BHRR's Bloom is doing well. I think that she is actually doing very impressively well considering how young she is and how much crate rest we have to keep her on to make sure that she is not tempted to do running or playing or jumping or just being what a young dog should be!

Her surgery was Friday December 2nd and as of the 31st, we shall be 29 days post surgery. Dr. Gatineau is not back until the first week or so of January and he had indicated that he casts could be removed after 4 weeks.

As he shall not be around as per our preference to have him as he is familiar with her case; we are going to have her cast removed at the Hospital I work at on the 30th. I will be making an appointment when I am at KAH tomorrow with BHRR's Journey to have BHRR"s Bloom's cast removed.

From there, she is to have another 4 weeks of post-op recovery and then have x-Rays taken(we hope to have this done with Dr. Gatineau at the DMV yet; he indicated that as long as he saw the X-Rays he would be happy.) I would really like for him to see her one more time and we shall see what his schedule is like closer to that time – around January 27th, 2012.

She has 'tude this one and spunk and personality and I just uploaded some photos from her first night with us. When we put her into her what I call her 'taj mahal' crate! She told me what she thought of that! LOL She is given a very special yummy treat each and every time she has to go into her crate and she settles down well.

On the nicer and warmer days; I can be found sitting bundled up in a blanket and her in a coat; sitting on the front lawn on a pile of blankets; just enjoying the outside. She is really quite good about not wanting to try and zip and zoom and will lay or sit quietly by myself; just soaking up the change of pace of environments for her.

I will also take her for short drives and with each time that we go into the vehicle; she is less worried and tense. She really likes going through the Timmie's as she gets yummy treaties….

I am trying to keep her mind stimulated and busy; so that she is not going stir crazy with her enforced crate rest. She is a good patient yet not so good about being patient! LOL Meals are ALL about 'her' and 'now' and she has no hesitations about letting her know when she has to go outside to pee etc. GOOD girl!

I would like to see some more weight on her. She is lacking muscle tone now that she has had to be quite sedentary yet all that aside, I still would like to see some more actual weight on her. She eats well, nothing wrong with that appetite!

She thinks herself a 'queen' and she likes to look down her nose at the other dogs; especially my three black beauties who; in turn; look at her as if to say 'we are the royalty three…the duchess, the princess and the countess' and just 'WHO are you?' LOL

We are going to have a grand time with full integration here and I am so looking forward to when we can make that happen for her.

She is quite affectionate to humans and we are loving her! I have a bit of a feeling that she is going to be a bit selective about who she wants to call a friend and that is ok!

I also think that we are going to have some 'sharing' issues with her after her being so catered to; yet all that shall come when it is time.

We have had some inquiries on her already; and what we can say at this time is that she would do fine in a home by herself or with at least one other right matched personaity fit dog. If her forever loving home does not have another dog; they must have a network in place via friends, family and neighbours whereby BHRR's Bloom has her own social circle of friends. We want her to keep along this path of great development that she is making. 

She would do fine in a home that work pt, ft, flex hours at home, semi-retired or retired. She is quite 'all around' in that way. She will need a home that will not unconsciously enable any possible SA behavours for when she first arrived; she had the tendency to want to slip into some major whining and crying fits and we had to nip that in the bud pretty fast.

Now, the only time she will whine/cry is when she needs to go out during a time that we are not set in her rotation schedule to go out; or feeding time! 🙂 Sometimes she will whine as she is bored and sad and wants to come out and play and during those times; I give her a puzzle – treats in a toy to have to pull out; frozen treats in yogurt in a KONG or other puzzles to keep her busy and I just give her the special item; tell her she is a good girl and walk away(passively ignore).

I do not want to see a home cater to her 24/7 and she develps major SA behavours. We do not want her to become a barking, whining, crying, destructive mess by any home consciously or unconsciously enabling her. 

She is not to be pitied or have things 'made up to' for that will 'ruin' her…BIG TIME! She lives in the present and one should be focused on her future, not her past for that would be a big mistake.

I have been cleaning the area that her cast has dug into on her leg with betatine and keeping it dry. Sometimes, she will want to lick at it and we say 'Bloom…no licking' and she will stop. We have not found that we have had to put her on antibiotics for it as of yet and I clean and pat dry the area, up to three times a day to stay on top of any brewing infection. There is only one smaller area now that is slightly concerning and we continue to monitor in case antibiotics are necessary.

SHE is a HUGE trooper this one!!

BHRR's Bloom – December 16th, 2011 – TELLING me that she is NOT impressed with this crating thing! ISN'T she lovely?