Every Day's a Lesson

Our lanky stick eater.

You may recall me talking about how unique Ray is compared to other puppies we've raised, especially if unique means "exhibit every typical puppy behavior and then some." Suffice it to say that she has tested us in more ways than one.

Her post op recovery has been going really well. Ray has definitely recovered like a champ, so much so that she has developed what I believe is a seromas, a firm lump under her incision. They're caused by over activity following surgery and typically go down. According to one site, about five percent of post surgery pets experience seromas, so we feel privileged. In all seriousness though, I'm thankful that if she's going to have a complication, hopefully this is the worst of it.

I'm treating it with a warm compress a few times a day and trying even harder to subdue her rambunctious behavior. Luckily Ray's decided she likes the heat and has started exposing her belly to get more of the pad on her. Controlling her activity level is another story. She goes from one thing to another like a steam locomotive-from picking on the boys to wrestling with Magi and then on to chasing squirrels.

Last night Ray was rather sedate except for being excessively clingy and unable to get comfortable. It's nice to have some close contact with the typically standoffish Ray, but she was beside herself with worry if she wasn't on top of us. That would have been fine if she'd been able to sit still for longer than five seconds at a time.

Jason mentioned an incident involving the boys and "the can" and felt like she was still a little freaked out from the noise. It seems the evening's strange behavior could have been a combination of Ray being uncomfortable from the swelling and out of her gourd over whatever went on with the boys. Either way, hopefully this will be the extent of her post op complications and we can all get back to living free and easy very soon.

Pain, Patrols and Rights of Passage

Ray's a big girl now. Yesterday she passed that all important milestone for modern bitches-getting spayed. I hate to put her through it but I also feel strongly about the importance of spaying and neutering dogs and cats. There are far too many animals in need of homes and too many irresponsible pet owners. Sorry, off the soapbox.

Since they were putting her under anyway, we went ahead and had that last baby canine tooth removed. Add in the microchip and Ray had a full day of poking and prodding. Oh, the price of being a Rosendog.

Poor baby had a long day that started with her routine being thrown out of whack. She couldn't have any breakfast or water and wasn't allowed in the backyard to do her morning patrol. Ray's outside more than ever now that spring has arrived. We rarely see her inside unless it's time to eat or take a nap. You can see her weigh her options when we call Sillybutt in the house for any but the afore mentioned reasons. She's sure there's something more important that needs her attention. But I digress.

Ray cried all the way to the vet, again. It makes me sad that she hates riding in the car so much. But I was happy to hear that her weight is up to 36 pounds. Her surgery went well and I was able to pick her up at the end of the day...after a thirty minute detour to reach the clinic due to an accident on the highway. I was really glad though that I didn't have to take the detour with Ray in the car, she really would have hated that. She threw up on the way home just the same. Luckily the seats were covered.

My sweet baby topped off the day by nipping my hand when she snapped at Speck for getting too close to 'her' water. She wasn't happy about being denied free access to the backyard either. Lucky for all of us she's already feeling much better and back to her usual hijinks. I'm sure surviving Ray's teenage period will prove to be a challenge, but I'm glad to have this right of passage behind us.