Mocha has been a bit of a difficult dog ever since we left him in a kennel. We’re not entirely sure if it’s the kennel’s fault – they have a good reputation amongst other dog owners in the area and I doubt they mistreated Mocha in any way – though the act of leaving Mocha alone for a while may have triggered his anxieties. Since we rescued him from an animal shelter, it’s possible he was abandoned by his previous owners and started to worry when he felt we were abandoning him too.

However, Mia and I are both busy working professionals with busy schedules. At least once a month, we have to travel or leave Mocha alone for most of the day. We hate doing it, but it’s not always possible to bring Mocha along with us, especially when we’re staying with friends who are not comfortable with dogs either.

So for long trips, we leave him with Melvin & Cabbie’s parents, who take great care of him. Every time I watch them wrestle, I see a great big smile on Mocha. It’s so obvious that he loves being with other dogs.

Which leads us to conclude that his recent behavioral problems may be solvable by getting a second dog. Another solution would be more exercise and activity, which we’ve been trying. A second dog, however, could play with Mocha and give him the social interaction that he craves. Also, we’re not always able to give Mocha the exercise and activity he needs because of our aforementioned schedule. Perhaps a second dog could.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. A second dog presents its own challenges, such as increased costs, time to find the right companion, additional training needs, etc. We also know of a few more long trips we’ll need to take. We can’t expect Melvin & Cabbie’s parents to take care of four dogs. Placing two dogs in a kennel for weeks would be damn expensive too. And we couldn’t bring our dogs along on a trip to another country either.

So what do we do? Sigh. We don’t know yet. We’re hoping more exercise, training, patience, and love can help the little guy. Hopefully that will be enough.

Bark bark bark! Woof woof woof. Bark bark bark!

Translated from Dog:

My buddies have a website! It’s called The Adventures of Melvin and Cabbie and it’s got all sorts of great photos. You should totally check it out for more doggie goodness!

We took Mocha to Big Sur this past weekend. His friends Melvin & Cabbie came along too.

During the trip, Mocha was… difficult. Since leaving him at a kennel, he’s been insecure & nervous, which has manifested as barking at strangers – mostly men, but sometimes women & children too.

At home, this means 2AM barks that wake us and neighbors up. At Big Sur, it meant snarls & growls at our friends. Sigh…

We’ve been trying the exercise, discipline & affection technique that Cesar Milan recommends. We’re also still trying to get him comfortable with a clicker, though he still cowers from it. But perhaps we need the help of a professional dog trainer.

So dog trainer hunting I go. Hopefully I can find a good one nearby. Poor little fellah seems to be pretty insecure these days. I hope some good training will help.

I don’t think Mocha is ready to go home yet. He’s happy to see us and everything, but the little fellah had so much fun that he just can’t bare to leave his bestest buddies now.

C’mon boy, don’t you miss us? Maybe one day we’ll get you a buddy of your own too… Wink wink. Maaaybe…

Cabbie’s just dying to play with Mocha again. Fortunately, Mocha is ready to oblige.

Ready, boys? Set. Go!

After a fun romp with Melvin & Cabbie, Mocha tuckered out onto the beanbag chair – dreaming happy dreams of fun romps with Melvin & Cabbie, no doubt.

This just in: Mocha & Cabbie slumber after an epic battle of gigantic proportions, the likes of which haven’t been witnessed since Tyson and Holyfield, sans the ear chomp.

In doggie terms, that means they played, wrestled, and got dog tired.

Mocha is a fierce little fighter. Even when a bigger dog pins him down (or against a couch in this case), he doesn’t give up. He’ll keep on fighting & wrestling until the other guy goes down. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but it can be entertaining as hell.

We took Mocha to the vet today to examine a bump on his head. An old tick bite seems to have gotten infected. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything serious. But while at the vet, we asked him about Mocha’s odor too.

Mocha stinks. He stinks more than a normal dog should stink. Whenever he’s playing with Melvin & Cabbie, he’s the stinkiest one of the three. People will walk by and say, “Damn those dogs stink!” And it’s not dogs, it’s dog. It’s Mocha.

The vet asked us if it was a fishy odor. It mostly smelled like ripe dog to us, but there seemed to be a fishy element.

“It’s his anal glands,” he told us.

Anal glands?

“You know how dogs smell another dog’s butt when meeting a new dog? They are smelling the scent from the other dog’s anal glands.”

Ah.

“These glands can become full or impacted if he doesn’t defecate regularly. How regular is Mocha?”

Mocha’s usually goes about twice a day – although lately, he’s been going once a day. Perhaps he has a bout of constipation? The vet seemed to be onto something. He inspected Mocha’s butt. I imagined Mocha squirting his anal gland juices like a skunk onto the vet’s face. Sorry, my mind wanders sometimes.

“I would suggest feeding him some pumpkin every day. From what you’ve told me, his diet isn’t high in fiber and he could use some. Pumpkin is a safe source of fiber for a dog. It’s also nutritious and some dogs love the taste.”

Sounds great!

“The alternative is to express his anal glands.”

Express? His anal glands? Like drawing a picture of them?

“Either I can do it for you, or I can teach you how.” He then proceeded to describe the procedure. And, um, I think we’ll stick to the pumpkin for now.

Hello pumpkin, good bye stink!

Photo via: the_girl

After a day at the dog park, Mocha curled up to take a nap with Cabbie. Awww.