Checkpoint: Eo’s Hips, 2 months later
Eowyn had her hips operated on two months ago (just in time for Christmas, lucky her…) and then spent five weeks on crate rest before I allowed her to move around again.
Right now, she still has some pain when she moves, but she’s been up and around and walking for three weeks. I’ve noticed a marked decrease in reactive behavior. She’s still very food/resource aggressive, but she doesn’t snap all the way to aggression like she used to… she now very noticeably warns before she bites. She doesn’t display much (if any) aggression towards cars anymore on our walks … this is a very recent development, but I’ve been doing everything I can to encourage it!
Also, the “interrupts” that I tried to train into her last year now suddenly work. Telling her to “come” or “down” will now result in her coming or laying down, instead of continuing whatever reaction she was in the middle of. Turns out it wasn’t so much that the behavior specialist I saw (Dr. Kay Stephens of Puppy Love in College Station) was wrong in how to train her, it’s that she was wrong in her evaluation of why Eowyn was reacting the way she was.
And here I’m just happy to have my puppy back!