Canine Companion
The population of Minnisingh grew by one this past Friday when we brought home our newly adopted dog from the Dutchess County SPCA shelter.
We calling her Penny, but also keeping her shelter name (Peyton) as a middle name in tribute to the SPCA’s staff who were so helpful as we figured out what dog was right for us.
Penny’s a little over a year old and she’s already lived through some hard times before arriving at the shelter. She was apparently found as a stray near the side of the highway, all skin and bones. Luckily she was found by the SPCA, who not only gave her food and shelter but also got her spayed and up to date on her shots, and even made some serious inroads training her. She’s still got a ton of puppy energy and spends a good amount of time running laps around the first floor of the house. Overall, the energy level at Minnisingh has been boosted by about 150%.
Unfortunately, she’s also developed some kind of respiratory issue since she’s come home, which could be either an excessive amount of “reverse sneezing” or a late-breaking case of kennel cough. The result has been a series of highly distressing episodes where Penny spends about 30 seconds making awful snorting/wheezing noises. Luckily, the adoption process includes a certificate for free initial vet visit, so we’re going to take her in tomorrow to figure out what’s going on. For the time being, she has plenty of appetite and energy overall, which led the folks at the DCSPCA as well as the vet’s office to believe that the situation isn’t an emergency.
Anyway, we’re thrilled with our new family member. If you’re in the area and thinking of getting a cat or dog, we can’t say enough good things about everybody at the DCSPCA – especially the head trainer, PJ, who offered us a whole lot of his time in both the selection process and teaching us good training practices to make sure Penny’s transition to her new home went as smoothly as possible.
Penny assists in Tina’s post-workout stretch.
How great for all of you! Nothing better than a dog. Our first 2 dogs were purchased purebreds, but all 8 since then have been shelter dogs or foundlings. The mixed breed foundlings were always better behaved than the purebreds and all have given us a sense that they really appreciated their home. May I never live without a dog!
Astro has occasional bouts of that every couple of months. Sounds just like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3L4v0W2_Sw
Does she like romping in the snow?
Yeah, that’s more or less like what Penny sounds like as well, though she looks more visibly distressed than that dog in the video.
Yeah, she does love the snow. Too bad we didn’t have her when we still had major accumulation up here. At this point it’s just a light dusting of nice snow over packed ice.
So exciting!! What did the vet say?
Ollie has reverse-sneezed his whole life. One vet told us it was a trachea spasm, and we can help by massaging his throat (pretty firmly) while it’s happening. It definitely seems to help. Do they know what breeds she is? Can’t wait to meet her!
It seems like reverse sneezing was probably the culprit for Penny. Anyway, she’s pretty much stopped doing it over the past couple days, so hopefully the issue was just related to her being in a new environment.
She’s basically a mutt – shepherd and some kind of terrier, maybe pit, maybe some other stuff as well.
Our rescued Catahoula Leopard dog did that reverse sneezing when we first brought her home. She outgrew it and hasnt done it since. It really had us worried at the time!