{{{{{{{{{{{mitmo}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Hello hon. I'm sorry--you posted here when I wasn't posting much anywhere and couldn't seem to catch up--sorry for the delay in answering you!
I think you're probably going to grieve for Diego for a while. And then, it's a hard time of year to lose anyone you love, yanno? Be kind to yourself, darlin.
Has Diego come back to visit?
Thanks for asking about Trooper! He's learning to use his back legs together and has started jumping... omg... I was all set for this long stretched-out recovery timeline and here it's only two and a half weeks and he runs faster than I can catch him, he goes up and down stairs by himself, he's potty-trained himself (although we sometimes miss his signals, and he doesn't have much capacity for holding it yet), he plays constantly--he'd rather play than eat!--and he jumps up on his hind legs.
If this dog were healthy I would NEVER be able to keep up with him.
We cannot tell yet how much he already knows (as a Familiar). I was practicing some quiet drumming last night and was going to do a guided meditation with Gryph, but the pup set up such a howl we finally had to let him out of the crate. He stayed in Gryph's lap for a long time; but even after I gave up on the drum, every time I started the meditation again, he would immediately start licking Gryph's face. We don't know whether he needed to be part of the work or he just needed to be out of the crate.
He seems amazingly well tuned to voice commands, responds appropriately almost every time to the tone of voice even if he doesn't know the words. I think he's picking up on our mental images--just like the day I met him, looked at him and thought "what happened to you, puppy?!" and immediately saw the kick and felt the impact.
Psychic boy.
We're working now on controlling the teeth. He's learning that even though Daddy Gryph is patient and willing to cut him lots of slack, Mama Cath is a bitch of an Alpha and has a rule: teeth on human skin is immediately and severely punished by crating, NO treat.
I will NOT lose a Familiar at two or three or even five years old because he bit someone, I just will NOT. And believe me, although the vet was kind and officially labeled him a lab mix, anyone who knows dogs will know that is a pit bull head and pit bull jaws. We can't afford to take any chances at all. Now, while he's still small enough to smoosh into the crate, we have to teach him this lesson about teeth.
And soon I guess we have to get a bigger crate. *sheepish smile*
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