Flying Pig and (almost) Flying Dog

April 29, 2011
Flying pigs and (almost) flying dogs
There have been moments when I doubted that her tail would ever heal, the e-collar ever come off her head, and the road back to becoming a guide team could begin. But healing takes time, and finally, time seems to be on our side.
Four days ago, Monday, we went to the vet with high hopes that she would say the e-collar could come off. Au contraire! Instead, my vet seemed disgusted with me that Flo had once again torn at her bandage and wound and was still not healed. She kept asking me, “How is she getting to her tail?”
I wish I knew.
“Houdini dog?” was my only answer.
She bandaged the tail anew and four hours later, Flo had torn it off.
I was so miserable that I wound up crying in Flo’s cute little lamp-shade framed face, imploring her to “please, please, please leave your tail alone so it can heal.”

Well, either my dog is a genius and understood every word of that plea and decided to cut me some slack – or my daughter is far better at bandaging tails than my vet. Caitlyn bandaged the tail anew Monday night and, today, when we went to the vet four days later, it was still intact. Woo-hoo! An all-time record for sure.
Now, we’re bandage free, but need to wear the e-collar through the weekend to be sure Flo doesn’t chew at her tail now that it’s healing.
Meanwhile, I’m getting ready for walking the 10K in the Flying Pig tomorrow morning. It’s ironic that my motivation for participating in the first place was to give Flo the experience and some exercise, and now, I’ll be going without her. It’s all OK. There will be other walks where she can sparkle! I’ve had so little preparation (a four-mile walk yesterday and another a week ago would be the total of my preparation!) so I mostly hope I can just finish the course.
And maybe by Monday, Flo will be walking with me.