Category: Pet stuff

The dogs spent the last week hanging out together in jail the kennel while we were on vacation.

Much to my surprise, after we picked them up yesterday they were almost like two different dogs. We could actually have them both out at the same time without them going completely crazy running around chasing each other and bashing into everything. They still do it a little bit, and there’s always the bitey-face game to play, but having them out together is actually tolerable now instead of having to banish them outside to the back porch for their rough-housing.

Maybe it was Simba’s neutering that helped, maybe it was the week cooped up together or something. Whatever it was, it’s nice being able to let them both out at the same time without worrying about stuff getting smashed to bits.

Heck, if I had known all it would take was a week together at the kennel, I’d have shipped them off there months ago!

We do need to do a little bit of retraining though. Simba’s still pretty good at listening to us. Nala seems to have developed a bit of an attitude though. She likes the kennel well enough based on the feedback we get…I don’t think she likes us leaving her there though.

Turn it into yarn. The hair has got to be at least 2″ long, so unfortunately it rules out all the hair my labs leave on the carpet for me. Darn.

Found at DoggieNews.com.

According to the vet, Simba did very well with his neutering today. He’s never very happy to go to the vet anyway, and I’m sure after today he really won’t want to go again. But everything went well and he’s back home recovering. We’ve got some anti-inflammatories to give him to help keep the pain down, some mild sedatives to keep him calm and mellow while he recovers, and an e-collar on him so he doesn’t try to lick his surgery site.

He should be back to normal in about a week or so. In the meantime you can bet he’ll get spoiled even more than he usually does.

Tomorrow morning Simba gets dropped off at the vet to get neutered. We’ll drop him off first thing tomorrow morning, the vet will do his snippy-snippy thing and then we’ll pick him up toward the end of the day.
Hopefully it won’t take too long for all that excess testosterone to get out of him. I’ve heard it can take a month or so for some of those hormone-driven behaviours to go away. Although he’s still a happy and playful dog, he’s been getting more defensive about his toys with other dogs around. He and Nala will play just fine with their toys and have no problem with a good game of tug, but if another dog tries to do the same he freezes and growls at the other dog. I’m hoping that’s one of the behaviours that will go away. I’m also hoping he calms down a little afterwards too so we can have them out of their crates at the same time.
Nala goes in tomorrow as well to get updated on her shots. She won’t be staying for the day though.