Wilamar Farm: Clyde Is Home

Clyde is home after being at the bird dog trainer for four whole months. My husband went to pick him up and met the trainer at the training field for an overview of how things went and how to keep him in training.

Happy to be home.

My husband said Clyde did everything he was supposed to do; pointing, holding the point, and retrieving properly. He was told by the trainer what commands to use and when to use them and advised on certain equipment he recommended, like a flat buckle collar with a flat metal nameplate riveted on it, a crate for transportation, etc. He let my husband know that Clyde had been bitten on his neck by another dog at one point and received antibiotics as a result to ward off any infection. The kennel girl said Clyde started a strange behavior while there. He ate most of his dinner and then turned around and pottied in his dinner bowl. Hmmm. A reflection on the meal, perhaps? I'm glad to say he hasn't repeated that behavior here.

First time meeting the baby.

At one point while they were all in the field, one of the hobbled birds became intangled in a bush so my husband went to get it out. He says he bent over while trying to get the bird from underneath the bush and another "crazy" dog ran full force into his back side. Fortunately the dog didn't bite. As he straightened to see what the heck was going on, here came Clyde who took the other dog's back leg into his mouth and lifted it up. He didn't bite, but it was like a bouncer wading in to start pulling fight participants apart. It was like he was saying, Get off my dad!

My husband and Clyde got home just a few minutes before Gus and I got home from our visit at the convalescent hospital. We weren't sure how things would go between the dogs since he'd been gone for four months so we let Clyde out alone in the back yard to begin with. I went to say hello and he was very happy. He didn't forget me after all and that made me happy. Then we let Gus out and they seemed happy to see each other. The big test was Mr. Macho Chester, but that went well too. Later on even the cat acted as if Clyde had never been away and rubbed up against him when she came in.

It's like he never left. Clyde just made himself at home.

Clyde seemed fine when he came home with one major exception. His feet were hugely swollen. I gave him a bath and before that I cleaned his ears. They were quite dirty and very red looking. By this morning his feet were still extremely puffy so I called the vet and we were able to get in early. It looks like he has a major raging all-over yeast infection. He got a cortisone shot for immediate relief and two types of pills to take twice a day, as well as a special shampoo for twice a week bathing. I hope it's just a result of an allergic reaction to whatever they used to clean the kennels and not a food allergy, which we had been kind of dealing with before he left. I don't think it's the food thing because that had almost been taken care of. And he ate well last night without throwing up, one of the symptoms of the food allergy.

Clyde's swollen feet.