41 and on

Jodie is fixed, folks. Solidly. She’s running to keep up with Wilma these days and makes it up onto the couch all on her very own. She’s gentle and sweet natured, and that nice comfy medium-smart that makes her quick to learn and eager to please without being cagey or neurotic or obsessed with cows, (Wilma).  She trusts us, and did from almost the very beginning, which I still find hard to reconcile.

 I think about the speed of her recovery all the time. Here are my conclusions: While some rescue dogs take time and hair-rending, nail-biting, up-all-night effort before they come around, others don’t take as much to get back on their feet. Jodie is our easy, happy girl, and we love her dearly. I don’t love her more or less for taking only a little to find her happiness, but it’s changed the way I think about need and all it might take to repair damage.

We’ve decided to adopt her. No surprise, I realize. She loves us, and we love her back. Also, Wilma thinks Jodie is the best thing that ever rolled into this town, and visa versa—I have no heart or want to separate them.

Because this story was meant to be about her recovery, I think it ends here.

Thank you for keeping me company, and for your suggestions and well-wishing. I remember outlining my hesitations to a co-worker the day I sent the distraught “ack! I’ll foster that thing” message to Los Angeles—sort of a laundry list of potential disasters I’d just invited into my nice, clean, calm little family. She acknowledged my fears, but also their opposite: that this could also be one of the best things, looking back, that I'd remember. 

What we did was easier than it was hard, but here’s the thing: that actually doesn’t lessen at all the fact that this totally is one of the best things. I have years of her happiness to be with. It is such a good world to live in where that happens at all, let alone so very, very easily.

Thanks for being with us while we got there. 

Day 39- first hike

Day 30

We had a break in the rain this afternoon.

Day 27

Day 23

Jodie loves Wilma.

That's love all over her face, promise.

We didn't mean to introduce them so early, but Jodie loved Wilma from the first time she saw her through the security gate, and started crying whenever Wilma wandered out of eyesight.

Now they're inseparable. Jodie is very anxious about being left alone, but she takes a lot of comfort in Wilma. Their friendship makes me really, really happy.

Day 21

Her collar came in the mail today.

We picked the shamrock because, you know, she's lucky. 

Day 20

Day 18 - Walking

Bill bought Jodie her very own bed while he was at work, and we brought it home to her at the end of the day.  She got in it:

And then she got out of it:

She stood up and walked right out into the yard, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

This is becoming absurd, you know?  I was braced for this long, harrowing journey back to life, daytime television style--months of coaxing her into trusting me, being snapped at and hated before she came around. But she hasn't been like that at all--- she was scared and hurt, less than a day away from missing her chance altogether, and all she needed was a week or two of rest, and this tiniest bit of love to get back on her way. It's this total pittance, and yet she's completely, irrepressibly happy. I'm just floored by it. 

She ran around the yard for 20 minutes, and then came and laid down at my feet. It absolutely blows my mind that there are dogs like this out there.

Day 17

She's up!

Not walking yet, but she sat up for the first time today. She's tall, right?

Day 16

This dog has become a professional escaper of the bathroom.

She doesn't ever know what to do when she gets to the living room, but she likes the view.

Her UTI is finally (finally!) gone, and she's feeling pretty good these days. I don't think she has any pain from her eye anymore, but her hip is still to painful to walk on. Lots of her scooting around and me dragging her back to where she belongs on a folded towel.

Naughty. Back to the bathroom for you.

Day 15

Day 14

escape!

She's pretty good at dragging herself around these days. I turned my back for a second this morning, and off she went!

Day 13

Day 12

She's feeling better today. I get a little half tail wiggle when I come in, and she's eating lots. She's taking an interest in her surroundings, which is new. She perks up her ears when Bill walks by or when Wilma June (our cattle dog/terrier mutt) comes to sniff under the door.

She's also a clean little puppy these days-- the cone of shame is gone, and she's been washing all the parts she can reach. She's also started relieving herself away from her sleeping area, which she enjoys much more now that it's clean and dry. If she keeps it up, we'll go out this weekend and buy her a real bed to sleep in.

Also, it turns out that on her bottle of antibiotics, there's a spot for the pet's name.

It says "Eye Dog." 

Too bad we already named her Jodie, you know?

Day 11

More resting.

She wags her tail in her sleep.

Day 10

She was sad most of the day. She still hurts a lot. We're switching antibiotics to try to clear up what looks like the world's meanest bladder infection.

She sometimes cries when I'm not sitting with her, and when I finally gave in late last night, she scooted across the floor and put her front arms in my lap.

Day 9

  Resting.

  It's a girl.

Day 8 - Heading north

Saying bye to Andy and Chelsea. 

Heading north.

And home.

I knit a "thank you for crossing the state of California with a temporarily incontinent dog" hat. 

Day 7 - Back from the vet

After five days at the vet, the dog is spending the night with Chelsea and Andy in LA. That scar in super, super intense. 

From Chelsea: "Hard to text, it loves to be pet..."

Day 2 - At the vet

With Dr. Jones in Santa Monica. Its eye was removed on 2.27, and X-rays show a fractured pelvis that will heal on its own. It pees when it's scared, and the clinic staff says it bites and screams.