Cleo's new harness

Just in time! And whew - it looks like I got the right size.

Cleo with Mack and Stewie. Doesn't she look so little next to them?

That's what I'm talkin' about

She probably thought 'finally, she makes it comfortable!' HA - she had to fight a cat, and Stewie, to get to her nice new spot! Actually, I had to move the cat. Two of the three cats LOVE her bed.

You can see in the upper corner of the ex-pen my new 'chair'. Walmart didn't have any gaming chairs under $80! and I wasn't driving all over town. They had a stadium seat for about $17.00. All I want is a back to lean up against and it has arms, so I'm all set (after I get a cushion or pillow to sit on)!

Today was BEAUTIFUL weather 50*, just a breeze. Of course the dogs got all muddy from the melting, but they are tired this afternoon. I've decided I might sleep with Cleo in the spare room for at least the first two weeks, so I took advantage of the nice weather and brought in the cushions/'mattress' from the RV. I have a waterbed, so there's no moving my mattress to the floor!

Harness is on it's way

I ordered a Ruffwear WebMaster Harness for Cleo. I found one at campmor.com for $37.99 plus $6.99 shipping. I just hope I ordered the right size!! She was 29" around the biggest part of her rib cage, and the Small goes to 30" - and the Ruffwear website said to choose the smaller size if in-between for a better fit. I should get it about 4 days before her surgery. I would like to put it on her a couple times before the 26th.

I hope our weather holds throughout her surgery. At least no ice or below zero temps. HA - what am I thinking? I live in Montana! And this is my luck I'm talking about - so I just sealed the fate for ice and frigid temps. I am going to move some wood around today or tomorrow when it's 50 degrees so we can have a fire the two weeks I'm home. I have the x-pen set up right next to the woodstove, so she can be nice and toasty with her naked leg.

The Ex-Pen

Cleo is wondering just what I am doing to her. She is NOT impressed with me. I'm thinking a gaming chair, or something similar, would be nice to have when she is in 'recovery', so my back and bottom don't ache. Will need to research those as well. Maybe give it to the nieces and nephew once Cleo is all better.

Nikita's Birthday

Today is Nikita's birthday - Cleo's 'older sister'. She turns 15 today. She's a husky mix and was born in Alaska - on Adak Island. Nikita was the only one in the litter that had 2 blue eyes, and we (ex-dh and I) picked her out before her eyes were open. She spent about a month with my folks when she was 4-5 months old, and one ear dropped in that time. Nikita is just a unique dog. Her muzzle used to be nice and black. She's seen quite a few dogs come through the house and on to the Bridge. Now she has to put up with Stewie, Mack and Cleo. Cleo and Nikita get along well, it's just those darn boys that tend to irritate her!

Here's the birthday girl (she hates the camera).

I got Cleo an x-pen yesterday. They had one at Big R (local farm 'everything' store) for $70 so I decided to go ahead and get it. It's 36" tall and we tested it a bit yesterday and I think it will work well!

Cleo has a date...

A date for surgery that is! January 26th. I'm excited and scared at the same time. I've decided to do the traditional surgery and I don't think that Dr. Smith is real excited about it. I realize that if she (or I) mess up, it will probably be surgery again, but I am going into this that it will work the first time. We just have to take the first six weeks very easy.

I’ll be home the first two weeks with her. I’ve got to get her x-pen ordered. I guess there is a place here in town that might have them for a little more than online, so I want to check that out before I order. The one online is 36” tall with 8-24” sections. http://www.digitpet.com/product_group.cfm?cid=1001,2006,3014&pid=12000M I also need to convince my dad to take their kid gate off, and put it on my craft room here.

I’d really like to get a Web Master Ruff Wear Harness, but WOW they are $50!! I read about them on OrthoDogs where the dogs are called “Suitcase Dogs”. If you want to see them - http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness?sc=2&category=1131 My mom thinks I can make one, I would have NO idea where to even start. I don’t want to try something and have it fail – that would make me nervous! I’ll watch eBay and maybe get lucky!

And here's a picture for you to enjoy. You may be wondering where I get to sleep - somewhere in the middle... HA

Happy New Year!

Today is Cleo's one month anniversary at her new forever home (mine)! She is such a good girl. I can’t believe how well she is fitting in to our routine and with the boys. The boys can be so naughty and I think (no, I KNOW) we need to do some serious training! I’m thinking clicker training/positive reinforcement is the way to go with these two, and with Cleo as well.

Yesterday, I changed my mind on which type of surgery I want to do for Cleo. I’ve decided to have the Traditional surgery instead of the TPLO. Of course, my vet doesn’t know this yet, although I did leave a message for him to call me Monday. I just think financially, this is the way to go right now. It’s half the cost, but probably twice as fragile as the TPLO, so I (and the boys) will have to very, very careful with her. I belong to a Yahoo Group (Orthodogs) and I’ve been reading about both.

I will order the X-pen soon. My folks have a kid gate that my mom said we can use (it bolts on the wall), so that will save me $32. I was going to go to Biolife and sell my plasma for the next couple months, but I can’t for at least 1-2 weeks, so that blew my budget that I had planned out. That was another reason. I know they said I could make payments, but I’ve decided I’d rather just pay it and be done with it. I was going to sell my wedding and engagement ring (why I’ve held on to them for 10 years, I’ll never know!!) but gold isn’t worth anything right now – at least not what I’ve got anyway. My clothes don’t seem to be selling, even though I’ve had a couple bites.

I sure hope I’m making the right decision for both of us.