Did we mention Tex yet? Here he is, at a small park here in the neighbourhood, May 2021. Some people encountered him, petted him, called in some officials for a chip test, but did nothing. Suppose he had fleas, can't have that in your car! So they left him but put his pic on Facebook.
Then a few weeks later, there he is again, at a house not far from here:
Went over there, and indeed he was there, but was afraid of us and fled, so we could not catch him. Apparently he slept on one of the neighbours terraces, and they fed him once in a while, and provided water. We said that if they could catch him we'll collect him. And they did.
Skinny!
They do seem to get along well, so far.
Best friends!
Until...! There was some excitement, and a fight between Lucero and Tex, early October 2021. Tex got bitten like this, while Lucero was bitten across his head, and had a puncture in a cheek, which was nastily swollen..
Lucero bettered quite quickly, with antibiotics and anti-inflammants, but Tex not so quickly. This wound is in a nasty spot, as the skin there moves with every step. But, by applying honey-salve, and bandaging in December 2021 the wound finally closed. Currently the skin has it's black pigment back, but still no hair.
What to do.
First advise: "cut off their goolies"! Tex is now a year old, which means his testosterone levels are super-high, irritating Lucero, causing trouble irritating Tex, etc.
We hesitated to do an actual castration right away, as some dogs change their character, or become frightened. Fortunately there is a temporary and reversible solution: a hormone implant called "Suprelorin". That sits under the skin, and suppresses testosterone. There are 6 and 12 month versions. The vet had the 6 month available, so they both got that. Then wait 2 months for their balls to shrink (really), and testosterone levels to go down.
Meanwhile we needed to keep them separate at all time, or they'd fight again. And dog fights are no fun. Scary too. So, either Tex was free in the garden, while Lucero and Papaya were inside the house, upstairs. Or, text would be locked up on the cave room downstairs, while Lucero was free. We had to keep that regime up since October 2021.
Currently (May 2022) we still cannot let them free together. They are reasonably ok together, but there still are moments of excitement where they will growl at each other. Mainly Lucero at Tex, actually. That means we still have to keep up a dog watch where either Lucero is free and Tex on a leash, outside, or both on a leash outside, or one of them inside the house. A bit like the river crossing puzzle with the cabbage, the goat and the wolf..
There are cute moments like this:
But, as soon as one gets a bit agitated there still probably is trouble.
So, in March 2022 they both lost their goolies, and we now have to see how things develop. Currently the separation regime is bearable. The alternative would be to rehome either Tex or Lucero. Tex would have the better chance of finding a new family, he's a really very good dog. But were quite fond of them both, so.. We hope the best of their castration, and will see how things develop.
