Canesisters 2023 journal - turning my Disasters into Delights

[Mini Horses]

It would be so helpful to be able to know her background . If she's truly an escaper or if she's trying to find her prev owner, etc. Unsettled or just mischievous. what sets her off or...

Was great a couple days. Then

 

[Baymule]

Oh Birdie! She is scared of you leaving and never coming back. I like the kennel idea. Just make sure it had a top. You could build her a kennel out of cow panels. One on bottom, one on top, sides and ends. One of the ends could be the gate, just put a fastener on every hole. Wrap one end in a tarp. Then the only thing she could destroy would be the tarp. Cage? Yup. That’s what a kennel is.

She can’t be allowed to chew the house to bits. It’s costly to make repairs. She’s no dummy, she went for the weak spot to get out. She can’t chew up a cow panel.

 

[peteyfoozer]

Old trucks can be more valuable than you think. What year, make and model? Even if it’s a total junker, if the old man is happy tinkering with it, then he dies happy. He has something to do, getting the truck running again. His kids have something to treasure, Dad’s truck that he was working on. Or they just get rid of it, but if he’s happy, that’s all that matters.
Find out if he wants to buy it or fix it for you. Maybe it can be made dependable again.

Every truck on the ranch is 40 years old, because they are easy to fix. No computer stuff to mess with and everything is easy to get to. New trucks are terrible to work on!

 

[canesisters]

Oh Birdie! She is scared of you leaving and never coming back. I like the kennel idea. Just make sure it had a top. You could build her a kennel out of cow panels. One on bottom, one on top, sides and ends. One of the ends could be the gate, just put a fastener on every hole. Wrap one end in a tarp. Then the only thing she could destroy would be the tarp. Cage? Yup. That’s what a kennel is.

She can’t be allowed to chew the house to bits. It’s costly to make repairs. She’s no dummy, she went for the weak spot to get out. She can’t chew up a cow panel.

I don't have a problem with putting her in a crate (cage) if it's for her protection. My problem would be the materials - finding someone willing to haul them for me - and, after putting up alllll that field fence 2 weeks ago - , coughing up another $200 this month on panels. Hoping it doesn't come down to that being my only choice.
My BIGGEST concern is that she IS a boxer - short face & trouble cooling down, especially in high humidity. It would be pointless to put her in an outdoor pen for her protection and come home to heat exhaustion or worse.
This is our next few days and it's only going to get hotter and thicker air.

My best friend suggested that I try leaving her loose in the house and making several short trips (15min, 20min, 30min, etc) away & back Sat after work & Sunday. She said that it MIGHT be being locked behind the doors.... ??
Another friend said I needed to stock up on Benadryl & knock her butt out every morning for the next month. Maybe by then she will have 'gotten' it that I WILL ALWAYS come back.


Just really, really, really hoping that I can get to the end of this 'adventure' and count it as a 'Delight' instead of a 'Disaster'.

 

[Ridgetop]

Check out kennels at Lowes or Tractor supply. They clamp together with supplied clamps like horse corrals. You can put together yourself in an hour or two. (Cheaper at Lowes than TSC in our area.) Some come with tops, some have optional tops - get a top. You will need to have a solid base around the bottom of the panels so she can't dig out. If you can lay down a length of chain link on the bottom, that will work. Set up under deep shade, cover top for shade and rain, and put shade cloth on west and south sides. Attach water bucket to side of kennel in shade (make sure that sun doesn't move around to hit full sun on water). She may be a short-faced Boxer, but if she is able to stage a breakout, get out of the house and yard, and run round in the heat, then laying around in a shaded kennel run won't hurt her. Boxers are tough dogs.

 

[farmerjan]

Most of the dog type pens are 5x8 or 5x10.... A $5-10 kiddie pool from walmart... on end of season closeout prices, that I saw the other day... half filled with water for her to lay in. get wet, would take care of the overheating.... she might chew it up a bit... but it would give her something to help with the overheating...

There is a kennel here that has "daytime doggie sitting"... what about something like that for the short term? Have no idea if they are available there... or what they cost... just a thought.

 

[canesisters]

@farmerjan I'm actually looking around to see if there is anything near by like that. I was telling my best friend that I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to church with her Sunday. She's up in Richmond and she said that there are doggie daycares every couple of blocks up there and we could drop her off at 9am and go to church, to lunch, do some shopping.. see a movie....


... I wonder what I have to do to get her registered as an Emotional Support Animal???

.. or maybe I would be HER emotional support owner?

 

[canesisters]

Sooooooo......

I have 4 cattle panels making the fence between the yard & the pasture. I CAN take them down & replace with electric.... I think I might have enough of the field fence left to replace it so she can be out alone briefly.
Called a friend who's handled rescue Bassett hounds for years for her opinion of anxiety, stubborn breeds, etc. She has some chain link panels that she'll let me borrow.
We're going to work on putting together some sort of outside pen this weekend. Although I'm still VERY leary of leaving her all day out in this heat.

 

[SageHill]

When you've left her alone in the house, was she confined to one room or did she have the whole house? Just wondering.

 

[canesisters]

When you've left her alone in the house, was she confined to one room or did she have the whole house? Just wondering.

Confined to my bedroom & bath