Nema's First Aquatic Adventure

On Valentine's Day weekend, B & I drove up to Austin and spent Saturday and Sunday with friends. Both days, we took their dog, Sam, and Nema to a trail near their apartment that led to a creek where Austinites let their dogs play off leash. It was Nema's first time to go swimming, and I didn't know how she'd like it.

Well, it turns out that Nema took to the creek like a Labrador to water -- oh wait, she is part Lab, and the creek is water. :-)

First of all, she did great walking along with us on the trail off leash. She and Sam raced in front and around us but never strayed too far. Once we got to the creek she had a blast running around in the water, and chasing tennis balls and other dogs. At one point she submerged her entire head in the creek to retrieve a tennis ball.

We'll definitely be taking Nema swimming again -- and as often as possible -- since she had so much fun.

Good News From the Vet

As I mentioned in my Feb. 1 blog entry, Nema had the growth removed from under her right front leg last Wednesday, Feb. 11. I took her into the vet's office that morning and made sure they were going to use local anethestic. Bernard picked her up that afternoon, and when I got home from work she had several sutures closing up the skin, and it was a little swollen, but she seemed fine.

Over Valentine's Day weekend Nema was fine, although the swelling remained. We were staying in Austin with some friends for the weekend, and they also have a dog, an Australian shepherd named Sam. We tried to keep Nema as quiet as possible, but anyone who knows Nema knows she is one active pup -- especially when other dogs are around. So we ended up giving up and taking her and Sam for an off-leash walk both Saturday and Sunday to drain her energy -- more about that in a subsequent blog entry.

On Monday, Feb. 16, I was back in Houston but had to stay home sick from work. I wanted the vet to check on the sutures as they were a little red and swollen. So Bernard took Nema to the vet, where they said she looked fine and removed the sutures. After that the swelling and redness subsided and now, three days later, the most obvious sign of the surgery is the shaved area around where the sutures were.

That wasn't the only good news from the vet though. The best news is that the test results on the growth showed it was a benign lesion. So, not cancer. I don't know why she got the lesion but I am grateful it was not malignant.

I feel bad that little Nema has had to go through these two medical issues in her short life so far. First the horrible spaying experience, and then this minor surgery on the growth. But I am happy that so far she has come through them both OK.

Animal Odd Couple: Tara the Elephant and Bella the Dog

A friend of mine sent me the link below in an e-mail forward, and while I don't like most forwards, this one was amazing enough that I sent it on to several friends and family members.

Not only does the elephant featured in the video share my name, Tara, it also features an incredible sight: an elephant gently petting a dog on her stomach -- with her giant foot!

This is a couple of minutes long but it really is worth watching to the very end. Take a look: Animal Odd Couple video on YouTube.

Run Free, Puppy!

Yesterday we let Nema run around unleashed in an unfenced open field with plenty of other people and distractions nearby -- a group of adults playing football, bicyclists, walkers, other dogs walking on leash with their owners, and a forest on one side of the field into which she easily could have disappeared.

Nema behaved perfectly. We were with our neighbors and their two dogs, and the three dogs chased each other, chased a tennis ball and chased frisbees. They had so much fun. Even though she initially looked tempted to barge into the football game taking place at the other end of the large field and go after their football, she was satisfied with our tennis ball and frisbees. Even when the other two dogs vanished for a while into the forest to explore, Nema stayed by us, preferring to run after the tennis ball. Even when one of the other dogs barked a couple of times at passing dogs on leashes, Nema ignored all that and just wanted to play ball. Even when we humans stopped throwing the ball and were standing around talking, Nema just wandered around in our vicinity and then lay on the grass to rest.

This was a big step for me because I am admittedly overprotective of my pup and for a long time the thought of letting her run free terrified me. She could get hit by a car, I thought. (This field was not near any roads, which is why I felt it was safe enough to let her off leash in it.) She could run away. (But, she has never given any indication that she would ever stray too far from us. She doesn't like being separated from us.) She could playfully jump on a small kid and knock him over, bringing on a lawsuit from his parents. (This could still happen, I suppose, even though Nema would not intentionally hurt anyone.)

Once, when she was just a few months old, B & I were taking her for a walk around our neighborhood. We were on a street that is separated from a major highway by only a field -- theoretically, a dog could run right onto the freeway. As we were walking, Nema slipped her head out of her collar. She was "naked" in dog terms -- no collar, and therefore no ID should she get lost. I felt my whole body seize up in panic. However, she scampered straight toward me, not away from me and toward the freeway as I feared. Despite the fact that she demonstrated she would run to me and not away from me, I scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way home, while B entreated me to relax and put her back down so she could walk. I just couldn't -- I was so shaken by just the possibility of what could have happened if she had run across the field and onto the highway.

But since then I have realized that I need to relax and trust my dog. We have developed a bond and she is not likely to just take off running into the horizon if I unclip her leash from her collar. So lately I have been experimenting with taking her outside to the sidewalk off leash to go to the bathroom. She has been pretty good during those experiments, except that once she ran into the middle of the street (I had already checked to make sure there were no cars coming before I took off her leash) and then would not come to me when I called her. She just stood there in the street sniffing at something on the ground. So I walked over to her and put her leash back on. But the other times she didn't run into the street -- she stayed on the sidewalk and ran right back to the gate of our drive after she was done going to the bathroom and waited for me to catch up to her and let her in.

So yesterday in the open field was another breakthrough for me. I don't think I'm ready to take her for walks off leash by any means. But at least I can feel secure that I can take her to exercise in the park without worrying too much. I'll still worry a little bit, though :-)

And best of all, I could tell that Nema was having a great time out there in the field. She was exhausted after being out there for over an hour, running and playing. It made me happy to see her having so much fun.

Dog Park + Toys + Fetch = Happy Pup

Today B took Nema to the little fenced dog park near our house. I think the above photo speaks for itself.

Nema's Vet Visit

Yesterday I took Nema to the vet because a "mole" or growth of some sort had been getting bigger and also is changing color. It's near her right armpit. (Or do they call them leg pits on dogs?)

Going to the vet is a very anxious event for me, although Nema seems to be OK with it. That's because she had a very bad experience there last year. We took her in to be spayed. Directly after the surgery she seemed to be fine. The vet tech called me and said she was doing well and had been walked outside to use the restroom. They keep all the animals overnight so she told me I could pick her up in the morning.

That night we went out to a concert with a couple of friends. After the concert, around 10:30 p.m., I checked my cell phone and noticed I had missed a phone call from the vet at 9:30. I immediately knew something was wrong -- why would the vet call so late at night. I called and called and called the vet, with rising panic as they did not answer. Finally the vet tech answered and put the vet on the phone. He told me that when he checked on the animals around 8:30 he found Nema in critical condition, bleeding internally. He called two of his staff members to come from home to help him give her a blood transfusion. When I talked to him on the phone he said she was now in fair condition and that I could come see her.

About 11 p.m. B and I arrived at the vet's office. When I walked in a saw her it broke my heart. She stood up when she saw us, even though she had a catheter in her leg from the ongoing transfusion, and even through she was so weak she could only stand for a few moments. Her gums and inner eyelids were white from blood loss. I had never seen an animal in that condition before, and seeing my precious dog like that was nearly unbearable. Even writing this now, months later, I can't help but cry.

One of the vet techs stayed all night with Nema to monitor her and called us at home once an hour every hour until 8 a.m. to tell us how she was doing. Nema had to stay at the vet's office for several more days, and when we finally brought her home she had to be kept very still for several more days. She had a compression bandage around her belly and was still healing. A couple of weeks later Nema developed a fluid sac under the incision, which caused a large bulge under her belly. The vet drained that a couple of times and finally it went away.

I took Nema to a second vet for a second opinion about everything, but ultimately decided to stay with the original vet.

That was in October; now, three months later, she seems to be completely healed and has no negative reaction when we go to the same vet's office. But I felt bad because yesterday when we went back to the vet to get the growth checked out, they had to shave the fur around the growth to get a better look at it and we had to hold her down on the table. I hate having to do that. But once we let her down she seemed to hold no grudges.

The vet said we need to get the growth surgically removed and tested. He said they will use a local anesthetic this time, because even though she was OK with the anesthetic during the spay, it is better to be safe than sorry with Nema due to what happened last time. We scheduled the surgery for Feb. 11. I am trying not to dwell on the worst-case scenario, that it could be cancer. I am hopeful it is benign, or some other harmless growth.

The Human-Dog Bond

I think it may be difficult for some people to understand how humans can become so attached to dogs. For me, it's about several things.

First, when I brought Nema home I made a commitment to be responsible for her well-being, so that's why I do my best to make sure she has plenty of love, the best food, a warm and comfy place to sleep, interaction with lots of other dogs and people, exercise, and training.

Second, people who get a dog and keep it chained up in the backyard or in a cage never get to experience how intelligent most dogs are. It's fun to watch them learn. It not only expands their world -- it also is fun for the human teacher.

Third, even if a dog is not particularly smart, almost all dogs (unless their behavior has been ruined by humans) will give you so much love and affection -- and isn't that what most people secretly want? They really can be a companion who can do what no human friend can do -- be there for you all the time, 24 hours a day, willing to spend all their time with you, no matter what. They'll walk with you, watch TV with you, go out anywhere with you, sleep on the couch or in the bed with you, and always love you.

Fourth, for me and Nema specifically, one reason I am so attached to her is because I held her in my arms when she was a little 6-pound puppy and have seen her grow up into an intelligent, active, sweet, and funny dog. I am always going to do my best to keep her safe and happy.