When we got to his parents' house, she did really well navigating through the unfamiliar environment, and was even kind of lovey with Justin's folks, which kind of surprised me since she's only been around them maybe twice before. We had brought some of her canned food with us because we were hoping that the excitement might spark her appetite a little, but she wasn't interested in the dog food at all. As we were eating the delicious chicken enchiladas that Justin's mother had made for dinner, however, Lexie seemed to perk up a bit. She seemed interested in the smell of our dinner, so finally Justin said he was going to give her his leftovers to see if she'd eat. Boy, did she ever! In fact, she seemed to enjoy the enchiladas so much that Justin's mother told him to go fix her another plate, which Lexie also eagerly gobbled up! I cannot tell you how happy this made me. :)
After we ate dinner, we went out to the back yard for a little impromptu photo session. (Disclaimer: Justin did not want to be a photo because he is several months past due for a haircut, but we all insisted he be in at least one.)
After taking photos, we went back inside to visit for a bit, and Lexie made herself right at home. I don't know how she knew that Justin's mother had laid out a big comforter on the living room floor for her, but Lexie walked right over to it and plopped down. In fact, when it was time to go, I had a hard time getting her off the comforter to put on her harness. I don't think she wanted to leave!
The best part of the evening, though, was the ride home. Once again, we rolled down the windows for Lexie, but expected her to just lay down in the back seat. Instead, I turned around to find her doing this:
She was smiling with her head out the back window!!! Justin and I were beaming! In fact, we circled the block three more times just because we didn't want her to stop smiling. I tried to grab a photo of her with my Nikon, but by the time I had it set up she had relaxed a little and wasn't as smiley. She still looks very happy and peaceful, though:
Needless to say, Lexie was pretty worn out after such an exciting evening. She barely even noticed when our friends came over to watch HBO shows. However, she did let out a few of her signature moans and groans to let people know that she would like to be rubbed and pet, which also made me smile. At one point, Sam laid down near Lexie on the floor, and Lexie kept moaning and wiggling closer and closer to Sam. She wanted to cuddle with her so badly! Finally, she made her way over to Sam's paws and laid her chin on them, and that seemed to be enough to satisfy her cuddle needs:
I went to bed a very happy momma last night. This morning, Lexie still didn't want to eat very much, but I managed to get her to take her antibiotics and one Tramadol. I asked Justin to see if he could get her to eat some more, and I told him I was going to leave it up to him whether or not to give her another Tramadol (her usual dose is two every 8-12 hours, but we really would like to start weening her, as I'm curious if the pain medication is contributing to her decreased appetite and general shakiness/weakness).
She seemed pretty alert this morning, though. While I had her outside on her leash, I noticed a girl walking towards us in the distance. I didn't want to make eye contact with the girl when she walked by us, though, because I was afraid she may stop to talk to us and then Lexie would bark at her. So, I just kept talking to Lou as the girl approached, and I noticed that Lexie was sort of "watching" her as she walked by. I thought, "Wow! That's pretty amazing. She didn't even try to bark!" So, I glanced up at the walker, and it turned out to be Kristy, who was standing there looking kind of offended that I was ignoring her. I laughed and apologized, explaining that I didn't recognize her from a distance and also explaining why I was trying not to make eye contact. As Kristy and I were speaking, Lexie started walking towards her. When she reached Kristy's legs, she gave her a little "Dobe hug" to her shins, which kind of melted me a little. Lexie really does love Kristy. (Please check out Kristy's blog, which is full of nutrition, fitness, and even financial tips, as well as some funny little stories about her day-to-day happenings.)
Anyway, what I'm learning is that there are probably going to be "good days" and "bad days" for quite a while until all this dust finally settles. I was expecting more of a steady progression from "bad" to "good" days during Lexie's recovery process, but it just doesn't seem to be working out that way. If only all of her bad days could end as well as yesterday. Here's hoping they will from now on. :)
Thanks for the shout out! And thanks for ignoring me this morning ;)
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