Breakfast this morning, Keely growled after I put the food down, I wasn't sure if she was growling at me or at Oscar the Tuxedo cat, who likes to eat dog food and was about 5 feet away. So I picked up Keely's bowl and did the sit-down-stay thing with her, and she did not growl after that. I brushed her teeth, she was pretty good with that too. It's probably time for another teeth cleaning for her if the vet said it's okay to put her under anesthesia. Also if she�s going to be put under anesthesia for the teeth cleaning anyways, there's a nodule/growth on the underside of her right ear, that the vet might be able to remove at the same time as teeth cleaning. It was bleeding a little bit when I found it last night (and I cleaned it with baby wipe this morning), but I was careful about avoiding that spot when I trimmed her face this morning.
I noticed sometime this morning, that I think Keely has realized that Tara is blind. I don't know how to explain it, but Keely doesn't seem as afraid when Tara accidentally bumps into her (I try my best to keep them apart) or walks funny around the apartment. And Keely has started walking around freely around Tara's back.
We decided to take one of the dogs with us on the drive to the Atlanta airport, and we brought Keely along. She slept part of the way there and most of the way back.
We got back to the apartment around noon. When we got back to the apartment, before I turned on the lights, we walked down the hallway, and she walked into the walls twice.
I finished trimming her hair after lunch. I gave her one of the chicken treats while I worked on her tail, like Barbara had suggested.
So far Keely hasn't been interested in the crate. I've been keeping them apart when I'm not at home, by leaving Keely in the bedroom and Tara in the livingroom (I usually lock Tara in the livingroom when I'm not at home anyways).
I'm going to take Keely and Tara for a walk a little later. Keely also sits automatically by the door when she sees me picking up the leash.
From Barbara, �We did suspect that Keely was having trouble with her vision. We also think she has trouble hearing. Sometimes we have to clap our hands to get her attention.�
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I also think Keely has some loss of hearing too. Sometimes she does not appear to know when I tell her "Sit", but does it faster when I show her the hand signal. Part of getting old I guess...
When I got home from school around 7 PM last night (was away for 4 hours), I found Keely had salivated profusely by the hallway door and has scratched some carpet.
I took Tara and Keely for a 2-mile walk on campus last night. After we came back, I was tired and went to bed. I tied Tara to my waist to keep her near me while I could not supervise them. Keely likes to take her naps by the front door, on the linoleum (and not on the carpet). Then I woke up in the middle of the night around 3 AM, took the dogs out potty and switched dogs and tied Keely to my waist until the morning. She was very hesitant about sleeping on my bed next to me, it took several tries (funny because I suspect that she sleeps on my bed when I'm not at home).
This morning before I took Tara and Anastasia with me for a dog evaluation for 2 hours, I moved the baby gate from the bathroom door frame to the hallway door frame, and kept Keely in the livingroom while we were out. She appeared to have done fine with this arrangement when we came home 2 hours later.
I am at school right now, and I've left Tara in the bedroom/hallway, with baby gate on the hallway door frame and the crate right in front of it (on the livingroom side). And Keely in the front part of the apartment (livingroom). Hope this will work out. Millie and I have discussed last night, about having Keely staying at her lakehouse over the weekend. Keely growled at Tara again last night when Tara bumped into her. However Keely did not growl when Tara bumped into her this morning (I really think Keely knows now that Tara is blind). We'll just take it one day at a time and I will call you tomorrow to let you know about the weekend.
Keely's BM is normal and regular (twice a day) and is eating well.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Okay when I came home on Wednesday afternoon, Tara had closed the hallway door on herself (baby gate on the hallway door frame also closed), but Keely appeared to be fine in the livingroom. Keely was happy to see me and barked. When I went to get Tara, she had stepped and knocked over the water bowl, but luckily did not poop or pee on the carpet, I guess she hadn't locked herself in for long.
I took them for another 2 mile walk that night. No dog fights for the last 36-48 hours. Keely is okay when Tara bumps into her when they are both walking around in the apartment, and would actually back away or curve to the side when she sees Tara coming, but growls occasionally when Tara walks toward her when Keely's lying down already. So I still watch Tara when she's awake. But both dogs sleep a lot more after the walk on the second day.
Overnight again I tied Tara to my waist for the first part, and then switched and tied Keely to me. In the middle, I kind of fell asleep between unhooking Tara and putting Keely on leash, so the dogs were free for about an hour, before I woke up to take the dogs out potty and tied Keely to me. Keely still doesn't like sleeping on my bed with me, but she has gotten on my bed several times by herself while I was awake.
Keely continues to eat fine and has regular BM.
Thursday morning, I decided to put Keely's bed in the hallway as door stop, so Tara won't close the door on herself again. When I came home, I found Tara had locked herself in the bedroom this time. Again luckily she did not poop or pee on the carpet. So I needed a different strategy for when I go back to school in the afternoon.
For the afternoon, I put Keely in the hallway/bedroom area, Tara in the livingroom, and then again closed the baby gate. When I came home, everybody appeared to be okay, no barking, no carpet scratching. I think it helped that Keely was able to see me leave through the baby gate. And I guess I should've tried this baby gate method in the first place, I had thought about doing this for Tara for several months now, because the thermostat is in the hallway, and when I close the hallway door for the day, instead of putting up the baby gate, sometimes the temperature in the livingroom gets too hot for Tara. So I should've done this several months ago.
I took both dogs for walk after the rain on Thursday night again, 2 miles on campus, our usual route. They got their dinner about an hour afterwards, and both went to sleep until this morning pretty much.
Keely has growled a couple times at the cats when she was lying down in the hallway and the cats were walking toward her. And she had growled at me once when I was picking her up in the middle of the night, trying to get her to sleep on my bed. But meal times has been fine, no problem there, and I stay near here and touch her bowl when she eats.
