Snow Dogs!

The view from my desk

This is a common sight for me during the day, particularly between 3 and 5pm, as the dinner hour approaches. Caramelly brown eyes and a soft muzzle, ready to endure as much back-scratching as I'm willing to administer, leaning into it for maximum effect.

Sofi is a joyful, hoppy presence who chooses solitude with less and less frequency. I worry about her mountain goat antics in the back yard, doing superdog leaps off tall rocks and screeching around corners on two wheels, but she has not hurt herself and I don't ever see her limping. Her cornering is much more effective on the left side than the right, and she does fall occasionally, but for the most part her leg doesn't slow her down a bit.

We've moved her bed into the bedroom next to Tucker's and she has adopted this as her new spot. The two of them can be found there each night, snoring and making dog-dream noises (and manufacturing gag-inducing odors) alongside each other. She is learning to play more gently and is getting more playtime with the kids, now that she is not trying to gnaw off their appendages and facial features. Not as often, anyway.

One cute behavior she has picked up from the cat apparently, is rubbing up against our legs as she walks by. She kind of arches her back and leans, then keeps on walking. Very sweet.

She still definitely has her "turtle" moments. I've given up on walking her altogether for the time being, and she had a panic attack when Bear, the 120lb sheepdog came over for Thanksgiving. We will keep working on that relationship, because I think they will enjoy playing together tremendously once she is a little more accustomed to him.

I'm looking forward to the first respectable snowfall--I know she is going to love that, and I will have my video camera ready.

Tis the season for soft cozy beds

I had my doubts during the first couple of months we had Sofi that she would ever set foot on a soft, cushy surface. She was wary of the foam pad we gave her to sleep on, opting instead for the cool tiles. So when I ordered a bed for her, I figured Tucker might be getting a stylish daybed. But within 12 hours of pulling it out of the box and fluffing it up (and after kicking Tucker out of it a couple of times), I came around the corner to find a little dog deposited in the bed's soft center.

Since then, her "princess bed" has become her nighttime sleeping and daytime lounging and napping spot. I still have to kick Tucker out of it a couple of times a day....

Placement is very important to Sofi--I've tried moving the bed out of the congested corner of my office where we first placed it, to closer to the bedroom, where it's warmer at night. No dice. She will curl up behind it, but not in it. So it's back in the corner, wedged beneath my printer and in front of all my office supply drawers.

Sofi continues to do well, although I notice her limping a bit now if she doesn't get her dose of Rimadyl. She's off the anxiety meds, is totally house-trained (I just jinxed that for sure), and we're trying to do a 15-minute evening session of "make the dog lie down and be petted on the living room floor while we all watch something on TV" which is helping her be more social in the evenings.

We're trying to figure out what we are going to do for Christmas--we are in need of a highly sensitive and committed housesitter who is willing to be aware of and deal with all her idiosynchracies for about four days while we go to Denver....oh yeah, and take care of the five other labor-intensive souls hopping and lounging about our house. Good luck with that.

In Honor of Eliot Day

Our dear Eliot left us a year ago today--All Souls Day. I've felt his presence frequently during the past year--it seems like he's never too far away from us. I began feeling his presence more during the time when we were considering adopting Sofi, and I believe he had a hand in sending her to us. I think of him as her guardian angel.

Eliot had all kinds of unique personality traits, one of which was coming up under my arm when I was working at the computer and flinging my hand off my mouse in an attempt to get my attention. He also dearly loved getting a big sloppy drink and then wiping his drippy libbits on the pants of whoever happened to be closest to him. I didn't see it as any coincidence when Sofi began doing the arm-flinging behavior this past week, or when she went over and got a big drink just now, then came over to me and rubbed her face on my leg. I just know that Eliot is still communicating his love in little ways all around us. It is said that the veil between the worlds is thinnest around All Soul's Day, so perhaps it's just easier for us to be aware of him right now.

I can't even put into words how special Eliot was. He was an old, wise soul who taught me all kinds of lessons about myself. I miss him very much, but every time I think of him free from the limitations, pains, and challenges his body confronted him with in his final years, I can't help but smile and be grateful. I believe his soul is happy.

Home from being spayed!

I'm relieved to report that Sofi's spay is over and done! She went in Tuesday morning and we picked her up on Wednesday. The experience didn't seem to set her back at all, actually.

I expressed some concern about her anxiety around barking dogs, and Dr. Bradley gave her a private exam room for the whole day while she waited for her surgery (an emergency pushed surgeries to the end of the day). We had planned to bring her home that night, but ended up waiting until Wednesday.

It's been a bit of a challenge to keep her from over-exerting herself, but she's getting plenty of rest and lots of hugs. Her zipper looks pretty good at this point. And, you can tell that her dog suit is filling up with proper dog stuffins!! The scale at the vet confirmed my own crudely-conducted weigh-in at home--she's gained 13 lbs.

Dr. Bradley thinks she is finished growing, at least structurally. We will make a plan to move her off the puppy food, and hopefully onto the food Tucker is eating in the coming weeks.

I'm trading voice mails with someone at K-State, and I have lots of "what if we don't do this" questions to ask them. Dr. Bradley added a consideration this week--since the head of the femur is actually above the hip joint at this point, with lots of established muscles keeping it there, would she be a worse candidate for the hip replacement, since the muscles would have to stretch a greater distance during recovery than in typical cases?

All food for thought at this point, but I'm just glad to get this first surgery obstacle marked off the list!

Update long overdue

What a tremendously long time it's been since I posted an update on dear Sofi. I keep meaning to write a few lines, then life and work gets the better of me. Also, it seems like the triumphs these days come in very gradual progressions, as opposed to the dramatic breakthroughs of our earlier days together. But looking back at the last few weeks, I can see that our progress is pretty dramatic.

Highlights:

• Sofi now weighs 57 lbs, up 13 lbs from when she came to us
• Sometimes she gets so excited to see one of us after a short absence that we are afraid she will hurt herself jumping around
  
• She has recently started to seek out affection pretty assertively--pawing at me until I give her a good rubdown
• She will actually come over to me while I'm working at my desk and rest her head on my lap and gaze up at me with tail wagging
• We've had hit and miss success with walks--ranging from happy-go-lucky trotting to full-fledged panic attacks when there is too much dog and car traffic around us
• She's lost most of her interest in poop-eating, though every once in a while she falls off the wagon
• She is spending more time in the living room if we are all out there, although she still ultimately prefers her "room"
• She loves to be hugged!

OK, when I look at the list, I do realize we've come a long way together in a relatively short time. We have all fallen hopelessly in love with Sofi, and I think the feeling is at least somewhat mutual. It is beyond gratifying to have our affection returned by her.

She is still on anti-anxiety meds--we will start backing off of them after she goes in to be spayed on 10/21. I have a message into K-State to discuss a plan for the hip replacement. I hate to do it to her, since it seems she is doing so well the way she is, but who knows if she is in pain? The X-rays indicate she should be, though you'd never know it by watching her move. I'm still not 100% convinced it's the best course of action.