Waiting for the healing to finish

Cash had surgery before Memorial Day weekend, to remove an undescended testicle and neuter him.  While the surgery went well, his well-muscled abdomen was uncomfortable for him immediately post-op. The vet added Tramadol to the Rimadyl for pain control, and we finally got ahead of the pain about 48 hrs post-op. It was a long weekend, and a long week followed. We took him to get his stitches out yesterday and the middle part of the incision has not healed.  The vet checked him out, and determined that the wound was only in the outer skin layer, no deeper. So Cash remains on antibiotics for 5 more days although all activity restrictions are lifted.  The vet felt like he would be much less interested in licking the area with the stitches out, but a few minutes at home proved her wrong. Luckily Rowdy's Comfy Collar is working very well, esp since he figured out how to remove his seriously big, seriously protective plastic Elizabethan Collar :)  He's a real Western ranch Aussie! smart and clever and thinks for himself - more than we might like, sometimes. Last night was the first time the whole family slept upstairs as Mike and I have been trading off nights on the couch to keep Cash company downstairs.

Cash is feeling great, and the incision seems to be responding beautifully to having been well, cleaned and getting the stitches out, and I'm sure the increased blood flow from Cash's running and moving around more is promoting healing.

This was really more than we anticipated, and we felt pushed to our limits in nursing judgement and nursing care.  I wish I knew more.

I want to sleep for several days.

You never know what you can do until you try

This past week was a milestone for me in training Cash. I managed to join two behavior chains into a one chain, that we will further extend to the Utility article exercise as we continue to work. Cash now brings me his metal food bowl, and holds it in his mouth as he tuck-sits into a nice Front position, and releases the bowl into my hand upon cue. Wow. 

This past year has been such an experience for me with Cash.  I had to find my own dog training to get what I wanted, and that has meant teaching myself how to teach him the way I wanted. It's been so much learning.  Cash would, without a doubt, be much further along in the hands of a more experienced trainer - or if I had used my familiar methods of luring - with him. But I've had this conviction that he is a dog who go further in the end if I would put a broad performance foundation on him using as much shaping as possible. And obviously to anyone who met him as a little puppy - I had to learn how to manage his drive and energy level and channel that into self-control, focus and good decision-making.  

I often remember Donna Doubler's words to me when I got ready to take the little fuzzball Cash home with me, "You're going to learn a lot together." Yep. That's what we're doing. I wouldn't trade Cash or this experience for all the tea in China. 

Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed, you might just BE overwhelmed....

Lately - well, let's be honest - most of the time, I feel like I'm lagging behind in my dog training. Susan Garrett would have her dogs speaking Mandarin Chinese by Cash's age! My teachers and local mentors would have their dogs all set to win their Working Trial Championships, Obedience Championships, and Agility Championships at Nationals this year right after try-outs for the World Team! LOL well, maybe not....

I spent this am showing the flag for our law firm at a boring video conference.  However, it was the perfect opportunity to sit there and think while looking interested in the TV screen. I began to take notes. Or well, I began to make notes about my dog training. I listed every game/exercise/event/behavior that we practice now. Holy cow. I had no idea we were working on so much stuff!! And I began to see how these pieces fit together to build the more complex behaviors. That's what my obedience instructor told me to do - sit down and figure out how the small pieces build up to the Utility title.

Aha. Not there yet, but much closer than I was this morning.

The Zen of it all

Owning dogs is really a lot of everyday Zen. There's plenty of existential angst for even Soren Kierkegarrd. Some days it's like a Fellini film, other days more like Bergmann, and always with a huge dose of Disney. Our rescue dog Hershey is much simpler to own. She's an easy keeper - and a really sweet girl. But the Aussies. Oh my. They are anything but easy keepers. So it's Dr Doolittle meets a philosopher with a lot of religion thrown in because my gosh, their lifespans are just too dang short and getting all spiritual is the only way you can bear it.

Cash had some kind of ruptured abscess last week, which I found apparently right after it ruptured. A nice round hole in his skin on his side. Soooo it was off to the vet. This didn't look like something I wanted to watch and observe. It looked like the Red Carpet Entrance for some nasty germs to raise havoc with Mr. Cash, beating him at his own game.  The vet agreed. Diagnosis is a 'ruptured inflammatory process' - most likely, I think, a wasp sting gone bad. This had to be one of my cheapest vet visits ever, and the wound got a nice cleaning and we came home with oral antibiotics. The meds are making Mr Cash feel a little draggy. Not sleepy, just draggy. So poor guy is wandering around, bringing his toys into a pile by my chair but not really interested in playing with them with me. A few mechanical tugs, a chase to retrieve a thrown toy and he's ready to lay down and just stare at me, or crawl up into my lap for 30 min of snuggling - totally unlike Mr. Cash.

And it's one more drag on the whole effort to do some training.....But the wound is healing, he's living in an Elizabethan Collar 24/7, and we'll all be glad when the 10 days of meds are over and he gets back to being a 20 month old Australian Shepherd. Remind me I said that.

The older dogs seem to be grabbing the chance to enjoy a little slower pace around the house. Rowdy makes sure that Cash knows Rowdy's still got it, but Rowdy is not making a whole LOT of effort to tease Cash when Cash slows down the playing.  Hershey seems pretty oblivious to Cash's big collar and draggy feelings.  As long as there doesn't appear to be any chance of Hershey being re-homed - her only worry - then she's a happy camper.

Gone but not forgotten - this blog

I'd forgotten about this blog. It hasn't been coming up lately on my dashboard....well, aha! I'm back.

What a great place to keep friends of my furry buddies updated on our activities and happenings!

I'll have to grab  my camera a bit more often - should have taken it with Cash and me to the PetCo last night. Cash just loved the ferretts!! well - more in due course. Get ready to hear a LOT about the great time I'm having learning from Susan Garrett.

Autumn approaching

Summer has passed by quickly. None of us enjoys the heat, humidity and extra-high UV exposure - so we all endure stoically. Hence - there is little to post. My main activities have been in knitting - I love to join in with the Summer of Socks internet event and spend my summer obsessing about sock knitting while I wait for the season to pass.

Hershey is settling in. All three dogs seem to be thriving on their latest diets. Rowdy continues to be troubled by itchy (back) feet although we seem to be gradually beating back this latest evidence of an overactive immune response. Joint health continues to be a fragile state for Rowdy. Over the summer, we decided, at the urging of my obedience teacher, to simply focus on Rally this next year. She urged me to consider teaching Rally, and.....I think I might give it a try. More about this later, as we enter a more dog-active time of the year.

AKC Responsible Dog Obedience Day is coming up!! Look for more on this here.

Rowdy

Just in case you haven't seen Rowdy in a little while. We all prefer winter to summer at my house, so maybe the picture will cool you down a bit.