Stetson did his first three miler today. The four of us walked a mile and a half. Then Stetson and I went off as a twosome to make a second loop finishing three miles total. It is the first time I have worn my heart rate monitor when I had him out. Up to now, it hasn't seemed to matter what my time was or what zone I was in, but I need to begin to gauge how I am working comparitively it to where I need to be for "normal". I was in a low zone two with his pace today. That will be great for fat burning, and it is a fabulous place to be to build endurance, so I'm not going to complain. This phase of conditioning him will serve me well and probably keep me from getting some stupid injury that normal people with self control could prevent on their own.
In the past two days he has begun to understand our stretching routine. His spine is the most flexible thing I've ever seen on a dog. He turns his head back to his tail/stump willingly on either side for a nice long stretch. Naturally, Stetson stretches better than any other dog we've had upon waking. It is normal for him to stretch his front shoulders (bowing motion) and then to bring his neck up and back. I'm glad he already takes good care of himself! I have begun to work with his feet and can stretch every toe and each foot well. He will let me stretch from his shoulder and hip joints pretty well, but we have some work to do no the hock and pastern areas. I'm impressed with what he is willing to let me do at this point in our relationship. We both had a deep need to bond quickly, it seems to be taking shape.
Along with the good/great comes the bad... I made a big mistake this week, but we have rebounded and it hardly seems we missed a beat in spite of me. Hindsight is 20/20 and I would gladly have paid a handsome sum to have thought this out rationally and prevented it from happening to begin with. But I didn't...
Sunday night I decided Stetson was too noisy in his crate for me to sleep peaceably. He twirled, he panted, he got a drink of water, he'd bump his water bucket... He did nothing bad or wrong, but I didn't rest well and I let my hormones rule my brain when I sleepily decided the next day he could sleep loose in the bedroom with us (although not in the bed). We had him in our home for less than 36 hours and I'm giving him freedom in the bedroom overnight. I knew it wasn't a great idea, but I figured he might chew something or mark something and somehow I convinced myself that he'd been far more trustworthy in those two regards than expected, so let's give it a try.
So Monday rolls around and we proceed to buy a nice pad for Stetson to lay on the floor next to my side of the bed. That night he takes to it pretty well, moves it around a bit and wads it up, but he seemed content. Tuesday morning we had a happy dog who greeted us to go outside with full body wiggles. Tuesday night begins with the same non-issue turn in "routine". But at 5 am on Wednesday morning Dave and I are panic stricken as we are awakened by a horrible growl and Maddie screaming. Thankfully, between her scream and us both yelling, the noise between the two of them ended immediately. Both dogs went into the living room and Dave and I began to examine them for damage. Stetson was assessed and we found no sign of wounds. I found a small tuft of hair near the closet door and quickly located a tiny bald spot on the side of Maddie's head. It was pink, but not bloody; thankfully only a graze of a tooth. A few minutes later I noticed some hair on the the top of her head parted oddly. After further investigation I discovered another graze (maybe 1/4 inch long) with a puncture at one end. She wasn't bleeding, although there was fresh blood around the wound and she didn't seem to mind my fingering around the open sore.
Long story short, Madison ended up with a puncture wound that scraped down her head for about a 1/4 inch and another small graze. No stitches were necessary and she sat like a little champion while Dr. Smith shaved the hair away so she could clean it and let it heal. She is the sweetest girl!
Besides being worried about Madison physically, we were also challenged to figure out if this was a deal breaker for Stetson at the house. I was not trying to "under" react to the situation, but I knew that the fault and blame for this was on me. It's a really hard spot to be in to know that you may have made a stupid decision that could change the entire life choice you had only a day before made. My gut was torn. With Stetson being an in tact male and Maddie an altered female we knew he wouldn't have any lasting emotional drama from the event, unless we freaked out. I knew within two minutes of the outbreak that the problem was he had probably never lived in an environment where something/someone might step on him or stick their nose where it doesn't belong while he was in a deep sleep. He came to us as a beautiful finished Champion, but from growing up in a kennel environment. Household living and ways were new to him, and I had just pushed him over the edge.
We left the vet's office knowing that if this was going to work now, it would be up to Maddie to "get over it". If she was going to "get over it" we were going to have to first. So Dave and I decided to leave it there and move forward without looking back from that moment.
Yesterday evening went without issue, although they were both being very polite to each other; turning heads away and not sneaking up to get a butt whiff when the other one wasn't looking...
We got out answer about the future of us as a foursome while on the walk this morning. Thanks to an overflowing recyle bin and a dog who just can't resist snooping about other people's trash, I think we are going to work this out. As Madison appraoched the bin at the end of a neighbor's drive, she blew her nose to the bin as Dave said "leave it" and then she flipped toward Stetson, nose to nose, head lowered, ears back and I swear I heard her say "look, if we're ever going to be able to get any trash from the neighbors we're going to have to work together, okay?" The dogs are "over it" in the best of ways.
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| Stetson recovering after our run this morning |
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| Madison recovering after our run this morning |
In the past two days he has begun to understand our stretching routine. His spine is the most flexible thing I've ever seen on a dog. He turns his head back to his tail/stump willingly on either side for a nice long stretch. Naturally, Stetson stretches better than any other dog we've had upon waking. It is normal for him to stretch his front shoulders (bowing motion) and then to bring his neck up and back. I'm glad he already takes good care of himself! I have begun to work with his feet and can stretch every toe and each foot well. He will let me stretch from his shoulder and hip joints pretty well, but we have some work to do no the hock and pastern areas. I'm impressed with what he is willing to let me do at this point in our relationship. We both had a deep need to bond quickly, it seems to be taking shape.
Along with the good/great comes the bad... I made a big mistake this week, but we have rebounded and it hardly seems we missed a beat in spite of me. Hindsight is 20/20 and I would gladly have paid a handsome sum to have thought this out rationally and prevented it from happening to begin with. But I didn't...
Sunday night I decided Stetson was too noisy in his crate for me to sleep peaceably. He twirled, he panted, he got a drink of water, he'd bump his water bucket... He did nothing bad or wrong, but I didn't rest well and I let my hormones rule my brain when I sleepily decided the next day he could sleep loose in the bedroom with us (although not in the bed). We had him in our home for less than 36 hours and I'm giving him freedom in the bedroom overnight. I knew it wasn't a great idea, but I figured he might chew something or mark something and somehow I convinced myself that he'd been far more trustworthy in those two regards than expected, so let's give it a try.
So Monday rolls around and we proceed to buy a nice pad for Stetson to lay on the floor next to my side of the bed. That night he takes to it pretty well, moves it around a bit and wads it up, but he seemed content. Tuesday morning we had a happy dog who greeted us to go outside with full body wiggles. Tuesday night begins with the same non-issue turn in "routine". But at 5 am on Wednesday morning Dave and I are panic stricken as we are awakened by a horrible growl and Maddie screaming. Thankfully, between her scream and us both yelling, the noise between the two of them ended immediately. Both dogs went into the living room and Dave and I began to examine them for damage. Stetson was assessed and we found no sign of wounds. I found a small tuft of hair near the closet door and quickly located a tiny bald spot on the side of Maddie's head. It was pink, but not bloody; thankfully only a graze of a tooth. A few minutes later I noticed some hair on the the top of her head parted oddly. After further investigation I discovered another graze (maybe 1/4 inch long) with a puncture at one end. She wasn't bleeding, although there was fresh blood around the wound and she didn't seem to mind my fingering around the open sore.
Long story short, Madison ended up with a puncture wound that scraped down her head for about a 1/4 inch and another small graze. No stitches were necessary and she sat like a little champion while Dr. Smith shaved the hair away so she could clean it and let it heal. She is the sweetest girl!
Besides being worried about Madison physically, we were also challenged to figure out if this was a deal breaker for Stetson at the house. I was not trying to "under" react to the situation, but I knew that the fault and blame for this was on me. It's a really hard spot to be in to know that you may have made a stupid decision that could change the entire life choice you had only a day before made. My gut was torn. With Stetson being an in tact male and Maddie an altered female we knew he wouldn't have any lasting emotional drama from the event, unless we freaked out. I knew within two minutes of the outbreak that the problem was he had probably never lived in an environment where something/someone might step on him or stick their nose where it doesn't belong while he was in a deep sleep. He came to us as a beautiful finished Champion, but from growing up in a kennel environment. Household living and ways were new to him, and I had just pushed him over the edge.
We left the vet's office knowing that if this was going to work now, it would be up to Maddie to "get over it". If she was going to "get over it" we were going to have to first. So Dave and I decided to leave it there and move forward without looking back from that moment.
Yesterday evening went without issue, although they were both being very polite to each other; turning heads away and not sneaking up to get a butt whiff when the other one wasn't looking...
We got out answer about the future of us as a foursome while on the walk this morning. Thanks to an overflowing recyle bin and a dog who just can't resist snooping about other people's trash, I think we are going to work this out. As Madison appraoched the bin at the end of a neighbor's drive, she blew her nose to the bin as Dave said "leave it" and then she flipped toward Stetson, nose to nose, head lowered, ears back and I swear I heard her say "look, if we're ever going to be able to get any trash from the neighbors we're going to have to work together, okay?" The dogs are "over it" in the best of ways.
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