NOTE: You can find more posts about Maisie HERE!
Thought it was time for a catch-up on Maisie, and I have a bunch of pictures of her I’ve taken lately I want to share, so…
First, she’s feeling better, absolutely no coughing for well over a week. Just 5 more doses of her meds (twice/day) and she’ll be done with those. Still eating fine. Drinking gallons of water, and peeing constantly which I’m guessing is from the steroids; they do that to me too. She’s been kinda depressed the last couple of days, but I haven’t needed her help much and she loves her work, and has gotten depressed in the past when she had nothing to do, too.
Second, giving her pills is much easier now that I roasted that turkey breast for her! Not a fan of using cheese for several reasons, and the quick-n-dirty shove-’em’down is messy because she’s a slobbery gurl. So pulling off a layer of turkey and rolling it around the pills works great!
Third, it looks to me like her weight loss is going well, she’s getting 5 scoops of food instead of 6 now, and I’m cutting way back on her treats. When I give her real food it’s meat or veg – no more carbs. But she’s looking a little leaner around the waist and feeling a little less padding over her ribs. We’ll find out on the 13th when she has her recheck.
Last night she was so cute, when I went to bed I wanted the pillow I use for sitting up to watch TV. It had fallen on the floor on Pete’s side so I asked her to get it. She couldn’t reach it from the bed, so she tried putting her front feet on the wheel well to get herself lower, but still couldn’t reach it. Then she worked on getting around from the bottom but there was stuff blocking her path there too. I could see her mind working for a few seconds…then she happily went out to the living room and grabbed one of my pillows from the davenport and brought it proudly to me. GOOD GURL!
That is one of the things that makes her such a great service dog: she’s a problem-solver, and doesn’t require constant input from me to do what needs to be done. I don’t have to micro-manage her, just tell her what I need and let her go.
This morning Maisie was in the bedroom and I was on the davenport. I heard something fall to the floor but couldn’t see what it was, and my mouse and phone – the 2 biggest culprits – were both next to me. Maisie heard it too, and came out here to see what I needed her to pick up. She looked all around my area and couldn’t find anything that wasn’t supposed to be there and then stared at me. I held up my mouse and my phone so she could see that I already had them; that satisfied her and she took herself back to the bedroom. She’s always thinkin’, that one!
And now some pictures! (Click on the first photo to open up the viewer, so you can see the photos in their entirety.)
These are so heart warming. She is just so amazing and smart! I am praising God that she is feeling better and it appears you are feeling better too. To God be the glory for marvelously answering these prayers.
She absolutely is, I have had a few better days lately and I am so thankful! It feels so good to be able to get a few things done around here, and also not to be so dependent on Pete to feed me and do everything :). Thank you for sharing in my gratitude, my friend!