He's Ba-ack!

Stanley had his first walk in tandem since his surgery, yesterday. As usual, he was all about the lovin'!

Update on Stanley

Here's Stan-o on Tuesday, shortly after his surgery. He's a bit thinner in the face these days but we all know he'll get those beautiful folds back in no time!

It's both delightful and troubling to see him getting his energy back this week. Delightful because, of course, his happy-stray-bowling-ball attitude is so endearing; but troubling since he really needs to rest so he heals properly, permanently and quickly. Hearing him (try to) bark is also heartbreaking.

So he's been on a sedative this week, which (barely) keeps him low-key, but it's still important not to get him worked up since he's liable to respond to a smile with a leap. Today I kept him out of the rain as much as possible and we had a deep cuddle session on the couch. It was nice, but I'm looking forward to the return of spring and a bulldog able to take advantage of it.

Stanley

This is Stanley. He's actually one of the newest members of my extended pack*, although it doesn't feel that way anymore. Watching him grow from a bite-sized little puppy-monster to an explosive, loving, slobbery 50 pound, full fledged adult English bulldog over the past 13 months has been quite the learning experience - for both of us.

Stanley has tons of energy for his breed and he's very cued in emotionally to his environment. He loves to cuddle with people (he's quite kissy!) and play with other dogs. He brakes for sticks and is an excellent on-the-leash bottle soccer player!

But the reason Stanley's my first post is that he's currently recovering from major surgery - the third(!) of his young life. In the first two instances, he had "cherry eye," where a gland in the bottom of each of his eyes (fortunately at different times) popped out. In this case (over the past weekend) he had corrective surgery to remove some of the soft tissue in his palate and throat. The surgery is recommended for most bulldogs, as their oddly shaped snout can lead to serious breathing problems, especially later in life. It's a very grave issue, and I spoke with one dog-lover not too long ago who actually endured the agony of watching his dog choke to death on a very hot day, on the way to the hospital. One cannot even imagine what the dog went through before he passed away - but I am very glad that Stanley is getting this out of the way now!

So far, the recovery is going quite well considering how invasive the procedure is. After a couple days of a very restricted diet he's starting to get back into his routine, and emotionally he seems to be bouncing right back. It does take quite a while for the tissue to heal, and sadly he won't be able to be with other dogs for a bit, or play his favorite games. But this all happens while Stanley's immune system is at its strongest, and he's in a very nurturing environment. Expect big things from this one - he makes quite a splash!



*--although I refer to the aggregate total of all my dogs as my "extended pack," the whole pack is never together. I never walk more dogs than I can handle in a worst case scenario. Which never means more than 4, is more commonly 2 or 3, and for some dogs is only 1.