Saturday, March 19, 2011

Typical March Weekend

Friday...record high temperatures.  It was officially 68 degrees in Portland which beat the old record by three degrees.  We recorded a degree higher here on the Maine Gator Swamp.  Actually my device said it was 69.9 at one point, but I never did see a 70.  And then Saturday arrived and we awoke to a snow shower.  The snow isn't accumulating and the ground is too warm for that to happen; but nevertheless, record warmth one day and snow the next.

Most of this weekend will see daytime temperatures hovering around 40.  It's a typical weekend in March in Maine.

Gator Golden continues to improve.  By yesterday afternoon, she was touching her leg on the floor as she walked.  There really wasn't any weight put on it, but at least she didn't just leave it hanging in the air. The knee operation she had Wednesday, though, seems to be heading in the right direction for recovery.
Her head hides them here, but she keeps looking back at those staples holding the skin together.  One of the hardest parts for GW and me is keeping her mouth away from them.  The vet had told us he wouldn't put one of those huge cones on her head as long as she lets the healing take place.  A friend of ours who had a dog with a similar operation and it had to wear that cone.  My friend said it took the dog only minutes to get it off.  He said that cone requires total constant watching.  So far, GG hasn't caused us to think about adding it.

As I told my Fearless Friend the other day, GG's biggest problem during the first day of being home was taking care of her personal needs outside.  For all of her life in her yard, she has never been on a leash.  Vet's orders were to take her outside on leash (also around the inside) to keep her from running and jumping.  Chasing squirrels, one of her favorite pasttimes, is an absolute no-no for a while.  On the leash she had "bashful waste eliminators" and didn't/wouldn't take care of those things.  GW solved the problem.  She took GG to her normal area and took off the leash.  The pup took a couple steps, did her business, and simply returned to GW to be rehooked.  Problem solved.

I haven't been able to get a picture of her touching her foot to the floor yet as by the time I get the camera opened and wait that eon's long prep time, the picture op is gone.  Now to be fair, the camera really doesn't take eons to prepare itself, but when a picture opportunity arrives, it surely does seem that long.  I'm not sure cameras that cost a little more than we paid for ours aren't ready a whole lot faster.

I haven't mentioned Gator Daughter coming over for a while.  GG gets all excited when GD comes so GD has said she won't visit until the pup gets more active.  She doesn't want to be the reason for a setback, but we do miss her visiting, and GG still wants to get in the window to look for her when she calls, a normal signal GD is coming.  GD also tells us her Golden, GG's litter sister, also doesn't understand why there is no visit. 

If only I knew how to communicate in dog language!

GiM

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