Walter has been part of the Mclean Furgang for a month now and he has captured our hearts with his Mr. Magoo like demeanor and sweet, confused personality. Unfortunately, a few days into his presence at our house Bica decided that Walter looked at her the wrong way and that he came too close to her precious bed. She angrily pinned him to the ground and bit him. Monster came out of nowhere and supported Bica's attempts to seriously hurt the poor old man. I was able to rescue him from the fangs of the Budelheimers and as a result of all the mayhem he got to go on his first trip to the vet with me. Thank God for nurse Tessa who felt really sorry for the little guy and helped to nurse him back to health:
Bica seems okay now with Walter and shows only tentative signs of aggression, but I am really afraid that some clumsy movement of his will trigger another outburst and so I just keep them separated for now. It's better for my peace of mind too. Monster's behavior towards Walter is pretty neutral and I'm not really worried about any danger coming from him. Now back to the "Walter Brochure". Initially I was told that Walter basically does three things: Eat, sleep and go potty. Sleeping being his number one activity. That worked out for about a week and then the "brochure" needed an update.
Walter was on "Purina" dog food when I first got him and if you have been following this blog you know that I am a strong opponent of doggy junk food. Purina being pretty high up on my list of "what-not-to-feed-to-your-dog". Walter's skin was very flaky and dull and I switched him immediately over to a diet of "Honest Kitchen" (grain free) and boiled chicken. After a month on high quality food there's not a single flake to be seen and his coat is very smooth and shiny. I understand that rescue organizations need to feed whatever donations they are getting and I'm very grateful for all they do, but after the dog's been adopted I see no reason not to change his diet for the better.
Blame the diet, blame the environment, but Walter Magoo has turned into quite an active senior.
His day now looks as follows: Get up at 5 a.m. , climb up the hill behind the house and run back down to the house. This activity takes about 10 minutes and seeing him run is so cute. It's more or less a slow motion bunny hop, but he looks very pleased with himself. After the morning exercise it's breakfast time and distribution of his heart and thyroid medicine. After that he climbs back to bed and sleeps until about 11, when he demands his second outing. He strolls around in the yard and Tessa is mostly by his side for this one. BTW: He thinks, Tessa has a very attractive rear end, that old Casanova. :-) Walter does not drink water and therefore I have to mix something tasty in with his fluids. (i.e. canned meat or chicken broth). At lunchtime he gets his "hydration soup" and goes back to sleep until about 2 pm. If I dare not be present at the time of him waking up, he'll howl like a wolf until I let him out for another patrol in the yard. After the yard patrol he does a house inspection and goes back to sleep until his inner clock tells him that it's dinner time. That is around 5 pm. 5:30pm until 7 pm he sleeps again and then it's off to yet another house and yard inspection.
In other words: The old man is feeling his oats and full of energy. After all - he's almost 100 years old in doggy years. Not bad !
