SWIMMING

Well..... I'm a little behind on Rufus updates so this might take a while.  To start with, last Thursday Rufus thought he wanted to eat some weed.  That didn't go so well.  That weed made him sick!  He threw-up all day Thursday.  I called his Vet and received some advice.  By Thursday evening, the toxins had run its course and Rufus was back to normal (so I thought). Sunday, I needed to clean the carpets, so my wife took the dogs to the in-laws to hang out by the pool so the carpets could dry.  I got there about 4:30 pm and lo-and-behold..... looks like I had a water dog! Couldn't keep him out of the pool, he loves it, things are lookin up.  Well, my excitement was short lived.  Rufus woke up Monday with an allergic reaction to something.  Haven't got a clue what caused it.  His big old nose was swelled-up and he had hives all over his body.  I took him into the vet right away and they gave him a couple shots to stop the reaction.  All's well that ends well.....right ? Not so fast, Tuesday he woke me up at about 1:00am, I let him out to pee, he did his business, went right to the water then back out for more business. Ok, didn't think much about it.  Well, about 4:45am, we did it again.... kind of out of the ordinary for him. Tuesday afternoon, when I got home, same situation, then it dawned on me.... he has a bladder infection !  I called the Doc and they gave him a prescription, whew ! that was a close one, all's well that ends well.... right ? Not so fast, Wednesday, 8:00am, Rufus starts throwing-up.  Well, naturally I assume the antibiotic is making him sick, so we keep an eye on him all day. Every time he eats a little something, within 1 1/2 to 2 hrs, out it comes.  At lunch, I fixed a little white rice to see if that would help settle his stomach. Nope ! he threw that up also.  I called the Vet and they wanted to see him.  We took him in at 4:15pm.  Doc looks him over, we discussed the entire week leading up to today and tried to conclude a diagnosis.  I was concerned there may be a blockage of some sort in his stomach, because he has an appetite and wants to eat, but just can't keep it down.  So we decided to do an xray and look for any foreign objects.  Well, one xray turned into two xrays ($$$$) ...... no foreign objects.  It appears he is "plugged-up", so the Vet Tech takes him out back and gives him an enema.  Doc said to keep him on a wet food mixed with water and olive oil diet for a couple days to get things loosened up.  He sent us home with another enema for tomorrow and to let him know if he continues to vomit.  Wednesday, Rufus seems to be a little better, he hasn't vomitted all day and he's starting to perk up a little.  Thursday, I think we are on the right track.... finally.  It's been a long week, I need a drink! - sg

Swimming

I was told that French Pointers like water and will have no trouble with water retrieves.  Well, Rufus wasn't sure about that.  A visit to the in-laws required Rufus to get wet. I slowly got him into the pool and let him swim to the steps.  He was not happy!  He would look at the water, but he really didn't want to get in it.  I figured it would take a little time, let him decide he wanted to swim.  Saturday, Fathers Day weekend, we have a small plastic pool at the house, so I filled it up, after-all it was only 100 degrees plus. He sniffed around a bit, got in and walked around a little...... then all hell broke loose !  He went crazy, Rufus and Bear (the resident Jack Russell) lost any sense they may have had.  In the pool, out of the pool, around the yard Rufus would run through the pool, do a somersault roll in the water, pop out the side and keep on running !  I guess all he needed was a "kiddie" pool !  Happy Fathers Day to me. - sg

Things were pretty quiet today, so I decided to bring Rufus back to work with me after lunch.  He seems to like it. - sg

4 Months

Rufus is 4 months and 1 week.  He went back to the Vet for his last set of shots, he is finally free to roam!  The other day while I was takin a break from some yard work, I wondered how he would react to a quail wing tied to a fishing pole.  So, I tied one up and gave it a try.  My son Austen video'd the action.  Now, remember, Rufus is only 4 months old with no "bird" or "pointing" training. Pretty impressive! - sg

Rufus is 13 weeks.  He was a stinky little fellow so we gave him a bath on Saturday.  He wasn't really sure if he liked it or not, but after a bit, he seemed to enjoy it.  Some of the photo's are a little fuzzy ( I think the photographer was a little distracted).  I think his natural instincts are finally starting to develope.  Sunday morning we were hangin out while everyone else was still sleeping, he spotted something in the other room and froze like statue.  As we went to investigate what had peeked his interest, he slowly made his way into the other room, using his nose and looking like a real hunter, he stopped suddenly, his body all tensed up and lean, his tail stiff as a board and nose pointed straight at something I never saw.  He just stood there in perfect form...... I just about started to cry!  I never did figure out what he was so intensly focused on, but after that display, I really didn't care...... Things are lookin-up! - sg

12 Weeks!

Well, Rufus is 12 weeks old.  He went to the Vet yesterday for his 3rd round of shots and weighed in at 16.8 lbs. (I was supposed to take a picture, but I didn't).  He is doing very well, the Vet said he looks real good. We have been working on his retrieving training.  I use 2 small stuffed animals in the hallway with all the doors shut and alternate tossing each one to the other end.  When he brings it back, I toss the other one.  He is doing real good.  He does not like the leash too much though, he still fights it a little so we've been takin it slow.  Doc says not to take him out untill after the next round of shots in 4 weeks, plenty of time for leash training.  He is a smart little rascal....he has me pegged- sg

Movin-on-Up

11 weeks now and growing like 2 weeds!  Rufus finally grew out of the "apartment" and moved into the condo!  With this much space.... he looks so small.

Rufus goes back to the vet on Monday for 12 week shots. Time flies!

Well, I guess I'm not very good at keeping up with the updates.  Rufus is growing!  He is getting taller as I type.  I think he grows about 2 inches a day.  Yesterday, Rufus got his first "ouwy".  He was wrastling with our Daughters jack russell when, out of now where they ran into the back door all tangled up.  Well his hind foot slipped under the door and split a toe-nail open.  Nothing too serious, but boy he played that up and whined like someone was stealin his best beany baby! This puppy thing is wearin me out -sg

A Quick Photo Update

Here are some pictures we recently took of Rufus. You can tell by these that he has gotten taller. It's pretty crazy to see how fast they grow as a puppy.

Bed Time

Well..... he finally did it! As you can see in the photo, this is where Rufus sleeps.  He gets a little "playpen" area where he gets to eat without his step brother and sister gettin his food.  When Rufus gets tired he turns into the tasmanian devil.  At this point we put him in his area and he goes right to bed.  His usual bedtime has been 9:00pm +/- 10 to 15 minutes.  Well, this afternoon he was particularly fiesty and had some really hard playtime.  It's 8:15pm and Rufus decided he'd had enough.  As we were rocking in the recliner watching the tv, he just hopped off my lap and headed straight to bed.  9 weeks..... amazing! -sg

"Vet-Check"

Made a visit to Dr. Thurman at Thurman Veterinarian Hospital. Rufus had his 2nd round of shots today, he is officially 9 weeks along.  Rufus weighed-in at a whopping 11.5 lbs..  Dr. Thurman was about to enter surgey so there was little time to discuss Rufus' future.  We did talk about the rest of his "shots" routine and when to do the rattlesnake anti-venom.  Rattlesnake  anti-venom is a must-do for hunting dogs so it will slow down the reaction time in case of a bite in the field.  This extra time will allow for getting to the hospital before its "curtains"!  Rufus is growing like a weed and really makin it rough on the other canines of this house.

POTTY TRAINING

Potty Training Sucks!  unless of course you happen to have an extremely smart puppy, like mine.  Fourth day into this ordeal and Rufus is sleeping most of the night, the whining has stopped and he is starting to settle into a nice routine.  After an early morning whisk out the door and business is done, bring him in, set him down and tell him to "get in the kennel" he walks right in, flops down and goes back to sleep. Amazing! --sg

Rufus Comes Home

On Thursday, March 22nd, we drove over to the Coast to pick up Rufus, our new seven week old French Pointer. Weighing around 9lbs, he playfully welcomed us by grabbing our shoelaces and clumsily jumping around.

We finally got him home, and showed him his new house in the kitchen which consists of a small doggy gate and a crate. After playing with him for a bit, he crashed and slept until 1AM, when he started to cry pretty bad for a couple of hours. After two nights in the same routine, he is getting better at sleeping.

We are still working on potty training him. So far he's done really well. We'll see how the next week goes!