Everyone needs to talk about a spay/neuter... while in Europe it is not the "norm" to do so... however in the US it is.... that said waiting till the pup is mature is the best... but in the US we have issues with puppymills and Backyard breeders that breed/sell pups for profit... My contracts say that the pup needs to be spayed/neutered... and we talk about the age. Again, I will say that my puppy people are "Vetted" before getting a puppy, but many Puppymiller puppies and/or Backyard Breeders could not care if those pups were bred or not... nor are they health tested... so as they say "buyer beware". Responsible breeders stay in touch with the pups they place... the others... NOT... could not care less... OK I said my 2cents... And many in the US are not ready to keep a female that is in season... a short story about a friend that had 2 German Shepards... Male/Female in tact.... female came in season, so they locked to male in the backyard, female in their garage... the male "ate down the door to the garage to get to the female..".... puppies happened... no health testing either... IT HAPPENS... DO NOT THINK THAT IT WILL NOT! And I can tell you stories about males coming through windows in the home to get to a bitch in season....years ago we had a 12yr in-tact male lab 3 blocks over, he knew exactly when my Basenji bitches were in season... thankfully we had 12ft fences... but he was there every single day... not so for many homes that have fences this big... and if this boy was younger... I can bet he would have found a way over the fence
Keoki's first hike
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We took Keoki along today for his very first hike. For those in Washington, we hiked to Lower Lena Lake in the Olympic Nat'l Forest. It's a 6 or 7 mile hike {3 - 3.5 each way} to an elevation of about 1900 feet. He had a great time! He was on leash {aside from safety issues, it's the law!}, and would drag whatever kid had the leash along to the front of our family group, then he would slow down and head for the back, just to make sure we were all accounted for, then he'd head for the front of the line again.
When we encountered other hikers, he be so happy to greet them, then pull and whine when they disappeared from sight {like he was saying, "hey! we need to stay together in these woods!"}.
He walked a huge chunk of the way, but when he got tired or the trail got too rocky, he'd stop and wait to be picked up!
When we'd stop for snacks and water {which was about four times in the 7 miles 'cuz we have an 8 and a 10 yr old}, Keoki would eagerly look for his goodies - he was as conditioned as the kids that stopping means good stuff comes out of the back pack!
He slept like a rock all the way home, and is out like a light again this evening.
He had a good day!
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Oh! How could I have forgotten this part: Keoki also got his first bee stings yesterday!
Most of the people in our family had walked past this one point in the trail, but when Keoki walked by {and he didnt' stop to sniff or anything}, he was swarmed by bees! He was yelping and slapping his head w/his paws. My daughter had the leash and she was standing there, trying to brush them away. I was a bit behind and it took me several seconds to get to them. I scooped Keoki up and ran ahead a bit. I did have to knock one bee off of his neck, but the rest just stayed where they'd been. Not a single person was touched!
Keoki wound up with four stings {one on his hear, two on his neck, one on his rear}, that all puffed up for a short time and then went down nicely.We looked in the pack, and !!! no Benedryl? We had everything else, but no benedryl – It had been left on the kitchen table. Fortunately, he was fine.
Poor baby. It kind of freaked us all out a bit.It took him a few minutes to relax again, but the rest of the hike went fine.
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Poor little Keoki! I'm glad he's ok. I've always worred that my "Bs" will get stung by a "bee" I have bees that come and go in my backyard, and they hover low to the grass sometimes. My dogs are always interested in them and try to sniff them. As far as I know, they've never been stung–and I've been in the same house for 17 years now. Does anyone else have experience with bee stings and reactions?
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http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n135/JoNell_63/
I'm not sure it this will work, but it should be a link to several pictures from Keoki's first hike. {There are a couple of old pictures in there; not sure why, but they wouldn't delete. LOL}
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What a beautiful country you have to go hiking. Wish I went with you guys!
It's sad Keoki got stung. (ouch - very painful) But glad she recovered soon enough.
Duke was stung last summer in August, he was 8 mos old at the time. Apparently, bees nested in the sandy loam in the ground. We observed him digging the ground - no big deal (a dog thing). But he must have heard them underground - before long he'd uncovered a nest of bees. They swarmed him as you described with Keoki. His face and maybe even his nose or mouth was stung. I felt so bad - But now he doesn't bother those bees and their buzzing noise. Now I see Daisy trying to catch them mid air. I say "leave it" - but fear she may have to learn about those nasty bees the hard way.
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Great first hike (except the bee stings!)…I love the pictures, especially the one with him peeking over the shoulder!
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So far Jojo has not been stung, at least I don't know about it, but I did have two English Springer Spaniels stung by bees. The first one was on his face and his face started swelling on one side near his eye so I took him to the vet and he received some meds was fine, the other was a puppy so I took him to the vet and they gave him some meds and the vet said that a bee sting can be dangerous especially for a puppy as they are so littlle, not as much body mass..
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Very nice pics JM, nice scenery and it looks like fun.
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I love the one where you are carrying him and he is looking over your shoulder! Too cute!
