Mustang Saga

At 1 a.m. when I'm making a trip outside for puppy potty, and then we come back in and he just won't quiet down and go back to sleep, I wonder what the heck I was thinking.

But today when I took him in for his wellness exam and found out he has a heart murmur I realized how attached I already am. It's probably nothing to worry about. Sometimes their heart grows faster than the valves.

He's a vicious little goober.

He's getting stronger every day, and is more like a little dog and less like an infant. I have a crate for him to sleep in and he's gone in voluntarily 3 times today to take a nap. But the poor guy sounded like I was killing him when I stuck him in an empty trough to keep him contained while I was with the horses. Puppies sure can ki-yi.

Tonka hurt himself last weekend. I don't know what he did, but he peeled back a thick hunk of skin under his jaw. He keeps breaking it open and making it bleed again. I'm mostly leaving it alone to heal but I'm keeping an eye on it and cleaning it now and then. It definitely hurts, and it's hot and slightly swollen. No pus. If it doesn't improve by next week I'm going to have to have it looked at. I'm not sure how deep it is. Dang these accident prone horses.

Soxy's thrush is hugely improved. One hoof still has a wet nasty pocket. The rest just need to stay thrush-free and grow a new frog. I was soaking, medicating, and wrapping them with diapers and duct tape but now I'm just cleaning and spraying it with Thrush XX every day. That stuff stinks! But I like the spray, it's easy to apply and I like that it's a moisture barrier. There are so many products out there these days, it's hard to know what to choose. If this doesn't work I'll try one of the purple products. Fungidye or Thrush Buster. No Thrush hasn't worked very well for me.

They're sure keeping me busy. Tomorrow I'll pull Scout's front shoes. Did the hinds already, and boy was that a chore. I wish I had some nail pullers but hate to spend the money when I may not shoe again, and if I do I'll have a farrier to do the work. Those shoes just didn't want to let go. Keith did a good job putting them on. I'd been afraid they'd come off since Scout's hooves are soft, but that sure wasn't a problem. Hopefully the fronts will go better.

Now I'm off to try to get some sleep before the little beastie wakes up again. Hopefully by the next time I post he'll have a name. Right now we're trying out the name Blue. If his eyes don't stay blue and his coat loses its silver hue it won't fit, but oh well. He'll be Blue Berry Jones. Huck is Huckleberry Finn Jones or Huckleberry Fiji Jones, depending on my mood. My first special dog was Harpo Fiji Jones, and he was a lot like these Aussie boys. I think he was part Aussie. I wish I had a good picture of when he was young. Here's one just months before he died at the ripe old age of 17. He was my ring bearer.