"Rowdy" is Dragon Lair's Rowdy Rider of Autumn (Hey don't blame ME for that name.....didn't do it <lol> ) At any rate, Rowdy is......well....just "Rowdy", "Rowters", "Rowder-Dowder", etc, etc to me.....ya'll know how that goes, eh? And he answers to all or any of them. Happily. Except he does NOT wag his tail. EVER.
Rowdy is the subject of my concern and love right now. He just turned a year old on the 1st of September, thereby putting him into the 12-18 class at dog shows. I didn't have a problem with the 9-12, but now he's suddenly almost grown up. What? Rowdy....grown up? I'm having difficulty dealing with that. I want him to stay a puppy.....like forever.
We didn't have the opportunity to know him when he was a baby, a teenager, and didn't even meet him till he was nearly 10 months old. In those first nearly 10 months of his little life, I want to know what caused him to have the "issues" he has.....what imbedded this serious overwhelming FEAR of any dogs bigger than him? And why was he not afraid of our Dobermans when I first brought him into our home?
Why is he even terrified of a larger dog who is in a crate and within 25 feet of him?
He's not playing....acting....or pretending.
He IS TERRIFIED. WHY?
Why is he even terrified of a larger dog who is in a crate and within 25 feet of him?
He's not playing....acting....or pretending.
He IS TERRIFIED. WHY?
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| When Rowdy first came to us |
When Rowdy first came to us, it was from an acquaintance who had acquired him at 8 weeks old. She and Rowdy just did NOT hit it off. They disliked each other visibly....and that's not a good situation for either of them. We offered to bring him home for a while to see if we could maybe do an "attitude rehab". What we brought here was a nasty little sullen dog who growled and snapped at anyone and anything. He was angry, hateful and just NOT a nice boy. He cocked his head over to one side so far that his head was nearly parallel to the ground....and he had ....well, AN ATTITUDE.
He came into a home with 7 other adult TFT's, a bitch with 2 young puppies, 2 Dobermans, my husband and myself. Our dogs LIVE in our home. They are not crated, they have 24-7 access to the doggie door leading out to the huge backyard and an even larger lovely wooded area where they spend lots of time....tall grass, trees, shade, all 100% doggie proof fencing all around. The backyard is lighted at night so they can go out to potty at any time without fear of "critters".
Rowdy, to begin with, knew NOTHING about a doggie door and felt he could just lift his little hind leg wherever the urge hit. Within a week however, after a number of "corrections" that stopped and he was using the doggie door just like everyone else, and to this day still does. I don't believe in potty pads, doggie "elimination areas", or anything that encourages them to potty inside the house. Hey, even our 12 week old puppies use the doggie door and go outside when they have to potty. No PEE-YEW...... phew.
So then, one issue taken care of. However, on a nearly daily basis, other concerns kept coming up. His bite finally caused a trip to the vet to yank out two embedded canines that were poking into his upper gums and not only had to be painful, but they were distorting his bite horribly. One more issue done.
The head tilting radically over to one side was driving me wild and could not for the life of me figure it out......neurological problem? injury? no vision on that side? What? I watched him and watched.....Then one day for no particular reason, I made a silly little squeaky sound....all the dogs close by looked right at me.... but Rowdy took off down the hall directly AWAY from me, searching for the sound. OMG...!! He can't hear out of that side! Off to the vet again.
A Baeer test proved that he was nearly deaf in his right ear. A close exam by the vet also found a massive blocking infection of ear mites down on the ear drum. Well, geez, no wonder he couldn't hear, eh? Took care of that and....also had to treat every dog in the house, as well as all their bedding, carpets, floors, our bedding, etc, etc.... (Another issue covered)
He came into a home with 7 other adult TFT's, a bitch with 2 young puppies, 2 Dobermans, my husband and myself. Our dogs LIVE in our home. They are not crated, they have 24-7 access to the doggie door leading out to the huge backyard and an even larger lovely wooded area where they spend lots of time....tall grass, trees, shade, all 100% doggie proof fencing all around. The backyard is lighted at night so they can go out to potty at any time without fear of "critters".
Rowdy, to begin with, knew NOTHING about a doggie door and felt he could just lift his little hind leg wherever the urge hit. Within a week however, after a number of "corrections" that stopped and he was using the doggie door just like everyone else, and to this day still does. I don't believe in potty pads, doggie "elimination areas", or anything that encourages them to potty inside the house. Hey, even our 12 week old puppies use the doggie door and go outside when they have to potty. No PEE-YEW...... phew.
So then, one issue taken care of. However, on a nearly daily basis, other concerns kept coming up. His bite finally caused a trip to the vet to yank out two embedded canines that were poking into his upper gums and not only had to be painful, but they were distorting his bite horribly. One more issue done.
The head tilting radically over to one side was driving me wild and could not for the life of me figure it out......neurological problem? injury? no vision on that side? What? I watched him and watched.....Then one day for no particular reason, I made a silly little squeaky sound....all the dogs close by looked right at me.... but Rowdy took off down the hall directly AWAY from me, searching for the sound. OMG...!! He can't hear out of that side! Off to the vet again.
A Baeer test proved that he was nearly deaf in his right ear. A close exam by the vet also found a massive blocking infection of ear mites down on the ear drum. Well, geez, no wonder he couldn't hear, eh? Took care of that and....also had to treat every dog in the house, as well as all their bedding, carpets, floors, our bedding, etc, etc.... (Another issue covered)
Vet didn't know if clearing up the infection would improve his hearing, but we hoped and prayed it would. 3 weeks later, another Baer test proved that it had indeed done just that. He will never have 100% hearing in that ear, but he's nearly up to 80%. He still has a tendency to cock his head sometimes....habit? But trust me, he can now determine where a sound is coming from, and he's quick to respond.
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| Head still tilting - just after treatment began for his loss of hearing |
One by one the issues came and were dealt with. One, however, we only have hope for. His tail was clamped to his rectum when he came.....and he would scream bloody murder if you tried to raise it at all. Had me dumbfounded.
As he began to relax here, we would occasionally see him lift it a bit, and on those rare occasions we would also see there was feces residue at his rectal site. He wasn't cleaning himself. Wierd.
Rowdy has been with his for nearly 3 months and he will now allow me to raise his tail, gently clean his rectal area, but it has to be oh-so gently, or he will scream like all Hell is after him. Bizaar? I'm mystified.
As he began to relax here, we would occasionally see him lift it a bit, and on those rare occasions we would also see there was feces residue at his rectal site. He wasn't cleaning himself. Wierd.
Rowdy has been with his for nearly 3 months and he will now allow me to raise his tail, gently clean his rectal area, but it has to be oh-so gently, or he will scream like all Hell is after him. Bizaar? I'm mystified.
He also NEVER wags his tail. This is my hope for the future.....a happy TAIL WAGGING little guy who loves life, people and is comfortable enough to relax his guard and just BE HAPPY. He LOVES the puppies.....and has taken it upon himself to be their self-proclaimed protector, play thing for them, and just happy as a pig in the sunshine when he's outside playing with them. What a guy!
He likes to show in the ring....but he's terrified of any big dogs around.....so we don't know if we're going to contiue with him or not. I guess we'll see. He went to his first dogshow and won both days. I cried.
If you want to see more of him, we put up a web page just for him. Rowdy's Page
If you want to see more of him, we put up a web page just for him. Rowdy's Page
He's such a sweet little dog and every so often he does something endearing that absolutley brings tears to my eyes. As we speak, he is sitting down by my feet, "purring" up at me. Only he and Zara make that lovey little sound and it jerks my heartstrings when the do it.
They save it for those they love.
I know he loves me....AND I LOVE HIM.
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