Plastic Bowl Nasal Dermatitis

My nose is black again.

AHAH! You didn't even know it was ever not black, did you? Because Mom has been so involved with GG she didn't stop long enough to TELL you. She didn't even stop long enough to take a pickshure of my nose to show you what it looked like. So I am gonna have to put up a pickshure of a different hooligan that had the same problem. But that's okay, cause you would have been sad to see MY nose not being black.

That's what my nose was starting to look like and it just happened OVERNIGHT. One day my nose was shiny black and the next day Mom looked at it and said, "WHAT IS THAT PINK STREAK ON YOUR NOSE???"

I said, "I don't know." And she looked at it close and she said, "You are allergic to your plastic water bowl." And Dad said he never heard of such a thing. And Mom said, "That's because you aren't an expert." I guess she told him! She teases him like that alot.

Anyway, she got up and went to the store and bought three ginormous stainless steel water bowls and now we are all drinking our water out of those. She threw away the plastic ones. (We have always eaten our food from metal dishes.) It took about two weeks but now my nose is completely black again.

I thought you all would like to know about this. In case you've been using plastic bowls for your Hooligans to drink out of.

AAARRROOOO!!!!

And A Good Time Was Had By All!

PetsMart was busy! Our friends Guinness and Maizie were there, and so was a little white dog named Stella that looks alot like our up-North pal Popie. GG met some puppies and some dogs that are smaller than she is and she did great! She met a few new hoomans, too, and made friends with them. We walked past the birds, the reptiles and the hamster habitats and GG didn't turn a hair at any of them. But when we went past the cats, it was a different story. WHEW! GG gave the cats some unwanted attenshun that Mom had to put a stop to because the cats didunt appreciate it.


Then we went to the grooming salon and GG got her nails done and I got lots of treats from the trainers 'cause they hadn't seen me in awhile. Mom said GG was a perfect lady in the salon. Here are some pickshures of our trip. Mom says we will go back again next weekend so that GG can meet more people and dogs. 


It was alotta fun today and we both slept alla way home but we can't wait to do it AGAIN!

pedicure in progress. See how good GG was?

meeting a Popie puppy

all tuckered out!

HAPPINESS IS....

ADOPTION APPLICATIONS!

On Feb 16^th, the Howling Hooligan sent out an announcement that GG was ready for adoption. Less than 12 hours later, we received this response:

My husband and I have been loving the stories on GG’s fast progress and patiently waiting for her to be ready for adoption. We would love to adopt Miss GG. We live in Texas and have a female Airedale and two children ages 12 and 10. Please let me know what steps we need to take in order to get this ball rollin’ so Miss GG can come live in her forever home with us.

Since then, Hooligan House has been in a frenzy of excitement. Phone calls and emails and digital photos have flown back and forth across the miles. Airedale Rescue in Texas is helping coordinate the adoption application. The veterinarian references and personal references have checked out as GREAT.

The home visit is scheduled for this weekend. And, while all this was going on, we got 3 more applications to adopt GG! One family is in Florida and one is in Louisiana and one is in Alabama. Those apps are also being followed up and home visits are being scheduled for them. We don't know for sure who will be approved to adopt GG yet, and although there can be only one forever home for her, the other applicants will have good things to look forward to. They will go on a waiting list for Airedales that come to us in the future, or they may be matched up with an Airedale who is waiting for love in a neighboring state.

The very most exciting thing is that all these applications are from people we have never met but who are following our blog. There’s no way for us to know how many followers we actually have, but we appreciate all and every one of you so much! You have forwarded the blog stories to your friends and families and you have made a joyful difference in GG’s life. THANK YOU!

She's Ready for Adoption!

GG is ready to find her forever family!

Here's what you need to know about her: My best guess at her age is around 2 to 2 and a half. She is leash, crate and house trained. I have her on a feeding schedule which basically keeps her elimination times very routine. She is still nervous about sudden noises and movements, but she recovers quickly. She loves other dogs and she loves our grandchildren (boy and girl ages 9 and 11). I do not know how she is around cats. I recommend that she goes to an Airedale experienced home with one other dog. 

Please share this post with people who might be interested in adopting GG. To start the adoption process, read GG's story and/or donate to Alabama Airedale Rescue visit the following site:

http://alairedalerescue.blogspot.com/

Update on GG's Training

Hi to all our Friends!

Things have been very busy at Hooligan House. GG and Jack and Duke are getting along very well together and GG has been proclaimed "officially potty trained"!  HURRAH! The tether technique does work, if you work it. And we did, 24/7 until a couple of days ago when she started showing us that she wanted and needed to go outside to do her business.

While we were working on that Very Important Problem, we also began training GG to "come" to us on command. That's a little trickier to teach an adult rescue dog than it is a puppy.

Puppies come to humans out of curiosity and playfulness, so they are easy to teach. The best way to get an adult dog to come to you is to gain that dog’s trust. And you can’t do that by barking commands and raising the household stress level. Instead, each and every time the dog is near you, reach over and scratch behind her ears or gently scruffle her chest while you repeat her name a few times. Offer her treats and say her name while she is eating them. After a few days of this, when she hears you say her name she is going to perk up and look at you. A couple of days later, she’s going to come to you when you say her name. The first time that happens, pet her gently and say the word, “Come” in a happy voice. Continue working with your dog this way and she’ll learn the come command without even realizing she is being trained.

GG now turns and looks at us expectantly when we call her name and then comes trotting over to us to have her ears scruffled and receive a treat. She even does it off-leash, while playing in our fenced yard. We vary the reward so that sometimes she gets a tasty treat and sometimes she gets a backscratch. She enjoys both equally, so we are checking the "come" command off our list. Good GRRLL, GG!

In other news, Duke has weathered the first thunderstorm since his new crate arrived. He did very well, and we didn't find any evidence of physical trauma in the dog den. Of course, he and GG were howling and crying to get to each other when I got home from the office that day, but that's not a sign that anything was wrong. It's just how Hooligans roll.

EXPENSIVE TASTES

Hi Hoomans! I diddunt forget to write the rest of Abby’s story, Mom just wudden give me any computer time until now. Don’t you think I deserve my own laptop with Dragon Dictation on it?

Anywaze, you probably want to know how it all turned out. Her Sunday evaluashun was durned good for a dog who had just spent three weeks in a shelter. Mom found that Abby was disctrackted (what terrier izzent??) over the birds and (sorry YumYum) guinea pigs and hamsters but not to the point of lunging at them.

Abby was friendly to all the dogs and all the hoomans she met at the store. She even kissed a baby that was in a stroller! Dad said she might have been tasting the baby but Mom knew better. They walked around the store for over an hour and at the end of it, Abby had learned that the word “Halt” means to stop walking and stand beside Mom and the shopping cart. Ackshully, by the end of the hour, Abby was halting automatically without having to be told to do it. She did want to run with some boys who were being hooligans in the store, but hey, that’s just to be expected!

Then Abby spent a few days with her foster family and played with their dog alot. That was Guinness. They really liked each other and it was hard for Guinness to tell Abby good-bye when it was time for her to go live in Auburn, AL.

BUT – her new family takes her to work with them and got her a new bed with her name embroidered on it and her new dad built a stand for her food and water bowls that has her name on it AND he is building her an air-conditioned dog house for when she wants to be outdoors during the summers. They took her to the spa to get a bath and a haircut too.

And Mom got a text message from Abby’s new dad this morning that said Abby has expensive tastes. Over the weekend, she chewed up her mom’s Chanel sunglasses and her dad’s Costa del Mars sunglasses. And you know what that means, right? It means Abby really really loves her new family!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

before spa

after spa

Abby is AAAROOING with happiness!

How many Airedales does it take to make a Coincidence?

Abby will be here Wednesday afternoon!

She will spend the night with us and then go to the vet the next morning to be spayed. She’ll spend that night at the vet and then we’ll go pick her up on Friday. WE ARE JUST TREMBALING WITH EXCITEMENT! ‘Cause that’s when the shenanigans will begin.

But there’s sumpen odd that happened over the weekend, and us Hoolies do love a good mystery.

Abby’s real name is one that the breeder gave her and it is unusual so Mom thinks it has to do with the kennel where she was born. We are just calling her “Abby” because we think she looks like an Abby. Mom says we can’t reveal her real name so I’ll call it “Alakazam”. Here’s the coincidence:

Yesterday my groomer sent Mom a smartphone pitcher of an Airedale Terrier named Alakazam! She groomed her Saturday and said she’s sweet but hyper. (Well, NATCHERLLY she’s hyper! She’s a Hooligan!)

Mom just about fell out of her chair when she saw that pitcher. She said, Abby and this Alakazam are probly from the same kennel and might even be SISTUHS because they are about the same age. So she is gonna ask the grooming salon to ask Alakazam’s hoomans to phone us. Mom wants to try to find out this week where Alakazam was born because the more information she can get about Abby’s dog parents and where she came from, the better for the new forever family AND for Abby. Mom might even be able to get medical histories and all that stuff!

I don’t know why they need to do a telephone call to find out if Abby is related to Alakazam..
All they gotta do is let the girls sniff each other....

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

This is Alakazam

TO THE RESCUE!!!

Another Hooligan House Adventure!!!

This is ABBY. Her family had to give her up because they couldn't afford to take care of her. She is leaving a shelter in Mississippi today and going to New Orleans for a few days and then she will be coming to Hooligan House! Mom already has a foster home lined up for her AND a possible forever family. Abby just needs to spend some time in foster care so that Mom can evaluate her and be sure the applicants will be a good fit for her. ISN'T THIS GREAT?? WE ARE VERY EXCITED AND CANNOT STOP ARROOOING!

Besides the evaluation Mom will do, we Hooligans are gonna do a Hooligan evaluation, to see if Abby is worthy of joining our ranks. We've already heard that she is very high energy, so that's a real good sign. Hope that adoptive family knows what to expect!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

STINKUM

The weather in Alabama is into a midday thunderstorm pattern now. The ground in our yard is so damp, there are toadstools growing in the dirt. We like to pounce on them and break them but Mom and Dad won't let us eat them. Under our backyard deck, the dirt is really really mu-u-ddee.

That means that me and Maggie have been muddy too. Mom says Maggie is like a character named Pigpen in a newspaper comic strip. Everywhere Maggie goes, a cloud of dirt follows her. Us Hoolies don't see that as a problem. Caked on mud keeps the skeeters away. But hoomans, even hoomans like our parents who really love dogs, aren't crazy about mud patties in the house.

So today I got took to the groomer. Maggie stays home for her baths because she doesn't like to go to the grooming salon. (And that's all we have to say on THAT subject. At least for now.) It isn't fair. I come home smellin' like I've been in a perfoom facktry and Maggie just smells like oatmeal shampoo. Last time I came home from the groomer, Buddy didn't like the way I smelled and he tried to attack me. No matter how often Mom tells 'em not to stink me up, the groomers always do. But Mom was determined today so away we went.

I got home about three hours later and I didn't want to get out of the car. This time, the stinkum perfoom was turrible. Mom had to roll down the car windows just so we could drive home without choking. This time, instead of trying to attack me, Buddy ran away from me. Maggie wouldnt even spar with me. They just left me there in the yard, all by myself.

So, I decided to do sumpen about it and I had a good couple of stabs at getting dirty again until Mom figured it out and yelled at me. "DUKE DONALD WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" 

Scratchin' off after watering the bushes

She grabbed me and hauled me inta the house and brushed the new dirt right off my legs. Then she told me to GO LIE DOWN AND BEHAVE YOURSELF!

So now, here I am. I am captive in the house while Maggie and Buddy are out there romping through the mud. That's okay, though. 'Cause I know that tomorrow it's Maggie's and Buddy's turn to get bathed. And then, with or without stinkum, they'll be captive in the house, too, probly until Monday afternoon. I figure it'll be about that long before we get cabin fever  and start some Horrendous Hooligan Havoc. And then we'll go right back outside to the mud again. 

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

Great Rescue Run, Part 3

Before we get started again, Mom says there’s no need for you all to keep jamming my email box with requests for muddy pictures of her and Dad. She says don’t hold your breath because that’s not the kind of image she wants getting’ spread around the internet. I don’t really get that. She was laughing the other night and she acted like she thought it was fun. Oh well.

So… where were we? I can’t remember so I think I’ll tell you next about that Purple collared grrl. She had really long legs (I like that in a grrl) and she was a liddle bigger than the two sisters. And she was fun, like me. She played tag with Mom and Dad. They chased her all over the house, trying to tighten her collar, but she was fast and she can jump higher than they can. I just lay on the sofa and watched the excitement. My head went back and forth: PG would run past, then Dad would run past, then PG would run back by me, then Mom would try to grab PG’s collar, then PG would jump over the ottoman and run away again. Whew! It wore me out but I laughed and laughed.

Purple Grrl

Finully Mom caught hold of that pretty purple collar with one hand and PG’s bottle-brush tail with the other. Dad came over to help. He held PG while Mom tightened the martingale.

What’s a martingale? Oh, it’s a speshul collar that’s not supposed to slip off. Heh heh heh. But PG is an Airedale. There’s never been a collar made that we couldn’t slip out of if we want to. She wanted to. And she did. Then it was run run run run through the house some more, and leaping over chairs while the parents did it all over again. (The camera was in Mom’s purse behind a closed door, sorry.)

Anyways, they gave up on the fancy-dancy martingale and got a harness to put on the Purple Grrl. It was red. She didn’t like it much but she couldn’t get out of it. Then they gave her a rope toy to play with and she had never seen one of those before. She sniffed it and cocked her head at it and put a paw on it so she could find out just what it was made of, and then she put it in her mouth and she ran into Dad’s office with it and lay down and started chewing it. Pink Grrl went right after her and tried to take it away from her, and they started tugging on opposite ends of the rope like they’d been doing it furever. Mom was so P R O U D of them and so happy their rescue experience hadn’t stressed them out too much to play. Mom and Dad took the two grrls out to potty and then brought them back in for some more playtime with the rope.

Mom offered them treats but I think I told you before that they weren’t familiar with treats. They sniffed and licked them but that was about all. Mom says these pups are going to be motivated by toys & games more than treats when they go through obedience training.

Well, those two grrls were busy with the rope and the third liddle grrl, Turquoise, still hadn’t left the guest room. Not because she was locked in there. She just stood at the doorway and whimpered for her sister. The other two would trot down the hall and try to ‘splain to her that it was okay to come out into the house, but she just couldn’t get up the courage to do it. And any time a parent went into the room to talk to her, Turquoise would run into one of the crates and hide. Mom knew Turquoise needed to go potty because she drank a lodda water when the pups first came home. And Mom was worried that Turquoise would strain her bladder by holding it for a long time.

It was sad, watching Turquoise at the door and listening to her whimper.

At last Mom said, well, maybe she will go potty on newspaper. So she put some newspaper down in the hall.

Guess WHAT? Nope. Turquoise didn’t potty on the paper.

Instead, she used it like stepping stones to get to the hall runner rug and then onto the living room rug. She had been afraid of the vinyl tile in our hallway!  None of us had even considered that, and we all felt pretty silly about it.

But really, it makes sense. The pups had been kept in crates most of their 8 months of life and they didn’t know nuthin about house floors. Purple and Pink were bold enough that it didn’t bother them, but Turquoise was more shy and Mom says T is gonna need an understanding, patient hooman to help her adapt to real dogdom.

Her bladder finully did let go inside the house but Mom didn’t say a word about that. She just cleaned it up and pretended it hadn’t happened.

Before bedtime, though, TG was following her sister around the house and she even took a treat from Dad’s hand. WOW.  She wouldn’t come when Mom called her though, she would just hunker down on the floor. Finully Mom got down on the floor with TG and started stroking her on the back. Just for a minute or so, and then she stopped and TG got up and ran away. About thirdy minutes later, Mom did it again.

And you know sumthen? Before the pups were crated for the night, Mom offered TG another treat. TG came over to take it, and she let Mom touch the side of her face evuh so gentle.

It was a good night at Hooligan House.

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

That's Turquoise Grrl on the far left. In the middle is Pink Grrl. And on the right, is Purple Grrl.

Great Rescue Run, Part Two

Before I get into the shenanigans of late Saturday night with the rescue pups, Mom wants me to tell you a little bit about each of them. She says it matters to the story.

When they first got to our house, all three of them were freaked out. One went under Mom’s car and got all muddy. Dad fussed but he knows Airedales aren’t happy unless they’re wet and dirty. This girl not only got herself covered with mud, but also her leash and her collar. And Dad’s shoes. And his pants. And his hands. I think there was even some mud on his chin.

And the puppies didn’t know about leashes so they wouldn’t walk on them. Instead, they hunkered down in the rain and refused to move at all. Mom and Dad had to pick each one up and carry them indoors. These girls are around eight months old and they weigh 45 pounds each. Heh heh heh. Wish I had a picture of Mom and Dad totin’ those muddy pups into our house! By the time everybuddy was inside, Mom and Dad looked like they had been rolling around on the wet ground with the puppies.

The puppies were very very shy and not used to being petted. But within just a little while, the mud worked its magic and the pups started wrestling and playing with each other. Just like normal Airedale Terriers.  

Two of the girls were sisters. One had a pink collar and the other one had a turquoise collar. Their fur was long and soft and curly. The third girl was taller and her fur was coarse and wiry. She had really long legs and was taller than the sisters were. Mom said she’s an Oorang like me. She had a purple collar and wasn’t as shy as the others and she was the first one to go running up the hall like Buddy does when he and Mom are playing bowling ball.

So Mom went and got a treat and held it out and told the tall girl to “Come.” And you know what? She did! She came close enough to sniff the treat and then she darted away before Mom could touch her. But it only took a couple more times until she came right up to Mom and stood still and ate the treat. Smart Girl!

The pink collar girl watched all that and decided it was okay for her to run up and down the hall with the purple girl. So they did that for quite awhile and then they went further, into the kitchen. And that’s when things got interesting.

Now, you need to know that I do not counter surf. I have better manners than that. Jack has been known to inspect the kitchen table for special treats from time to time but he's elderly and he gets speshul privilegges.  Buddy and Sissy are too short to counter surf. But Maggie… have I told you how she thinks she’s a princess?

Maggie can stand up on her hind legs and stretch them waaay out and then she stretches her whole body waaaay out and then she stretches her neck even further until she looks kind of like a snake dog. It’s really weird looking. And boy howdy, does she get in trouble for doing it! You’d think she’d have learned not to counter surf a long time ago because let me tell you, our Mom is a not pretty sight when she sees this happening. She doesn’t sound very pretty, either. But Maggie is “special”, as we’ve said before. I guess she doesn’t remember from one episode to the next that she’s gonna get her a-double-scribble in bad bad trouble for counter surfing.

Well, the reason I’m tellin’ you all this is because that Pink Girl watched Maggie counter surf ONE TIME. And THIS was the result!

And you know what? Mom didn’t say a word to that puppy. NOT ONE WORD.

She said “Pink Girl needs to have her confidence built up and reprimands are not in order under these circumstances.”

WhatEVAH!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

TO THE RESCUE!

Tigger is an Airedale Terrier who was surrendered to ADT Rescue a couple of weeks ago. He's only eleven months old, still a pup, and has had a confoozled growing up time. Through no fault of his own, Tigger needed a foster home. You remember reading Grady's story here awhile back? Grady's Mom & Dad went to Birmingham to pick Tigger up and bring him to Mobile. They are going to foster him until he gets a forever home. 


My Mom went over to meet Tigger today and evaluate him. ADTs can be kinda difficult for lotsa people to handle and Mom needs to know if Tigger has any anxieties or aggressions or possessive or hard headed bits to him. Actually, if he's not hard headed, he probly isn't a pure bred Airedale but this isn't the time for that discussion, according to Mom.

Here are pictures of Tigger and the Bakers today. Mom said he doesn't have any of those problems we mentioned earlier. She needs to find out how he is around kids, though. So she's gonna take the grandkids over to meet him this week. She always uses them for this part of the evaluation and they really really know how to act all jumpy and loud and silly around dogs. If Tigger passes that test, he's A-Okay.

I'm betting on Tigger. According to his pedigree, he has several ancestors from the same breeder's kennel I do. And I am, after all, a Superior Airedale Terrier.

AAARRROOOOOOOO!