Friday, August 27, 2010

Training day 6- Sad dog is not sad

So as you all know, Bailey was neutered on Wednesday. Today was the first day I had seen him since the snip snip, so I was expecting him to be sad and lethargic.

Not the case.When I got to my trainer's house, he was playing in the backyard with a 3-month-old lab puppy. He was running around and tackling her. My trainer had determined that he was well enough to hang out with one or two other dogs but we were both surprised to see how much energy he had with her. This is the first time I'd ever seen him REALLY play with another dog since he's recently just come off of quarantine for having a parasite. He was leaping over the other dog, sharing toys, and playing keep-away.


After playtime it was time to work. We did bell training and he was pretty good. We started outside with distractions and he still responded. Then we moved inside and did 5 more minutes before he conked out.

Because I hadn't really planned for him to be his normal energetic self, I didn't plan any outings. After he woke up I took him to go pee and then ate lunch. He is becoming a vocal boy which is kind of not a good thing for a service dog. He doesn't bark incessantly but he barks a few times when he sees a dog. Not a mean bark, just a hello bark. Still I need to figure out a way to keep him quiet.

After lunch I walked him through the neighborhood. I decided to make him sit and wait before going through every door. I did this by just waiting at the gate until he sat and then going. It takes a while for him to figure it out but he'll get it. I had kind of a "roll up a newspaper and hit myself" moment when I realised he might be avoiding sitting because HE'D JUST BEEN NEUTERED! Duh. So I kind of let it slide today. After the walk he was tired so I just put him in his crate. I was not sure if I should put his cone on, but since my trainer was out I figured better to be safe than sorry. He looked so sad!

4 comments:

  1. the cone is to stop the dog from licking or chewing an area. if he wasnt paying attention to the incision site he doesnt need a cone. my dog had no interest in his incision site when he got snipped so he didnt need his cone. probably helped that there was no stitches as the vet used that adhesive stitch replacement. glad to hear he is his happy self!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That dog is extremely cute. Glad he's doing so well! My friend just got a service dog who's in training for working with PTSD patients. He's a massive greyhound and my friend feels like he's a good protector for her. I'm so glad that service dogs for other types of disabilities are being accepted more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. he looks great lol it does not take them long to get back to their normal self after thatn My six month old lab was just nutered on august 9 he was five mons at the time and was seriously back to normal in four days i was shocked too lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unfortunately, as dogs are being accepted for more disabilities, other animals are being rejected. So if your service bird is the only one who can help you, tough luck.

    ReplyDelete