Holiday, Betty, Chance updates

Holiday and Betty were scheduled to be spayed on Tuesday. I took them both to CASPCA in the morning for the surgery. A vet arrived as I was in the lobby with Holiday and asked if she had been checked for a spay scar. We both thought it very likely that Holiday was already spayed. At her age, if she wasn't spayed, she would show some obvious signs of having been pregnant. Furthermore, her girth is a pretty obvious sign of a well fed, spayed female. They took her in the back, shaved her belly, and sure enough, found a scar that was evidence of a prior spay. So she dodged the knife and accompanied me on my morning errands while Betty stayed for the surgery.

In the afternoon, I took Chance to the Fluvanna Heritage Trail for a hike in the woods. He did a lot of sniffing, but surprisingly little marking. As big and rambunctious as he is, he's actually pretty good on a leash, once I made it clear that walking where he would trip me was not a good option. When he nearly caused me to fall, I purposely went down and took him down with me. That got the message across that walking directly in front of me was not a good idea. After that, he was really pretty good on the leash, using a prong collar. I may try him with a harness today, but I'll take the prong collar just in case. He's a great dog, but has been rather destructive in the kennel when he's bored. He needs stimulation.

Late afternoon I went back to CASPCA to pick up Betty. She was one of the later surgeries and was still sleeping off the anesthetic. I got her up and she did the drunken stumble out to the car. When she saw a comfy crate with a big comforter inside, she was happy to get in and go back to sleep. She spent the night in a crate in my office upstairs, where she will stay for a couple of days anyway.

Here's a rottie I just agreed to take in. His name is Strider. He's been living on a chain in West Virginia. More people and less dogs should be kept on chains. While I believe in spaying or neutering all pets, I think that the same treatment should be applied to many people. Start by neutering those people who keep their dogs on chains and we'd see some improvement in the gene pool within a generation. Strider is a handsome young male rottie. I'd be willing to bet that he's much better bred this owners, and has more teeth.