Learned my lesson

This morning I was woken up by the sound of Reese's stomach growling. It was so loud, I thought maybe she was going to be sick or something, so I got up at 5:30am and took them out for a walk. We ran into a friendly neighbourhood dog, Sasha, and her owner. We chatted and the dogs frolicked. I decided to let Heidi and Reese off leash since it was so early and quiet. I figured it had been more than 8 weeks since Heidi's surgery and we've been gradually lengthening her walks, so she'd be fine for a little romp.

Wrong.

She was limping slightly on the way home. I thought she just had snow in her paws.

Wrong.

After resting at home, it was quickly apparent that she was limping badly again. I'm not sure whether it's good or bad, but it's not the leg that was repaired surgically. It's the other side. Our home vet said that she had severe hip dysplasia on that side, so I'm guessing it's her hip that is sore.

So, we're back to very restricted walks and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully Heidi will be back to normal before we know it. Unfortunately for Heidi, I think this is the end of off leash for her. It just isn't worth it for the pain she goes through afterwards.

In search of a patient groomer

The dogs were a little difficult to manage on our morning walk this morning. I think it was a combination of things - there was fresh snow on the ground (which they ADORE) and they had extra energy from yesterday because we didn't walk as much as we usually do when it's not so frigid.

They romped, pulled, rolled in the snow (well, Heidi did that) and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

When we got home, I decided to give Heidi a bit of a haircut. She develops this tuft of hair on her chest that makes her look like a lion. It's very cute, but it gets tangled and matted. Her trim looks pretty good for a home jobbie. She's very well behaved during the trimming and brushing too.

We haven't taken them for a grooming since Heidi began to limp. Now that her limp is gone, I'm hesitating because I'm worried that she won't be able to stand up for hours while they do the bath and grooming. I don't want grooming to be a traumatic experience for her and I also don't want to be a pain in the arse customer at the groomer.

Anyone know what groomers think of arthritic, post-operative dogs who can't stand up for long periods of time?

They listened!

Anyone who has met my dogs knows that they are uber friendly, so much so that they cannot contain themselves when they meet people, and a part of their greeting ritual is jumping up on people.

I know this is a bad habit.

I know Caesar Millan would say it's our fault because we aren't practising discipline and boundaries with our dogs.

But.

We did try to break them of their jumping up habit. But obviously we weren't consistent enough to stop them. We pretty much have Heidi trained not to jump (she's the bigger of our dogs). Reese, however, is another story. She is a very energetic dog. When we come home, she pogos on two legs like a circus bear to greet us. I have to admit, that although it is bad in the dog manners department, it is super cute. So, Reese is still a jumper. Especially if it's someone she knows and likes.

This morning, after our usual walk (thank goodness it isn't as cold today!) we saw our neighbour as we were exiting the elevator. The dogs zoomed forward enthusiastically and I was expecting a jump (they like him and he likes them). "No jumping." I said.

It worked.

Yay!

Thunder tail

Had a frosty but great walk with the dogs this morning. Met one of our neighbours in the elevator and the dogs were so happy to see him.

They love people, love other dogs, and pretty much love attention of any kind. That part is great. What's not so great is that we haven't been able to train them out of jumping up on people. It's a bit awkward.

Heidi gets so happy when she sees people she knows, her whole back end wags, not just her tail. Our neighbour commented on how he loves that. She definitely knows how to make people love her.

Sometimes Heidi uses "thunder tail" for evil though...like when she shimmies up beside the bed and the wall and uses it as an improvised alarm clock. Thump Thump Thump Thump I guess I prefer that to beeping.

I'm guessing it was because of the cold, but this morning both dogs kept getting what I refer to as "snow foot" - they get snow packed into their paws and begin to limp. It hasn't happened much yet this winter, but I had to rub the snow off their paws several times this morning. Luckily, they don't mind letting me help and then they continue on their way.

Off to do some volunteer work this morning...better pry myself away from the computer!

New Adventures

I plan to send an email off to the wonderful surgeon at Alta Vista Animal Hospital who performed Heidi's knee surgery to say thanks and update him on how she's doing. We're about 6-7 weeks post-surgery now and she is pretty much her old self.

This morning, the girls woke me up early, but not too early (around 7am). We headed out for our morning walk and I decided to try a new route since Heidi can go a little further now. We headed off south toward the Glebe and then cut across to the path along the canal. There weren't too many skaters at that time of morning, but we saw a couple glide by. The dogs seemed fascinated by the ice and were trying to sniff at it from our view up above on the path. They watched a skater go by, I don't think they've ever seen someone skate. They paused to take it in, then we continued on our way.

They trotted along, I walked, it was peaceful. A group of runners passed us, the girls tried to run alongside them in between sniffing the new bushes and rocks.

I'm looking forward to more walks and adventures now that Heidi is on the mend. One of the best things about living downtown is that we have so many options for routes to walk, there's always something new to see and sniff.

Care to spoon?

This morning, I was drinking coffee on the couch when Reese hopped up for a cuddle. I was patting her and watching the morning news when Heidi sidled up to us. Usually, when one dog is on the couch and the other approaches, they switch off.

Today, that wasn't the case. Reese wasn't budging. Heidi hopped up anyway. The result...2 dogs, spooning on the couch beside me. Each jockeying to be patted. (Never mind the fact that my husband was sitting on the other couch all alone...)

I've never seen them do this before, although they are fairly affectionate with one another. I'm glad that I got the photos to prove it!

5am wake up call

As they do every so often, today the dogs woke me up quite early. They are very subtle in working their magic and someone who hadn't lived with them as long as I have might dismiss their behaviour as accidental or coincidental. It's not. I'm convinced it's a calculated move to wake me up when they're ready for a morning walk and breakfast.

It begins with subtle readjustments at the foot of the bed so that...oops! They bump into my leg. Or oops! They step on my foot. Those are usually Reese-type moves. Heidi prefers the ever-so-subtle cozying up of her snout to my face, usually in combination with a furiously wagging tail which knocks on the wall beside the bed and acts as a little doggie alarm clock.

So today, this began around 5am. I held out until 5:23. Then up I got and away we went for our morning ritual.

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't really bother me (as long as I've gone to bed at a reasonable hour), I just find it endearing and a little fascinating. They could just do something really obvious like walk up and lick my hand or something, but I'm guessing they've probably developed these behaviours after years of living with us and trying various things until they figured out what worked.

Morning walk at 5:30am on a Sunday. Glorious. So quiet. And after yesterday's snow, everything was white and clean looking. And we got to be the first to disturb it. I don't think that's worth missing by sleeping in...

Winter Wonderland

There is just something about having dogs in your life that makes winter and snow so much more enjoyable.

Before Dogs (BD) I was the type of person that wouldn't go out between December and March unless I absolutely had to. Go for a walk in the snow?? Yeah right! I hated the fact that it got dark so early and I dreaded being cold and trudging around in the sloppy, slushy muck.

After Dogs (AD) I look forward to our winter walks. I don't notice the fact that it's dark early, I just notice how the snow twinkles in the glow of the streetlamps throughout the park. Or how Heidi and Reese's paw prints form two parallel lines as they jog along belly to belly. Because they are enjoying themselves so much, I forget about the parts of winter that I used to dread.

So, my advice for those of you who dread our Canadian winters? Get a dog!

Snow + Dogs = good times

Now that Heidi is on the mend, she jogs everywhere. No more walking for her. Too many things to see, too many things to do, and way too many things to sniff. Not to mention, there are lots of sweet spots that just MUST be rolled in. Heidi's into snow angels, in case you were wondering.

We had a great walk this morning, even slept in a little which was great. It's snowing so that means lots of the fresh stuff to enjoy.

Last night, Reese got a special surprise when our neighbour, Leanne, offered to take her along with her dog to the dog park. That was a great treat! Reese hasn't been to the dog park hardly at all since Heidi started to limp, and she tends to have lots of energy so I knew she would have lots of fun. The only thing I wasn't sure about was how she would behave since she was with someone else. Our dogs really don't have that much experience being walked by people other than my husband and I. She was fine and they had a great time. I'll definitely have to return the favour!

Back to blogging

It's been a while! and as you would guess, lots has happened!

Heidi has had knee surgery for a cruciate ligament tear and is about 5+ weeks out of surgery so we're finally seeing her back to her old self. I think I forgot what she was like before she started limping. Being out on our walk this morning made me feel like I had to share...

Heidi is trotting along again on walks. She is sometimes out in front while Reese is giving a scent some extra investigation. For months and months, Heidi has always been lagging behind, trying her best. Seeing her now makes me wonder how much pain she was in before. It makes me know that we did the right thing getting the surgery done. Despite the whopping $3400 price tag.

Now Heidi can go back to enjoying life and we can go back to enjoying her, the clown that she is.