A late spring evening

As I sit here, typing this, Penny is lying at my feet, breathing heavy on Rick's fir floors. She is tuckered out. We spent the day at Ideal, me getting trained on ringing the cash register, while she lay panting on her circle bed.

After we left Ideal, we went over to Rick's for salmon and a salad. But first, I thought I'd read a bit of the War of Art in Rick's patio, called the Duwamish Room. It's a cement brick floor with an arbor of grape vines above, furnished with rustic furniture. In my mind's eye, I saw Penny lying at my feet like she does inside a house. So, knowing that Dr. Walker said that she couldn't hurt the plates in her leg, I thought I'd let her off leash.

She became a whirling dervish. Running, moving. jumping. She wouldn't listen to me. I just let her go. She never did sit beside me on the patio. But, she did slow down enough to roll on the grass, dig a few holes, and get a little dirty.

We'll see how she feels tomorrow.

Stairs again

I changed my appointment with Dr. Walker from next week to this week to see if any serious damage was done to Penny's knee. So, Penny and I went to see her today. She was charming as usual (and laughing at Penny's reaction to the coyotes that are marking the area around the house. Penny doesn't want to go up the bike trail anymore.)

The vet staff took x-rays and Dr. Walker came in to show them to me. We even got to compare the current x ray to the one that was taken when we found out about the hairline fracture to the original one. Penny's leg looks great in terms of the bone. Where the bone had been blocky from the surgery, it's now filled out. And the fracture hasn't shifted, which also could have happened with this sort of complication.

Penny is released to do nearly all activities -- slowly. Still no off leash time, but that hasn't mattered to me. But, we'll again increase the amount of time she's walking (we quit trying to get her to walk in the coyote infested area once she injured herself playing.) What this really means is that I get to sleep in my own bed again, not on cushions next to the X pen. Yippee! I can also have people over without having to explain about the dog, the X pen, the surgery.... The X pen does take up the majority of the walking space in the living room.

In three weeks, I am supposed to check in with Dr. Walker by phone and if all is well, she'll be released to be off leash for 5 minutes increasing to more. Since her come command is still one of her weakest, Rick suggested just having her on a longer leash while we once again work on her come.

Since Penny's been on a diet, she's become more food focused. Maybe that will help with the come command! I am sure I will have more to report on THAT!

More setbacks

Penny has been so calm and accommodating when I ask her to get in her pen or walk slow that you can forget that she's a young dog with a drive that causes her to forget about pain when she gets going.

I try to outsmart her when I see signs of her getting excited. But, I haven't been good at reminding others that she needs to be kept quiet and heal.

On Tuesday, I have class. It's a 10 week class from 6 - 9:45 pm. It's nice to have a structured event. For the past two weeks, I had feldenkrais method physical therapist at 3:30-5, which doesn't leave me time to pick up Penny. The first week, Rick picked up Penny. Two days ago, another friend offered to take her.

While I was at class, this friend went to another friend's house who has a dog that Penny adores. They let Penny run free with this dog, not for five minutes, not for 10 minutes, but for about an hour. When I heard, I was apprehensive, but said we'd see what happened in the morning. Penny seemed all right, but the leg grew more wobbly as the day went on. When I saw the leg, I was sickened. Penny doesn't act comfortable on it.

All of this time, all of this money, potentially wasted. I cried in the car. Penny cried the next night. I gave her pain killers. She got diarrhea. I don't know whether it was the painkillers, the nontypical food, or just being out of her routine that caused her tummy to flare up again.

I blame myself. I am ultimately responsible for her. This friend knows about Penny's surgery and has been invaluable in her help in Penny's recovery. She's not stupid -- she just made a spur of the moment decision, which was bad. She was not thinking, which we all do once in a while. And, Penny did enjoy herself. But, I know the consequences. Penny doesn't tie the pain and the jumping around together. So she is suffering.

Once again, she is fasting. I will feed her turkey, rice, spinach, and cottage cheese tomorrow if she doesn't have any more diarrhea. She's hungry and wanting to eat everything.

I will take her to the doc if her diarrhea continues past tomorrow. I will make an appointment with the surgeon if her leg doesn't look better by Monday.

On a positive note, another friend sent a check toward Penny's surgery. I am blessed by people's generosity.