MORE ABOUT EBBY
The summer crowd has thinned, and according to my dear friend, Kathy, it is possible now for Cape May RESIDENTS to find needed parking spaces. Although, sales have lessened a bit at The Wagging Tail, the stress we experienced all through the summer has abated, we can attend to our orders in a more-timely fashion, spend more time with our year-round residents, and not gobble our lunch. I whole heartedly thank my employees who gave their all when we were so short staffed (like most of Cape May County.)
Ebby, a 16lb mix that I agreed to foster, has continued to be a challenge. But I have learned in sharing my experience, that there are many generous dog lovers who have rescued dogs which have challenged them as well, in patience and hope. I look at Ebby laying next to me on top of Bob’s father’s huge desk, and I think back to the last month. Besides viciously trying to attack me when I attempted to put a light flannel velcro-closure coat on her, biting through Bob’s finger requiring antibiotics because of his recent hip replacement (and she is usually very affectionate with him, she has even taken to lying on his lap.) I instructed Bob to let her come to him and she should be fine. She is a food thief if given the chance, and is still very frightened of sounds, even the sound of opening a piece of paper mail. We are reluctant to abandon her to another life that may not be as great as the one she has with us. Ebby and Zoey (my seven-year-old Maltese) has not had anyone to play with since Parker passed away. She and Ebby go at it, even this morning before I even got them out to the bathroom. They both are very gentle with each other and seem especially well matched in temperament for dog play. I have dubbed her “Zoey’s Dog.” Life is still uncertain about what might set her off, and as I always clothe my dogs against the elements of winter, I am frightened to try again. Maybe Linda will help me introduce her to wearing a coat. I found out that her human father recently died and Ebby was his dog. Apparently, the man’s wife was not particularly nice to him and that may have extended to being mean to Ebby.
Until she bit Bob, I was bringing her to The Wagging Tail to socialize her. Now that is a concern for sure. I compensate her life with walks around the neighborhood with Zoey, who gives Ebby added confidence. When I was bringing her to the store, there was a lot of debating as to her breed mix. On her papers it says part chihuahua. There were many guesses. I decided to order a Wisdom DNA Package and when I tried to insert the soft stick in her mouth, she became horribly aggressive. I took her to Linda. She had to wrap her in towels while I tried to insert the applicator. She got more and more “crazy” and Linda finally had to insert an object in her mouth that she could bite on but would allow me room to get the DNA sample which has to be done with two different applicators and rubbed along her gums for 15 seconds each. Both came out bloody, and I accidently dropped one. What an ordeal and although Wisdom has alerted me via email that they got her package, I won’t probably know until next week if they were even able to do it. I will let you know.
Although our all-natural biscuits, three pounds for $7.99 (and no wheat) are a better choice then anything Purina, since my last article on how awful Milk-bone are, they have improved the product, although it still contains some nasty things. Milk-bone peanut-coated are far better than Milk bone peanut-flavored. I will write more about this next week.
