Feeling Better

I am happy to report that Honeydew is doing well with her injury.  (For those that haven't heard, last week Honeydew got bit by a strange dog in the lobby of my work building. At the time I didn't think there was an injury - no blood, she didn't act in pain - but it turns out the dog did get a piece of her and she ended up with an  abscess in her cheek from a puncture wound.  This required some minor surgery, a drain tube, stitches, antibiotics, etc.).  

While it annoys her, she has come to terms with her cone collar.  At first, when she ran into something with it, she would freeze and stand there confused.  Now, she just plows ahead!  It is best to get out of her way - because if she hits something she just pushes forward even harder.  She has scraped our kneecaps off more than once!  Emma and Tully (our other dogs) are being fairly forgiving of Honeydew's bumbling and wandering in the cone - and all 3 cats just keep clear of her.  Honeydew has become quite skilled at figuring out how to continue chewing on her toys - although sometimes the toys fall under the cone so she spends a few minutes trying to chew them through the cone.  Eventually she figures out what is going on and adjusts the cone so she can get to the goodies.  I have attached a couple of pictures of our little satellite dish dog and her toys.

She goes in tomorrow (Monday) to get the drain and stitches in her cheek taken out.  Guide Dogs has given me a series of activities I need to do with her at work next week in the area where the dog attack happened...lots of treats and kibble involved...to help make sure that she isn't traumatized by the incident and that she associates that part of the building with positive things (kibble and love) rather than negative things (where a stupid lady let her dog attacked her for no reason....erggg).  She is a brave heart and a fearless soul - lots of spunk - so I am not overly concerned that this incident has phased her in the least.  

Guide Dogs for the Blind will keep an eye on her moving forward to make sure that they don't think anything more needs to be done.  They may have her go with some of the professional trainers to do a more in depth evaluation.  Their main priority is to ensure that this incident doesn't cause Honeydew to become nervous or anxious around strange dogs - as that can cause a problem for her blind partner (e.g. shying away, loosing focus on her guide work when near a strange dog, being aggressive toward strange dogs, etc.).  Honeydew needs to remain confident in all situations - including those that require her to be in proximity to strange dogs.  I think she will be fine.  To date, she has been overly excited to see other dogs - so maybe this incident will tone that down a bit...but I won't hold my breath.