-Googling around over breakfast (of two-day-old reheated pancakes) this morning, I learned that affordable (as well as not-so-affordable) hotels in Paris that allow dogs are clustered around Le Boulanger des Invalides Jocteur, which is to say, the center of the universe. There is a soft and affectionate gray dog that hangs out there for Bisou to be friends with, whose owner gives it a bit of bread from the place as a treat. There was also this gray fluffball-type in Jardin du Luxembourg. Such possibilities for socialization and pastry! The photographs below are of my dream life.
-Tomorrow, however, is a momentous day for little Bisou - the day she is rendered incapable of producing littler Bisous. I'm nervous, and I suspect on some level she is as well. The main thing with spaying, it seems, is for us to keep her from jumping for two weeks after the surgery. Well, Bisou's favorite thing in the entire world, after cheese, is jumping like a cat, to heights you wouldn't think she'd be capable of reaching. (Also doing this thing at the kitchen gate where she stands, looks over the gate, and lifts one paw straight up and out, all serious-like, as if to summon a sea of followers to do the same. Very fascistic.) So I took her on a 1.4 mile jog (was going to be 2.1, but she seemed beat), calculating that she sprints at least this each day in loops around the apartment on a typical, three-long-walk day. Surely jogging at my unimpressive pace would exhaust but not over-tire her. On past walks, when I've switched to a jog, she basically walks a tiny bit faster, seeming disappointed that I couldn't keep up with her own running pace. Well, exhausted she is, rehydrated but completely conked out on the kitchen floor. How to keep her in this state for more than half an hour remains to be seen.
The decision to get a Golden pup from a reputable breeder was obviously carefully considered. It surprises me that the rescue group in her parents' case didn't know about the aggression issues. Anyway, I think if there were more stories like these, there may be less of an implicit-snooty Rescue Culture, and we could all just focus on raising our dogs to the best of our abilities, whether the dogs are from breeders, rescue groups, no-kill shelters, or found on the street. The dogs don't care where they're from, they just want to jump, eat interesting-smelling things, sleep, and play!
ReplyDeleteJumping up was also an issue for us. You'll learn all of this soon enough, but in addition to keeping Mitsu overnight at the vet's, I think there were pain meds involved that were supposed to keep her more still than usual (can't remember if those worked...) and crating also helped a little. Good luck to you guys and Bisou! Everything will be okay!
I'll keep Bisou (and you) in my thoughts. When Cleo, my sweet cat, was spayed about 14 years ago, I felt bad for the poor thing and her shaved belly. She did fine, healed quickly, and has lived happily ever after. JM
ReplyDeleteKei,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reassurance!
You kept Mitsu at the vet overnight? Our vet is having us pick Bisou up at the end of the day (we dropped her off early in the morning), but as long as she's medicated and there's a bed-in-crate situation for her at home, I'm not too worried about the first night. It's really the whole "keep her still for two weeks" bit I find baffling - she's only ever "still" if you've taken her for a massive amount of exercise, or let her sprint/jump around the apartment. Hyper is her normal state, even with three long-ish walks. Medications are no doubt essential for making this happen. And apparently one of those cones...
We just called to check, and she's apparently fine after the surgery, although it took her longer than they'd hoped to wake up after the anesthetic, whatever that implies for a dog.
JM,
Thanks!