We finally had Kenna spayed July 16th.  One of the reasons it has taken us so long to do this (she’s almost 8!) is that she’s an outdoor dog.

It was originally our intent to breed her.  But she was Jim’s hunting dog- retrieving ducks all winter long.  Her first heat cycle was in September- and you aren’t supposed to breed them the first time around anyway.  Subsequent cycles were also in August or September, which would mean no hunting for Jim that year, so we decided against it.

A couple years ago we made an appointment to have Kenna fixed.  It was early Spring if I remember correctly.  When we learned that she would have to be indoors for a couple weeks- or at a minimum a couple days- there was no way.  She had a thick winter coat and was acclimated to the 40-50 degree weather.  Bringing her indoors to a maintained 70-degree house just wouldn’t be fair to her.  We’ve tried that before in the winter months.  She HATES it inside.  And with the wet muddy weather outside, there was just no way we could keep the incision area clean.

That brings us to today.  The weather has been dry.  It’s been 50-80 degrees- she can handle the temperature variances.  She’s lost her winter coat so she should be happy in a 70-degree house.  So we decided the timing was right- let’s go for it!

For the first couple days she was  pretty drugged up and was content laying on the blanket in our family room.  But by Sunday, she did not want to be inside any more.  Jim was out working in the yard and she wanted to follow him around and be wherever he was.  After all, she is his dog!  We were OK with her increasing her activity level and being outside, but agreed that if she was going to lay down, she should be laying down inside, where it’s cleaner. 

It’s been 7 days since her surgery as I write this.   She is now content spending the majority of her day inside.  She has a dedicated spot and as soon as she walks indoors, she lays down on her blanket.   She doesn’t wander or get up from her spot at all.  She doesn’t greet guests or interact with the kids, unless they come to her blanket.  She still waits to be “invited” to come inside, but I’m not sure how much longer that will last.  We couldn’t ask for a better-behaved dog in any way!

Now that she’s decided being indoors is OK, I’m not sure what the future will hold.  We’ve kind of decided we’re OK having her inside, too!  Even considering getting a dog bed or something to put in a corner as a dedicated spot for her.  Although once the rain returns, that will be the end of that!

Overall, her healing is going well.  We did find out that one of her ovaries was significantly enlarged and could have had a tumor or been full of cysts.  Doctor said it was a good thing we had it removed, as it likely could have become cancerous.  Her thyroid level is also a bit low.  She will go in for a more detailed thyroid test next Friday when her staples are removed, and we’ll know the results of that test the following week.