Life Changes After Pups …
It had been over 10 years since I had a puppy, the last dog was a quite devastating end. It was raining, foggy, I was on vacation and the poor pup was rushed to the pet hospital in Philadelphia. The situation was traumatic enough that I held off until I found a breed that would suit my personality, cattle dogs.
My friend from the Rez (Native American Reservation), called me up telling me my favorite dog he owned just had pups. Of course, I had wanted Sassy from the time I first saw her, but my friends were not willing to let her go at the time.
As soon as I heard she had pups and who the papa was, I knew I had to have one. Immediately, I asked him for photos and the white one was definitely mine. Once I got to the Rez I knew I had to have at least two since they were so bonded, and the love was noticeable.
That is when I chose two and if I had some land and a home I might have taken all four girls. As a responsible mother, a week later I took the pups to the Veterinarian to start their first cycle of shots. They were only “almost 7 or 8,” weeks old and to be honest I thought they were already 8 weeks old. I felt quite guilty to find out they were so young. So, the training commenced, and it has been exhausting from stability to ensure proper behavior without emotional or mental wounds to their psyche.
Typing these words, I quickly look at myself in the mirror and wonder has Eagle Spirit become a snowflake? I grew up during a time where if a dog is getting sick we kicked the dog outside, or if the dog was cut, we let them lick themselves ‘til they were healed. I mean has humanity really gone this far to ensure we do not have wheat in dog food, it must be real grains and what is with brushing their teeth? Gah!
On the daily, I’ve begun to question my sanity and the list of what I need to do for these two little souls. It seems way too much ... then I look at them and feel the love. It’s unconditionally sweet and pure. Truth is these little creatures become a part of you.
Spay or Neuter Your Pet? That is the Question …
Finally, after the pups reached four months and all the puppy shots are given, including the rabies it is time to think about spaying. In a perfect world we could let them choose, right? Now we must think about phrases like pet ownership responsibility or pet control.
I was being asked about spaying when the pups were only 8 weeks old, although I knew I would spay them I still cringed and cried “they’re just babies!”
After I started to look up facts regarding spaying the darling girls on the internet little did I realize there are debates as to if we should really spay. How old the girls should be, does spaying help or harm their emotional psyche, etc. All these opinions started to concern me, if only a little bit.
Honestly, with all the pets I’ve had in my life I never realized something so simple had to be so difficult. Seems to be the case with the world we live in today. Everything seems to be an issue, or there is an argument for the other side waiting to ambush us and cause some sort of mind-fuck.
Well, now I can say after many years of not having to go through this the girls have been very needy and almost worse in behavior since before the surgery. There were reports this might happen. Also, they cannot be together since they both start to fight for attention. So far, they appear to have lost all sense of any training; potty training, staying, the word “no.” This past weekend has been a reiteration of every moment spent for the past few months, and my patience is near its end.
With 10 more days to go with the Cone of Shame, I can only hope it will get better after all of this and someday soon the girls will be friendlier towards one another and I will be able to finally get more socializing with other dogs in, and hit the trails and camping sites I had planned before I picked the two babies out not that long ago.
If you ask me if I would do this all over again, I would say yes. Although the girls have been in a great deal of pain, I’ve been giving them non-stop Reiki, reminding them to not jump or run has been a test for all of us. The girls are great companions and now a large part of my life. They bring me joy and a hope for the future. The plan is that they will someday be a part of a small homestead, and a push to finally find that piece of land I’ve been looking for these past three years. Wish us luck!
Question: Would you spay or neuter your furry companion?
Love,
All photos by @EagleSpirit