Puppy updates!

We have now had Freya for a little more than a week, and we are even more in love with her than we were when we got her. Because we know that a lot of people are interested in how she is doing I'll keep doing these updates until she is 100% healthy, and then I'll just do fun updates whenever I remember and get up the motivation to write a blog post- and to help keep my brain focused I'm going to separate this update into groups.

FREYA 
Knee:
On Monday Freya had the stitches removed from her leg, she immediately started walking with less of a limp. She still limps a tiny bit, but not a whole lot. The vet has cleared her to start obedience class on the 23rd, pending the news that she is officially ours on Saturday. The vet also has said that we can start slowly exercising her more in order to build the strength back up in her knee. I was told that they believe she has Petellar Luxation, which is essentially a trick knee. So yay! No ACL issue! However, Scott and I are waiting to find out if she needs to have more x-rays done just to be sure. She is certainly putting weight on leg, which is something my parent's dog, Simba, didn't really when he blew out his ACLs. So we are hopeful that she

does not need any more surgeries.

Skin:
Freya is eating well, and will only eat her food if there is coconut oil on it. Since this is helping her skin we are perfectly fine with this (thank goodness for Costco since we can get a big thing of Coconut oil there for only $18). Her dandruff is doing away, and after the stitches were removed we were told she could have a bath, so she did. She is smarter than Nico since she realized that she only had to bump the shower door to open it. Washing her one handed was an adventure but her fur is already much softer.

Behavior:
Freya has been very energetic, so trying to make her rest has been a bit of a challenge. We've been alternating her between her crate and laying on the floor beside us while leashed. Freya doesn't seem to understand she is still healing and really wants to play. We are now very sure that we need to work with her on play biting since she does that A LOT and her little teeth are freaking sharp. However, we know she is not trying to hurt us, only play with us. She and Nico are getting along. We are still watching them carefully, but we think we know one of the reasons that Nico was so cranky. Which brings us to a ........

NICO update.

This is the face of a pout-pout pup.

Nico has been unusually cranky for the last week or so and this weekend it was finally clear why. Saturday he started shaking his head a lot and scratching at his right ear. By Sunday he kept his head tilted to the right the majority of the time. So we took him to the vet and, yup, he has an ear infection. He has ear drops for the next week (which he just LOVES) but he is already messing with his ear less. Nico is also now on reduced food because he has gained weight. However, we know what caused this and are working on getting him back to a fit looking size. Once Freya can go on walks it will help, and then once we get the fence it will be even better!
As far as Freya goes, Nico has accepted her it seems and when she stole a benebone from him (it was a drive by theft on the way to her crate) he didn't even react. He is slightly confused by her barking and play noises while she is in her crate.

Either way, both pups are doing well and adjusting to having a new sibling and we're looking forward to watching that bond grow.

Welcome Home Freya!

This weekend Scott and I welcomed Freya to our home. She is our foster-to-adopt from Bully Paws and we are so excited.

After everything we went through with Snickers we had every intention of waiting at least a month before we adopted again, but then Freya's picture got shared through facebook the next day and we fell in love. Now there is a little more to the story. 

We had been talking about what kind of dog we wanted to adopt when it was time to adopt again, and we had settled on adopting another Bully breed because of how chill and sweet Nico is. One of our friends is fostering a puppy for Bully Paws named Skittles and Scott had mentioned the idea of adopting her if she hadn't been adopted yet when we were ready. But I just didn't get that feeling with her that I got from Nico and I wanted that feeling again. That and for reasons that might only make sense to my brain, I did not want another dog named after a candy. This was a discussion we had on the day we put Snickers to sleep. The next day Freya's picture got shared on facebook, and I told Scott I had that feeling that I got when we first saw Nico's picture. His response was "there are no coincidences" and that is a phrase (or at least an idea- I'm not 100% anymore) that I am pretty sure is repeated in a book I had recently read that is a modern take on Norse Mythology (I can't be 100% sure because I've read A LOT of books recently). Add on the knowledge that Freya is a Norse Goddess who, among other things, presides over death, and we were saying "Ok universe, we get it". The next weekend we met her, without Nico, went home and sent in the adoption application. 

                                                                                Now, this has not been an easy process. Poor Freya has some health issues that need to be taken care of before she can officially be adopted. She was spayed and had a benign mass removed from her leg. Those incisions are still healing. Then last week something happened to her leg, and now that has to heal with a possible ACL surgery in her future. However, it is much better for her to heal in a loving home than in a shelter, so until she is cleared for adoption, we are fostering her! We are absolutely in love.

Now for her and Nico, we can honestly say it has not been love at first sight. Nico has been the only dog for three weeks, and before that Snickers was a loner so he has to learn to share his people. This is a slow process since Freya is on crate rest for at least another week and a half. There have been tense moments with both Freya and Nico growling at each other. We're hoping once Nico learns that she isn't going anywhere he will adjust. He NEVER growled at Snickers, but she was here first so that might have something to do with this too. We largely suspect the few growlies are because of jealousy but we have complete faith that Nico will adjust. While there have been some growlies, there have also been licks through the crate and Freya barking and wagging her tail at Nico clearly wanting to play even though she can't put weight on one of her legs. So while the first couple days have had their tense moments,  it has only been a couple days and it might take two or more weeks for them to truly adjust. 

So we have a new family member and we will continue to post updates about her and Nico as we have them :-) 

Welcome Home Freya!