Growing up Bear

Finnegan recovered from his surgery really well. We were able to take him out of his cool hat so he could meet my 2 year old cousin and then we took the hat off for good after day 6. He doesn't seem to interested in his stitches anymore so that is good. As far as the dysplasia goes we are forgoing the surgery. Our thinking (and backed by the Vet) is that there is no reason to do surgery on a dog that shows no signs of problems. Except for the X-Rays there is nothing to suggest that Finn has bad hips. We'll make sure to monitor his activity and read up on all the proper treatment (more on that in a later post) but he is a growing puppy and we just don't want to immobilize him for a month while he is still developing. We just want to make sure he enjoys his life and I just can't rationlize a preventive surgery that does not guarantee a fix.

The pumpkin above is only the start of Finn's October character. He already has two Haloween costumes (in addition to the Bee Costume). Below is a picture of his oversized rawhide bone, he deserved it after all he went through last week.


In other news we will be going on vacation soon, unfortunatly Finn will not be joining us. We are going to board him. We've looked around and we're pretty sure we found a place he will like. He is there right now. We took him this morning for an "interview" and decided to leave him for the day to make sure he will be able to handle it in a few weeks. It is stressful to leave the Bear with folks we don't really know but hopefully he will be okay. He seemed happy waltzing around sniffing all the other puppies, so long as he comes home free and clear of any markings it looks like a hit.

No Longer a Puppy.... Neutering

Today was the big day for Finn. Bob Barker would be proud. Everything went well, he had no adverse reaction to the anesthesia and he even got a cool microchip. The one bummer came with the news that the x-ray's they took showed signs of some bad hip dysplasia. We knew this was a possibility even though his parents had no problems. This is not really a sickness but it still does cause some concern. More to come on this subject in later posts.

In other news our dog trainer Caryl Wolff of Doggie Manners is a candidate for MyFox L.A.'s award for Best Dog trainer. I already gave her a vote, she helped make Finn who he is. That is a very good thing. If any one sees this and wants to throw her a vote please do, she has my recommendation.

Good thing we have trained Finn, it keeps his mind sharp so he can figur things out. Like how to walk around with a cone on his head. Here are the requisite pictures of Finn and his cool neck accessory.
There have been no problems post-op so far. He walked form the car to the back yard, ate some food (hand fed of course) and chewed a bone for a little while. The cone does confuse him a bit and I think I caught him sleeping standing up a few times.

I'll check on him a few times tonight, but from what people have said he should be fine. Still, I worry.

Getting a Puppy Neutered

I scheduled Finn's neutering apointment for two weeks from now. It was a bit sad, the little guy has no idea what we are doing to him. But alas, it is the law in California that pets must be spay and neutered (there are some exceptions). The surgery has the added benefit of controling Finn's hormones and staving off behavioral problems. Hopefully seventh months turns out to be the right age for Finn, but I don't want to put it off any longer and risk having him get hurt running around the neighborhood looking for a girl. He is not as innocent as he looks below, I know he has the energy to go crazy.

More on spay and neutering and some common questions. Any tips for helping Finn have a smooth surgery? Please leave a comment.