I may go crazy yet ...
So now instead of two dogs whining incessantly, I have three. I brought IzzyBee home from the vet this afternoon.
Since then, she's mostly been wandering around the house whining. I think it's a combination of nerves and the fact that she's probably in pain; she was semi-spayed (see below for details on that) and the vet pulled one of her teeth that was broken. She still seems to be able to eat fine, but I get the impression her mouth hurts her.
She didn't really get spayed because she was already spayed. Too bad they didn't figure it out until they'd already put her under and cut her open. And then charged me full price for a spaying even though all they did was open her up and then sew her back together.
She's not supposed to climb stairs until she heals, but it doesn't seem to be possible to keep her from doing it. It's a 2-story house and I can't figure out a good way to block off the stairs where she can't get to them. Besides, not being able to get to me makes her anxiety exponentially worse, and I spend most of my time upstairs, where the computer and my art desk are. When she can lay down in sight and smell of me, she seems to calm down a little bit.
Aside from the pacing and whining (which hopefully will calm down once she gets used to her new home), she seems to be a remarkably well-behaved dog. Although she seems to have a lot of energy, she's not at all prone to jumping up on people -- she just sits politely to be petted. She's patient with the puppies; the only time she growled at them was when they stuck their heads in her food dish while she was eating -- understandable, I'd say, and she didn't try to bite them. I can pet her head while she's eating and she doesn't even twitch. I tried that as well as some other experiments (making a loud noise; tapping her rear end when she's not expecting it; picking up and handling her paws). Making some allowance for the fact that to her, I'm a total stranger, she's incredibly calm about being fondled, handled and poked at. She behaves like a dog that's been handled a lot. I brushed her and she stood absolutely still as a stone, spreading her legs and raising her head so I could get to her underside (avoiding the sore parts). Definitely used to being brushed.
She's good on a leash and she has an amazing homing ability -- I walked her down to the road, about half a mile away, and when I turned around, she headed straight back with no help at all from me, including retracing the detours that we'd taken. She didn't have her nose to the ground and I guess she was either following our trail in the air, or just retracing our steps from memory.
I still can't figure out what kind of dog she is. My best guess is some kind of setter or spaniel mix. I think she might be one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen -- she's a gorgeous red-gold and gray brindle, with long feathers on her legs and tail, and carries herself like a purebred show dog. The vet thought she was about 6 years old.
She's now laid down by my chair and settled down a bit. I'd been holding off on giving her a good meal until she'd eaten a little bit of food and kept it down (in case she got sick from the anesthesia) and now she's been fed, which seems to have helped calm her down a lot.
Since then, she's mostly been wandering around the house whining. I think it's a combination of nerves and the fact that she's probably in pain; she was semi-spayed (see below for details on that) and the vet pulled one of her teeth that was broken. She still seems to be able to eat fine, but I get the impression her mouth hurts her.
She didn't really get spayed because she was already spayed. Too bad they didn't figure it out until they'd already put her under and cut her open. And then charged me full price for a spaying even though all they did was open her up and then sew her back together.
She's not supposed to climb stairs until she heals, but it doesn't seem to be possible to keep her from doing it. It's a 2-story house and I can't figure out a good way to block off the stairs where she can't get to them. Besides, not being able to get to me makes her anxiety exponentially worse, and I spend most of my time upstairs, where the computer and my art desk are. When she can lay down in sight and smell of me, she seems to calm down a little bit.
Aside from the pacing and whining (which hopefully will calm down once she gets used to her new home), she seems to be a remarkably well-behaved dog. Although she seems to have a lot of energy, she's not at all prone to jumping up on people -- she just sits politely to be petted. She's patient with the puppies; the only time she growled at them was when they stuck their heads in her food dish while she was eating -- understandable, I'd say, and she didn't try to bite them. I can pet her head while she's eating and she doesn't even twitch. I tried that as well as some other experiments (making a loud noise; tapping her rear end when she's not expecting it; picking up and handling her paws). Making some allowance for the fact that to her, I'm a total stranger, she's incredibly calm about being fondled, handled and poked at. She behaves like a dog that's been handled a lot. I brushed her and she stood absolutely still as a stone, spreading her legs and raising her head so I could get to her underside (avoiding the sore parts). Definitely used to being brushed.
She's good on a leash and she has an amazing homing ability -- I walked her down to the road, about half a mile away, and when I turned around, she headed straight back with no help at all from me, including retracing the detours that we'd taken. She didn't have her nose to the ground and I guess she was either following our trail in the air, or just retracing our steps from memory.
I still can't figure out what kind of dog she is. My best guess is some kind of setter or spaniel mix. I think she might be one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen -- she's a gorgeous red-gold and gray brindle, with long feathers on her legs and tail, and carries herself like a purebred show dog. The vet thought she was about 6 years old.
She's now laid down by my chair and settled down a bit. I'd been holding off on giving her a good meal until she'd eaten a little bit of food and kept it down (in case she got sick from the anesthesia) and now she's been fed, which seems to have helped calm her down a lot.