Birdie at 6 months

the4thmonkey

Here is Birdie with her friend Bella, my neighbor’s puppy. They play wild and crazy, but every now and then they stop and love on each other.  (Birdie is afraid of the step ladder and TV tray; they are being used to remind her stay off the sofa.)

She is doing so great with her training. A prong collar solved the problem of her pulling on the leash the very first time I used it. I also use it to control her initial excitement when company arrives. Being disabled, I’m grateful for the dog park and all her doggie friends as I cannot walk enough to keep her exercised. And Birdie is a dog park hit! She will rough it up with bigger dogs or play gently with a tiny Chihuahua. At first we looked for dogs to play with; now calls and texts are often for Birdie, to see if she can go out and play.

Birdie had her spay surgery on September 3. She also had a growth at the base of her ear removed and was micro-chipped while under anesthesia. By the next day (photo of her chewing on stick) she acted as though nothing had happened and was back to her usual self. I am supposed to be keeping her from running and jumping. That isn’t exactly happening, although she does wear out pretty quickly and sleeps more than usual. We are going for short walks to try and keep her quiet, but I’ve had to settle for the fact that her incisions look great and she isn’t licking or scratching them.

I know how a lot of you feel about spaying and neutering and my reasons may seem selfish. I need her to be able to play with other dogs every day for the bulk of her exercise. Day care will not accept dogs older than 6 months that haven’t been “fixed”. Birdie loves to go to day care and I depend upon it when I have appointments and such.  So the deed is done and we are looking forward to when she can get back to playing and her usual routine.

philsergeant

Please try( I know it's tuff) to keep her inactive after her spaying.... Shit happens when you least need it and a quick pull can lead to an internal tear. Then, please go down to the day care and spay and neuter all the brainless liberals that work there.. That's a disgusting rule, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. The "tearing the whole world to pieces " photo is priceless, good job they love each other!

the4thmonkey

I need some doggie downers!  She was sent home with Rimadyl, but she is pretty much operating at one her two speeds: a) asleep  or  b) bowling ball on wheels.

I am doing my best to limit her activity. I'm keeping her in one room so she can't get much speed going, and I take her out in the back yard on a leash. 

philsergeant

I know... I have being speaking with breeders like Steve to see if they can whelp some 3 speed Bullies... But they are not very modernized, two speeds is all they can come up with.

the4thmonkey

Haha, that would be be interesting. But it's hard to improve on perfection. 

Quinnofhearts

Sounds like Birdie is doing great! Love seeing the pictures of her and her friend. Once she is 100% healed you should try and get some celeb shots of her out at the dog park. Dog parks were (and still are, to some degree) a huge asset to us when Quinn was growing up. Great energy burner -- and therefore a great way for me to earn some peace.

Don't worry about opinions of others about spaying Birdie. No one is ever going to agree on what's right. Many daycares have rules about unaltered dogs - this daycare is not out of the ordinary. Just do what is right by you and Birdie and you'll be just fine.

the4thmonkey

Thank you!  I hope this is the worst thing that ever happens to wittle Birdie. We went back to the vet today to get stitches removed. Her incisions look great and her ear is going to look just fine once her hair grows back. So she has been cleared for takeoff and can get back to playing.  I thought Birdie might be afraid of the vet now. But she was, as usual, thrilled to be there and sucked up attention from everyone.

Her buddy Bella lives a couple houses away from us. They cannot see each other, but they have been discussing something -- probably how awful their separation has been. I imagine the whole neighborhood will be glad when they get back to talking face to face.