Sunday, July 10, 2011

She's here.....(warning, its a bit wordy!)


So we brought our new puppy home on Saturday morning (yesterday). After all my worries about her being spayed early, I got a horrible phone call on Friday (they day she was being spayed) to tell me that there had been "complications" while she was having the surgery and I wouldn't be able to bring her home for another 5 days. As you can imagine, my heart sank. The lady on the phone was unable to tell me what these complications were, so I asked to speak to the vet, or vet nurse, only to be told that wouldn't be possible as they in surgery all day. And not able to speak to the kennel manager until Tuesday as she was away. I was panicking & imagining the worst, and in a bit of a rage that no-one would tell me what had happened, when the puppy was mine, as all the paperwork, payments etc had been completed. Then, an hour later, the vet rings me. She told me that after they had intubated her she coughed quite violently for a period due to being a bit light (not enough sedation - its always tricky in small animals, hence why I wasn't keen for the operation!) and the vet thought that she had torn her trachea (breathing tube) as there was an air leakage. She said that she'd done hundreds of tiny pup spays and never had this problem ad was extremely apologetic. It sounded to me as if they used the wrong sized tube or didn't have the cuff (balloon that holds the tube in place) inflated enough, as its extremely unusual to sustain a tracheal tear from coughing. I rang round few other vets to see what they thought and they agreed that it all sounded a bit odd. Anyhow, they reassured me that if there was a small tear it would heal on its own and there would be no long standing problems (wheeffff!) I convinced the vet to let me ring her home the next day, as she was going to get closer observation her with me than at the cold pound kennels and being a person nurse I would know what signs to look for if she deteriorated.

She is a very cool puppy! Still haven't decided on a name (so far we like Spy - like Eye-spy cause of her patch, what do you think?) She has done a fair bit of whining (and her toilet training is not going to plan at all!) but after 24 hours has really settled in, and wow, what a fast learner she is.

Pepper has been amazing, far better with her than I'd ever hoped. She has let the puppy climb on her, sleep with her on her bed, play with her ball (this is awesome as Pepper is fine with food but resource guards her toys a bit) and follow her around relentlessly. I'm so relieved, I was worried she's be a bit snappy but so far so good, they're not allowed together unsupervised as the pups so small but I'm really pleased. The hardest part for her is watching me train the puppy, I think shes a bit confused about the clicker going off and her not getting a treat - any ideas about this???

We also had Misty and Bruno stay for the weekend so it was a bit full on, glad that we have the 1st 24 hours under our hats and that the puppy is healthy. Looking forward to training and can't wait until she toilet trained and not peeing and pooping seemingly every 2 minutes.


9 comments:

  1. I am so glad that Pepper has a little sister now. It's great to have a sister or brother. Although I am a bit reactive to other dogs, I enjoy the company of Mint who always follows me around. As for the use of a clicker when another dog is around, I usually understand who the click is for, Mint or me. It's just like training classes, where there are multiple dogs being clicker trained. I can't wait to meet Pepper's little sister!

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  2. she's adorable! sorry she had trouble with her spay - that is scary - hope she does heal well.

    i think spy is a very cute name!

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  3. I think the crescent shape on her face looks like a moon, how about Luna?

    It might help Pepper if you had a softer, or snappier clicker for the puppy, just so she learns the distinction a little faster, ultimately though it won't change her reaction to her own clicker training.
    http://dogblog.dancingdogs.co.nz/2011/03/the-clicker-trainers-bible/

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  4. What a cutie! I look forward to hearing all the updates on her training!!!

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  5. She's cute we can't wait to meet her. With two of us Mum puts me in a stay and then does some clicker training with Goo and then comes back to me and gives me a reward for staying and then says Goos turn and goes back to Goo. Otherwise sometimes we just be in another room for a while.

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  6. She is so cute, and I'm gald she is OK after Friday. It is great she and Pepper are getting on so well.

    I've just started trying to train Ezno with the clicker I used for Riley. Even though it has 3 click settings there is not enough variation, so one click and I get two dogs expecting a treat, unless I put Riley in another room, and then he is still expecting treats. I'm thinking of finding a squeaker or some other noise maker (maybe from a kids toy) just for Enzo. If you find a solution let me know.

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  7. She's is so adorable. I like the name Spy. I love unique names. :)

    Sorry the spay didn't go well. Of course the one puppy that has complications would be the one you were worried about. I'm glad she's okay though.

    I wouldn't worry too much about the clicker. My dogs figured out really quickly who I was clicking for at any given time. I usually just tell the one I'm not working with to go lay down. They know they'll get their turn. :)

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  8. She's gorgeous! A little friend for Pepper :)

    LIcks and lots of slobber,
    Lexi and Jasper the Danes

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