About five days after his July 3rd surgery for a blown knee, I picked him up at the vet hospital. As he dragged me out of the vet's office, I wondered "What Have I Gotten Myself Into?!?". I had just voluntarily agreed to keep a 3 year old yellow lab quiet for 12 weeks so he wouldn't damage his rebuilt knee. This might not be as easy as I thought.
He showed a bit of spirit the first couple days as I put him in his cage in the office. He wasn't happy about that - definitely wanted to be where the action was - with Network and I in the living room. The sweetest thing I noticed in the early days was how he sat so patiently and without any fuss, let me put the dreaded cone on his head.
The second day I moved his crate into the living room, and after another day or two, I didn't put him in it again, and took off the cone too. He was a perfect angel - he didn't need any of that stuff.
He also was proving to be pretty mellow - and I never again felt that panic about keeping him down. In fact, after one or two failed attempts to get Network to play, Sunny kinda retired to his dog bed in a semi-depressed state of mind. And thereafter I was absorbed with Network's last days and I took care of Sunny's physical needs and he had constant company but I couldn't encourage play so he just kinda hung out and passed the time.
Fast forward through the rest of July and the first half of August. Then I took Sunny to his wonderful other foster home for 3 weeks so I could spend a last few days with Network and then run away for 2 1/2 weeks. Facing the daunting task of returning home to a home without a Network for the first time in 13 1/2 years (wow - that's a long time!) I found I was relieved that I would pick Sunny up the next day and have his company for a few more weeks as he finished his recuperation.
After a day of observing the still-depressed Sunny, I took on the task of bringing some joy into the little guy's life. I decided we'd go out for a ride in the car every day, also to help him learn that riding in the car isn't always a bad thing. Oh he was so sad the first time I took him to Deb's. I'd only had him for two weeks and had to leave town. What a sad little boy - I just sat in the back seat of the car with his head on my lap as we waited in the parking lot for Deb to arrive. Life was not treating him well as he realized he was on the move again. He had only arrived at Safe Harbor Lab Rescue a day before blowing out his knee, after what was probably a trip through an animal shelter and an inter-state transit to our region. What must he be thinking about this unending journey?
On our first day out, I also decided he needed a special toy. And I'll write about that in a separate post - Sunny's Monkey.
After Sunny's Monkey, things started to turn around. We were taking daily car rides, and longer and longer walks to rebuild his muscles. His attitude improved and his spirit started to show. When I left him alone for a few hours, he'd search the house for a piece of my clothes or my slippers. But he didn't do any damage. He just moved them - near his bed. One day I uncharacteristically left yesterday's clothes on the floor in the bedroom, and came home to find a pair of levis and a sweatshirt strewn across the living room floor! Laughter is good medicine.
While I was paying for his monkey at the pet store, he was busy shopping for a tennis ball from the strategically placed bucket of balls - just like the people stores putting irresistible kid stuff in the area of the cash register, to teach the parents how to say no. So I knew that after achieving his medical release, Sunny would be a ball dog. Actually, we already knew that. Deb had tried to give him a ball during his first stay with her, and her early reports were about what a clever boy he was that he taught them how to play ball while he didn't move off his bed. He rolled it away for them to retrieve. But, alas, he eventually got too wild and the ball had to be retired until he was fully healed. I similarly had given him a kong during his first week, and had to take it away within a day.
As soon as he received his medical release (or maybe a couple days prematurely) I introduced light ball play in the house. And I started to see the spirit of my Lily alive and kicking in our little Sunny. It was about that time when I started to think that maybe I couldn't give him up after all. And the rest is history.
No, the rest is future.
No, the rest is future.
Early picture of Sunny taken by Deb.
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