DOG is my copilot

Lucy and Charlie LOVE going in the car.  Lucy can jump effortlessly into the hatchback when I open it.  Charlie aspires to, but always comes up just a little short and needs a boost.  She's working on it.

Before and After - Great Progress

I was staring at Charlie and Lucy today, thinking about how far they've come since July.  It's fairly amazing what a little love and TLC can do.

Here are a couple of photos to show you what I mean.

Before (Charlie)...YIKES!

Now (Charlie).....AWWW.

It's hard to capture, but Charlie's coat is really looking great these days - it is a thick, jet-black.  Her wrinkly Shar Pei side is really coming through.

Before (Lucy)...RAGGED

Lucy Now...REGAL

Halloween - Grease Is The Word

Given that Lucy is street-smart and, well, got 'knocked up' early, and Charlie is a wide-eyed, naive optimist, I thought it fitting to dress them as Rizzo and Sandy.
Lucy did not love the idea of wearing a costume.  She seemed a little humiliated by it all.  Charlie, on the other hand, wore it like she belonged in it.

Lucy as "Rizzo"

Charlie as "Sandy"

Scrub a Dub Dub

I wish I could communicate HOW BADLY the dogs stank when I found them in the street.   They smelled like a commune of homeless men - some horrific concoction of urine, grime, and body odor.  It actually took several weeks of baths for the smell to subside and finally disappear.

So needless to say, we bathe a lot.

Because their skin was so bad from the mange, I use a soothing shampoo with Chlorhexidine in it (Duoxo or Dr. Foster and Smith, both of which are medicated and smell great).

For their ears (which were caked solid with grime when I found them) I use the Virbac Epi-Otic solution each time I bathe them.  

On Tuesdays each week, we walk down the street to the Self Wash area at Bubbles Pet Spa.  The Self Wash area is an enclosed stall, so I can bring both dogs;  one just lays down and watches while the other gets scrubbed up.   They also get a kick out of watching the little fluffy dogs get groomed there.  They never bark at them or make a fuss - I'm very happy that the bathing routine is not a stressful outing.

They love getting a bath, are very good girls for the process, and appreciate the life of a clean, fresh-smelling dog.

 

Lucy's Spay

When I adopted Lucy and Charlie, the adoption fee covered spaying for both dogs.  Shelters will typically not release a dog that has not be spayed or neutered.  But they didn't do the surgeries because The Girls were not healthy enough, and they told me I needed to bring them back to the shelter at a later date to complete the process (or have them spayed at my local vet at an extra cost).  

After the whole experience (and cost) of getting them healthy again, I was not quite prepared to take them back to the shelter environment, especially for a surgery.  Eww.  I just had a bad feeling about it, even though I had already essentially paid for it and it would have been the cheapest way to go.  

Don't tell my husband. 

So I made Lucy's spay appointment with Dr. Quinn at Bay Animal Hospital here in Manhattan Beach.  The Girls have been under Dr. Quinn's care since their adoption, so I was happy to be going there - the docs and staff love on The Girls when they are there, so I knew she'd be in good hands.  

(I realize I sound like an over-protective nutcase right now.  It's a spay, not open heart surgery, I know.  But still.)

Lucy's surgery was on October 26, 2012.

For whatever reason I thought the spay process was a 'snip snip and you're done' kind of thing.  I had no idea that is a full hysterectomy with a sizable incision and 10+ day recovery.  Shame on me for not doing my homework.  So I brought her home and we started the drug and rest regimen.  

As they say, it's not a party 'til someone gets The Cone.  

Speaking of cone, it breaks my heart every time I have to put it on her.  But even though she hates it, she just puts her head down and lets me do it.

Charlie was not at all down with this whole "mom needs her rest" routine.  As soon as Lucy was awake the next day, Charlie went in to sit on her head and bite her ears.  And when I kept Lucy crated and put Charlie outside, Charlie would just sit and howl pathetically because he knew mom was still inside and he wanted her company.  So after a few days I let them have a couple (ok maybe a few) hours together in the afternoons to play together.  I inspected Lucy's incision every evening, and I started to notice some swelling in the area, especially on one side, and took her back to Bay Animal Hospital, where she was seen by Dr. Steen.  He said that Lucy's overactivity caused a Seroma, which is a fluid pocket around the incision area.  So she is now on Cephelexin to prevent infection, and I am doing warm compresses to encourage the body to reabsorb the fluid.   I'm feeling guilty about the Seroma.  Rest means REST.   I wish Charlie understood.  

I am in love with Lucy because she is such a survivor, a strong mother, yet has a gentle heart.  Per her usual, she has been a total trooper.    

status 11/8/12

The Heat Is On (Charlie)

I noticed Charlie started to get her boobies.

Then I noticed a little swelling in her, um, yea down there.

Then the spotting came, and I realized that this is what "in season" looks like (apparently the PC way to say it).  So I went outside to see exactly how tall the fence is around our house.

Then I went upstairs to get a diaper from my son's room.

Then I started googling, because I don't know anything about what happens when a dog is in heat.

Apparently it lasts 2-4 weeks (varies greatly dog to dog) and the level of bleeding is also quite varied.  We had minor blood spots on her bedding, and a little on the patio outside, but it was certainly nothing like a human period (as i had feared), though google warned me that some dogs personalities "change" during this time.  I can sympathize.  Charlie's didn't.  Her "heat demeanor" was as goofy as her out-of-season one.

As a novice I can't say exactly what day it started and ended, but she was in heat approximately for the month of October 2012.

I was examining Lucy rather inappropriately the whole time to see if there is a syncing that happens with female dogs too.  She didn't mind, she just rolls her eyes at me, looks skyward, and tolerates me.

It is apparently much more complicated to have a dog spayed while in heat, so I delayed her surgery appointment.  I will let you know when it's complete!