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.

A Toothy Tale

We've been fortunate enough to share our lives with 9 great dogs through our nearly 20 years together. Never had to worry about one chewing through our hardwood floors until now. No. 10 is proving to be a challenge as we deal with endless teething. Hopefully we're nearing the end of it though.

During Ray's last vet visit (puppy shots are done, yay!) we learned that she had not lost her baby canines although her big girl teeth are coming in. No wonder it felt like a barracuda had a hold of us-she had four extra pointy teeth up front! Well I'm happy to report that three of the four teeth have fallen out in the last week or so. Hopefully the fourth will fall out on its own as well and soon.

Ray's like a goat in the fact that she will climb on and eat just about anything. I spent a couple of hours this weekend cleaning up the yard from her scavenging and chewing activities, among other things. And the other night I pulled a tack out of her mouth. Where she found it I can't be sure, just so glad I got it out before she swallowed it! I'm constantly washing my hands from pulling things out of her mouth on a regular basis.

On a positive note: our not-so-little Sillybutt has decided it's not so bad hanging around her people. She sat next to me for a few minutes while I was writing before moving to her favorite spot on the floor.