Break's Over

Hello Friends! I'm back from my two week (much needed) hiatus, feeling refreshed, and with lots of news to share, most of it good.

Meadow's leg is finally healed up and she is once again done with the comfy cone. This time, hopefully, for good. Her urinary issues seem to be subsiding, although we are not sure why. Her test results had all come back normal, but our vet decided to do an antibiotic trial, just in case. Along with that, I had changed her food to a higher protein, low carb food right after her surgery because I read that cancer loves carbs. Suspecting that the new food might have caused her problems, I switched her back to her old food. Also, since she in no longer wearing the comfy cone, she is less stressed. So, whether the cause was a hidden infection, a reaction to the high protein food, or just stress - we have no idea, but as long as she is on the mend, I guess it doesn't matter much.

Toby is off of his restricted activity - I started him with short walks, then longer walks, then short runs, and now he is allowed to run full out - and his limp has not returned. That said, I do notice a slight hitch to his gait when I walk him longer than twenty minutes on pavement, so I am trying to keep his walks under that time frame, in case he does have hip problems brewing like his vet suspects. But all in all, he is doing much better, and he is much happier that he is allowed to run again.

As for Leah, the good news is, our management program is working and we have been able to prevent further incidents. She also play bowed at Meadow the other day, and has shown no more aggression towards her. The bad news is, she is definitely not better. First of all, she is lunging and barking at the cats pretty regularly from behind the confines of her X-pen, and we need to lock them up whenever she is free for safety reasons.

Things also went wrong when we had our behavioral assessment with Debi.

Leah greeted Debi with some degree of suspicion, at first, but then she wagged her tail at her, and laid down a few feet away while Nick and I talked with Debi. Several minutes passed, and then, without provocation, Leah got up and lunged towards Debi, barking aggressively. I grabbed Leah's leash and moved her away, and nothing happened, but of course, the incident surprised and worried me. Leah will bark and lunge when she is crated or behind a gate and someone is standing too close, but she does not normally aggress at visitors for no apparent reason.

Debi had not moved or done anything at all to provoke the behavior, and she herself did not see any build up towards the event, which she remarked was not normal.

We did get lots of advice from both Debi and from Lesli, Meadow's former foster mom, on things we can do to try to help Leah - and not surprisingly, a lot of what they advised was the same. Management was key, (which I'll describe in detail below). Separate walks with me for speical "Mommy and Me" time. Reducing stress in the household. Some counter conditioning by trying to make the appearance of our other animals "special time" by offering treats and praise. Not allowing Leah to run the fence searching for the neighbor's feral cats any more, which torques her up. Both of them also suggested getting Leah used to a muzzle, so she can hang out with the family more safely. I measured and ordered one, but it did not fit regardless of my careful measurements, (as it turns out Leah's head and muzzle have weird dimensions), and I am waiting for the replacement to come in the mail.

Debi also said to up Leah's obedience, and both Nick and I have been working with her regularly and she is doing really well with that. We already make a habit of asking for sits and waits for meals, to go out doors, and what not, but we had let some things slide as Leah got older, chalking it up to old age if she ignored a command - but now we are following through.

No sit? Well then sorry Hun, no pettings. Period.

There was some additional advice that Nick and I did not feel comfortable with, as benign as it was, and since Nick and I both felt the same way, there must be an underlying reason why. Obviously, we live with Leah, and we are probably picking up on things that a trainer who is evaluating her in one (albeit lengthy and thorough) visit would not notice.

But that's the beauty of advice, it does not all have to be taken.

So, along with everything mentioned above, our main goal has been careful management to keep everyone safe, and we appear to be doing a better job at it. When we go out and Leah is free, the cats are locked up, and Toby and Meadow are crated. When only one of us is here to manage the crew and keep our eyes on everyone, Leah is put in her X-pen. When Leah is free with the others in the house, supervised, she drags a leash and she is not left alone in rooms with the other animals - even to run to the bathroom to wash hands.

When we had friends by last weekend, I kept Leah behind closed doors. In the past, that action was reserved for visits from children, but this is what I will need to do when anyone visits for now on. I can't risk my guests' safety with any more unpredictable behavior.

Leah has been enjoying her prescribed daily walks with me a lot, and whenever possible, Nick comes along with Meadow - so that Leah and Meadow get to enjoy "fun outings" together.

Currently, we do not allow Leah to play with the other dogs in the yard anymore, but we do take her out there when both of us are available, so one of us can keep her occupied and she is not totally segregated from the other dogs. Once the muzzle arrives, after a few weeks of getting her used to wearing it, hopefully, we can let her rejoin the others in their daily play sessions.

I gathered our tax papers as fast as possible this year, and our taxes are already being processed. I plan to use our return to put up that long awaited fence. Half of our yard is easily climbed chain-link, and part of our fence is only three and half foot tall. We are replacing all of the fencing with six foot stockade, right up to the back door, (and four foot stockade in the front if we have enough extra money). This will help us with Meadow, as we won't have to keep her on the long line anymore since it is harder to climb stockade, and now she will have access to the back door. Luckily for us, when a firework does go off, Meadow wants to go inside, to the safety of her own home (yay!), but with the current set up, she would have to hop the back fence to reach the door and we are afraid, once free, she might take off in a blind panic. With the new placement of the fence, she will have access to the very place she wants to be, and the new fence will be more difficult to climb, so we will finally feel safe enough to leave the long line off of her  - except maybe during the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July. The new fence will serve a double function, by preventing Leah from seeing the feral cats next door and the people walking through the woods adjacent to our house - that all seem to set her off.

So, that's pretty much where we're at with the dogs update.

Nick and I also haven't found the time to get down to Kent to walk any shelter dogs recently, but we are going today, and I'm looking forward to getting back to doing a little volunteer work here and there.

Oh, as for my novel? The first draft is finally done! I have to be honest, I really dragged my feet up until the last minute, but I sat my rear down in front of the computer this Saturday and got to work. And I managed to finish my last 4000 words or so in one very long session. Now that the hardest part is over with, I'm looking forward to cutting, rearranging, and polishing my work.

Finally, don't forget to check out my Mr. Chewy's giveaway - I'm giving away a gift certificate for $50.00 worth of dog supplies. It's easy to enter - and it's free - so take a moment to check it out.

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 My Novel's Progress: About to start editing second draft.