Camellia and Carol Journal 5

Camellia Journals 5

Day 5 - Camellia buries her Bully-Stick

Originally posted Sunday, 22 August 2010; 18:23

Camellia is aware of the presence of her chewy

Only recently an occupant of Our Bed, Camellia has taken note of the presence of her chewy stick near the pillows, on the green towel.

She has plans for this Bully Stick.

Camellia Buries her Bully Stick

Camellia knows exactly what to do when she has a Treasure to be enjoyed later, and kept safe in the meantime. So, once I've moved myself out of the way, giving her free access to her Treasure Burial Site, she buries her Bully Stick.

She did such a good job that when I came to bed a while later, I couldn't find the stick. Finally I found it, under both pillows. I moved it; shame on me, but at least I put it back, available, on the Green Towel.

Camellia made no obvious objection to my interference with her buried treasure.

Camellia allows me to remove a thorn from her paw

During our afternoon walk, not long after starting out, Camellia suddenly came up limping - a common occurrence with me and dogs when we walk along the road or on trails. Almost always, limping of this sort indicates a thorn in the paw, as we have lots of very thorny plants along the verges and on the trailsides.

I always carry my reading glasses in my back pocket, as well as a pair of tweezers in my pack, for just such events. So, first I identified which paw was causing the problem; then I stopped and squatted. Camellia did her typical startle-response as I squatted, but soon settled. Then she allowed me to pick up her paw and look at the pads. Sure enough; even with my weak vision, I could see a tiny thorn in the pad.

This one, I was able to grab with my fingernails, and I was quite sure I had it out, but the test is, does the dog limp again when we continue our walk?

We both passed the test. Camellia stopped limping, and I cheered silently to myself for having been able to get the thorn out - and also, for Camellia's wonderful acceptance of this small, but fairly crucial, bit of assistance to her.

In particular, I was pleased that on Day 5 of Camellia's new life with me, she was able to accept this kind of paw-handling; at that, in the middle of the road, But where I live, the roadway is as much for dogs and humans as it is for cars. Of course, I do have to be attentive to the possibility of oncoming cars!

I'll have detailed additions here as time goes on; for the moment, this is just a sketch, as both Camellia and I are really quite ready for bed as I write this, on Saturday, 21 August 2010.

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