You can't keep a good dog down

Della was spayed on Wednesday. That's pretty major surgery. It took her about a full day before she was feeling good again, but now that she does, it's tough to keep her activity restricted.

We haven't needed the cone or anything else to keep her from licking the incision. She's still taking pain pills but she doesn't act like she needs them. I'm not letting her outside on her own to run; the first couple days I leash walked her. Mostly I'm not letting Della and Serena outside together because that's a level of play and activity that I can't control and I think she should avoid. I'm not even letting the two big girls play together indoors very much, although these pictures prove me to be a liar. It's actually better when Maya is in the mix, as it prevents the two Danes from engaging in their really big play style.

I mentioned yesterday my project of combining and expanding the two kennels to encompass much of the backyard. We were at that again today, with Della keeping us company, and we now have a complete enclosure capable of containing Della (it's 6 feet high) and maybe even Maya. There is shade from the birch trees and also a maple tree over in the corner. There is access to two sheds for shelter. We also have the capability of dividing the space into two separate areas if needed. I wish I had done this three weeks ago, when we still had puppies so they would have had even more room to run around.

The new mega kennel as I'm calling it will be great for new fosters, and I'm using it now for Della, to give her a good sized outdoor space where she can be off leash, but separated from other dogs to contain her play and activity. It is also bringing about some clean up of a couple areas of the yard that really needed it.

In the afternoon we took Maya over to Richmond to visit a couple breweries, Hardywood and Midnight. She was quite anxious at first and I'm not sure why, but then she settled down and enjoyed the outing. Hardywood had too many people, she and I both enjoyed Midnight better, although I had a new and really excellent beer at Hardywood today.