E and Z, or how to unclog your dog

We had to spend an unnervingly large amount of my wife’s paycheck on a vet visit for Xena the other day. She hasn’t been the same since the weather got nice again and we let her go back outside – well, it’s more like we had to push her outside.

E & Z

And therein lies the problem. After that, Xena went off her food, and stopped drinking, and she’d just lay in her doghouse without moving – basically, she’s just sitting in there starving herself. It turns out that she was badly constipated after going off her water, and she literally needed a doggy enema. (All of which I’m sure you wanted to know.) And… she’s depressed. She went from a six-week period of living in the house during one of the harshest winter weather periods we’ve had here in years… and soaking up the love from the kitties, and little E, and everyone… to being a guard dog outside who doesn’t get to see us unless we come and go from the house, or pop out to feed her.

Depressed and constipated. Dog clog.

It probably also has something to do with our new renters…

E & Z

…who stand between Xena and the pond she’s always liked to go drink from for all the years she’s been here. The alpha mare of the horses is a pretty pushy bitch, quite frankly. She herds the other horses fairly aggressively. I can only imagine how she’d react to an interloping dog trying to cross her territory to reach the pond.

Today little E and I had some outside chores, and after that we went to spend some time with the big Z. (Technically, she should be the big X, but work with me on this one – besides, my Z Dog came a bit too close to being an ex-dog here.) Xena was happy to have some company.

E & Z