Over the Independence Day Weekend, Lilly and I squeezed in some girl time for a hike. No trouble with mountain bikes on the hike-only day, but we did come face-to-face with two off-leash dogs. Not great, but it could have been worse.
As I mentioned in Tuesday’s report about our recent hike with the girls from Cowgirl by Proxy, Lilly suffered a major fearful dog freakout on our short hike. I have several theories on why she melted down in the most unlikely place.
Lilly and I enjoyed hiking with more summertime guests last week. Can you deduce from the post title who that might be? Or, are you wondering, “What on earth is a Brew Babe”?
Saturday, Lilly and I hosted a special guest for a dog-friendly restaurant patio lunch and hike. This gave Lilly the chance to practice her many social graces. She did terrific in many “scary” situations, but Lilly did lollygag like you would not believe. It kind of freaked me out.
Since we have no herding news of our own, after a long lapse in lessons due to non-stop work and family demands, today Champion of of My Heart looks at how someone else uses some clicker training in a herding context.
best dog blog, champion of my heart, dog trainingOur crazy-cold spring means finding our pond somewhat frozen many mornings. That’s a real risk. One of our neighbors lost a new Lab puppy, after he fell through ice on their pond. So, I’m super careful to supervise Lilly and Ginko. But, a few weeks ago, Lilly flung her ball at me, and it skidded onto the ice. She went after it.
Even though I’m not a traditional mother with human kids, I like to think I deserve to get at least some of what I want on Mother’s Day. So, I brought Lilly along with us on our various visits. This meant strapping her into her seatbelt in Tom’s truck.
Tuesday morning we awoke to a debate between me and Tom over the size of Lilly’s spider bite lump. I said it was bigger, maybe 10%. Tom said it was the same as the night before. Possible surgery hung in the balance. Terrified to make the wrong decision, I waited and waited.
So, we now knew that Lilly suffered a spider bite and ensuing infection. But, we’ll never know what kind of spider or where or how it happened, but she needed treatment and fast.
Yesterday, we continued the story of this mysterious mass I found on Lilly’s neck while awaiting a routine veterinary exam. Today, let’s move on with the diagnosis of the sudden onset (possible) veterinary emergency. Fair warning … if you are squeamish at all.
