Thursday, June 5, 2008

Zeus

Since Zeus is the only one of the three dogs who hasn't made an appearance here, I figure it's about time for his 5 minutes of fame (Iris doesn't share well, so he only gets 5 min). We seem to have unintentionally come up with a Greek pantheon theme for dog names. Poor Henry got left out of that one, although he's the one we didn't name.


Zeus is a lab mix who tops the scales at just over 100 lbs. So between the giant black dog, the insane Aussie, and the howling Beagle, I don't think the UPS guy will even bother coming down the driveway. I think he'll be adopting a "toss and run" policy.

Poor Zeus is undergoing heartworm treatment right now, and in having bloodwork done for that, it looks like he probably has Cushing's disease. He just turned 7, and the only symptoms he seems to have right now are increased water consumption and excess panting. I know very little about Cushing's and as far as I know, they're not doing anything to treat it right now.

He's ball-obsessed, loves to swim, and sometimes more than a little neurotic. Iris loves to boss him around, but hopefully they'll improve once they're actually living together and not "starting over" every weekend.

4 comments:

Jules said...

Do they play as well as Iris and Henry? It sounds like Iris completely rules the roost!

Blue said...

Oh boy, Iris is definitely the princess of the pack. She gets her way pretty much all the time. She's the first one to go through doorways, she sits in the best spot when I get their dinner, and is usually the one to start and stop play.

Iris and Zeus don't always get along. Poor Zeus, he'll try to play with Henry and Iris, but Iris loves playing with Henry so much that she just ignores Zeus. A couple times Iris tried to play with Zeus a little, but he just didn't seem to understand what she was doing!

Iris and Zeus have scuffled (lots of noise, no injuries) before. Zeus growls a lot. I'm really not sure why he does it. It sounds aggressive and could be, but it almost seems more submissive? He'll be growling and showing his teeth and licking his mom's face all at the same time. It's always prompted by petting, and he does it more with certain people. Iris does not like his growling, especially around her people. If I'm watching her, I can stop her before she starts to snap at him, but I wish I could figure out Zeus' growling.

Jules said...

Mixed signals, huh?

I am sure they will work it out once Zeus is living there full-time and not having to restablish his place every week or other week.

Ike SO does not get herding dog style of play!!

Blue said...

I really hope Iris and Zeus can work things out once they're actually living together. Zeus is the king of mixed signals, I think in part because he wasn't well socialized. Last night she was teasing him with a ball, but he didn't know what to do with her.