Doggie Decisions

It was tears before bed at one point last week in our household, when Glory realized she was indeed having an allergic reaction to Canéla.

The pooch had done very well in her first few days with us - no 'accidents' in the house at all, no chewing of shoes or table legs, and reasonable, if sometimes rambunctious behaviour.

We had told Glory to be honest with us, because as hard as it would be to part with Canéla if we had to, we could not endanger hers or anyone else's health for the sake of a pet. And although we told her time and time again that it was not her fault if this unfortunate circumstance came to pass, we knew no matter how many times we reinforced this she would never truly feel that way.

This was especially hard on Glory since she has been the one spending the most time with the terrier - Audrey and I both had work, and Fenya's classes and study time left her behind the door of her room on most weekdays.  Glory had taught Canéla to sit very early on and was very good about not letting her jump up on her. She spent much of the day sitting with her on the kitchen floor so the pooch wouldn't feel lonely or abandoned.

The symptoms were fairly mild, and she felt much better the next day. Later on, when Audrey and I grimly asked how she was feeling, she replied, "I was a lot better after spending the night away from her, and it is mostly just sniffles anyhow."

"Is it the kind of thing you might need to take medication for?" I asked cautiously.

"Maybe?" she said. "The important thing though, is that she is not leaving this house."

And that is how we found out we are keeping our new dog.

Friends of ours who are pet owners despite having allergies themselves have chimed in with messages of support and advice, and half a week later, it seems like only intermittent medication is needed at this point. Once Glory finds a job and is spending a little more time outside the home (which will be good for her both income as well as combatting cabin fever), the impacts should be mitigated even further.

In the meantime, acclimatization to our new family member continues. It is astonishing to think that a dog so close in weight to Nitti could be so much taller, and almost all of that height is in the legs. This can create some interesting tableaux, like when Canéla stands up with her feet on an armrest in the living room and make eye contact with someone next to the kitchen sink.

My argument for an off-kilter spelling of her name never made it out of committee, and that is fine; my next goal is to standardize the spelling of Canéla with an accented e (Alt+0233), like when you see "olé!" written outside of Mexico.

She is getting walked regularly, which is good for her and even better for us. She has largely adapted to the cold weather, although she still has a tendency to keep her back left foot off the ground, so we will need a vet to look at that before too long. 

The temptation to get a DNA test done in order to know what breed she might be is hard to resist. Our best guess is maybe a mix of border terrier and Wheaten terrier, but Canéla's colouring, leg length and body language make me wonder if she maybe has some coyote in her. A lot of this is probably just my association with some of her expressions, which remind me a little of Wile E. holding up a sign asking, "In heaven's name, what have I DONE?"

Last night we brought her to the basement for the very first time, and the extra space gave her an opportunity to cut loose a little bit, playfighting, tossing her toys about and racing around frantically in what we used to call "puppy rodeo" but is known to many dog owners as "the zoomies."

We think she is around a year-and-a-half old, which means there is a lot of puppy in her still. She can get overexcited pretty easily and sounds absolutely ferocious with her growls and snarls, but her tail never stops wagging either, and she is quick enough to stop when you let her know she's overstepped.

It's still too early to determine how much trouble we may have gotten ourselves into with all this, but at least it promises to be entertaining! And in the meantime, Canéla seems to feel secure and at home with us.