Caring for your dog after surgery.

In reference to my post in April about Blacky my 8-month-old puppy that had to go through surgery for his hind knees. Well on May 20 he was scheduled for surgery on both knees.

I didn’t get any sleep the night before the surgery wondering if I was taking the right decision for him. Surgery was inevitable Blacky couldn’t walk anymore. He was dragging his hind legs as he tried to run after the birds. It was heart breaking to see him try to run just to give up in the end because of the pain. You could see he was exhausted as he collapsed on the grass panting.

He looked so helpless with those dark black eyes staring at me. I would pick him up and bring back into the house.

When I picked him up at the Vet’s after his surgery he was laying on a mat, the Vet said they preferred not to put him in a cage in order not to traumatize him. They know him well; I’ve been to the Vet’s so many times with Blacky that he’s become some sort of Mascot at the clinic. 

Poor thing, he looked like a poodle that had been trimmed, no fur on his belly and legs, just a strip on his back and on his paws. You know those punk style haircuts when they shave their heads and leave a strip on top of their skull, just like the Iroquois Indians. (See a few Google images on Iroquois)

                                                           Poor baby, all wrapped up.

The first night he slept on his mat in front of the couch in the living room. I slept on the couch so I could keep an eye on him. Neither of us slept much. He was in pain even with the painkillers the Vet subscribed. Check out this link, Post-Operative care for Pets. There’s even a picture of a dog that had knee surgery like Blacky, and that was shaved in the same manner.

I believe the worst problem was that he couldn’t understand what had happened to him. Why he was in so much pain, and why he couldn’t get up to pee?

That night I ended up sleeping on the carpet with him. He calmed down as I petted him when he got nervous and tried to move in vain. I’ve had many animals; domestic and not that I have cared for in the past 30 yrs. An animal needs to feel safe when it’s sick, otherwise it feels threatened, it’s an innate reaction for men and animals alike. If you are sick and weak, you ‘re easy prey, so you panic.

Last night after taking the bandages off his legs as the Vet had subscribed, I decided to put a mattress on the floor. It was much more comfortable for me, and I was right next to Blacky. He slept pretty well through the night but a 4am he was wide-awake and barking. I picked him up and switched him around, thinking maybe that he was tired of being in the same position. 

Finally, he stopped barking as I spoke to him with a soothing voice while petting him. At 6 am here we go again, he gets fidgety and barks repeatedly. Okay, now I try hard to figure out what  he wants? I noticed he hadn’t peed on his absorbent pad underneath him as he had the night before.

I delicately pick him up; go on the balcony, prop him up by holding his butt up in order for him not to stand on his hind legs. Not easy I must say, he weighs 12 Kg. There you go, he finally pees, what a relief, I bring him back into the house and set him down, he falls fast asleep, and so do I.

Today, he’s doing a lot better, in fact, he wants to stand on his own, and I can’t have that. He’s a puppy and he wants to play, my husband says not to worry and that he won’t get up. I insist I have to be near him to avoid that he stand on his back legs, the consequences could be disastrous; it has only been two days since he has gone through surgery. The Vet insisted that the dog not stand on his hind legs before his check up next week. I intend to follow his advice no matter what.

 Blacky on my mattress on the floor, guess who gets to sleep on the couch tonight?

Good thing is that he has a good appetite and drinks as well. The only problem is that he hasn’t had a bowel movement since the surgery. I will have to find a way to hold him without him standing on his hind legs go to the bathroom; it won’t be easy for either one of us.

I will keep you posted.

Do you have a dog that has been through surgery like Blacky? Did he have to go through rehabilitation afterwards? Was he able to run, play, and jump as other dogs naturally do?

Please let me know, I would love to hear from you.

Take care now.

I’ll be back next week

How to choose a pen name. Are you sure you really need one?

YOU can become whoever you like, BUT be yourself, don’t try to impersonate anyone, it will complicate things. 

One good example is the following;  I wrote a book thinking I could use my real name and then found out I had to get a pen name, now that was a problem. So here I am trying to write two Blog’s at the same time and trying to be earnest and overall honest with my readers, writing under two different names is difficult, it’s time consuming, and I have less time on hand to write my books, or do my gardening or, or…

 I was always told as a child that truthful words stand the test of time; but lies are soon exposed. I hate the fact of using a pen name, it’s not me. I don’t invent things on my Blogs; it is still me writing about my real self on the other Blog, only under another name unfortunately. I would have preferred to write for one Blog that’s all. 

Anne R. Allen gave me some good advice and sent me a link to Kristen Lamb’s Blog on the subject. If you are going crazy as I am, look them up, I found it very useful. Anne posts very good content in her Blogs.

Remember seeing the poster 'I can do it' years ago?

It’s been around a lot for commercial use and has been used way too much, but I like it.  It was J.Howard Miller that re-interpreted the photograph by UPI and created the poster of Geraldine Hoff age 17. At the time she was a factory worker.

Miller added muscles and rearranged the photograph. 

You can read about this on Wikipedia.

When I look at it, it gives me strength, you can do it Eleanor, hang in there you’re not a quitter.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a feminist. I work like a man when I need to and foremost when I want to.

I am and will always be a Tomboy and I enjoy jobs men usually do such as carpentry, masonry or working at the lathe in our plant.

I may not have the muscles men have but I can use my brain. Women are usually pretty good at getting around things. Women are multitasking robots.

When it comes to being a Mom, I am a mother to my children that often complain I am too apprehensive at times.

I can become a lover and mistress for my wonderful husband.

I can escape from adulthood by having long walks in the woods, observing tadpoles in a pond and picking up anything that seems new and interesting as I did as a kid.

If you want something bad enough grab it. Perseverance is the secret. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. (Written by Thomas H. Palmer’s Teacher’s Manual). 

It works, I never to give up.

I just bought another book on platforms written by Michael Hyatt, Platform Get noticed in a Noisy World.

I have read two other books on the subject and find that all three of them are useful. Whatever information is lacking in one book you can find in the other. One written by Kristen Lamb and the other by Anne R Allen.

If you have any comments or have any suggestions regarding pen names please let me know.

I would love to hear from you. I hope this information was useful.

How to deal with your neighbors and not lose your temper.

Here we go. A few years back I had 11 American game hens and 14 American roosters/cocks. Why so many? Because I don’t eat my birds and these little birds fly and reproduce very easily and hide their eggs.

So when you least expect it, here she comes out of her hiding place walking around with her little chicks. It was the hen you thought the fox ate a month beforehand when you couldn’t’ find her.

It came to a point that I couldn’t keep all of them and so decided to put an ad in the paper and at local stores so animal lovers could adopt them. 

I had many people call for the ad; I interviewed them and met them personally. I disregarded the people that evidently came to grab the poor hens to put them in a pot and have them for dinner. One person even told me, “Why do you breed them if you don’t eat them.” Well you guessed he didn’t get any.

Fortunately I did find animal lovers that adopted my hens and roosters and I was left with three hens and two roosters.

Meanwhile I had adopted two stray dogs and had renovated the hen house for them. Poor hens, they kept on going back to their home but discouraged by the dogs they found another home in the trees and behind the barn. 

They are great flyer's; they would lay their eggs behind the barn, well sometimes, and sleep in the trees. The only problems were the neighbors. They didn’t appreciate being woken up by the rooster at 3am. Even though the rooster only sang for about 30 seconds. Well you know how it is; people nowadays are stressed and nervous. They don’t seem to be bothered by the heavy traffic or the trains whistle but if they hear a sound they are not accustomed to they go berserk.

To make a long story short, one 90 yrs old neighbor had sleeping problems and started complaining about the rooster. What happens, one person tells the other neighbor, “Did you hear that rooster of theirs sing at 3am?” At first, they deny it then they become aware there is a rooster singing, and that triggers the other neighbors. With the power of suggestion the whole neighborhood can hear him sing.

Meanwhile my neighbor started shooting at my rooster with a BB gun while it was perched on a tree facing his home. It is not legal, but I didn’t complain, I tell you, I was upset. Fortunately, he didn’t hurt him.

 Moral, I tried to capture my hens and roosters but it took me a month. I then brought them to a caring family that adopted them. A few weeks later, when I didn’t have any roosters left a friend of mine at the City Hall told me my neighbors had signed a petition.

 Well nothing happened but it did bother me, I had tried to make them happy in capturing and transferring the birds elsewhere but some people are just mean.

Therefore, which is the best way to deal with bad neighbors that complain about a few leaves that fly on their lawn or because you don’t cut your grass regularly, it’s not easy believe me. Know your legal responsibilities to avoid further disputes.

For example, my tree branches overhang the fence, and my neighbor wants me to prune or cut them down.

Well the law in Italy provides that if the trees have been there since they moved in 30 yrs ago he couldn’t ask me to cut them down because more than 20 yrs have passed since so he has no rights whatsoever. However, I must trim the branches overhanging the fence. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past two weekends.

You have to be super nice with these people, and try not to lose your temper. It’s not easy to smile at people you know are just a pain in the neck. However, if you intend to live in peace you have to be nice, if you get as aggressive as they do things get worst. I found that being diplomatic almost always works. 

As Isaac Asimov wrote in the Foundation Trilogy, “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” Stay calm, reflect, and learn how to cope with certain people. Here, ignorance is our enemy.

Another trick is find out, as I did, if they had a construction permit for the shack they built last summer near your fence. My neighbors didn’t but I didn’t go to City Hall and complain. I kept it in mind until his next complaint and sure enough, he complained that a bit of dirt would get onto his patio, and that the rain had pushed the grounds against the fencing and moved a few bricks, oh jeez. I smiled and reminded him about his shack, and that a corner was on my property, strangely enough, he never complained again.

Live and let live will you.

Another neighbor came out with another complaint when we had a flood last year; he called me up and told me to stop the water from flooding his grounds, his cellar was flooded and it was my fault. Well, how could I stop the water, his home was lower than mine was and water flows downwards and not upwards. 

Besides, most people in town had their cellars flooded; I suggested he get a water pump, and replied that I couldn’t do anything to stop the water because my name wasn’t Moses, the whole town was on alert for God’s sake, please.

I told him what I could do was to put some planks of wood against the fence so some water would go down the road instead of pouring into his lawn. He seemed satisfied and stopped complaining.

These are little sacrifices we have to make in everyday life in order to make the best of a bad lot.

A few tips:

1 -Don’t let things get out of hand for little things, you should always talk about a solution with your neighbor as a first step.

2 - Avoid disputes; being on good terms with your neighbors makes it easier to resolve problems.

3 –Of course if your neighbor gets too aggressive and out of hand try getting help from the authorities or a lawyer. This would be as a last resort.

Oh, remember that at times your neighbor may be right, so keep a step ahead of them, and know your rights beforehand.

I found interesting the information on Wikihow on the subject, check it out.

Do you have problems with your neighbors? How did you resolve the problem? Do you have any suggestions of your own on how to deal with bad neighbors? Please let me know.