"The Cone of Shame"

Little Lyra got spayed on Wednesday. Poor girl is now summoned to our bedroom, segregated from the other two dogs, and allowed out of her kennel only for bathroom breaks and short individual play sessions. Oh wait, I can't forget the "Cone of Shame" (movie UP reference) to prevent her from licking the incision. She hates it! We were using the mussel on her, but didn't like how it was rubbing on her snout. Anyway, we will be keeping her on this regime until next Saturday. So for the next week our bedroom will smell like dog. Blaaaa!!!

Poor Lyra misses playing with Halo something fierce. Halo feels the same way to an extent. I believe she misses her play pal, but I KNOW she does not miss getting her facial wounds, causes by sharp puppy teeth, reopened. I don't miss that either! I am hoping Halo is able to heal over the next week. For now, the goings on around the house is like it was before Lyra came into our lives'. Halo does everything in her power to get Xena (always unwilling) to play with her... she talks, chases her tail and paws at Xena. Halo and Xena are also able to stay out of their kennels at night again. We don't have to worry about accidents or fighting since they are both way past that stage. Not to mention, I can relax when I get home instead of being on edge and constantly yelling "Stop" at Lyra because she is getting to rough with Halo. I have to admit, although the peace and quiet is nice, I do miss her spastic uncoordinated puppy behavior. Lyra brings an awful lot of laughter into the household. It wouldn't be the same without her.

Red Dot!

Most of you whom have dogs, or have friends with dogs, know that many of them love to chase laser pointers. Not all dogs; Halo wants nothing to do with them. She'd rather chew on Xena's ear while Xena chases the laser all over the house. We started the Red Dot with Xena a couple years ago. She's absolutely obsessed with it. If any one mentions the words "Red Dot" Xena immediately starts to look for it. On the floor, furniture, even up on the ceiling, as she searches, sniffs and barks in anticipation.

Since Halo and Xena act completely different toward the little red dot, our inquiring minds wanted to know how Lyra would react. Of course we had to put the other two dogs into their kennels. Otherwise Lyra would have had a Halo attached to her and Xena would probably trample her to death. Take a look below...



Lyra's head movements crack me up! At times she looks like a robot. We don't get the laser pointer out often, once a month if the dogs are lucky, but we enjoy watching their reactions. So now that we know how Lyra reacts to the laser pointer, I wonder what she'll think of the Clicker?!

The Pits

Lyra has had a rough week. Monday started with the whole body break out of hives. We still don't know what caused them, but we are continuing to give her Benedryl through today. We want to see if she will break out again of it was in fact just a spider bite (or something similar). Found out today that white dogs (those with little to no pigment in their skin) are high risks for allergies, both food and environmental. We knew that already, but hearing the vet say it made us realize this free dog is going to cost us a lot more than anticipated. She is going to end up an Allergy Girl just like Xena!

Lyra's bad luck doesn't stop at the hives break out on Monday. Poor girl is going to have three rough weeks in a row. First the hives/Benedryl treatment, last boost shot today (makes dogs feel a bit under the weather for a couple days), and Wednesday she goes in to get spayed. Don't forget the recovery time after surgery... the first few days afterward she will have to be kenneled. Play time and a chance to stretch her legs will have to be separated from Halo and Xena for at least a week. Then she'll be put on a leash for a few days when it is time to introduce her back to the other girls. All to keep her from getting her stitches ripped open or causing internal bleeding. She is going to think her life is the pits, no pun intended (she is a pit bull), for the next few weeks!!

Puppy Development

A puppy's development is just as interesting and enjoyable to me as a child's. I have lucked out watching Q, his friends and Sloan develop over the years as well as many other before them. I am glad I have had the chance to see the little things as well as the big accomplishments. Animals have developmental milestones just as human children do. Now that we have a puppy in the household again, seeing her change before our eyes made me more conscience of Lyra's puppy development.

Our youngest, Lyra, has grown a ton since we got her about just three weeks ago. At the time of her arrival she had just turned four months old. Lyra had accidents only the first two days, but after that we recognized her signs and she knew to ring the bell on the door when she needed outside to do her business. Since we got Lyra, she has lost all her baby teeth. We actually found four of them which we saved, just like we did with Halo's. Yes, Matt and I are those crazy "parents" that save their kids' baby teeth! :) Lyra has also learned many commands. She knows 'sit', "stay" (for the most part) 'kennel', 'go potty' (makes it quick especially during the cold winter months), 'outside', 'leave it' (waiting to eat her food), 'stop' (when playing too rough with Halo), and many more commands. She has caught on quickly mainly in part since she has two older trained dogs to show her the ropes.

This weekend I noticed that there were some small risen areas of fur on Lyra's coat. I thought she had just pressed up against the kennel which resulted in crimping of her hair. Not so much. This morning I woke up to see her with about 30 small spots of fur doing the same thing. I hadn't even considered she was getting her adult coat until then. She looked so funny with these "welt" looking areas all over her body I just had to take pictures! Her goofy personality in combination with what I thought was a goofy transition look makes me laugh every time I look at her. When I got home this evening her body was covered with even more and bigger areas of longer & thicker hair. She looks as though she had leprosy! I fed the girls and by the time Matt got home Lyra looked even worse. Come to find out she has hives. Not sure if she has developed a food allergy or if she got bit by a spider or something. So she'll be taking Benedryl for the next few days. She is itchy, but not acting sick or weird. Just her puppy self :) Hopefully it is a spider bite and not allergies. Not sure I can handle another money pit dog like Xena. Here are some pictures from this morning. Click on them to see the picture bigger. Hopefully you can see just how silly she looks poor baby :)

Lyra has two favorite activities. The first is playing with Halo, whom she absolutely adores! She loves to rough house with her, fight over the same bone when there are five different ones to choose from and cuddle up in the kennel with her best friend when they are both tired. Lyra's second favorite thing to do it cuddle with dad when he gets home from work. The second he sit on the floor she is in his lap as high and as close as she can get. It only takes her seconds to fall asleep is some weird position. You can see how much she loves Matt. I have kept my distance so to speak so that Matt and Lyra could bond. She is his dog so I rarely sit on the floor with her to help with their bonding.

Just a quick run down... Xena is both Matt and I's dog. She likes us equal and makes sure she gets equal attention from the us both. She doesn't favor anyone like the other two do. Halo is my girl. When she is scared and shaking uncontrollably she runs to my lap. I am her human of chose when she wants to cuddle. As discussed above, Lyra is Matt's princess. She listen better to him than she does Lonnie and I. Funny how those things work out.

Newest Little Addition!

Our little family grew by one this weekend. Her name is Lyra and she is 4 months old. Matt and I were not planning on getting another dog. Honestly two WAS our limit. Then my sister called saying they had a FREE white female pit bull. Apparently the person who bought her ($450) in December didn't have time for her. She basically was living in a small kennel. They realized it wasn't fair to her so instead of trying to sell her they were just giving her away. Matt has always wanted a pit bull (mixes apparently don't count; poor Halo) of his very own so it was up to him whether we agreed to take on another responsibility or not. Matt asked for a picture to be sent before he made his decision. Once we got the text, Matt of course replied "That's my dog?! She's mine! I want her... tell them I say YES!!"

With that answer we thought it would be a couple weeks before we actually got Lyra. My mom was/is planning on coming out mid February so we figured that's when she'd come home. You know, allow me some time to get puppy food and other necessities. If you know my sister she is very spontaneous so with a phone call Sunday morning announcing they were on their way to Illinois I was a bit shocked. Matt and I both had to work this morning so I didn't understand why they'd drive 7 1/2 hours from Nebraska to stay only one night. Honestly I still don't understand why they made the trip, but I am glad they did.

Road trip to Illinois!

I was mainly thrilled to see some of my family; Kim, Jayden, Billy and Will all came out. Matt was happy to get a birthday gift. Yes the dog was free, but all her vaccinations, heart-worm preventatives, and getting her spade is NOT! Xena and Halo are doing okay with the new puppy. Today it is setting in that she isn't going anywhere. Xena growls and is very vocal with Lyra letting her know her place. Halo on the other hand is depressed. At first she was excited about the playmate, but after the puppy set the couch alarm (keeps dogs off the furniture) off a couple times today she is now scared that Lyra will make it go off again. Basically, Halo is staying as far away from her as possible. Poor baby. Matt and I have made it a point to sit on the floor and give all doggies lovin's. Xena and Halo will learn to love just as we will. It takes time. Bringing a new baby home is hard for the other kids you know ;)