Pugsley: aka, the Sausage.
Lori: Loves Pugs. Writing. Food and Fashion.
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Remember that scene in Young Frankenstein when he locked himself in a room with the monster because he wanted to prove that Love was the only thing that could save the poor creature and Dr. Frankenstein was going to convince the monster that he was loved, even at the cost of his own life?
I think of this scene each and every time I give Plum her ear drops, which is two times a day, every day.
At all other times she is a warm snuggly mitten of a pug cuddled up with her chin snoozing on my shoulder ...but come ear medicine time she transforms into the most vicious and scary little beastie one could imagine. Even the vet has to sedate her to do any kind of deep ear cleaning.
This is one of the main reasons I decided to adopt Plum. I knew she was probably too difficult for even an intermediate pug owner to handle. She must have had some kind of previous trauma to become defensive like this.
Each and every time I give her the drops in my best Gene Wilder voice I say, "You are NOT EVIL... You... are... GOOD!!!!
In the following video which we can call the how to give a vicious pug ear medicine tutorial, she only goes after me 4 or 5 times. This is actually tremendous progress for Plum, it has taken me a good 4 months of steady training and positive reinforcement just to get her to this point.
Good thing I am patient....and persistent.
What I have to do is put Plum in her harness, position her between my knees, hold the harness with one hand and with my other hand grab the scruff of her neck to keep her from biting (it doesn't hurt her at all to grab the neck scruff firmly even though she acts like it does) then once I have a good hold on the neck I quickly release my thumb and use it to pin her ear flap down so I have a clear shot. Sometimes I have to release my other hand from the harness, grab the medicine dropper and squirt it in before she breaks free.
I am now confident enough to firmly correct her and remain calm and in control when she goes to attack. Don't mind my high pitched squealing, the idea is to speak in a firm tone when dogs are bad and then over emphasize positive reinforcement and praise in a high pitched tone when they are good.
By the way in 5 years of blogging this is the first time I've ever posted a video of myself ....be kind.
I wouldn't want to try this on a Great Dane.....
Wait until you see what bath time looks like.....
Neas Nuttiness commented October 7, 2009 10:54 PM
Thanks so much for sharing this! My George now has to have eye drops everyday. He doesn't try to bite, but gosh, he wiggles and squirms and I'm always afraid that I'm going to touch his eye with the medicine bottle.
He doesn't mind his ear medicine any where near as much as his eye drops.
Drop by sometime. He and his sister Gracie, have their own blog:-)
www.tailsawaggn.blogspot.com
Can't wait to see the bath video.
PS - If you can spare a few minutes on Friday morning...say a little prayer for him. He has to have his teeth cleaned and I'm terrified of having him put under anesthesia. The last time he had his teeth cleaned, his trachea collapsed when the removed his breathing tube...and over half collapsed this summer. He's been on a strict diet for the last 3 months and has lost 4 pounds. He's off Enalapril and Lasix. The vet feels that he's ready, and that the need to have the cleaning (and possible extractions) done, outweighs the risks - but I'm still scared!
Linda commented October 7, 2009 11:44 PM
Miko and I enjoyed the video. He listened to you talk, and barked most of the time, first little barks, and then big barks! Plum looks GREAT!
Lauren Gaught commented October 8, 2009 12:08 AM
That Plum is a go-getter thats for sure...lol... I think you handle it perfectly... We had to give ear meds to our old cat at one time... That was always interesting...
It's so warming to see Plum so happy... She gets so excited when she's done, and we can clearly see how much she truly loves you...
2wildpugs commented October 8, 2009 8:26 AM
You are great with her!!!!! And she was really good - she had ample opportunity to actually bite you hard but she didn't. I also think you have a beautiful voice. Do you sing?
pugdude commented October 8, 2009 1:22 PM
Yah Plum trusts you...Bugsy couldnt figure out where you were and why some invisible woman was calling him a "good girl". He's still confused.
Lori commented October 8, 2009 1:32 PM
2wildpugs-no singing...haha might actually be tone deaf.
Keep in mind this is not representative of my everyday talking voice....I am speaking pug language here, with a little bit of Gene Wilder mixed in.
I love that all of your pugs can hear me :)
2wildpugs commented October 8, 2009 8:55 PM
Just played it for my pugs and they started barking and trying to shove their noses onto the monitor - until you said NO. They stopped immediately! It was hilarious.
And I still think you have a beautiful voice.
pugdude commented October 9, 2009 5:31 AM
LOL am watching it again to watch him look around. OK Im bored!
Lori commented October 9, 2009 11:36 AM
My friend Mark told me my pug voice is scary and I sound nothing like this in real life ;)