periwinkle, mustard, and broccoli. The latter 3 ingredients contain natural anti-neoplastic (tumor inhibiting) compounds.") to see if that'll help things improve more quickly.

Part of me hopes that when she's playing with other dogs, maybe one of the dogs will bite them off. Maybe!