Good wishes/Warm Energy

[HillWilliam]

Today my partner's aide-dog Dora is getting spayed at seven years. The two of them have never been apart and we're not sure what the trauma will do to her, but we do want to make sure that she lives long and healthy. The bond between a seizure-alert dog and her human partner is a strange and delicate thing: you can't train the behavior. A dog will only volunteer the behavior from love and the human has to be savvy enough to catch it. Dora began to alert for HillbillyBob's seizures when she was only six months old and thanks to her, he's only had two grands in the last six years instead of the once every six weeks or so he suffered before.

She should be coming out of surgery any minute now and he's going to be at her side when she wakes up. It took a bit of wrangling, arguing, and negotiating with the vet to arrange that, but finally she relented when she understood the special situation and bond that Dora and HillbillyBob have.

If you have a minute, send a thought their way. HillbillyBob might appreciate a PM. Even though spaying is a pretty routine thing, we promised Dora we'd never hurt her or allow anyone else to hurt her. She's never known pain in her life and so we're concerned for her feelings and for their bond. Dora is his freedom to move about in the world, and that makes her doubly special, even more because she's "our first furkid".

Thanks, DU family.

[lukasahero]

1. Lots of good thoughts and healing energy coming your way

Dora is lucky to be able to wake up with HillbillyBob waiting there for her. :hug:

[HillWilliam]

2. Thanks! I just heard from him a little while ago

They got home and he's with her on the slouch-couch where there's a nice tempur cushion. She squeaked on the way home (I can only imagine the pain of a hysterectomy and ovarectomy, then having to be moved almost immediately), but he's got plenty of pain meds. The other two dogs are curious and concerned. It's a chore for him to keep them all quiet right now. I'll be leaving work shortly to go look after all of them.

It was hard for me not to be there, but we're so far out in the country that we had to make an appointment with a mobile vet. There was only so much room and, well, they are service partners, even though Dora's my "daughter" too.

HBB will appreciate the warm wishes. I'll let him know to check the thread later.

[emilyg]

10. Glad they are home. Hugs to all.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. Best wishes for a smooth and quick recovery! n/t

[livetohike]

4. Positive thoughts coming to the Hill family house

and a big "Arf!" from Cindy and Murphy, too. Dora will be fine, just a little whining and crying while she recovers from the anesthesia, but in a couple of days you all will have to work to keep her from running around :-).

[HillWilliam]

5. Greatly appreciated

Indeed, she's still crying a bit and I don't blame her. She's being difficult about meds and HBB can't get them in her. Neither of them remembered that I'm Nurse Ratchett, having nursed HBB through two cancer operations and a heart attack and our elderdog through cancer until she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Dora's cattledog jaws can go right through a beefbone, but somehow I'm able to charm her to open them enough to get her meds in.

If I ever had any questions about Ashley-Marie's alert behaviors, though, I'm getting solid proofs tonight (sigh). Every time Dora moans a bit, I get a solid report no matter where I am in the house. I'm rewarding Ashley's reports even though she's about to drive me spare, because you never know when Dora might be down again. Real, honest-to-goodness alert partners are rarer than hen's teeth. It would be a stroke of incredible luck for Dora to have passed on the knack.

You can't train alert behaviors -- you can only hope the dogs exhibit them, that you catch them, and that you and the dog work out appropriate "what to alert for" and your response. With luck, Ashley might cotton onto how to alert for HillbillyBob's impending seizures among other "go-tell" behaviors.

This stressful time might have a silver lining.

The good energy is very much appreciated. Between nursing Dora, taking up her "watcher" chores, rewarding Ashley's alerts and keeping all the dogs' anxiety levels in check, yeah, I'm a little frazzled myself :)

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. Try some cheese or peanut butter

Use the cheap generic Kraft American cheese slices that are individually wrapped. Dogs like 'em both and they are sticky enough to adhere to and hide a pill. I have been able to pill a dog twice a day for months now using this method. I think he has yet to figure out that there's a pill in there.

Good thoughts to you and Dora and HBB.

[HillWilliam]

9. Oh, believe me, I know every -- and I mean every

trick in the book. Dora is a slick'un. She can suck the cheese or peanut butter cleeeean off a pill and spit it out if I don't watch her like a hawk. Nope, I have to be Nurse Ratchett with that one; part charm and part take-no-shit.

She's still crying a little today. Ashley-Marie kept alerting me all night; I had taken her and Callie in the bedroom with me so Rob and Dora could have the slouchcouch together in peace. Every time Dora whimpered, Ashley insisted that I awaken and attend "mama". While the alert behaviors are excellent and usually well-received, I'm afraid she's going to exhaust herself (alert dogs can do that).

We're doing what we can for Dora's pain. Rob got her to drink and to eat a little rice (her very favorite treat). Forgiveness may follow.

We're agreed we'll never put another dog through an elective procedure again. I feel completely mislead as to the amount of pain Dora would suffer and the degree of effectiveness of the pain management. The longer this goes on, the clearer it becomes that it has not been worth it. I deeply, deeply regret it.

[livetohike]

12. How is Dora doing today?

I hope everything is much better. My dogs were neutered/spayed at 8 weeks old. Way too young for the female (Cindy), but they were pound puppies and we weren't permitted to take them home until they were fixed. I know it took them a good two days to shake off the effects of the anesthesia.

[HillWilliam]

13. She's FINALLY quit crying and we've managed to

coax her to eat some more with her favorite treats of rice and salmon. Those are good for her in any case and will get her guts started up again. We've long had a step-stool by the bed and taught her to use that to get up and down so we wouldn't have to retrain her when she gets old. This morning I awoke early and she was sharing my pillow and was snuggled next to me for comfort. (All her life, since I gave her most of her training and guidance, she has come to me for comfort and direction when she can't solve problems on her own.)

She's half cattledog and not given to snuggles. She really has to need comforting to come for it. Otherwise, she's a pretty independent girl, always has been; one of the reasons I admire her so. What has made her so valuable as an assistance partner is her unusual ability to generalize and made decisions on her own.

She seems to be getting over the worst of the pain, even though she's really ginger. I guess if I had a good chunk of innards taken out, I'd be sore as hell, too. We have no idea how this trauma and her resentment will affect her alerting behaviors -- the second-biggest reason we put off spaying her for so long. She seems most resentful toward Rob, though her resentment is taken out in shunning. That's the worst thing a service partner can do. We're trying to coax her back, but it may be a long row to hoe -- cattledogs have notoriously long memories. Dora has never forgotten a thing in her life. I'm hoping this is just a pout and her lifelong loyalties will be stronger.

You just don't know. The dynamics are like any friendship where a perceived betrayal occurs. I'm in totally new territory here, walking on some eggs. Rob is a mess right now; he would rather step in front of a speeding bus than harm one hair of hers. To have her turn her back on him has put him at sixes and sevens; I find myself suddenly trying to salvage some messes. We believed and trusted our vet and the advice turns out not to have been so good after all.

As badly as she has taken it, as much pain as we seem to have caused, I still regret the decision, even though we believed we were doing the right thing and believed the vet when she said she would manage the pain better than it turned out. It's not unusual for us to miss meals so our dogs can have the very best; it's not unusual for me to miss medical care so Dora can have hers first. We really count on her and love her so. I hope this turns out better than I dread right now.

Another week or so will tell.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

6. I wish I could have done that

I felt terrible leaving my dog to be spayed, and picking her up much later.

It would have been nice to be around when she woke up or at least soon afterwards.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. Much love and white light and positive energy to HillbillyBob and Dora.

I know theirs is a very special relationship and Dora will be so happy to open her eyes and see Bob there....
Her tail will be wagging immediately.

How lucky Dora and Bob were to have found each other.

[XemaSab]

11. Aww!

Best wishes to Dora and HillbillyBob! :pals:

[HillWilliam]

14. Update -- She seems to be coming around finally

I had a wedding rehearsal that kept me out until very late last night, but when I got home, Her Majesty deigned to greet me at the door! She's sleeping in this morning, but her mood seems improved. She did get up to go potty, gave us brief snuggles, and went back to bed to finish healing up. That seems positive; not the baleful, accusing eyes we've been getting.

Dora has always been a sensitive creature, with her heart on her sleeve. That's what has made her such a good aide partner, always able and ready to tell HillbillyBob about impending seizures well before anyone else could tell the signs. That talent is rare enough -- the willingness to communicate is even rarer. We'd hate to lose that trust. She's not just a good dog -- she's a Good being. The next few days will tell if she is willing to go back on the job.

The up-side is that the next-younger one, Ashley-Marie, seems to have stepped into the role of "watcher". Ashley-Marie somehow has learned the "watcher" talent from Dora, like Dora learned the trick of "watching" and communicating from my late Sadie. I don't know how in the world they pass learning along, but they do. Ashley isn't calm enough to go into stores and businesses like Dora can -- she's a good, loving, friendly, happy girl, who loves everyone she meets. She just can't help barking, which makes her unacceptable in a lot of business situations where dignity is called for. (Not every dog can make the service-dog cut.) Losing Dora as a full service dog would be a huge blow to Rob's mobility -- you see the reason for my freaking out over Dora's bad time.

But I really, really appreciate the hand-holding, the good energy, and the warm wishes. Right now, they seem to be working. We'll take each moment as it comes. As much as we don't know what we'd do without Do', I don't know what we'd do without our DU buddies. Thank you all so much for your good vibes.

[livetohike]

15. Glad that little cutie has bounced back!!

Once the stitches are gone, she will be back to normal :-).

[AZBlue]

16. I'm so glad she's doing better - keep us posted when you can!

Still sending her good, healing vibes and wishes!!
:hug:

[HillWilliam]

17. Last Update

Thanks to everyone for the good vibes and thanks to the secret donor for the Valentine Heart for Miss Dora. She's finally completely out of pain and getting back to her sweet self again. She hasn't been actively alerting, but Dora's always had a lonnnnng ear in the house for anything that wasn't right. Ashley-Marie stepped easily into the role of active guarding (to our surprise and delight) and has kept up the role while Dora's getting her act back together. I think Dora will pick her job back up in time. Since puppyhood, she's always been "Dora do it!" by herself. Cattledogs are uncanny smart and independent.

It goes to show you never know what hidden blessings there might be in adversity, though Ashley did kind-of drive us crazy the first few nights. Every time Dora cried, Ashley cried. When they cried, of course we jumped up and no one slept at all. The whole household got weird... well except for Callie, the youngest. Being a maremma, you can't tell what her emotions are like on the inside. They're vest-pocket players, that breed. She did position herself close to Dora, but with her back to her, like, "yeah I hear ya and I'm looking out for you because I love you, but I really don't care if your @$$ rots off". That's a maremma for you. You know if it came down to it, Callie would defend Dora with her life. This family is very closely bonded.

Thanks again for the support and thanks for the DU Valentine Heart. I think we can let this thread go finally.

[Kookaburra]

18. So Maremmas are basically cats?

Glad to hear Dora is feeling better.

[HillWilliam]

19. (Smile) Y'know? In attitude, a lot like cats

they bond with their "flock" (sheep or family) very strongly, but they want to be petted only when they want petted. Otherwise, "hey, don't bug me, I'm busy over here". During the day, they mostly laze about, but they do have a long ear open to "threats" against their flock. If they perceive a threat, they're an awfully barky breed, but that's by design. They're a fascinating breed, strong-willed -- you either love them or you don't. I'm a big fan of the large white breeds (kuvasz, maremma, puli, akbash, Polish tatra sheepdog) and herding dogs in general. Herding dogs make excellent aide-dogs; they're bright, willing, love to work, bond easily, adapt to aide tasks, and they're always up for some new situation or adventure. The drawback is that a lot of breeds, and even individual dogs (like Ashley-Marie) are barky and never get over it, so some don't make the cut to public service.