Callie's Progress

It occurred to me that folks would like to hear how my little Callie Dog is doing so here's a catch-up on the life of the incredible flying dog.

On Monday Dr's L and L operated on Callie, setting her broken femur with 2 pins. Alas, Dr. L said there were some fragments that couldn't be replaced so her leg will be a tad big shorter than it was - but he assured us that she'd adapt. She spent a second night at the clinic but BD took her home on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, I had a night meeting, but I drove home between the end of work and the start of the meeting so I could pet my little girl anyway and arrived to find all three of them, BD, Jack and Callie, on the way home from Jacob's Gut. That's half a mile from the house and of course, inside I was shrieking at the stupidity of Guys Who Walk Dogs Who Just Had Surgery (and I confess, guys in general). She had a pronounced limp and I scooped her up and drove her the rest of the way home.

I know that my methods of caring for sick and injured is to coddle and swaddle and Someone Else's methods include getting up and taking long walks. Somewhere in the middle is probably best and as this week has progressed we've moderated from our extreme stances to a fairly reasonable routine. Of course, as she heals, that routine changes and as she grows stronger, we must be more vigilant because once she thinks she's strong enough to move fast, she will try to.

For the most part she sleeps all day. We didn't get a crate for her, yet, because we thought we'd try penning her in the bathroom, where she spent her early puppy days. She used to love that room and would go lie on the rug whenever she was tired. Not so much now. She prefers the couch. In fact, she prefers the new white bed laid on the couch ... which is fine with me since it's got a waterproof lining and it catches all the shedding white hair.

I say "yet", though, because we may borrow one anyway, so that BD can leave home while I'm at work. Another option is to get a baby gate (a kind neighbor has offered to lend us one) for the bathroom. We shall see. This is an ongoing process.

The big deal for us is blocking the staircase. Not that she's interested in going upstairs right now - or even that she might have trouble going upstairs. The danger is falling down - so we have barricaded the staircases - a makeshift solution which Jack just shoves aside so he can go get up in the Big Bed every morning. Yeah. I know. We should do better but we are slugs. Besides, I can step up on the little chair to the side of the staircase, then over the card table and onto the 3rd step. It's a nice bit of aerobic exercise. I am always finding reasons to be glad we don't have a railing and banister on that staircase.

All last week we had nice enough spring days and Callie spent her few waking hours outdoors. Here she is checking out the incision on her leg. BD was working on his boat every afternoon and she went out to supervise. Her gait is much less tortured looking - that first day she really seemed to have to pump her whole body to move but she sort of glides along now. I love walking with dogs and love to see their pretty little legs trotting along in front of me - so although her movement is graceful, my heart constricts as I see her carry her right leg off the ground. It's shaved too, so it looks so much smaller than her left leg. Whenever I start to feel gloomy about this I put the feelings in a box which I will open later - At Tara - when she is healed.

Which I have every confidence she will be - just look at the difference between Wednesday and Sunday! She also wanted to play a little with her toys and to tooth wrestle with the red leather glove. She tires quickly when I play with her, but just seeing that little bit of interest in her usual pursuits lifts me up a bit. She's also developed a few new vocabulary barks. She has a little ARF for when she wants to go outside or come in. Then there is the YIP that means it's time to be fed. (Jack is much more subtle. He just comes up and shovels his nose beneath your hand over and over till you feed him.) And now she has a ROWELROWL that she moans out whenever she's left alone and wants you to come play with her. A talkative dog - ya just gotta love it!

Till her incision heals she is not supposed to get wet and with the spotty rain we had all weekend, she had to stay indoors for most of the time - something she definitely did NOT like. In the wee hours of this morning I thought I heard her ARFFING by the front door but I knew BD wouldn't have forgotten to bring her in last night.

WRONG-ish. She was outside and he didn't forget. She refused to come in. And in the slushy wet snow and the black darkness of a country yard he wasn't about to go prowling around looking for her. She spent the night with Jack in one of his dry spots - they neither of them ever use the dog house unless LD is here with his dog, when Jack gets very with-a-bone-ish and tries to shove Buster out of His House. But when I let them in this morning they were both dry so I know they were alright.

So. That is the state of Callie's Progress. Let us hope it continues apace and in a month I will be able to show you a picture of her dashing out into the world. Thank you all for caring so much about my little white dog.