Filed under: Dog health, Dogs, English Cocker Spaniel, Rusty, vet | Tags: dental cleaning, dog, Rusty, vet
Well, being back in California for the holidays has been wonderful, but my bank account is begging for mercy. It didn’t help when I arrived and I saw that my 10 year old English Cocker Spaniel needed to visit the vet for a dental cleaning. Now it might seem a bit extreme to spend $300 on your dogs teeth, but really this dog has already cost me so much money it’s a drop in the bucket. Let’s do a tally.
Cost of puppy: 5,500 baht ~close to $220
Cost of airfare to US from Thailand: 20,000 baht ~$500 (included crate, air travel, vet exams, etc.)
Cost of biannual dental cleaning: $1,100 (3 visits)
Grand Total: $1720 and that doesn’t even include dog license fees, annual dog vaccinations and dog food
Why spend the money? Well, this particular dog has been with me since I was 16 years old. I bought him at Chatuchak market one Saturday with my dad. He was the most adorable puppy with long, silky ears and a stubby tail. I named him Rusty for his dark buff fur and he was a great lapdog. When I left for college in the states, he climbed into my suitcase repeatedly and wondered why I wasn’t packing his stuff too. When we put my suitcases in the back of the truck, he jumped in with the luggage. In the end, we had to put Rusty in the house as I drove away.
It was over a year until Rust came to America. One of my cousins went for the summer and I sent an airline approved dog carrier with her. She came back with Rusty a few months later, although he looked a bit worse for wear after spending 20 plus hours in that crate. He seemed very confused at his new surroundings, but when he saw me his stubby tail and entire back end started wagging. We cleaned him up as soon as we got to our house and Rusty has been living with my aunt and cousins ever since.
Now I was living in college apartments where dogs were not allowed, so Rusty stayed with my aunt. Eventually, everyone fell in love with him and his lovely personality, so everything worked out fine. For the first two years I didn’t come home that often because I lacked my own transportation, but eventually I got my own care and I would come home every two weeks or so. Each time Rusty would greet me with his wagging stubby tail and attack me once I walked in the door. He would wait for me at the door if I went out and sleep next to me each night.
Since I’ve been living in Thailand, I’ve only been back home twice. Everyone always says “poor Rusty” because when I come back, it’s like he’s my shadow. When I went away for the weekend and returned, Rusty acted like I’d been away forever. He paces around wondering what I’m going to do next and finds places to nap wherever I am in the house. I try to be a good owner, taking him for walks and car rides, because I feel guilty that I’m his favorite person and I live in Thailand.
So, when Rusty was weakened by the poor state of his teeth four years ago, everyone cried and cried. We couldn’t put him under anaesthesia because his blood test revealed that he was anemic so we had to give him antibiotics and more protein for a week before taking another blood test. The second blood test showed that he was strong enough to go under the anaesthesia to do the dental cleaning. When he came back from the vet, he was disoriented and missing about 6 teeth but his remaining teeth were clean.
About a year later, we did a routine cleaning to get rid of the build up and make sure never to let Rusty’s teeth get so bad again. It’s been about a year and a half since his last cleaning and the build up on his canines were noticeable again. As a habit, I get the blood test done before the vet puts him under because I’m afraid that he might have a big infection again. He’s been okay and the vet gave me a dental was to spray on his teeth daily and told us to brush his teeth regularly. A guess some dogs just have more problems with their teeth as they get older.
Rusty’s been sleeping next to me the entire time I’ve been on the computer. I think it’s about time that I took him for a walk at the park. He had a rough day at the vet last week and I think it will make him feel better.
Filed under: Puppies, Strays, Taco, beagle, raising, socialization, training, travel in car | Tags: Bangkok, car training, puppy, Sanghklaburi, traveling with dog
For the past few weeks, our five month old beagle puppy has been taking car rides every weekend. Since we like to take short day trips on the weekend just to get out of the city, it is important that Taco gets car training and is used to traveling in the car with us. He needs to be able to fit into our lifestyle and it’s best for the training to start as soon after a puppy’s vaccinations are complete.
I make sure that Taco doesn’t eat too much in the mornings if we are going to take him with us. We already had a throw up incident! He doesn’t seem to drink much food or eat much when we are on the road though. He’s gotten to the point where he’s settling down faster and even sleeps during long rides. He loves to sit in my lap, however, and I have to push him down towards the ground. He also has a blanket and dog chews so that he’s comfortable during the ride.
On a school holiday for the King’s birthday, we took him with us to an ostrich farm where he got to meet a few big birds, camels, horses and sheep. Most of the animals were pretty scared of him. We had yummy noodles for lunch at Petchaburi and afterwards walked up the hill to see the palace at the top. Taco had a run in with a few monkeys that live on the mountain. He had to be carried most of the way to make sure that he didn’t bother the monkeys and vice versa.
That weekend was a long weekend and the whole family, including Taco, headed to the province of Kanchanaburi. We spent two nights in a small town called Sanghklaburi next to the Burmese border. The town was very small compared to Bangkok and it was full of fellow Bangkokians escaping the busy capital. Sanghklaburi is a four hour drive from Bangkok and is in the same direction as the bridge over the River Kwai and Nam Tok Sai Yok. However, to get to Sanghklaburi, you have to keep going up into the mountains along a windy two lane highway until you reach a huge reservoir that was one of the King’s projects to prevent flooding and generate electricity.We stayed at a resort called Sanghkla Garden, on the banks of the reservoir without air conditioning or hot water. The resort owners were kind enough to boil water for our morning showers.
We had called ahead to make sure dogs were permitted at the resort. I brought along Taco’s dog crate so that he would have a place to sleep and be confined when needed. It also helped him to feel more at ease since this is his normal sleeping place and is regarded as his den. I took him for frequent walks to so that he could go potty. He went with us everywhere. The nice thing about Thailand is that people don’t really mind you bringing small pet dogs with you, even in the open air restaurants. While we ate, he sat and played under the table. He would often lick pieces of ice or just go to sleep.
The only bad thing about traveling with a dog in Thailand is that there are so many stray dogs. At the market where we had several meals, I had to keep Taco on my lap if large dogs were around. My dad kept a large stick on hand to chase more aggressive dogs away when necessary. A lot of the dogs were just curious, but I didn’t like having the stray dogs and their diseases near my puppy. Taco was very interested in these strange dogs and would often bark at them.
It was a lot of fun traveling with Taco, but when we got home we were both exhausted. Taco sleep most of the day and night for two days recuperating from his adventurous weekend. It was a great opportunity to socialize him and make sure he will be able to travel with us as an adult dog.
Filed under: Dogs, Tiger, raising, training | Tags: air force, dog, Don Muang, training
This weekend we went to the Air Force base by Don Muang airport to pay the dog trainer for the second month of training. We also dropped off more dog food since last time the dog trainer said there was about two weeks worth of food left. We were going to the Thailand Motor Expo at Muang Thong Convention center so we didn’t actually see Tiger go through the training course, but the trainer said that she’s improved greatly since the last time we saw her. He’s now working with her on her commands at a distance and the long stay. That means instead of giving her commands while he is right next to her, he puts her in the sit-stay, walks away from her and then gives her different commands to follow. I hope to see her in a few weeks and she how her training is progressing.
