April 03, 2006

Scout's Home

Friday night we had our wine tasting at my parent's house and that was fun. We got some plastic temporary fencing and blocked off the driveway/porch so Digory couldn't get out. That was really handy because it meant he could walk around all night and had no escape route. It was nice not to have to worry about him. He was a very good dog. He flipped out for a minute when we first got there, but soon settled in and behaved himself. He was very cute and got a lot of food on the sly. Lucky dog!

Not so lucky was Scout who was still stuck at the vet's office. We picked her up Saturday and she looked kind of downtrodden with her little shaved front leg. She was lethargic and dazed both Saturday and yesterday, but she has definitely been perking up today. She's still taking steroids and pain meds and seems to be doing a little bit better every day. She has more of her personality back today, which is heartening.

Of course, Scout isn't supposed to do the stairs and there are 5 stairs down the porch to the back yard, so Kevin was picking her up and carrying her. Which wasn't much of an improvement since she hates to be carried and would struggle. So to solve the problem? A ramp! Kevin got some lumber and created a ramp. Then he covered it with astroturf to make a nice walking surface. We thought about carpet but it's been raining and we didn't want to have to drag the thing in and out all the time. We could have left it uncovered but it would have gotten slick in the rain and besides, Scout has delicate paws. In order to encourage, that is, force, Scout to use the ramp Kevin got some more plastic fencing and blocked off the stair part. Scout got the idea right away and went trotting up and down it with no problem. Digory, on the other hand, still eyes it suspiciously and is rather afraid of it. Now that the stairs have been blocked and he has no other option, he'll go up and down it, but it's not his first choice. Sometimes he's not very smart.

Posted by Shelby at April 3, 2006 06:36 PM