Watty's Awakening

badmemory

Cats always win.  Even if they are sitting at the top af a tree giving the dog the two finger sign.

Watty1

KajiKita said:

Oh Watty-Dog … <said with hands on hips and a deep sigh> 😉
He’s proving to be a challenging patient isn’t he … 🤷‍♀️😊❤️

He really is the most useless patient.   I am beginning to think he will never get better because as soon as he feels slightly better he does something daft.  Which of course is so 'WattyDog'.     Yesterday evening I put him in his crate as I was upstairs and he barked.   Continually every couple of mins he let out a bark so I knew he was confined and on his own.     I thought if I ignored him he would give up.

No!  After 40 mins I came downstairs and let him out and sat on the floor with him.  I explained that barking is not good for his slipped disc - but - he just doesn't understand.   Naturally today after his attempted breakouts, chasing the cat (who is now to her disgust confined to the office) and barking sessions he is very poorly and so crated again.   He has learned to empty his frozen toys in about 5 mins flat.

I am delighted he feels better, but all of the research I have read suggests that things could improve A LOT if he would just rest. If he were to rest completely for 5 to 8 weeks there is a chance his normal life could resume.  So far we have maybe rested for 5 to 8 hours in the weeks that have passed.

At least I know for sure surgery is not an option now.  He could never be restrained enough to heal. 

I have invested £95 in a dog playpen in the hopes this will help matters.  It should be here Wednesday.

Watty1

In other news, yesterday morning I took Charming Cob out for the longest ride we have done this year. I was so happy, I couldn't stop grinning.  To think earlier in the year I thought this would not be possible.  On the way back I passed a little wood.  Now this has always been overgrown but I noticed a gap in the trees so we turned off, in the past one could only go a few strides, but this time I was able to go all the way along the road, but, in the woods.  What a joy.  We also passed a field of sunflowers and when the VNM heard about those he really wanted to see the, so, off we went in the car. I then drove him around the route so he could see how much the drought has affected the countryside (the waterfall has gone, the streams are dried up) and showed him the wood.  He suggested we stop and have a very quick walk.   Walking feels so wrong without WattyDog  anyway we did stop and found that there was another path that went round the outside of the wood that Charming Cob could use.

I thought of @debtfreewannabe321 and the visualisation she suggested I try - and - here we are - a few months later and a tiny woodland track has opened up.  Not much - but it is a start.  Maybe there is something in this I thought

In the afternoon I planted  up the empty border with the plants from the garden centre and seeds for later and weeded the finished border.  VNM spayed the weeds in the gravel paths.   

Life is good

greenbee

Stinky has a playpen (borrowed from a cousin) which we cable-tied to the crate to give him more space. I’ve just ordered more (larger) black kongs, as these are taking Stinky nearly an hour to empty. I pack them tightly and freeze for several days. The cooked chicken/chicken livers/veg mix probably lasts longest as once defrosted (through licking) he has to bounce it on the ground to break up the pieces and get them out. But I think the trick is to fill it so that licking is the only way to get the stuff out (which is why I stopped using kibble and swapped to yogurt, mashed veg, and soft cooked meat (apparently wet dog food works too, but there’s a limit to how stinky i’m prepared for the stuff I have to handle to be!).

dawnybabes

My dog has the little jars of meat paste - like shippams - I just freeze the jar and give it her, it takes her about an hour to lick through, she’s never dropped one or broken it, just leaves it on the grass for me to hoover up and recycle. 

Cherryfudge

I doubt he would like it, but is there any sort of brace WattyDog could use to reduce the strain on his frame? Possibly not an option, as the cat would laugh at him and he'd have to retaliate.

I love the description of the woodland path: sometimes these things are just visible for a season, and the dry weather has brought it to light. And how fabulous that CC was able to try it out! It reminds me very much of the Kipling poem. 

daisy_1571

Since wattydog always looks like Roobarb in my imagination, now wattycat has become pink



dxx

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha!  daisy - I was literally just mentioning rhubarb and custard on my thread - definitely they are the TV incarnations of Wattydog and Wattycat 🥰

Greying X

Watty1

Loved that Kipling poem @Cherryfudge Thank you.

@daisy_1571 WattyDog is just like Roobarb, perhaps not a great thinker but handsome and generous and cheerful and unfailingly optimistic.    

He probably needs to be on a lead all the time as well as being supervised as he gave the VNM the slip in the living room and bounded after the cat who was supposed to be in the office but gave me the slip as I opened the door.    The cat has never got the better of WattyDog. She has never once hissed or spat at him which might have helped her stand her ground but she always believes today is the day she will win out.

Watty1

greenbee said:

Stinky has a playpen (borrowed from a cousin) which we cable-tied to the crate to give him more space. I’ve just ordered more (larger) black kongs, as these are taking Stinky nearly an hour to empty. I pack them tightly and freeze for several days. The cooked chicken/chicken livers/veg mix probably lasts longest as once defrosted (through licking) he has to bounce it on the ground to break up the pieces and get them out. But I think the trick is to fill it so that licking is the only way to get the stuff out (which is why I stopped using kibble and swapped to yogurt, mashed veg, and soft cooked meat (apparently wet dog food works too, but there’s a limit to how stinky i’m prepared for the stuff I have to handle to be!).

Message to Stinky from WattyDog = try harder!  That can be done in 20 mins tops, and if you get stuck bark for a human to get the last bit out.  Just keep barking!

The idea of giving Wattydog glass does not bear thinking about @dawnybabes