Two steps forward, one step back

Two good things have come from this extreme cold spell we are experiencing. First, the mud has frozen solid so it's safe to walk outside again without fear of getting stuck in the muck. I can't over emphasize how nice that is. The second good thing was that Smokey slept inside last night for the first time, probably the first time in his entire life.

I had thought I'd just move him over to the dog yard shed, which is tighter and warmer. But we were needing to cross this next bridge sometime soon so I figured I'd give it a try Sunday night. I gave him some Trazadone with his dinner. It's an anti-anxiety drug that I had never tried before. I don't know if it was meds or if he was just very happy to be someplace warm for the night, but it went very well. I got the rest of the dogs upstairs where they would be for the night, and then brought Smokey in and put him in a crate in the kitchen. The crate had blankets inside and another one covering it so it made a nice cozy and secure den. He was quiet all night long.

It was a big step forward for Smokey and I'm planning on doing it again tonight and hereafter.

Monday morning I took Smokey out to the dog yard where he spent the day with Theo and Max. Late afternoon I took the three of them out to the pasture to run off some stupid energy. Smokey's idea of "playing" with another dog is to run behind them and bite at their legs, butt, or tail. That gets old for the other dogs who just want to run. Theo just wants to play ball and it takes a lot for Theo to interrupt a game of ball, but he finally had enough of Smokey's aggressive play style. Theo dropped both the tennis balls he was carrying and turned around and spent a few moments tearing Smokey a new one. I did not try to stop it, I had been hoping he would do it sooner. After Theo finished the lesson Smokey got up and ran off by himself for a while. He wasn't hurt but I think it scared him. I just hope he learned something from it. If he did, that's actually two steps forward for Smokey for the day.

This is Smokey's "play" behavior. He needs to learn a new
trick. This game is not winning him any friends.

The step backward wasn't with Smokey today, it was Serena. Her digestive tract had been improving. I hadn't seen any blood and the stool was gradually getting better. But I had been away a lot of the weekend and things started going south again. Sunday evening I saw blood come out of her again, and that was repeated Monday morning so we went to the vet again Monday afternoon. I took in a sample of the nastiness that was coming out of her and it's been sent off for analysis. I'm switching to Tylan powder in place of the metronidazole. Oh, her limp is back too, it never really went away, but we can't put her back on the novox she was taking. Once her guts start improving I got another anti-inflammatory med that we will try.  I love her dearly, but something tells me that Sweet Serena is not going to be a low maintenance dog.

Serena's shadow in the lobby. She had
her feet up on me.

She was scared, of course, but she's so much
better with things that scare her than she once
was. Instead of growling, now she's just
more clingy.