Reggie and Friends

Spoiled Reggie
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

This entry is really just to test the twitterfeed/facebook integration.

We all know that living with a Pug brings about massive amounts of cuteness into our homes. It also brings about massive amounts of fur. Reggie is STILL shedding. I don’t think he’ll ever stop. My mom used to vacuum our Dalmatian. I’m starting to think she was onto something.

And of course, with Reggie, there is always a new adventure.

This morning, Reggie got into some trouble. He was in the back yard while I was taking out the trash. The next thing I knew, Reggie was gone! Now going from the back yard to the street would involved him walking past me, so I knew he couldn’t have done that. Reggie was in the back yard of the house two doors down, pooping. What the heck?

It took me a minute to figure out just how he did it. My neighbor has a hole in her fence that Reggie exploited to go through her yard and then into the back yard of the house next door. This weekend, I might have to offer to patch Donna’s fence. The good news is that the fence around my back yard is still secure. The Regginator won’t be escaping that.

Reggie Got a Bath and Brush
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

There are some household chores best left to others. I have a dishwasher because I hate to wash dishes. I take my dress shirts to the cleaners for laundering because I hate to iron. And most of all, I hate giving Reggie his bath, so I take him to Pet Smart’s grooming salon. They have the skills, equipment, and facilities to do this, and it’s relatively cheap. It’s worth every penny.

With a Pug’s double coat of fur, he’s certainly in his shedding season. I was hoping a good bath and brush would take away a lot of the undercoat. The groomer didn’t do as well as I would have liked, but this wasn’t Heather, or normal groomer.

Reggie hadn’t been in to see them in about three months. We never go that long, and surprisingly, he wasn’t a stinky Pug. But after the bath, he smells so much better.

Clamoring for More Kibble
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Reggie and I went to see Dr. Natalie Waggener at the South Boston Animal Hospital today. It was time for his annual visit and immunizations. He’s now got a three year rabies vaccination and is up-to-date with everything.

We put him on the scales, and he was a svelte 16.8 pounds. That’s down from 20.3 pounds on our last visit. I’ve really been watching what Reggie eats, cutting him down to 3/4 cup of food a day from a full cup. On top of that, he gets limited treats. Frequently, treats are a piece of his kibble instead of an actual treat. He doesn’t seem to mind. Dr. Waggener says he’s at the perfect weight.

We did get a bit of bad news today. Reggie tested positive for lyme. Considering he had been bitten by a tick this winter, it’s not a big surprise. He’s on some antibiotics for the next month, and then we’ll get him immunized for this.

I keep going back to the South Boston Animal Hospital for a reason. Dr. Waggener and her staff are outstanding. Sure, I could find a vet here in Salem and they’d be adequate. Adequate isn’t good enough for my little Puggernaut.

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Originally uploaded by fratboy_jay

On Monday night, my friends Jay and Andy came over to visit. Reggie and Jay bonded instantly. Jay kept playing, and Reggie never seemed to tire of his games.

Andy took this photo with Jay’s camera.

Peanut Butter Adventures
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

It happened again. I left a jar of peanut butter where Reggie could get to it, and the little snot helped himself. Fortunately, I walked in before he could get too much.

I would love to know how Reggie is able to open a jar of peanut butter!

I haven’t been posting to Reggie’s blog lately. God knows he’s giving me enough material to write a book. This is a story I posted to PugVillage the other day. It’s entirely true.

We had an incident last night that I’ve since referred to as Chocolategate.

When I leave the house, I always put up the baby gate between the dining room and the kitchen, keeping Reggie away from the dangers of the kitchen. He’s been known to pull cutting boards (and the associated knife) off the counter and help himself to whatever was on the cutting board.

Last night, in the ultimate Chapter 7 (Stop Blaming the Dog!) moment, I forgot to put up the baby gate, and he helped himself to the kitchen. He pulled down a pyrex bowl that contained about half a bag of milk chocolate chips. And yes, he had eaten about half of that.

I had a pretty sick Pug on my hands. Not only was it chocolate, but he had gorged himself. He started drinking a ton of water, actually polishing off the bowl of water. For about an hour, he was throwing up all over the house. It was good to see bits of chocolate get out of his system. Finally on the second hour, I noticed his stomach was pretty bloated. We went out on the porch, and I pressed on his stomach, which induced vomiting. The amount of water and chocolate he spewed was horrendous.

That was the last of the vomit. Shortly after that, he bounced back. In fact, it wasn’t long after that when I found myself with a very active Pug.

On Diosa’s advice, we’re avoiding the kibble for a few days and giving him the boiled chicken and rice.

Reggie didn’t want to settle down last night. In fact, about 5:30 this morning, I figured out why. He was HUNGRY. Once I fed him, he went right to sleep.

He did poop on the floor this morning, and it was a bit oily, but not runny. My neighbor has checked in on him today, and says that he’s always sleeping on the couch (typical of Reggie) but bounces right up as soon as Jason walks in.

The last 24 hours have been hell.

Pillow Takeover
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Reggie doesn’t frequently do something that surprises me. After a few years, he’s pretty predictable. Until tonight.

As I was getting ready to go to bed, I came out of the bathroom only to find him all curled up on top of my pillows. And he was looking pretty proud of himself.

Reggie has never been one to sleep on my pillows, he prefers to make his bed on top of blankets. But tonight, he decided he liked the pillows, with their clean linens.

DSCN1223.JPG
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Reggie and I spent the weekend visiting Buddy and Brutus.

Tonight, I had my duffel bag on the couch, and it was open. Reggie sniffed it, and decided that’s where he wanted to curl up for a while.

And that’s exactly what he did. Really, could this get any cuter?

I’ve been seriously neglecting Reggie’s Dogster account. That has been fixed.

Join the Dogster community

100_0699.JPG
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Since Reggie and I live in the Halloween capital of the universe, it’s only appropriate that he have a costume to wear.

I picked this up at Petco yesterday. He’s going to poop in my shoes for this.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Reggie’s vet is awesome.

We just got back from our trip to the South Boston Animal Hospital. This is quite possibly one of the least pleasant trips we’ve had to the vet, and Dr. Waggener makes it easier to handle.

We got there and took the e-collar off and his neck was really icky with slime. She knew right away that it was a hot spot. She started shaving the area, and Reggie was none too thrilled. She gave him an injection of Torbutrol and he calmed done quite a bit. She shaved down the area and scrubbed it. Her assistant also cleaned out his ears, which is where the the problem started.

Dr. Waggener didn’t find puncture marks, so my theory of Wyle biting him was incorrect. She thinks the problem started with his ear infection. I owe the puppy upstairs a few cookies.

She wants me to clean his wound twice a day with peroxide. He gets Mometamax for the ear infection, Temaril-P for the hot spot, and Simplicef as an antibiotic. On top of that, I also picked up a three month supply of his heartworm meds. He’s going to continue wearing the e-collar for a few days to prevent him from scratching the area to make it worse.

He’s pretty zonked out now and she tells me he’ll sleep well tonight.

Cut Down Cone
Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Reggie’s e-collar was a bit… obtrusive. So I went all MacGyver on it and trimmed it down. It still serves its purpose and it now allows him to eat. Never underestimate what one can do with a power drill and a pair of sharp scissors.

When Reggie and I moved from Boston to Salem, I had to figure out which doctors I’d keep and which ones I’d have to find closer to the new place. Well, we’re certainly keeping Reggie’s vet, Dr. Natalie Waggener at the South Boston Animal Hospital. She’s outstanding.

I was still concerned about Reggie’s wound, and I called this morning. The assistant put Dr. Waggener on the phone with me. We talked for a few minutes about what’s going on and she told me how to care for it. She tells me that it’s good to use the e-collar to prevent him from making the situation worse. It sounds to her that it’s created what she called a hot spot. Dr. Waggener does want to see Reggie, so we’re going in tomorrow evening.

With my own health issues, I see my doctors as partners in my care, and that’s how I feel about Dr. Waggener. She’s my partner in taking care of Reggie’s health.

Reggie’s wound isn’t getting any better. In fact, it looks worse. I’m convinced that’s because he keeps scratching at it. He’s eating, but he’s not his enthusiastic little self. He’s kind of moping around the house with his tail straight. That’s never a good sign.

This morning I put 25 ml of Metacam into his kibble, hoping that will make him feel a little better. That’s about half of what he was getting when he had back problems. I also went to PetSmart and got an e-collar to prevent him from scratching at it.

He hates the thing, and I feel bad putting it on him. At the same time, he needs to stop scratching at the wound, or it won’t heal. Worse, it’ll get infected.

I’ve been cleaning Reggie’s wound with a wet cotton ball, but he won’t stop scratching at it. I think that’s making it much worse than it had been initially. Tomorrow, I’m going to pick up an e-collar for him so that he’ll stop scratching the wound. I hate to make him wear the cone while I’m at work on Monday, but he must stop scratching if it’s going to heal.

The poor guy is a little uncomfortable. I might put a few drops of metacam on his kibble in the morning.