Wednesday, March 02, 2022

A Lovely Patch of Green

Almost two weeks after the horrid bout of diarrhea, Choya is all better now. Her stomach seems to be hit worse by the bacterial infection this round, and made uncomfortable by the dewormer which gave her the runs too. She has cleared all her meds. Her poop's getting more solid, although we're not on a daily poop schedule just yet. I got a bit worried when she had a soft poop + diarrhea on her pack walk two days ago. But it seemed to be a one-off, which could be the duck bone grind that I shouldn't have added the extra 10g. 

I don't know how much Choya misses going to school, but I know I'll have to work harder to keep her mental edge sharp, and maintain her currently level of socialization with other dogs. Luckily she's four going on five years old. She's no longer a puppy, and she doesn't require all that work that goes into socializing a puppy anymore. 

That morning, I took her out to Fort Canning Park to practice recall. Since last June, her recall suddenly improved by leaps and bounds, and she's been pretty steady so far. You know I don't bother to do recall in the dog runs or parks overrun by monkeys and otters. Those are a no-no. I find spaces like this or at the beach which are quiet on week days, and we practice. 

She has this 'distance' set in her mind where she would run far and wander away from me before deciding to round back. Or she would stop running, and let me come near enough to allow herself to be 'caught' via her leash. I'm quite proud of her. She has completely bonded with me, which makes recall manageable. It also means that she's become a velcro dog. Zzzzzzz. We'll never be able to do a 100% reliable recall, but depending on her mood, we can do a good one on some days. I don't unclip that leash ever. She runs with it. She doesn't get to be a free-range dog outdoors.

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