Back in the Saddle

Yes, we got rid of the stupid collar-satellite-lampshade or however you want to call it. And Xsara's tummy looks fine so I let her run around with her friend this morning. It started to snow again so I had to put on her shoe, but it doesn't bother her anymore. It doesn't look like the snow is going to stick, though, since it already turned into rain.

However I noticed some behavioural changes since the operation. I don't think it's hormones, I think she just got so scared because of the procedure. She is very shy around other dogs and she is afraid to do something wrong. We are working on a new trick and when we start a lesson I have to encourage her a lot more than usually. I am more generous with rewards and I keep telling her she's the best and that she can't do anything I wouldn't like. This only lasts a couple of minutes and then everything is back to normal, the tail is wagging and she performs beautifully again. But then the next training session again, starts with her feeling insecure.

I try to encourage her as much as I can during the day, when I see her behaving bravely (I don't ignore the shyness but I try not to reward it too much either. When she gets shy I only use verbal encouragement if possible because I don't want her to think that I want her to be insecure). The progress is evident, we managed to really shorten these flashes of insecurity and hopefully they will disappear soon.

I'm taking her to the agility training on Monday, if she won't feel like jumping yet (which I highly doubt, by the way!), we will just play with a ball or tug or do some tricks there. It's an important part of her life and I want her to know we will still be playing agility together.

Another thing: I want to thank CollieMan for the beautiful post he's written and for the poster he made for Xsara (with the soccer ball). That was really nice of you, so thank you again :)

Stupid Stitches, Silly Collar

27 hours until we take out the stitches and lose the stupid satellite-collar! This week we learned that we really suck at this whole resting and being still thing. Xsara is incredibly bored and wants to go play. She is feeling fine, the collar is bothering her but she acts like her usual self. She still needs to wear the shoe when we go outside, but she doesn't limp or show any signs of pain.

To cheer her up I naively thought taking her to a trial to see her friends would be nice for her, since it is so normal for us to spend weekends in their company. The weather was sunny and warm and the trial was in the stables near an old castle, so very pretty. But Xsara didn't understand why everybody else got to run and play and she had to watch them, so we didn't stay long.

The trial was also the final of Eukanuba Winter Cup. If we could compete in at least one of the last two trials, we would very probably win it, but since there were only four Winter Cup trials, we missed half of them. So the Cup ended yesterday with Xsara's Parson Russel friend winning the series. We are very happy for him and his handler because we know how hard they've been working to improve his contacts and stop having off courses. They will compete in A3/J3 from now, so we went to celebrate with them afterwards.

We were almost happy to see that the weather is kind of crappy today. It's so much easier to stay inside :)

The Brave Xsara

It wasn't easy, but Xsara was spayed on Tuesday. The operation went very well and she is recovering really fast. We are already doing some easy tricks and obedience, mostly to let her know nothing has changed since she seemed to be worried about that.

Xsara is an incredibly friendly dog, but if there's one thing she hates, it's probably vets. Well, she doesn't really hate the vet, she just hates his office. So the whole thing was very scary for her.

First we did the pre-anesthesia test, which showed that all of her organs are working properly. The most important organs for the anesthesia are liver and kidneys, which process the medications. The vet asked me if I wanted to be in the surgery during the operation, but I didn't think it was a good idea since he couldn't administer any sedatives to me.

Waiting was the most difficult part for me, while Xsara probably thought the entire day sucked pretty much the same. Luckily her uterus was very nice so the vet didn't have to remove it. This reduces the chances of her becoming incontinent because of the procedure. The vet also looked at her paw and said the nail is healing very nicely, probably also thanks to the EMT gel I've been apllying into the wound. I'm so glad I ordered it for my birthday!

Anyway, I was able to take her home as soon as she woke up. She was very cold, sick and terrified and she wouldn't stop shaking. I wrapped her into all of the blankets I could find and cuddled her until she felt safe again. I was kind of questioning my decision, but having her spayed was the right thing to do.

The next day she felt a lot better, and keeps improving every day. She's still sleeping a lot, but when she's awake she's all over the place. It's so hard to keep her calm, she just doesn't know when to stop until she is so tired I have to carry her to bed and then she falls asleep right away. I feared she wouldn't want to go to the vet ever again, but we went for her check up yesterday and she even wagged her tail when the vet gave her a treat. They will remove the stitches on Tuesday, we can't wait to get rid of the satellite over her head!