You’ve done a great job with him! Dog parks are awesome. The dogs get exercise and socialization and dog people get to hang out together.
What a great story! Thanks for sharing. Loved the “Bob the ref” part where he broke up a dogfight! You have indeed done a great job with him, but you’ve also got a pretty naturally smart dog there.
Been a while since a Bob update outside of the Pet Picture’s thread but we just had an adventure that has me a little rattled.
He’s been running out of the yard lately, not all the time, but he’ll get distracted and run into the neighbor’s yard and I’ll have to go over to call him back. A little frustrating, so I upped the leash training - no more free rein in the back yard – you go out, you go out on a leash. That has improved his behavior as of late, so after a brief walk down to the poopy spot and back I let him off the leash for a quick run around before we came inside. That when I saw the racoon on the other side of the back fence … and so did Bob. He wasn’t barking but he was very agitated looking at him through the fence, so much so that before I could get back to him, as he was completely off the rails at this point - ignoring me, he leaped up on to the top of the fence and balanced there like Nadia Comoneche for a quick second and I almost got a hand on him before he tumbled over the other side right on to the racoon. Oh shit!
I leaped - and I use the term loosely - the fence as well and this poor raccoon was freaking out, Bob was on top of him with his nose on his belly but I don’t think he was biting it. He wrestled with the raccoon for about three or four seconds before I managed to grab him by the scruff of the neck and drag him off. The racoon went scurrying off and I put Bob down on his side until he calmed down. Luckily I still had my leash with me so I could just walk him back around the block.
The guy that lives in one of those buildings on the other side of the fence was just getting home and he watched the whole thing. He didn’t give me any shit, thankfully, and he was actually pretty cool about it. In fact I kind of solicited his advice wondering if this should warrant a vet visit, but he also seemed like kind of a dope. So I’m still left with the question of whether or not this should warrant a vet visit. I checked him over - I didn’t see any blood in his teeth or on his tongue and no scratches on him anywhere, but you never know.
That does sound upsetting. May I say, though, that I’m impressed by Bob’s speed and agility?
If Bob isn’t limping or showing any signs of injury, and you’re not seeing anything, I don’t think you need a trip to the vet. My late, great English setter tangled with a raccoon once. He (dog) got a slit down one ear that needed quite a few stitches. Raccoons have such sharp claws and teeth that I’m sure if Bob had been nipped, you could see it.
Bob may well be supposed to get a rabies booster. When I had a dog tangle with a raccoon, she needed one.
And if he’s not up on his previous rabies shots, you may have a serious problem, involving months of isolation. But presuming that he is, just a booster.
2nd the rabies booster. Especially if the racoon was out during the day. They are normally more nocturnal creatures and rabies can change that. Call your vet and see what they say.
StG
I didn’t want to get all thread hoggy, so this since I’ve fashioned this one as my own personal cry for validation I figured I’d just pile on.
I’ve pulled the trigger on another major life decision, and it does involve Bob. I’ve decided that I’ve had enough of the rat race. I’ve worked this job and that for the last twenty years, pay ranging from enough to buy a house to not enough to afford a house. This last year at work (in a warehouse - the lowest paying job I’ve had in twenty years), I received nothing but atta-boys and nice jobs and then at review time I got a 2% raise. Smiled at me and fucked me right in the ass. But I was zen about it. It was the genesis of this project.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I’ve yammered on my entire life about how I’m this non-conformist, non-material driven person, but there I went working for a bank for a decade and buying a house, just because it’s what everyone expected me to do. On my own, I might add, as relationships have been naught but a pipe-dream these last few years. It’s time for me to walk the walk. No one is going to love me if I don’t love myself.
Call this a late-stage midlife crisis if you must (I’m 55) but I’ve informed my realtor (who also happens to be my sister) to put my house up for sale. She tells me not only will she be able to sell it in - I think this is a realtor’s term, but she said - a hot fucking minute, but that I could put a metric shit tonne of cash in my bank account. I’ve begun the simplification process - I’ve cancelled all my entertainment subscriptions - no more Netflix, Hulu, or HBO - and starting as soon as I can muster it, the cleaning and getting rid of shit process will commence. I will scrub the place from stem to stern and fix what needs to be fixed as best as I can. I will sell and/or give away pretty much everything I own (a long held dream of mine). Once I’ve got the profits from the house I tell my boss to go fuck herself (no I won’t but I will quit my job) and that’s when the fun begins.
My plan is to buy a Class B RV and me and Bob are going to hit the road and see America for a little while. Unfortunately, I don’t think Mort will be able to make the trip. That sucks, but I can’t put him through that at his age, besides he has never dealt with travel well at all. I’ll find a good home for him; I know some good cat people who have I’ve already reached out to.
There is a plan B which involves just buying a decent car and shooting straight off to the west coast, but what I make from the house isn’t retirement money. I will have to figure something else out sooner or later.
Either way , the goal is to eventually make it to the west coast. After that … who the fuck knows.
It sounds crazy writing it all out but I need this kick in the ass. I need to come back and read this in the next couple of days when I’m feeling too lazy to clean the rugs in the basement. If I don’t do this now, I never will. If I don’t do this, there is about a 100% chance that sooner or later someone is going to walk into my house and find me dead on the couch with a movie still playing on the TeeVee, and Homie don’t want to go out that way.
Call me crazy if you must, call me an asshole for ditching Mort, call me selfish or whatever the fuck you want to call me, but goddamnit, I’m doing this!
Oh, and here’s a picture of Bob:
If you can find him a place where he’s happy, then you won’t be ditching him.
– try to move him while you’re still around, so if the new home doesn’t work out, you’re still there to do something about it.
Sometimes a person’s gotta do what a person’s gotta do. I’d be interested in reading the further adventures of Jack and Bob, so I hope you find a way to post here now and then.
What are you planning to do about health insurance?
Best of luck in your adventure! Although many people dream of doing this, most are far too conventional to actually do it. It would be great if you could stay in touch and send us updates and pictures!
Here’s a story about a couple of kindred spirits, complete with a dog that looks a lot like Bob:
I certainly hope to keep the board up on things. I’ve been a bit absent the last little while - with things starting to weigh on me, leading up to this. I didn’t allow myself to get to a low place, but I’m very much looking forward to the decision I made now that I’ve made it.
I’d really like to put together a Jack and Bob Do America thread, and potentially hit and/or arrange some DopeFests wherever they may fest. In the mean time, again, I don’t now how active I’m going to be here with so much on my plate, but I’ll never forget my Dopers. I’ll always be around.
Wondering how you and Bob are doing? Any updates for your pals on the Dope?
Hey,
Thanks for checking in. Things are going slowly but surely. It’s been a bit of a slog - that included a 10 day quarantine when I got breakthrough Covid (though I’m fully vaxxed). But I’m just about to put the house on the market and I hope to be on the road by November or December.
I’ll definitely be back on the boards to update the masses and try to keep a thread going while I’m out there. It always seem daunting to just jump back in the the ol’ SDMB.
We haven’t seen any new photos of Bob in awhile…
Are you doing a car trip or have you picked out an RV? I’m somewhat obsessed with RV’s at the moment, so I’d love to know what you’ve got.
Thanks for update, @Jack_Batty. Sorry you got covid! – but I gather that the vaccination at least resulted in a mild case.
Did you find a home for Mort?
Hi, remember me?
Quick update in case anyone’s following along. I’m still on track to sell the house and hit the road, however, there’s been a bit more stuff that I needed to do to the place to get it up to snuff so there’s been a few snags. That said, I’m still hoping to have it sold before Christmas, though I probably won’t hit the road until springtime. There are many reasons - like I don’t want to hit the road in the winter, and the band is recording right now (and I’ve got three of my own songs on the record), and I’ve decided that I’m not giving up Mort. Wherever I go, he’s coming with me and Bob. I don’t know how he’ll take to life on the road, but, fuck it, he’s coming. That said, I just found an RV for sale right down the road from me, so who knows.
But I’m here for pet news, the good and the bad. Both Bob and Mort had vet visits and there are some issues. Bob got Lyme disease. The vet said it looked like his immune system did the trick, but we treated him for it anyway - he just finished his meds a few days ago. He’s fine. Mort on the other hand is not fine. He has some sort of issue with his guts that is preventing him from turning calories into energy. He eats like a horse but he’s skinny as a reed. Blood tests showed no diabetes, liver disease or hyperthyroidism so the next step is a sonogram (which is expensive). In the meantime I’ve modified his diet with sensitive stomach kibble. He’s taken to it and he feels like he’s putting a little more meat on his bones.
On the positive side, the boys are getting along famously. They haven’t quite graduated to napping with each other but they tolerate each other nicely lately. Bob still gets a little jumpy when Mort makes a fast move, but Mort has learned to chill. Mort spends the majority of his time upstairs now, eating and sleeping with us and I love my boys.
Kitchen privileges:
Couch chillin’:
Thanks for the update! Fingers crossed Mort improves.
So glad Mort and Bob have made peace. I hope they figure out Mort’s stuff. And if you were to start a go-fund-me for the sonagram I know at least one person who would chip in (me).