Puppy Surgery

So on Friday River went under the knife. He was neutered and had his back dew claws removed.

He was very groggy when we picked him up that afternoon. He tried to jump into the back of the car (we tried to stop him but he is stubborn), and barely made it up. After that, he let D pick him up and carry him out of the car and up the stairs into the house.


Its Sunday now and he is starting to act like himself, although he seems depressed. Its probably because we haven't taken the cone off since we left the vet (like he would let us put it back on). He's not to please about it. normally the cone can come off 3-4 days after surgery, but because we got his dew claws removed he has to keep it on until the stitches come out... on Saturday. I'm not sure how he'll handle a whole week of wearing the cone. You can see from the picture how much he likes it right now.

Still it needed to be done. This way, when we go for hikes we don't have to worry about whether or not his dew claws will get caught and hurt him. And we have no intentions of having little Rivers running around. He is a great dog, but I don't think I could handle more than one right now.


PS: as side note, I have a funny story to tell. River likes to curl up under neath D's bed side table to sleep at night. Not a small feet for a medium sized dog. We didn't realize it, but as he got in he would push his body up against the wall to get leverage. The wall with the electrical 6-port outlet. Friday and Saturday mornings we woke up to find the power had gone out (our clocks were reset) but it seemed like only in our bedroom. Today we found the 6-port outlet all but hanging off the wall. We have since moved our bed over a bit so the outlet is better protected from River's sleep habits.

Camping Weekend

So it was Rivers first camping trip with us.

We spent the weekend at my mom and step-dad's cabin at the lake. It was lots of fun. My sister with her two kids latched on to River and even though he would have preferred being anywhere else, he let them pet poke and bug him until they got bored.

He really opened up this weekend. We slept in a tent with River at the foot of our sleeping bags. The first night he was fine at the end of our bed, except for when he threw-up (we think it was one of the bones we gave him as a treat, so we've taken it away and he's fine). The second and third night he slept above our heads curled up between the tent wall and our pillows, which is quite a feat for a dog that is well over 50 lbs.

River also did really well off leash. The cabin lot isn't fenced and it backs onto a field, so we had lot of fund chasing River around. He's learning him name and is starting to come when he is called. Still, it took until Monday before we really trusted him to just hang out with us around the cabin and we still kept him on a leash when we went on walks.

He also met my mom's dog Gizmo. A little 5-7 lbs Yorkie, with "little man syndrome" (meaning he thinks he is king of the world). They got along fine when Gizmo wasn't trying to lick River's face. River has to be the most patient of souls because I was getting annoyed before River growled a warning to Gizmo. Gizmo would back off for a while then try again later. I'm not sure if it was a dominance thing or what. In the end the most River did was bark at Gizmo and stared him down so Gizmo would leave... after all River was comfortable hanging out in the sun on the deck beside his dad, he wasn't about to leave because Gizmo was being annoying.

River is a great dog and I think it was a great weekend for him. He got so much attention and loving he just seems happier, and has more energy.

For the past two morning, getting back into the routine of normal life, River has been very good. I think he is starting to accept our routine and find his place in it. He didn't even howl this morning when D left. He whined a little and then went back to bed. I might be able to turn off my 5am alarm (which goes off right before D leaves for work so that I am awake for River's howling).

All in all, a great weekend.