I feel bad saying it, but there will never be another Finn. He was my first foster and the whole experience was all new and thrilling to me. That being said, I'm also glad that no two dogs are alike. Shiloh has been a breeze compared to the little two-pint I had for 6 weeks, but in Finn's defense, it wasn't all his fault.
Now that I've had a second boy fixed by the same vet and he doesn't seem to be in any pain, I'm convinced that they did something wrong with Finn. Of course, at the time, I pet web-md-ed it all and told myself they could have had a stitch too tight. If I remember correctly, they said that didn't happen. As a person that never stepped foot in vet, school, I can't argue, nor can I accurately accuse. I just know that something was not right. I'll never forget Finn's scurry. He didn't just plain ol' walk for days after his surgery and he wouldn't leave the incision site alone long enough to get from the sidewalk to the back yard. He would scurry, then sit, ready to lick, but blocked by his lovely e-collar that he so adored...enough to destroy. When they suggested I put diaper rash cream on him, I was ready to do whatever it took to give him some relief. I put a small amount on the tip of my finger and tried to get it close enough to his skin to transfer some on without pressure and he would scream. Thank you vet for not doing whatever you did to Shiloh. He's pretty chill about the whole thing. I tried the e-collar the first night home and he howled and whined when I left him for bed. In the morning, he was free of his plastic cone and happy to see me. I was happy to see that he wasn't hanging wide open like a certain dog named Andy once was the morning after.
So, two nights later, we've spent a few hours with cone training. He's not happy to have it on, but he finally learned that he can lay down with it on. He still flips out if he runs it into anything other than me with it though.
On a better topic, he's been pretty easy. I've really enjoyed seeing him open up and do a lot of the behaviors Finn did when he became more trusting. He's moving faster at some things, slower at others. Last Monday, only about a week after I've had him, he wants to take off running in the back yard and is jumping in the air and even barking at me. No play-bows though. Finn was and still is very well-known for those. He always jumps into the car on the many trips I take him on, although he is not so eager to get out once we arrive. In the last week or so, we visited Petsmart, my dad's house, the bank, and the vet just to name a few. He does pretty great! He may not walk in like he owns the place or even wag his tail, but I'm satisfied with the fact that he doesn't hide behind me. He does cling to me slightly and occasionally looks to me and lightens up for a second, but hey, I'm happy with it. Shiloh wiggles with excitement when we get home and wrinkles his nose up to smile until he sneezes and kills me with kisses.
Here's a pic of him quietly snoozin yesterday afternoon in the living room. That is somewhere he and Finn are very different. At this point, that is as far as Shiloh has made it out of the kitchen. It isn't necessarily because of his lack of house-breaking. I've invited him out of the kitchen and upstairs a few times and he made it half-way up the stairs once before bailing and retreating to the kitchen. I want to push him past his boundaries, but at the same time, I see it as a blessing in disguise. If he doesn't come upstairs with me, he doesn't know all of the fun he's missing out on and happily sleeps in the bathroom with a baby gate. He has never chewed up anything, other than his handful of rawhides. He has found a few empty dog food cans and licked them clean, but no harm-no foul. He also finished off a bag of treats that I must have left laying too low, but they are all dog related items.
I'm still not complaining. Shiloh hasn't been over to the BF's house for more than a few minutes for a visit either. Part of this is b/c BF hasn't been there for more than a few minutes in the past week. sucks. Bed time has now passed the remedial cone training that we did does not seem to have helped. I hear him in the bathroom banging around like a bull in a china shop and now he's crying. It stopped on Friday after a little while, so I'm hoping for the same tonight. If I'm really lucky, the cone will still be on in the morning, but I'm not so optimistic about that. Wouldn't it be great if my next foster was already fixed? *dreaming*
