We don't ever give up on puppies.
Thank you to everyone who encouraged us during the hard times. Especially you, Lisa. We couldn't have made it to these good times without you.
It was easy to say goodbye to 2015. It had some ups, some downs, but in the end...we celebrated New Years Eve with a duck dinner at home, and a 10:30 bedtime. Sometimes doing nothing is the best course. I haven't posted very much recently, because there isn't much to say. This is good, though! We fought very hard for things to become routine. We just hit the last goal I had for Lucy. She has learned how to walk back to the door after she is taken out for a bathroom break. This might not seem like a big deal, but let me assure you that it is. It is the final shift from being helpless to being self sufficient. Here is a video, my apologies for such a filthy walkway: During the dark days, I told Lucy that she had a choice to make. She could be the best blind dog that she could be. Or we needed to go to the vet and end it. Sitting under the chair, shivering would not be a permanent option. For a long time, she did just sit, shivering. We couldn't let her be a victim, however. Her therapeutic training has been tedious. But I want to say that I have never been so proud of a dog. Letting go of the shock of sudden vision loss and developing a new routine was hard. But she did it! She is the best little puppy she can be. And I'll end with what my husband always told me when I was weak or tired.
We don't ever give up on puppies. Thank you to everyone who encouraged us during the hard times. Especially you, Lisa. We couldn't have made it to these good times without you.
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Lucy's eyes are intact and healing. She is unable to see anything, but but it looks like she will get to keep her eyes. Molly has a new interest in licking Lucy's eyes. We've told Molly that if her kisses could make Lucy's eyes better, we wouldn't need to go to the doctor any more. But as things are now, she should only kiss people.
Lucy will have the stitches from her inner eyelids removed tomorrow. We will see how she is healing from the melting ulcers on her corneas. Hopefully, she will not lose her eyes. We have trained her for the past three weeks in preparation for bad news. If her corneas are in bad shape, and she does not regain her sight, she is ready.
I will be honest. It has been difficult. Psychologically, Lucy has been a mess. Physically, she has really suffered, too. It has been hard encouraging her to keep going. Watching her confused and hurting, it has been tempting to just leave her on the couch or our lap. Instead, we've tried to help her adapt and to make her healthy again. Yesterday was actually our first good day in over five weeks. Lucy did not have any periods of anxiety. Going outside to tinkle wasn't too scary. She ate her meals and wandered around the house with confidence. She went to bed without issues. It has been sooo long since we've had a good day. I'd guess our last good day was when we posted the pictures of the dogs at Lowes hardware. I hope tomorrow is a good day, too and that we hear some good news. This has been an uneventful week, which is great. Lucy is anxious sometimes. She is still learning how to be a blind dog. Molly is learning how to be a better sister to a blind puppy. She used to roughhouse in her own teeny, sweet way. She would throw herself on Lucy and spaz out. Molly is learning to be more gentle and to cause fewer surprizes.
Juxtaposed next to Lucy with her medical problems, is our other dog. Molly. Free from medical or physical problems, and armed with the sweetest disposition, she is everyone's best friend. We never would have made it this far if we had adopted two special needs dogs. Her carefree nature has been a joy and has lifted us up during hard times. If I'm ever in need of a kiss, I just need to put my face near hers.
It's time to resume our walks. A few months ago, Before Lucy's eye infections, it would have taken us only 20 minutes to walk around the block. Today, it took almost an hour. But on the bright side-we couldn't make it past the stop sign just a few days ago.
Even though Lucy's Bartonella test results won't be back for another two weeks, we pestered the vet until they gave her the medicine anyways. She had been losing half a pound a week for a while, and she's gone from 19 to 16 pounds. Her mind was so foggy that even after days of practice, she could not learn how to walk to her bed. But after two days of the high test antibiotics, she began to wag her tail again. She will now sit up. She can navigate inside and can remember the layout of the house. Basically, she has stopped being a zombie and has returned to being a dog. We've had a hard week. We thought that a change of scenery would serve us well, so we drove to Bass Pro Shop. The dogs napped in the car as the humans ate lunch. A doggie bag was brought back to the car, and Lucy and Molly each tried a a gator bite, popcorn shrimp and a french fry. Then we all went back inside together to shop. Molly did what we call a "Dicaprio". She leans over the edge of the shopping cart, like Leonardo Dicaprio did in the Movie, Titanic as he exclaimed "I'm King of the World!"
There is no word back on the Bartonella test.
Each time Lucy came back inside from a bathroom break, she started to shake. she was frozen in place, but would quiver. An extensive knowledge of Looney Tunes cartoons has taught me that if you want an animal to follow a path, you drop a trail of food. The Roadrunner loves birdseed; Lucy loves ham. I dropped ham tidbits every few feet between the door and Lucy's bed. Pretty soon Lucy quit shaking and began sniffing about for the next hit of ham. She has moved past a fear of inside movement, and she has cautiously started exploring. I have an urge to help her get out of dead ends or confusing places, but I need to give Lucy a chance to work out her challenges first. |
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