The Cone of Shame

My poor, sweet puppy has been crying piteously for days now, whimpering and snivelling about the injustice of The Cone of Shame. He finally went in for neutering last Friday (we waited until he was 13 months old for a number of health reasons). We tried just keeping a close eye on him for the first couple of days, but every time we turned our backs he went into turbo-crotch-licking-overdrive, so the e-collar we initially just put on at bed time is now tied around his big meatball of a head all day long. Today is the 6th day post-op and his discharge instructions say that he has to be prevented from licking for a minimum of 7 days after the surgery. So he staggers around the house, knocking down picture frames and crashing into door jambs, and makes sad puppy dog faces full of mournful reproach.

Just a couple more days, Otto, until we ditch that cone and get your Indestructible Dog Ball out in the yard for you again! Hang in there, buddy!

Happy Half Birthday, Otto & Lulu!

Otto & Lulu at Six Months

Our Rottweiler puppies, Otto and Lulu, turned six months old on the 5th, so it seemed like a good time to do another Puppy Update post. 

We finished up our Puppy School one-on-one training sessions with Janine Gauthier of Paws and Order Dog Training a few weeks ago, and Bernie and I both passed our training test on the last day, including the challenge where we had to set a plate of people food in front of the dogs and instruct them to "leave it!"  Otto and Lulu come when called (actually, they come CHARGING AT FULL SPEED when called, since they know there are going to be treats when they get to us), they sit, wait for permission to go in and out the door.  They lay down, they "watch," and will touch our hand on command to get a treat.  Otto has also really taken to soccer, and he and Bernie have a ball (literally) chasing after the soccer ball in the yard almost every day.  The dogs are walking very well on their leash, although Bernie still has not found the elusive Perfect Leash and Perfect Treat/Water/Poop Bag fanny pack contraption.  His search continues.

Miss Lulu in a Rare Moment of Inactivity

Lulu had her spay operation last week, and has been absolutely miserable about having her activities restricted while everything is healing.  The vet said no running, jumping, or climbing stairs for at least seven days post op, but nothing gives Lulu more pleasure than somersaulting into the air.  After a few days of all-around misery, we had to get her some sedatives to prevent her from springing into the air as soon as we open the door to her crate and doing barrel rolls on her leash when we take her out to go potty.

Otto the Snuggle Pup

Otto has not been neutered yet.  He has a pretty mellow personality so far, and I've read a lot about significantly increased bone cancer risk for male Rotties neutered before 2 years.  With Lulu spayed, we have eliminated the possibility of an unintended litter of two-headed inbred pups, so it's not as urgent for Otto to be neutered right away.  I'm not going to permit him to go off roaming on his own in search of lady friends, and of course if his temperament takes a turn for the worse at puberty or if he starts marking all over my house, those would be strong reasons to neuter him sooner rather than later.  We'll see how it goes.  The longer I wait, the more opportunity he has for his bones and muscles to grow and develop under the influence of all those male hormones as nature intended.  

Otto Enjoying a Tasty Kongsicle in My Office

Meanwhile, I'm teaching Otto to help me sing in the shower.  To clarify: I'm in the shower, and the dogs are laying on the bathroom floor with tasty bones to chew on, where I can keep an eye on them.  Otto likes to howl along with the chorus of the Whitney Houston song, "I Will Always Love You."  Apparently when I sing this, I sound like a howling wolf and this awakens Otto's pack instincts.  This may not say much about my pop singing abilities, but it sure is fun.  So far, Otto only joins in with that particular song, and only in the bathroom.  Must be the accoustics or something.  Lulu-belle hasn't joined in with us yet, but I will try to encourage her to sing along as well.

We have a week at the beach planned for next month, and the house we're renting does not allow pets.  I'm currently in the process of vetting potential boarding kennels and/or pet sitters.  The problem with hiring a pet sitter, for us, is that our dogs do not run free in the house when we aren't home, and they are definitely not ready for that much independence.  Even if I hired a pet sitter to take them on two hour-long walks every day, they would still have to be crated up for the other 22 hours, and that's way too long.  If I had a large, tiled utility room or something where the dogs could be confined together without the potential for destructive mischief, I'd consider a pet sitter (and I actually sketched out a fabulous imaginary laundry/dog room addition to the house that would be perfect for this scenario, but my husband looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested building an addition for the dogs).  Most likely, then, we're going to have to board the dogs while we're away.  If you're local to Charlotte and you can recommend a dog boarding facility, please let me know in the comments section.