A Fireworks Scare

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an outdoor celebration of a local State Senate candidate, who won the election.  Later that evening there was a large fireworks display, that rivaled any show that any local city had put on to celebrate the 4th of July.  

I have taken Rowdy to many fireworks shows and they have never bothered him before.  Unfortunately this time we were much, much closer to where they set them off at, than we've been in the past.  The loud noises from them, scared him this time.  He tried crawling up on me for comfort and protection, so I lifted him up into my lap and held him close to me with his head on my chest.  I tried reassuring him, but he just trembled and shook in my arms.

After several minutes, I took him to the car and put him inside, so it would muffle the noise from him.  Then I set my chair up in front of the car to watch the rest of the show.  When the show was over, Rowdy had calmed down completely by the time I got back in the car to leave.  So I guess we'll just have to keep watching those shows from a distance.

A Seat Too Small

 At home, Rowdy always likes to get up on the couch with me, whenever I am either watching a show or on the phone.  Also, sometimes I have to sit up at night, so I will come down to the couch and he will follow.

At the farm, Whenever I am doing the same things, I am sitting in my mother's old recliner, which is not much bigger than I am.  Well, Rowdy still wants to get up there with me and he will jump up on me and try to wiggle himself out a spot that he can lay in.  If I scoot over to one side, he has a narrow trough that he barely fits into.  He seems to have a hard time getting comfortable, but he rather be up there with me, than be on the floor. 

Not Feeling Well

This morning, I noticed that Rowdy wasn't following me around the house like he normally does and just stays wherever he is laying down.  I felt his nose and it was hot, indicating he isn't feeling well.  I've seldom ever seen him with a warm or hot nose.  I'll keep an eye on him today and check him frequently to make sure he is okay.  

Update; Later in the afternoon, Rowdy felt much better.  We were out at the farm and he was very excited and running around at full speed, like he had a firecracker taped to his butt and the fuse was lit.  

However, the next day he seemed alright, but that evening his nose was hot again and he acted like he wasn't feeling well again.

Hunka-hunka-hunka-hunka

Out at the farm today, I was getting things ready for work.  I was at one end of the shop building facing into the building, which is a fairly large shop with each end open and only two walls.

Well, all the sudden to my right, Rowdy takes off in a tear, with his hair standing up on his back and sort of growl-barking up the outside of the shop on the right.  After his initial burst and while he was running, he was making a sound like, hunka, hunka, hunka, hunka.  I'm not certain what he was doing, but I believe he was slightly growling while running and although he is not a really fat dog, he ain't skinny either and I think the jarring of his running, was causing him to make the sound.  I've seen him tear off running, chasing another animal like a squirrel, but he is usually either silent or has a rolling growl as he runs.    

So away he went hunka, hunka, hunka, hunka, up one side of the shop, then hunka, hunka, hunka, hunka, across the back.  Then I caught a movement to the left and it was a rabbit, that quickly dove into a hole in the side of the old barn.  Then here came Rowdy, hunka, hunka, hunka, down the other side and he stopped along the side over next to the barn, smelling for where the rabbit had gone.

He didn't get his rabbit today, but he was sure excited with the chase. 

Opposite of scared the pee out of him.

This evening, when I got home from work, I let Rowdy outside to do his business.  Within a couple of seconds of when he stepped outside, a firework went off close by.  Instead of scaring the pee out of him, it scared him back indoors and it was a couple of hours before he would finally go back outside to the bathroom.


What's funny is that he is not particularly scared of fireworks.  I have taken him to firework shows and he just lays by my chair and tunes them out for the most part.  He'd rather be with me during the noise, than be alone in the house with the noise in the neighborhood.  It was probably because this one sounded more like thunder, which he really doesn't like and decided it was safer in the house at that moment. 

Heart Worms and Cost of Veterinary Services.

I took Rowdy to the vet a couple of days ago, to check to see if the heart worm treatment he had last year cured him.  It was good news and he is no longer infected.  I got some more preventative  medicine to keep him that way.

I am finding that the cost of veterinary services vary greatly, and the vet I used for the treatment was much more expensive than the one I used for retesting. 

After they called to tell me that Rowdy was due for retesting, I got upset with that first clinic.  Everything was fine until I inquired about the cost.  Due to greatly reduced hours at my work during this Covid19 crisis, I need to save every penny I could.  They told me it was $17 for the test, but he also has to have an exam that cost $39.  This is a total of $56.  But, they told me if the two are combined that I would receive a discount for doing both and only have to pay $46.  I thought that was okay, but then they informed me that he also was due for his shots and the total of it all would be about $89, plus the cost of the heart worm preventative medicine.  I told them that I couldn't afford all of that now, so I would agree to the $46 for exam and test and that I intended to get him his shots later.  Then they informed me that without the shots, the price would be at the $56 price and I would not get the discount.  All of this was told to me in this order, so I got the $46 price before adding the need for the shots.  So if I got everything including the medicine and shots, the total would have been somewhere around $125.  I got internally angry about this, feeling like I am being ripped off and when they would not let me do the exam and test for $46, I told them I would do something else and politely hung up the phone.  Though this clinic also did large animals, this vet is a town or city vet office, just outside of town.  Seems like they want to charge human prices for veterinary services.  I'd hate the see what the cost of working on a large animal would be.

I then called a country vet and was able to get the test for $25 which was higher in cost for the test, mot including the preventative medicine, but no other charges.  The six month preventative treatment was a little more expensive, but it also included a flea prevention treatment in it.  So the total was about $75, saving me about $50 and I won't have to buy flea treatment for him. 

This savings is money I needed now and I still was able to get Rowdy taken care of.  I have a feeling that many businesses may price themselves out of business, during this downturn in the economy.