As you can see on my account the last few days, I fell silent again. And this time it's not because I don't have inspiration for a blog. On the contrary. There are so many ideas rushing through my head at once that I struggle to keep my focus because I am flying from one idea to the next. Let's think about good brain gymnastics. But even that isn't the main reason I've been quiet.
Our dogs had a surprise in store. Shortly after New Year's we notice from Skipper that he reacted much more to Lana than usual. He suddenly found her a very interesting woman again. And now Lana is of course also an attractive black pearl, but she is already 12 years old! Important for us to always remember when a male's interest is so aroused, and he shows his interest clearly, then the male is always right. Something is about to happen again. And also this time Skipper was right. Lana went into heat!
And that for me means that I am focused on the dogs all day, ready to intervene where necessary, and make sure that the lady and gentleman are NEVER unsupervised together. The upside is, Lana doesn't want to know anything about Skipper. Which is also a disadvantage at the same time because Lana snarls without stopping. Even if Skipper behaves nicely for a change, she snaps at him in passing.
Looking at the dogs like that, seeing the lady's demeanor, I feel half sorry for Skipper. Okay, I also definitely make sure that he cannot jump on Lana, but the way Lana snaps at him, I'd really feel sorry for him. And then I wonder, are we women that bad too? If so, my apologies to the men in my life who I also so unreasonably snubbed… But then again, the other side of the story is, of course, that the men should just leave the women alone when they want to.
Well, I don't need an answer to this, of course, and I'm just trying to see the humor in the situation in this way. At the moment I just have to deal with the dogs as they are, and hope that this period will be over soon. As I explained last year, sterilization on Lana her age is too risky for us to do that again. In addition, it also costs a pretty penny, and that's all fine! Do not get me wrong. I would spend my last dollar on my dogs if I had to. But therein lies the problem. It is not necessary. At Lana's age, there is a big risk with regard to the anesthesia. She is being cut, she is no longer a young dog of 2 / 3 years, so she recovers less quickly. And she's just healthy! If she needs surgery for medical reasons, we would be the first to arrange it for her. But precisely because she is very healthy, we do not want to take that extra risk. Because, although it may be easier for us in the future if she doesn't come into heat anymore, we don't know how long that future WITH her is.
And having Skipper castrated is not an option either. He is a nice dog, he is even a bit fearful showing some fear aggression towards other dogs. That could be made worse by having him neutered. Of course, we don't want that. Also, that doesn't solve the problem at all! Because even if he is no longer fertile about 8 weeks after castration, you have absolutely no guarantee that he will no longer react to loose bitches. I've seen that with Rowan. She was neutered, and still reacted just as annoying to Lana's heat. To be fair, Skipper is unneutered, and he is even better to handle than Rowan was, and he was neutered.
So all I have to do in these times is to be very alert, to make sure the dogs are never together unsupervised. Dogs separate when necessary, and sometimes to ensure peace in the house. And keeping my focus on the dogs, which means I spend very little time online.
This is not to say that I don't do other things than just work with the dogs. In between games and walks, I also have to keep up with the household. And to take a moment for myself every now and then ... it is a godsend to paint in the kitchen.
At those moments I leave Lana and Myla together in the room, so they can sleep peacefully. And for Skipper I put his blankets in the kitchen, close the door and rest! At those moments Skipper just goes to sleep sweetly. He does not feel left out, is not alone, the ladies are together and therefore not alone. And I can relax for a while ... while messing around with my brushes, paint and canvas.
Fortunately I noticed today that Skipper wanted to go to the kitchen now and then, which was different yesterday. Then he also had the peace to lie on the couch, which he really wouldn't do earlier this week. I have hope that we are almost through the worst period again. Lana gets older, her periods become less intense. Let's hope this is true!
Anyway … another painting finished … and an idea in my head to start again tomorrow. This way I can still 'use' this period, and that with something for which I do not need focus, but I do need a feeling. Fortunately, the feeling has been sharpened even more these weeks.
