Poor Meadow....I'm a big meanie, making her walk towards me while wearing a cone on her head.
In this first photo, I'm calling her over to the stove where I'm standing with the camera. At first, she refused to look at me.
But, with a little coaxing, and after a tentative wag, Meadow decided "Ok, fine, I'll walk...if I have to. But I'm not going to enjoy it!"
"Look Mommy, I made it to the stove! Hey...where are you going?"
"What do you mean I have to walk over to the sofa now? And how come Toby gets to just lay there?"
"Fine, I made it to the sofa...where's my cookie?"
"I SAID, where's my COOKIE? Put down that camera, before I climb up there and get it myself!"
I'm glad Meadow is doing well with the Comfy Cone on, which was lent to us by our friend Stephanie, the president of our Vizsla Club. We originally tried to go with the traditional clear plastic cone from the vet, but Meadow was afraid of the noise it made when it banged into things, (surprise, surprise), and so she refused to move at all while wearing it.
My friend Sue, who is also one of Meadow's previous dog trainers, kindly offered to lend us a BiteNot Collar, but we had no luck with the product back when Leah needed her ACL repaired, and when Stephanie told us it also didn't work well on her flexible Vizsla, we decided to try the Comfy Cone first. I'm glad we gave it a shot, as it certainly appears to be working!
Everyone has been incredibly generous with us when it comes to Meadow's upcoming surgery.
Besides friends offering to lend us e-collars, my sister donated a really soft bed spread for Meadow to lie on in the crate while recuperating, and both the Vizlsa Club of Long Island and my parents donated money towards Meadow's surgery. Those funds, combined with the coins Nick and I cashed in, ended up totaling more than half of the estimate that we received from our vet! Plus, as an added bonus, the day after we found out Meadow needed surgery, we won $100.00 from an online sweepstakes that I had entered a while back...so even Ronzoni unwittingly chipped in towards Meadow's operation.
This isn't the first time Meadow has shown us the generosity of others. When we first adopted her, her foster "parents," Lesli and Brian, drove her to us all the way from Vermont, because Lesli wanted to get her settled in and "Didn't want to just hand her over in a parking lot," like some other rescue groups do.
Speaking of rescue groups, when Meadow needed an ultrasound back in March for a string of ongoing urinary issues, the Vizsla Club of Central New England, which is the group we adopted her from, helped us with the bill.
A few months ago, Bob, a kindhearted member of our local Vizsla Club, picked out a brand new bed just for Meadow, and gave us a gift certificate to buy gifts for all of our animals...because he met Meadow at our annual Vizsla Fun Day and felt she was special.
And when Nick and I wanted to take a much needed vacation this fall to celebrate our anniversary a little early, Meadow's foster parents welcomed her back with open arms. They took care of her, kept her safe, and even took her on outings, as if she were their own.
It just amazes me the generosity others have shown us, all because of one little dog....and I just wanted to say a great big Thank You to each and every one of you!! Your gifts have all been greatly appreciated and I hope one day to be able to help others in the ways each of you have helped us and Miss Meadow. I will update as to the status of her surgery as soon as I can on Thursday...please keep her in your thoughts and prayers until then.
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