The Verdict Is In

Bailey just returned from her second vet visit (along with me, since she can't drive yet) and the report is good. She has gained 2.5 lbs, bringing her up to a whopping 42.5, and her mange is clearing up. She finished her round of doxycycline this morning (she was being treated for erlichiosis) and her CBC was normal. Yay! Even though she will always test positive for erlichiosis, she has fought off the infection, the danger of it becoming chronic has passed, and so has her anemia. There should be no more issues since she'll be on flea and tick prevention from now on. Yay Bailey!

Today is the official start of spring break for me. I'm thinking this week would also be a good time to get off my butt and start training again. My blog buddy KC posted some awesome pics of her pain cave and, strangely, that has inspired me to fix mine up and actually use it. I admit I'm feeling a bit left out of things, reading everyone's posts about training and racing. I've been so stressed about school, balancing home life with our new addition lately that I just haven't wanted to do anything but crawl in bed and sleep.

IT'S NOT WORKING!!! 

Time to snap out of it and get busy.

For your enjoyment, some absolutely AWESOME shots of the girls taken by Sig: 

Bailey LOVES her new toy!

Happy Casey Dog!

Soccer dog Riley!

Small Victories

Lately, I've been writing a lot about Bailey, the newest addition to the family. I know this is supposed to be a training blog but honestly, writing about Bailey is far more interesting than my training right now.

Mainly because I'm NOT training right now.

But I digress...

Life with Bailey is all about small victories. I'm experiencing one of them even as I type this.

All three dogs are in the house....and it's QUIET.

I wrote in my last post how stressful it is with Bailey in the house because she's so restless and needs constant supervision. Sig has decided Bailey has the mind of a 5 month old puppy in the body of a 1 year old, and I think she's right. We figure it's because she really hasn't had much in the way of discipline or training in her young life, so she's just taking a bit longer to get a clue that we mean business. She does eventually get it, though. It's all good.

I say all of that so you will understand how incredible it is that I am able to write this blog post without interruption, with all three dogs in the house, and with Bailey ASLEEP on the couch next to me! I would take a picture but that would mean I'd have to get up from the couch and I'm NOT disturbing the baby when everything is so calm right now, so just close your eyes and imagine a little brown dog stretched out next to me on the couch. Not chewing on anything. Including me.

I suppose she's tuckered out because all of the dogs played outside pretty much all day while Sig and I worked on reinforcing the backyard fence and escape-proofing Bailey's pen. She got out last week and luckily ended up in the yard of the people who live behind me. She also got out today, just after Sig and I had completely torn down a badly rotted panel, leaving the back of the pen completely open. Sig caught her quickly, but it became clear that little Houdini dog would definitely need to be thwarted.

Oh yeah - did I mention she's in heat? The last thing we need is for Bailey to become the neighborhood floozy.

Just say NO, Bailey! (or at least make him buy you dinner first)

Before you yell at me, she's scheduled to get spayed next week...I truly believe in the Bob Barker school of thought as far as controlling the pet population.

Anyway, I was just so thrilled by this small victory that I had to share it.

Shhhh.....