Week 9 Day 1!

Yay, week 9! Not as good as 10, but better than 8!

I was re-reading my post-op instructions yesterday and laughed at the fact that i was supposed to be walking her 4 times a day.

I can get her out twice, but who on earth has time to walk a dog 4 times per day? I don't! So i think letting her loose a few more times during the day in the house is a good compromise. Sometimes, you need to jig these things to work for you, right?

I also let her have a small game of bitey face with tucker last night.. i supervised closely to make sure nobody got out of hand. Actually, the only dog that ever gets out of hand is Koda.. my bad girl!

I watched the land shark around each other for a few minutes, and then koda crawled up on the couch and went to sleep.

Do you know that i've been yelling at these dogs for weeks to not play bitey face? WEEKS.. because it's the first thing they try and do when koda is sans crate.. and when i finally let them have a bit of fun, she actually self-regulates herself and stops the game when she's tired or had enough.

My dogs are smarter than me. =(

Actually, i'm hoping this will help them bond better. Me yelling at them to stop playing probably wasn't helping their relationship much.. tucker seems to need more convincing to accept koda than vice-versa, but these games and our walks with both dogs at the same time will hopefully help.

I am looking forward to getting koda in the water, but curious about how i expect to do that.

I can't take one to the beach and not the other.. it would be like taking one kid for ice cream.. could you imagine the chaos and hurt feelings?

But apparently swim time is supposed to be gradual as well.. deeper into the water each time until they're fully comfortable swimming.

Whoever wrote that never had a Labrador. Who in their right mind can take a lab to the beach and keep them in shallow water? She'd rip my arm clean off my shoulder! And then swim away with it!

Now add tuck, who as calm as he is, CANNOT contain his excitement around water.. he loves it and will bounce around like a crazy dog for retrieving games.

Anyway.. all those are down the road a couple of weeks.. so for now.. small steps forward will all help future steps, right?

So.. week 9.. onward!