Kelsey's Take on Scuttle

Hi!

Today I thought it would be interesting if I, Kelsey, wrote for my mom. With her busy schedule I know it's hard for her to sit down and update the blog. So, today I offered to write a post about Scuttle. In light of recent improvements I thought it would be cool to take a walk down memory lane.

I remember how it felt waiting for our name to be called to go and pick out our new family member. It's something that I can only describe as nervous excitement. Before the raffle actually began we were given the chance to look at picture and read brief health information about them. We already had two dogs we wanted to look at. A few minutes before the raffle actually began I took one last look at t he dogs. One sad face caught my attention. I asked mom to put Butterscotch on the list. She was the last we picked and the first one we saw. It was love at first site.

My Mema always told us that the dog that picks you is the one. When Scuttle (aka Butterscotch) came into the room she laid down right in front of us. I interpreted this as her saying, I pick you. So far she has thrived in our home. Sure there were struggles along the way but watching her blossom from being scared and unsure into a spunky amazing dog has been totally worth it.

She likes watching me clean the kitchen and is always the first to greet me when I get out of bed. Her little butt wiggles and her ears go back, you can't help but croon and get her a good morning pat. She has grown curious of strangers and greets them in a calm, slightly shy, manner. Just this morning we had a guest and she walked right out of the living room and into the entry way! This is a huge improvement!

Her routes around the house have grown into where she enters and exits the kitchen through both of the exits. She walks behind the couch and almost entered the hall for the first time today. She has grown tolerant of our cat, Mango, though I can't say the same for him.

I can't believe that we have been blessed with such an amazing dog! We got lucky with Sailor, our golden, and I always thought that he was the only dog for our family. Scuttle has proved me wrong. I love her to bits and can't wait for the many amazing years to come.

Signing off,

Kelsey

By Leaps and Bounds

I can't say it enough!  Scuttle just makes my heart happy. She is growing by leaps and bounds and continues to amaze me with how well she is adjusting.  She is getting more and more adventurous and will come in the kitchen with ease and will walk around the couch and come in the living room from a different direction.  She didn't do that before.  She always came in the living from behind the chair and would use that as her pathway.  I am noticing her getting more comfortable with other areas in the home too.  For the first time today, I saw her rubbing her face on the carpet in my bedroom!  I have NEVER seen her do this before.  Also, the other day she was being playful and frisky and almost rolled over on her back.  So close!  I don't think it will be long before she lets us rub her tummy :)  She still has her small little quirks but even those are getting better.  She doesn't try to attack my blow-drier as much any more and although she still doesn't like the vacuum cleaner, she's getting better about not trying to bite it!  All-in-all we've had a couple of great weeks since my last post!  We couldn't be happier!

Licking, Bacteria, Prescriptions...Oh, My!

Sorry I haven't updated in quite a while!  It seems there just isn't enough time in the day to do all the things that need to get done AND post on top of that :)  So here we go...

About a week and a half ago, Scuttle was licking herself incessantly and after I kept getting on to her, I finally decided to get up and see what she was licking.  After examining her body and not finding anything I grabbed her face and there it was.  She had rubbed her face pretty much raw and was licking her foot and rubbing her face.  I got up, cleaned it and went online to try and figure out what the heck was going on.  This was around 3 A.M. so Scuttle and I came out into the living room so we wouldn't disturb daddy!  I went to one of my favorite places, http://www.englishbulldognews.com/, and posted on the forum to see if anyone had any advice but also looked at other postings for help.  I didn't find anything and decided that I wouldn't be able to do anything until the morning anyways so we slept on the floor together.  Mainly so I could keep her from licking and so we could both could get a little rest.

The next morning I had to get up early because I'm a tutor with http://www.classicalconversations.com/ where my son also attends once a week.  As soon as the vet's office opened I made her an appointment and they were able to get her in as soon as I was done with my class.  The doctor did a culture to see if it was yeast and it turned up negative but she did have a bacteria infection!  So, a shot and three other prescriptions later we were on our way to health once again.  It's been 10 days and she is pretty much back to her spunky self!

And lets talk about that spunk!  The girl has got personality!  She is so spunky and loving in the mornings.  I really enjoy watching her get excited as the kids get up and sleepily make their way into the living room.  Her little behind shakes and she paws at them for attention.  She full of it in the morning!

She is still a bit of a scaredy-cat.  She tries to attack the vacuum and still runs from loud noises but overall she is doing great.  She's eating when her food is down instead of waiting like she did when we first got her.  She's barking a bit more, which I find funny because our Golden doesn't bark at all and when she barks, he barks!  I'm still hoping for the day when she will rest with ease.  She will literally stand completely still with her eyes closed and start swaying.  I just wish she would lay down and sleep!  One day :)

Well, there's an update for now!  I'll try to post more on a regular basis.

4th Week

Wow...I can't believe it's been 4 weeks already!  Time flies!  Scuttle has been such a great addition to our family.  She still has her quirks and funny things that she does.  And digging.  What can I say.  The dog LOVES to dig :)  Just about every time she comes in from the backyard her cheeks are covered in dirt.  It's quite funny but we're going to have to work on her and the digging.  Not to mention with all the rain we've had, she loves to drink water out of just about anything no matter what's in it.  Soil can be floating on top of the water and it won't matter to Scuttle!  She just goes for it.  I think it's time to put the flower pots away until next Spring.  Also, I can't wait for the day we get to take her to the beach.  I wonder how she'll react to it.  I will definitely have to have the camera with me on that day!

So there you go!  A great update.  Oh!  And her eye is doing much better.  The pimple like bump seems to be completely gone and the cherry eye associated with it is too.  I really think the bump was agitating the eye causing the cherry eye.  Then again, I am no doctor.  He'll have the final say :)

Bath Day

On a rainy day, what better thing to do than to give the dogs a bath!  We did Scuttle first and she did pretty good.  Next, Sailor got a bath and he always does great.  He just stands there until we tell him it's time to get out.  So....here are some pictures :)  I love it when Sailor gets a bath because he's so fluffy!

He's getting his ears cleaned...he pretty much hates it!

Here he is rubbing his freshly cleaned ear on the ground :)

"Oh, yeah!"

Here are some Pictures of Scuttle getting groomed :)

Getting a soft brush.

Wrinkles cleaned...check!

Time to get the collar on!  She's so happy!

And then there are a few photos just to make you smile!

I LOVE these photos!

A little playtime while they dry

She almost took it!

The dogs smell great, they're happy and so are we!  

Oh, Happy Day!

Aydan having some sweet moments with the dogs.  Although he is having a good time, he seems to be the only one not smiling :)

Soooo in Love!

I don't know how you can look at an English Bulldog's face and not fall in love!  Every time I look at Scuttle, I just want to kiss her sweet, slobbery, flappy cheeks!  Well, that's after I get my towel and lovingly wipe her cheeks first :)  She is doing so well and overcoming her fears every day.  Tonight while I was making dinner she was just casually walking in and out, checking things out.  Not to mention the evenings are 100% better!  She settles right down and goes to sleep.  However, I have NEVER known a dog to drink water throughout the night.  Last night I had to re-fill the water bowl because she finished it off.  There is water available all day and because she still isn't comfortable eating or drinking (tried again tonight) in the kitchen, we keep the water bowl in the living room where she is most comfortable.  She's so funny!  She still doesn't rest easily during the day so I'm hoping as she becomes more familiar with all the noises she'll start resting better throughout the day.

Now that the weather is cooling off here (HUGE sighs of relief over here), we are keeping the doors and windows open pretty much all day.  I think the dogs are loving the weather too because they can come and go as they please!  We have labeled Sailor, our Golden, a lizard hunter.  He's a little obsessed so this is his favorite time of year too because he can go huntin' any time he wants :)  I need to post a picture of him too!  Maybe I can get one of them together. 

More to come :)