Riley is our new Corgi puppy, and here are just a few of the questions I field daily:
Yes, he's a purebreed, they're the smallest of the herding dogs, being used historically in Wales to herd cattle and be a generally awesome farm and companion dog. Yes, his ears are really big, no, his legs are just the right length, and yes, you can take a picture of him.
We've had our pup for two weeks, having driven to Oroville to get him from a breeder. He's now fifteen weeks old. We knew getting a Corgi pup would be a big adjustment in our lives, having introduced the equivalent of a toddler to our household. Before bringing him home, we had to puppy-proof an area of our little abode. Luckily, he's a very smart pup (part of that herding dog thing) and we've already started puppy training. We're working on sit, down, stay, leave it and come.
Introduced him to the rest of the animals - chickens, who he finds fascinating, goats, which he finds a bit on the large and alarming size when they jump suddenly, and the cats, who are glad he can't get onto the bed. And we introduce him to lots of people and new places, like the office, spinning Saturday and knit night. Luckily he tires quickly, so if I time it right, he'll pass out for awhile.
Everything was going swimmingly. Then I got the phone call Friday at work, while Riley was home with my husband. "He vomited about an hour ago, seems a bit disoriented and his back legs are a little uncoordinated when he tries to walk." A quick internet search shows that this could be the beginning symptoms of many things, including Parvo and vinca poisoning. PANIC!
My SIL is a vet tech at Grass Valley Vet, where I normally take my cats for their routine care, but they close at 5:30 and there's no way we'd get the puppy there in time. She recommended LOP vet, just around the corner from where we live.
Two hours, a basic exam, blood panel, chem panel, 2 x-rays and a fecal exam later we'd ruled out Parvo, toxins, and blockages to confirm what you already knew, that dogs like to eat other animals' poop! He has coccidia, a protozoa. I have the treatment for that because of the goats, so they gave him a subcutaneous injection of electrolytes to combat dehydration, suggested a bland diet, and sent us home with the treatment instructions. Half an hour later, you certainly wouldn't have thought from watching him play that we'd been concerned for his well-being that same afternoon.
So other than being sleep deprived from getting up a couple of times a night to take out Riley, we're all doing just fine and we love our puppy!
