Pepper is definitely an integral part of our family and truly like a child to us. Ever since we first got her, it has been hard leaving her to go to work. Even though one or both of us come home for lunch and to walk her, it is painful to think of our pooch being left alone in the house for a few hours at a time, missing our human companionship. We even feel bad going out on an occasional evening, knowing that she was by herself for most of the day. It is obvious how much she likes us being home due to the exuberant welcomes we get even after being gone for an hour or less!
I know that many parents must go through this separation guilt when they take their kids to daycare or leave them with a babysitter for the first time but, somehow (and call me crazy), at this point, thinking of leaving a child with another responsible adult seems a little less harsh than leaving a puppy... alone. We are not ones to "get another dog to make sure the first one isn't lonely" but I sure wish sometimes, when I see her little face peering out through our back glass door, that one of us was either a stay-at-home parent or worked about half as much.
Last week, our little Peppy went in to get her TAHBSO (as I have been stating) or get "spayed" as it is known to most people. She is about 17 months old but was a potential breeding dog (had one litter) and thus had not had her "female" organs removed (she actually was in heat the first day we had her) until just this past week. While I knew the vet hospital would take great care of her, when I starved her before (I think she was confused why she had to be "NPO" without breakfast), dropped her off, and then went off to work knowing she'd be put under, I worried, just like a Mom would. The hospital called me as soon as she was "out" of surgery, saying that everything went well, but I knew that she'd be freaked out by the new environment, and it did not surprise me one bit when they told me (when I picked her up the next day) that she didn't eat a single thing during her overnight stay even though we supplied some of her "normal" food from home. We missed her a whole lot the one night she was not with us!
And then she came home with instructions to wear the "e-collar" until her stitches our out, to prevent excessive licking or tearing. We can't bear to have it on her when we're around, as she just shakes and shakes trying to get it loose (last night around 1 a.m., she managed to jump on our side chair, side table, and onto my face, obviously expressing her agitation that she had to wear that "thing" on at night, when we could not well supervise her. Needless to say, we relented and took it off).
You can barely see it in this picture (it is clear plastic), but here is our poor poochie with the collar in place, getting ready for bedtime. She is so pathetic looking with it on. It seems much worse to put it on her when we are leaving for work but, alas, we don't really have an alternative.
In any case, next week I am going to be that protective parent who removes her own child's sutures rather than taking her back to the vet :) We may abandon the e-collar altogether soon.
And we definitely hope to have no more upcoming trauma for our canine child!
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