Poor, poor Lorraine
Well, today was a fun day for Lorraine, at least in the beginning. We missed our morning walk, but we got in the midday walk, and she was so excited. She stood up on her hind legs to watch leaves blowing in the sky, whined to get at various birds, smelled every single bush she could reach, and kept a watchful eye out for her arch-nemesis, THE SQUIRREL.
Then when I came home from work, she got fed, she ran around outside like a mad thing, and then she got to go for a ride IN THE CAR! WHOOOOO!
Which brought her to the vet.
Luckily for me, she does not associate the vet with badness yet. And she was very good (for her) at the vet; there was hardly any barking at other dogs, and when she got close enough to introduce herself (here! SMELL MY ASS!), she didn't jump at the other dog or anything.
Then we saw the vet, and she told us that Lorraine needed to wear the cone again. BAROOO! I feel like a bad fur-mom-- apparently Lorraine had chewed off some of the skin at her incision site to try and relieve the itchies. I only ever saw her lick at the area, and I tried to distract her whenever I noticed her doing it. Still, ambug666 and I were like, should we put the cone back on? Does the incision site look like it's getting worse? What should we do?
Since Lorraine was going in for vaccinations anyway, I just figured I'd ask the vet then.
That was the other unhappiness. The vaccinations.
Lorraine got a total of four separate shots-- two for boosters (she had the initial vaccines 3 weeks before), and two brand new vaccines. She took them all like a trooper. She was a very good girl through the examination (which involved a rectal thermometer) and the shots, and got treats from me and then begged for a "cookie" from the vet. Then we left to talk to the Petsmart folks about training classes, and she was mostly good for that. She was very nice to people, but there was a huge black dog (not sure of the breed, heavy-boned, with a head like a hound) that just had to be barked and barked and barked at. But even when she met him "officially" outside, she was a good girl and didn't do any lunging after the introduction. In fact, she and TJ (the black dog) decided to play "tangle the leashes and vex our people".
After her first experience with shots, she was sort of glassy-eyed and subdued afterwards. Today, she is just very tired and out of it. I have never seen her this quiet except for the evening after her surgery.
She was wagging her tail, but was not frantic to get out of the crate when we came home-- atypical. She did not run around in happiness like a mad thing when I took her outside-- atypical. She was happy to munch on some treats, but did not approach them with the exuberance that she normally gives to food items. She came upstairs with me, but she took the steps one at a time, sometimes pausing a little bit before taking the next step. And when we went into the bedroom, she just looked at the bed, and then at me, as if to say "please please can you lift me up? I'm so tired and sore I just can't!"
She is watching me right now as I type, being quiet and still. Our vet said this would happen, and that she might also feel sore for a couple of days (she got one shot in her left front flank, one shot in her right front flank, and then two shots in her rear flank-- I don't know if they were on the same side or opposite sides).
She's a good girl, though. And people at the pet store kept telling me what a cutie she is. That's the most common comment that I get when people talk to me about Lorraine-- that she is just the cutest dog they have seen. That, and they ask what breed she is. :-)
Then when I came home from work, she got fed, she ran around outside like a mad thing, and then she got to go for a ride IN THE CAR! WHOOOOO!
Which brought her to the vet.
Luckily for me, she does not associate the vet with badness yet. And she was very good (for her) at the vet; there was hardly any barking at other dogs, and when she got close enough to introduce herself (here! SMELL MY ASS!), she didn't jump at the other dog or anything.
Then we saw the vet, and she told us that Lorraine needed to wear the cone again. BAROOO! I feel like a bad fur-mom-- apparently Lorraine had chewed off some of the skin at her incision site to try and relieve the itchies. I only ever saw her lick at the area, and I tried to distract her whenever I noticed her doing it. Still, ambug666 and I were like, should we put the cone back on? Does the incision site look like it's getting worse? What should we do?
Since Lorraine was going in for vaccinations anyway, I just figured I'd ask the vet then.
That was the other unhappiness. The vaccinations.
Lorraine got a total of four separate shots-- two for boosters (she had the initial vaccines 3 weeks before), and two brand new vaccines. She took them all like a trooper. She was a very good girl through the examination (which involved a rectal thermometer) and the shots, and got treats from me and then begged for a "cookie" from the vet. Then we left to talk to the Petsmart folks about training classes, and she was mostly good for that. She was very nice to people, but there was a huge black dog (not sure of the breed, heavy-boned, with a head like a hound) that just had to be barked and barked and barked at. But even when she met him "officially" outside, she was a good girl and didn't do any lunging after the introduction. In fact, she and TJ (the black dog) decided to play "tangle the leashes and vex our people".
After her first experience with shots, she was sort of glassy-eyed and subdued afterwards. Today, she is just very tired and out of it. I have never seen her this quiet except for the evening after her surgery.
She was wagging her tail, but was not frantic to get out of the crate when we came home-- atypical. She did not run around in happiness like a mad thing when I took her outside-- atypical. She was happy to munch on some treats, but did not approach them with the exuberance that she normally gives to food items. She came upstairs with me, but she took the steps one at a time, sometimes pausing a little bit before taking the next step. And when we went into the bedroom, she just looked at the bed, and then at me, as if to say "please please can you lift me up? I'm so tired and sore I just can't!"
She is watching me right now as I type, being quiet and still. Our vet said this would happen, and that she might also feel sore for a couple of days (she got one shot in her left front flank, one shot in her right front flank, and then two shots in her rear flank-- I don't know if they were on the same side or opposite sides).
She's a good girl, though. And people at the pet store kept telling me what a cutie she is. That's the most common comment that I get when people talk to me about Lorraine-- that she is just the cutest dog they have seen. That, and they ask what breed she is. :-)