Poor little guy. We took him in to get any hint of manhood left in his bitty body, to get *ahem, removed. I wish I had my camera there to show you but you could not have gotten him out of that vet’s fast enough. It only took a few minutes later though while we were safely in the car, for his pain medication to once again set in and subdue him for the rest of the ride home.
They told us, they did not put a e-collar on him as they only do if a dog is excessively licking his incision while he is in their care. It only took about 5 minutes in the car though to realize we would need to be stopping at Petsmart to get the little guy one, as he was began to go at it like it was some buried treasure!
It has now been a week since he has had to have this horrible abomanation on his head,that his evil owner decided to put on him for no reason he can figure out. I decided although a week was to be when he should be healed, to leave it on a few days as there is a bit of scabbing. Due to his operation and strict orders on “NO EXCESSIVE EXERCISE” I have not taken him out for a walk for about a week now. As I took him out today I don’t know if it was because of his recent operation or lack of socialization for the past week but he was barked at everyone and everything, at least for the first 10 minutes, then a little half growl/ half bark seemed sufficient enough. Hopefully once we get back to his normal routine, this little beahvior will cease. Has anyone else had a similar experience, with the barking?
Kirbysdawgblog 
Hey Kirby, Jet here.
Dude, so sorry you’ve gone through this experience. I’ve got some years on you and I did too. I still consider myself a manly man and you remain one, too!
As for the cone of shame…I’ve had to wear one more than I can say… my little human neighbor even made me wear a princess crown at the same time. This too shall pass and you will resume your great life.
We think the barking and stuff will subside when you release all your pent up energy. (we’re NOT professionals…)
I have read your comment word for word to the little man, and although it could be mistaken for a I know common pant, I can bet my bottom dollar on it it was a smile from ear to ear. Thanks for cheering my little one up, it means a lot coming from such a handsome gentleman such as yourself!
I’m glad I could help, even a tad… us lads must stick together. We love smiles…
Sending more Jetty kisses and JJ hugs and lovies from Mom.
Poor adorable little Kirby! Daisy didn’t have an easy time at all after being spayed. I agree with what Jet said (Jet IS a wise dude, after all!) – probably pent up energy that will even out over time. And maybe a little grumpiness for his ordeal 😉
Yes, that definitely makes sense! Thanks so much and to adorable Daisy as well!
Poor Kirby. Raffles went through exactly the same a day before we got him home. Hasn’t been a blip on his radar and as for excessive exercise! Try stopping the running and playing at home. Anyway, I hope little Kirby feels back to himself in no time and that means not barking at the others as well.
Oh yes, it was very hard actually but I kept him calm the very best Icould. Oh boy raffles got fixed then a new home a day later, that must have been a crazy couple of days! Kirby is back to normal now, his incision is completely healed up and he’sback to his crazy days. We were planning on going tothe dog park today, but with the hurricane Sandy alert in our region tonight, we thought better of it.
Oh poor Kirby, not bad enough having the bits ( cough cough ) but a cone as well 😦 I think the barking is just showing them, you is still the big man dog, that you once was..and being pent up for a week and the last place you saw was the vets, You is a bit scared 🙂 They have to drag me into the vets now I’ve been done. Your be fine after a few days 🙂 xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
Oh thank you so much Mollie for those very wise wise words. I cant wait to get kirby back to his “doggy civilization” A.K.A the dog park. He is completely healed up so hopefully tomorrow will be a good day!
Poor Kirby, I had to wear such a beast for a week after my paw surgery – what a horror :o)
Oh! What another horrible spot to have to visit the vets for. Kirby has finally healed up so is happy as a clam right now.
Poor Kirby, it’s just so…so…undognified, isn’t it? (See, I punned). Don’t worry, it will be a distant memory soon. My girls have been there, done that, have the cone to prove it.
Thanks so much for the kind words! kirby has just finished healing up so will hopefully be back to his old tricks very soon. Isn’t it’s so depressing seeing them waddle around with that little cone, haha.
AWWWW poor little guy! I remember Gracie after she was fixed, not a happy camper as I’m sure Kirby is also! But it shall pass and he’ll be right as rain and remember all his manners when he goes of out!
Aw, hope little Kirby is doing better now. Just curious if he was wearing the cone of shame when he was barking on his walk. Once it’s gone he might just be fine. Kona became quite stressed around other dogs after his leg was broken. It does get better with time.
No, he had it off, he is still a bit barky for some reason mostly to other dogs only on walks, and sometimes people, but if they come up to him anyways he stops and licks them and loves them again. It just is rather bothersome as I believe with him he takes a bit more socialization needs than most dogs and some people who might have wanted to pet him, don’t because they mistake his bark as aggressiveness. If we are in a crowd of people or at petsmart or a friends house or the dog park he won’t make a peep at any dogs there, just on walks.
Dogs can become reactive for a number of reasons. It could be b/c they are unsure of their surroundings and are sending signals to others to keep away or it may be that the other dogs have a tight leash they might react only when their or the other dogs leash goes tight. I’m no expert on this but you’ll need to watch how Kirby behaves before he starts to bark. Does he shake, pace, pant?? Does your leash go tight? Dogs can send a number of signals but it can take some observation (sometimes you need a helper to do the observation) to catch them. Kona does not like high energy dogs pulling towards him – if he starts to show some stress we turn around and walk in a different direction until he looks calm. I catch him before he might bark and we have very few instances of him barking and rarely have to turn around anymore. If you notice that with Kirby he only barks when he’s on leash than that “might” be a part of his behavior. I haven’t met Kirby but some things for you to think about. When you walk him does he walk on a loose leash or is he pulling. Do you walk with a flexy? There is always tension with a flexy so you might want to consider using a 6 foot leash and working on that loose leash walk. What are the other dogs doing? Are they pulling? Walking loose leash? How far — how close can you be to other dogs without him reacting? There’s a lot to think about and lots of books on this (Patricia Mcconnell’s “The Other End of The Leash” is a good one).
I have been a big fan of the dog whisperer and am reading one of his books right now. Through watching dozens of episodes before and while i got Kirby, I learned that you can tell by his body language when he is about to bark before he does, so when I catch him i do the shhh! quick noise and sllightly and gently tap him on the side with a finger, which doesn’t hurt at all it just snaps him out of the current state he is in, as caeser millan does. He is actually usually a amazing walker, once he gets going, he doesn’t pull on the leash,until he sees a larger dog. If its a small dog like him especially if its his colouring he will not bark but try to greet. I don’t want him to be afraid of big dogs, so I am currently trying to get him to meet friendly ones. Unfortunetly,many people because of how small he is seem to pull their dog away because I think they were worried that their dog might go after it just because he is small, so it is hard to get him in contact with big dogs. Even when he goes to the he goes in the little dog section so he is only with little dogs. I have tried to bring him into the big dog section (as small dogs are allowed, and only friendly dogs are allowed in the park to begin with) hopeing he can get some face time with a big dog, but even there people seem uneasy and don’t really want my dog in there, so it is hard. I also notice if the stranger dog is right infront of us, whether he be big or small, kirby is totally fine, it only seems to happen when the dog is approaching us with its owner on the sidewalk. I was told to help him with the barking it would be a good idea to teach him to be quiet, and to teach be quiet you have to teach him how to “speak” first. So i got the speak part down he does very well at that, but the quiet signal I don’t know really how to correlate it yet so he gets it. I would say once the dog is about 6 feetaway r closer he will start barking. Luckily, if whatever he is barking at if they keep proceeding and make contact with him, he turns into the sweetest thing,licking their hands,smelling the dog’s bum, because I guess he figures his little warning didn’t work so I am going to be nice now, but most people don’t let their dog get to that stage because they assume Kirby’s defensive barks mean he is unfriendly and will bite them. He is on a reg 6 foot leash. Iwill have to check out that book for sure though! 🙂 Thanks for the effort and care you took to leave me the response, and I hope mine doesn’t turn out too long. 🙂 I appreciate the feedback and your idea greatly!
Fawghts wez just pops buy again Kirby to see’z howz ya doing xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
He is doing much better, thanks for thinking of him! 🙂 he is still a bit barky for some reason mostly to other dogs only on walks, and sometimes people, but if they come up to him anyways he stops and licks them and loves them again. It just is rather bothersome as I believe with him he takes a bit more socialization needs than most dogs and some people who might have wanted to pet him, don’t because they mistake his bark as aggressiveness. If we are in a crowd of people or at petsmart or a friends house or the dog park he won’t make a peep at any dogs there, just on walks.
I had to wear a cone once, I had stitches in my paw. The cone was so large it was hard to go through a doorway!
Oh no, that must have been dreadful! I had trouble going through dorrways being my little 5 pound self with a pint sized cone, so I can’t even imagine what it would have been like for you. At least us satellite dishes can unite and share our stories of these horrid plastic monstrocities!
Last time I had one of my fur babies to the vet they told me I didn’t need the cone either… Yes I did!!! What’s wrong with them anyway? The poor baby is still groggy when you get it back and later when it fully recovers it goes after those stitches every time. 😦 Kirby is such a cute dog! Glad he’s got such a good friend like you to look after him. 😉
~Lynda
(thanks for visiting me today)
I know I knew right before he even started going at the stitches he would need one, I don’t know one dog who would leave that alone. Heck, if I was a dog I wouldn’t either! Thanks Lynda for the lovely comment. I have enjoyed visiting your blog as well. Will be back to read more for sure! 🙂