Painful Paws

I had noticed when I first got Cleo that her paws are very soft, so I was taking it really easy on her as far as outside activity goes. I think that we overdid it the other day at the dog park. We went to the dog part in Littleton for about an hour, and of course Cleo ran the whole time and had a wonderful time. That night I noticed that she was limping a little bit and saw that her paws had a few holes in the pads and were a little swollen. She was a good sport about me cleaning the up and putting musher's wax on them but I am still surprised at how sensitive her feet really are. She must have been in a pen or wasn't walked much by whoever had her before.

She also split one of her toenails. I went to Petsmart and a man working there brought her in to the groomer's area and filed it down for free. My concern is that her toenails seem to split even when they are well trimmed. The pads seem to be healing quickly and hopefully they will heal a little tougher than they were before!

Food Hound

Cleo's appetite has completely flipped around since I first got her. When she first came home I would have a bowl of food out and she would maybe finish it in a day, taking a few tender nibbles here and there and then walking away while looking at me warily. Now she eats twice a day and gobbles all of her food up. She also wouldn't take treats from strangers when I first got her. She still won't always take them but now she is more interested, especially if it is a treat she likes.

I was at Petsmart the other day standing in line, juggling her leash and a huge bag of food. I felt a little tug on the leash and turned around to see Cleo wagging furiously at the man in line behind me. I was surprised because she will typically wag at a man and then as they walk up tuck her tail firmly between her legs but her tail kept wagging as he pet her head and started playing with her ears. He started talking to her and she stared at the bag of treats in his hand and sat down, tail still swishing back and forth. I told Cleo "No Cleo he won't give you a treat" and turned back around. I felt her tug again and looked back. The man was opening the bag of treats he was waiting to purchase and dropped a few in Cleo's mouth. For some reason this moment is stuck in my head, it was so sweet. Cleo was reluctant as I lead her to another cashier. It gave me hope that she would get over her fear of men. Then again nothing could ever go wrong in Petsmart, she loves that place.

The Great Escape

On Friday I had a crazy schedule. My birthday party was that night and I also had to work an event in Boulder (about 40 minutes away from where I live). I carted Cleo around with me during the day as I bought decorations for the party and picked up my cake (which she made a dive for as I walked around to the drivers side of the car). I then drove to Boulder, since I could not find a dogsitter for the evening. I finally convinced my friend to come pick her up once he got off work so she wouldn't have to sit in the car at a gun range for six hours.

Once I got to the range to set up (they do themed matches and they hired the D20 girls to 'act' before the shooters went on the range) they invited Cleo inside. This was preferable over her sitting with her muddy paws in the car. She was terrified. A cold building full of men in jackets. At first she cried every time I walked away from her and was shaking. As the men slowly one by one came up to her and made good she got more comfortable, and by about 6:30 she was perfectly happy to sit in the ever growing crowd of men while I sat next to her. I still didn't want her there when they started shooting in the indoor range in the other room. I was relieved when my friend finally showed up and took her away. She seemed to remember him and happily went along.

I continued with the event. It was loud, crowded and I did not get cell phone reception in the building. I still checked my phone every once and a while, and at about 10:00pm I look down and realize I have eight text messages and a voicemail. I didn't think much of it but as I was walking out of the building I started to read the texts, which didn't seem to make any sense (I later realized that the voicemail came first and the texts built off of it). They were all saying 'she won't come near me still' and 'ok she came up to another dog and I was able to get her'. I sat down in my car and listened to the voicemail. In it my friend explained how he let her off the leash to go inside and she bolted. He didn't want to chase her, but he followed trying not to scare her. He said she wouldn't get near him and he was really sorry. My heart sank. Cleo was gone? What if she gets hit by a car or someone nabs her. I then read the rest of the texts, that said everything was fine and he had caught her but she still was really spooky.

Two steps forward and one step back, she did great in a room full of men then ran away from one. Still I see progress and I think she just tricked my friend into thinking she was a perfect pup. At least we didn't lose her!