Sadly, it’s a bit late to get to the stores – they all closed about 2 hours ago. It’s a good idea, though, and I may pick one up tomorrow.

There was a small bump on it earlier today…i would compare it to a pressure sore from lying on a hard surface, but she hasn’t been on any hard surfaces lately.

She DOES have an allregy to something in the yard and we battled hives most of the summer as a result. Vet had her on a steroid, antihistamine, and antibiotic. She hasn’t been itchy since.

What worries me is she has been displaying some OCD behavior lately – suckling, digging, and the licking may be her way of replacing the suckling after I removed her blanket.

Her paternal grandmother is a suckler, so I anticipated some suckling. I just wish it wouldn’t escalate to destructive chewing.

Maybe i need to step up the training regimen to manage the OCD behavior. Will be discussing that with my trainer.

Anyway…what do you think i could do to manage the irritation until Friday? I am not against giving her benadryl – vet has approved our use – I just don’t know if this is a histamine reaction.

good news! it took one training session on an empty stomach to convince her that eating might be a good idea. emptied her bowl and was looking for more.

bratdog is a brat. but she’s eating, so i’m happy.

I know the MIL isn’t trying to be detrimental. She just refuses to believe that Beneful isn’t what I want to feed my dog. If we give her individually bagged meals, she complies. If we give her a bag of Rip’s food and a scoop, she…doesn’t. Last lengthy visit, she managed to feed 15 pounds of food in a week and a half. I fear this may be an ongoing disagreement – she tends to keep her dogs 5 pounds overweight and free feeds, while I like my dog eating specific meals at specific times and I like to see a nice tuck at the belly with a visible waist.

She will accept kibble from my hand if she complies with a command – she thinks it’s a treat. I got about half a cup in her that way this evening, so she isn’t going to go completely hungry. She’s just being a stubborn twit – at nearly 2, she’s at that age where UPS hasn’t shipped us all of the parts of her brain, so she’s still “forgetting” things she knows like how to come when called. I have used this method before with success, at both my breeder and my vet’s suggestion. The last time we did this, within 2 days she was eating normally. This time around she’s throwing a louder temper tantrum, though. Just wondering what, if anything, might make this less painful to my eardrums.

I’ll consider boiling some extra chicken and burying the tiniest shreds in her food – that will depend on whether she eats breakfast. If she doesn’t, tomorrow night’s class will be a difficult one for her…we are in Baltimore and head up to Forest Hill for classes, so we leave around 6. She usually gets the kibble portion of her dinner in class as training treats (interspersed with higher value meats, because that keeps her on her toes).

I can’t think of much else to add. We’re working on “puppy push-ups” right now to keep her busy (and get more kibble in her). Sometimes, I curse myself for bringing such a smart dog into my house. 😉

Before someone asks: I show her. She needs to eat when told just like she needs to evacuate bowel and bladder when told…otherwise things may get messy in the ring, and I cannot have that happening. This only becomes a problem after she goes to my MILs for more than a couple of days. Unfortunately, we have another lengthy stay planned later this summer, with a major show soon after. To say this has given me a headache is an understatement.