It nearly two and a half month since
Fanny was dumped, tied up outside my gate. (click to see how she was then)Since then she's had an ultrasound to see if she had Cushing's Disease - really awful skin, which she had, is a symptom. The result was negative although she does have a very bad heart - on a scale of 4 being bad, the vet said she is 3. She's on antibiotics, two lots of heart pills, something for her crazy stomach that sounds as if it's in the middle of a rough ocean, special baths every five days and cortisone twice a week to help stop the scratching. The vet wasn't sure she could sterilize her because she didn't know if her heart would take the anaesthetic.
Then she came into season and it went on for over a month. The vet said she'd have to sterilize her as otherwise she'd get pyrometra (pus in the womb) but that she'd use the safest anaesthetic she had. And so Fanny was sterilized, had her teeth cleaned at the same time and is now fully recovered.
She has no upper front teeth between the canines - the vet thinks she probably never did. She looks, in profile as if she has an overshot bite but in fact she is vastly undershot, so there is some deformity there. I've not mentioned it to her, of course...
She's put on half a kilo but to do so eats enough to feed a small labrador. She doesn't seem to get the goodness from food and needs more than a dog her size should.
Amazingly she is growing coat where she has the elephant-like skin on her face and under her chin - not around her rear end but then we don't have to look at that too often.
She's very needy - stuck to me like glue. She isn't crazy about the dogs who come to stay but is having to learn dogs share attention in this house but she's now got used to Beau and Mia - she really didn't like Mia at the beginning.
And she barks... so we are working on that. Barking dogs and me - we don't get along.
And she has a godmother in Monaco - a good friend of mine who has undertaken to pay her vet bills for life - and they've been considerable. Isn't that incredible. Thank you to my dear friend, Sue.
Fanny always has the saddest look in her eyes but now she plays with a toy - brings it to me to throw and and I don't think she'd play if she wasn't happy - or at least as happy as she can be. I often wonder about her life before and why those eyes look so sad...
A Doberman with cropped ears. I thought it was banned but perhaps not in France. She's a lovely girl tho - called Venus, 7 years old and lives in Paris. We met in Ventimiglia, just across the Italian border, a short while ago.
This is a much-travelled Mexican Hairless dog. Milla was born in Sweden, now lives in Switzerland and was walking along the port of Saint Jean-Cap-Ferrat when I met her yesterday. She's one year old.
We met little Frisbee in the last posting. This is her Mama, Astule. She's 5 years old. Yorkies are so expressive with their ears, aren't they? Up, down, back...
Another hot dog I met in Ventimiglia market. This is Frisbee, aged one year. His mother was being walked on a lead and we'll meet her next time. I think this family came from Belgium but I can't read my writing...
A hot dog fixed to a wall at a beach in Ventimiglia. At ten in the morning it was bearable but later reached around 37 degrees - too hot for me. Hopefully this dog had been taken home long before then.
Well...not a very good photo of a dog swimming but I know readers sometimes like to see the context of where we are. This is the River Roya which joins the sea at Ventimiglia, just across the border in Italy. All those vans you see in the background are part of the chaos of Ventimiglia's famous Friday market.
This dog lives in Bussana Vecchia, a medieval village across the border in Italy. It was totally destroyed in an earthquake in 1887 and then slowly restored in the 1960s. You can look at Menton Daily Photo to follow the story of this amazingly beautiful village.
Don't you just love dogs like this. I don't know his (or her) name or where he lives. The photo was taken in Menton so perhaps he's a local. He looks a good age, doesn't he?
The last few days I've been deleting a ton of photos as my hard drive is fast filling up and came across this little dog. I took it about 18 months ago when I'd gone to Latte to shop. Latte is the first village across the border in Italy - they have a good supermarket there. This little cutie was sitting in the bar with her owner. I took a few shots but when I got home decided they were all out of focus. The smaller one is, but the first one isn't - so here she is, rather later than intended.
Pepita is a Pyrenean Sheepdog (sometimes called a l'Abri here). She belongs to my neighbour and she looks a ragamuffin because I just trimmed her - rather badly - with scissors, but in my defence we always have a bit of a battle on trimming day. I'll tidy up those wispy ends...
Some dogs love riding motorbikes. This adorable poodle was in Menton for the Bastille Day celebrations.
This charming Yorkie called Pasha, is 12 years old. He doesn't look it, does he? I met him in Monaco on le rocher, where he and his family were enjoying the carnival - hence the ribbon on his collar.
Meet Abby - a very lucky dog. She's two years old and until recently lived in a breeding kennel in the Var. She had one litter of two puppies and was then put up for sale.
Regular visitors to Riviera Dogs will have met the Beausejour dogs of Gorbio before. On the chair is Boutchette and at her feet is the most recent addition to the family, Galinette.
This little dog is often to be seen running around Place du Cap in Menton. I think he lives in Rue Longue in the Old Town.
This is tiny Greta, named for Greta Garbo. She's half chihuahua and half shih-tzu and lives in Menton. She's not had all her vaccinations yet so I wasn't able to stroke her - too too too cute...
Meet Gavi, he's a six month old chocolate Labrador who lives in Monaco. I met him on the port on the day of the recent Civil Marriage ceremony between Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock. (The big religious ceremony was the next day).
Here's another dog I met at the Arabian Horse Show in Menton - and an unusual one.
Salukis go with Arabian horses - you often see them at the fabulous Arabian Horse Show in Menton and so it was the other day.
It nearly two and a half month since Fanny was dumped, tied up outside my gate. (click to see how she was then)
