Here she is after a first inaugural brush. Yum! Love that poultry flavor!
Lucy had her teeth cleaned and she now has wonderfully normal breath. It wasn't bad before, but it was starting to get a little gamey. They also clipped her nails while she was under. I'd been given a gift certificate to a local grooming shop and the owner must have been a bit brutal when she clipped Lucy's nails. Since then, Lucy has not been interested in me doing it. Lots of flinching and pulling away has required me to work the bribery trick: clip one, small treat, clip another, another treat.
The vet tech did a wonderfully gentle but persuasive guilt trip on me regarding tooth brushing. And at the cost, it didn't take a lot of convincing.
Her recovery from the anesthetic was tough on her. I don't know that she was paranoid, but it certainly came across as that. She couldn't lay down for more than a minute when she was up and pacing, whining. Ears up and alert, wide eyes, frantic movements, in and out of the dog door. After about four hours, she was more settled...particularly as we were both in the same room with her. Another reason to brush. If I can hold off a little longer on the cleaning, then she won't have to go through that again.
The vet also said she was getting a bit porky. I noticed that too and so did a friend. Prior to her back surgery, she'd become so skinny (47#) that I was concerned, so started feeding her a little more. Now she's up to 58#! The vet said 50#, but I think I'll back her down to 55# where she's been for all her adult years. Here's an interesting article on figuring out if your dog is too heavy. There's also a link within it to a forum discussion on treats.
