Trouble in {puppy} paradise

I would be lying if I said everything with Lemmon was perfect. She is a sweet dog and in my opinion one of the cutest...but she has her moments. It has been a roller coaster ride since our spontaneous decision to pick her off the street March 8, 2010. When we got Lemmon she was 6 weeks old, 5 pounds, completely malnourished with Gardia, worms and every other puppy issue you can think of. Several hundreds of dollars, sleepless nights and several months later- she seemed to have turned a corner. She is definitely a handful, but her redeeming qualities of giving lots of love and her playful energy have always prevailed. She really is a sweetheart! We have done puppy training, with the most amazing trainer of all time, and over time made...some...progress. I have no shame in saying most of her naughty behavior (jumping on people, jumping on the counter, etc) is due to human error. Matt and I are still trying to learn consistent discipline :-)...it is hard though because she has MASTERED "puppy eyes."

Over the past year we have taken her to the vet for her weight (almost anyone that sees her comments on how skinny she is, even though we feed her almost double), for anxiety, for mange and for allergies. The poor thing just can't seem to catch a break. She is an unbelievable anxious dog and seems to get easily stressed...so we have to try to keep her calm when we can. The best decision we made was using Rover Resort to board her. (They are unbelievable and worth the drive to McKinney when we need to board her.) She moves 99 percent of the time, jumping around the house, chasing squirrels in the backyard, eating berries off of the bushes and barking at the cars that pass by our house. The one percent of the time she isn't moving though - my gosh she is adorable. I think she is really lucky to have us, and visa versa (for the most part. jk!).

So what brought on today's post? Well, everything mentioned above has been the norm, our day to day life with Lemmon is hectic but worth it because she is our baby and we LOVE her! She barks at new people that come over and attacks with love our friends. There are a special few of them that even get the high pitched whine and lean. I think she peed with excitement every time she saw Brian until she was 7 months old. She really does have so much love to give - sometimes not realizing she is 50 pounds.

Something started to seem off over the last month. Twice when I tried to move her a few weeks ago she snarled at me. We punished her, talked to the trainer to know exactly what to do if it happened again and kept an eye out on her. A few weeks passed without an incident...until this past weekend. I am exhausted from the stress of what I am about to write. Friday night Lemmon bit Matt, enough to break some skin. He asked her to move off of the bed, and after 2 minutes of coaxing and her not moving he went to gently pick her up, which he has done before. She was in her kennel for 12 hours with a potty break after that (although our trainer says it is supposed to be a full 24 hours). Trying to let her redeem herself we brought her outside to say hi to everyone at the BBQ (see previous post). When her Uncle Joe - who she LOVES - went to scratch her back she snarled at him. Again, back in the crate. I felt unbelievable awful that she would do that to Joe, but I am also grateful. Because I wouldn't have thought something might have been physically wrong if it were someone else, but Joe has been in her life since we got her. While everyone was outside cooking, I snuck in to test touching her backside. She twinged every time. The next morning I called our trainer and told her we needed an immediate one on one session.

That brings us to yesterday - and I am soo thankful we had the day off. We took Lemmon to see Debbie. I had already thought the worst - Lemmon was going to turn into an aggressive dog that couldn't be around anyone. Debbie discussed with Matt and I what needed to happen if she ever snarls or bites again, and I really hope she doesn't because it is going to be so hard to keep her in her crate (minus potty time) for 24 hours. She also discussed with us what we need to do to reaffirm our "dominance" and keep a bit more strict household rules. That is right, no more sleeping on the bed, allowed on the couch, toys everywhere, etc. But the biggest sigh of relief was that she said Lemmon's personality hadn't changed and that we needed to take her to the vet and get blood work and an xray. Again, thank you Presidents, Matt and I had the time to schedule an immediate vet appointment and headed straight over. We go to MetroPaws on Skillman, and they are wonderful!!!!

Sad news: the xray came back and at a year old, Lemmon has hip dysplasia. I would be lying if I said I fully understand what that means. I have a lot of research to do. I semi-zoned out partly due to Lemmon being almost fully sedated and trying to hold her and watch out for her uncontrolled bowel movements, and partly because I was relieved that she was acting out because she was in pain. Don't get me wrong - it is absolutely unacceptable to bite or snarl - but at least there was a physical reason and she wasn't just becoming aggressive. The vet said she has probably been in pain for awhile, and that recent events mean she is in a lot of pain. Matt and I just felt horrible for her. Right now we have been given a round of (expensive) medicine to try and help with the joint and the pain and will need to keep her from jumping off the bed and other high places.

If you think the day got better - keep reading. As mentioned, the sedation caused Lemmon to lose control of her bowel movements, and apparently upset her stomach. She lost it (i.e. pooped everywhere) in the backseat of the car a mile from the house. As soon as we got home we got Lemmon to the grass because the poor thing still had to go, and I could hear Matt gagging in the background cleaning the car. I think the process of cleansing the backseat took about an hour.

Has anyone ever had a dog with hip dsplaysia? Any suggestions? The meds lasted through the night, the poor thing didn't even want dinner. She just snuggled up on the floor....adorable!