Oliver's Most Recent Checkup

So lately Oliver has decided that he likes to enjoy the "leftovers" in the yard after he and Romeo have done their hardest work of the day. Kinda gross, I know, but true nonetheless.

Naturally we were first concerned with health issues, such as a nutritional deficiency, or perhaps some other underlying cause. So we asked some friends about this, we checked the internet, and we even called the vet. It turns out that this behavior is pretty common in dogs, even though we have had little previous experience with this, other than Romeo's desire for the occasional, refreshing, winter-time frozen sh-t cycle ... yum!

After several recommendations for methods of changing this behavior, we tried a few alternatives. Except for the hot sauce on the yard nuggets, nothing really seemed to work well, and constantly scouring the yard and applying hot sauce, instead of eliminating the material like we normally do, is a lot of un-fun work.

Realizing, of course, that the behavior was continuing, we got a little more concerned about health issues, and we took him to the vet. More precisely, Ania and I took him to the vet last Friday as part of our father-daughter day off. We were pleased to learn that there were no health concerns to worry about, and we were surprised to learn that Oliver had gained some weight. The fact that he's still pretty skinny added to our concern over health matters, but we can only surmise that he is still growing, and, therefore, even though he put on some weight, it's not that obvious yet. Hopefully he will start to fill in more now that he's a gotten slightly older.

Anyway, the vet thinks he might just have an extremely high metabolism, coupled with a slight case of the crazies. Completely understandable when you stop and think about the fact that he is a Weimaraner (high metabolism) and then add in the treatment he received from his previous, less-than-caring human "friends" (case of the crazies). We are taking the advice of the good Doctor and providing Oliver with more chew toys to keep his attention, and we're adding a little to his daily food intake. We added the chew toys because we remembered that his enjoyment of these nasty little bits of yuck only started after we made sure there was no longer an unlimited supply of plastic items lying around for him to devour.

So, maybe he just needs more toy-type stuff to chew on, some snacks, a little more food, some more attention and exercise, and constant diligence in the area of yard cleanliness.

For now, let's hope for the best in less-smelly and less-gross entertainment and "nutrition" for Oliver! Time to go for a walk now...