Bibby has settled in beautifully, despite all the changes.
We had company waiting for us when we arrived before Christmas. You saw the two little white dogs in the pictures I sent. A mother and daughter duo. Bibby soon became the 4 yr old mothers hero, defending her gallantly from her daughters' frequently tormenting behaviour, by putting himself between them and growling at "Sugar" when she persisted in nipping at "China". The owners were happy to see Sugar finally learn some manners toward her long suffering mom.
About mid January they left to return to the rain coast, leaving Mr. Bibbs to discover that he, in fact, was top dog in this home and not a mere visitor. Almost the same day we started construction on an outdoor kitchen and the Bibbs took naturally to welcoming every worker on arrival with a list of warnings. (We feel he must have picked up a few bad habits from Sugar and China as we had hardly heard him bark prior to meeting them.)
One thing he didn't learn from them was that he is allowed to poop in his yard. He must be walked morning and night to a spot at some distance from home territory. Of course peeing is another thing. He starts at our neighbours and leaves messages at every post, shrub, weed and stone of 2 or more inches in height. He's made several friends along our route and greets them happily through the fences, whenever they are out. Needless to say, despite walks taking 30-40 min., we don't cover much ground.
Rick's mom arrived mid-January and Bibby didn't take long to discover that the best place to retire to, at supper time, was immediately under her chair. I've had a heck of a time trying to limit the amount of food that accidently drops off the table at that spot.
Speaking of food, I've been able to continue his raw food diet. I hadn't found a store selling it here and was researching having it delivered (the shipping charges nixed that idea) so I searched out free range organic buffalo, lamb and chicken meat at a couple of local stores, purchased organic veggies, fruit, seaweed, and Rick and I set up a raw dog food making enterprise in our kitchen. We used the above plus olive and fish oils, apple cider vinegar, nuts, blueberries, seeds, organic free range chicken eggs, etc., etc.,
Rick thought me crazy, but worked like a trooper grinding and mixing and bagging until we'd bagged and frozen a month's worth. About 3 days later we found a shop selling frozen raw, organic, free range dog food and bones, not one block from our favourite grocer. Rick shakes his head that we're paying over $8.00/lb. for dog food but the Bibbs seems so healthy for an old boy that we don't want to take any chances. He runs and jumps like a pup and other than long, long, deep sleeps...(is he alive?), accented by snoring, seems like a pup to us.
We didn't have a chance to ask before leaving if you knew what had happened to his R hind leg, much atrophied compared with his L. Also he has an odd shaped rib. Neither seem to concern him at all, though when tired he's fallen over toward the weak side once or twice. Also do you have his last weight? He is 21 lbs, up 4 lbs from his first weigh-in here in Yuma in January. I'm going to try to maintain him at 20-22 lbs. A neighbour who has a 10 yr old, large female of mixed heritage, in excellent condition, high energy, and on the lean side, checked Bibby's rib cage and seems to feel as I do, that more weight would take a toll on his joints. We know he's gained muscle since arriving here and so he may not have added much fat in that 4 lbs but he is running around the yard like a spring chicken, so we think all is well.
His "one" bad habit is... can you guess??....Only when left alone, (which is rare) he raids anything with the smell of food or what might be food; in the 2 cases since being here...garbage cans... eating, of all things, paper towels! The latest happened about 3 days ago and I checked all his poops till yesterday, discovering one complete paper towel, of course rolled and bent into a sausage shape and covered discretely in a coating of poop, to fool the less discerning spy... (RICK!). As I continued my work finally finding what I was really searching for, (the remains of 3 cooked sharp chicken bones) Rick saw what I was up to and reasserted his claim that; it was bad enough he had to pick it up; he would not disect it!!!
He was amazed though, when on our way south, in December, I unrolled ( it was actually accordioned up) a 3ft long piece of plastic strip, from an innocent looking...well...turd. It appeared to be a film strip, completely intact. If it hadn't been below zero and blowing colder out there, I might have examined it more closely to see if Bibbs was, in fact, a spy in his old life.
It did make me wonder if that amount of plastic may have made it hard for him to metabolize food? If it had been stuck in there for some time, his weight loss may have been accidental. We had had him over a week, at that point, and were not missing any film as we've been digital for some time. He's snoring away beside me now as I write, having given up waiting for his chance to send his love...mom is always blathering on too long. He was holding the position of honor by day 2: that of sleeping between mom and dad, face and front paws pushing mom to the edge on one side, and business end and rear legs forcing dad to the edge on the other.
I'll include a few more photo's. Mr. B sends his love and appreciation for all you do for he and his canine friends and promises he'll visit as soon as we return to BC. He'll decide then whether he'd like to stay on as our baby. We've already made our decision the day after the "SLEEPOVER". Rick loves telling that story. He thinks, Carol, that he needs you as a salesperson at the marina!!!
Love to all of you wonderful people at RAPS,
See you in May,
Lenore and Rick
