Sydney and Shiloh Meet

Sydney and Shiloh finally met yesterday!

The day started early for us - Peter and I got up at about 6:30 to take Sydney out.  She was not particularly acting like she needed to go out yet, but we were hoping to preempt any chance for an accident.  This did not work out so well! We got outside without incident, but then we stood there for about 20 to 25 minutes.  I could not get Sydney to go to the bathroom at all!  She also was not interested in walking one bit, so we literally just stood on the grass while I tried to coax her back and forth across the little lawn in the hope that she would realize she needed to go to the bathroom.  Peter sat on the porch all bleary-eyed, God bless him.  I told him he could go back upstairs but he insisted on staying with us.  Sydney and I are so grateful for his patience and for all his help.  Without him, this would be much much harder.

So after standing there for 20 to 25 minutes with no results, we gave up and brought Sydney back upstairs.  The MINUTE we got inside our apartment she started pooping!  I think maybe she doesn't have that much control over her bowels...I'm going to have to ask the therapists about that.  Maybe she does have a decent amount of control and it was just an accident.  It wasn't a big deal, of course.  We don't mind cleaning up her accidents at all, but like I said in an earlier post, she doesn't like having accidents.  She knows what is happening.  So we will keep working on having successful outdoor potty sessions. :)

After feeding her and getting her to go to the bathroom outside after breakfast, we loaded Sydney in the car for a trip to my parents' house, where Shiloh has been staying.  Like most dogs, Sydney seems to really enjoy riding in the car.  It's not as easy for her to stick her nose out the window without being able to use her hind legs, but she manages.

Our visit at my parents' house was really nice - Sydney got to run free around the front and back yard in her wheelchair.  Both of my parents were there, and they loved Sydney and were so impressed by her.  Shiloh, on the other hand, was a bit nervous!  She was very excited to meet Sydney - Shiloh loves other dogs - but she was definitely curious about Sydney's wheelchair.  She followed Sydney around a bit, cautiously stretching her nose out toward Sydney's wheelchair to check it out.  Shiloh became even more cautious after her feet got run over a couple times by Sydney's wheels.  Sydney seemed excited to meet Shiloh too - Syd sniffed her a different points throughout the visit.  At one point Sydney was trying to sniff Shiloh's rear end and Shi was so nervous she kept jogging around in a small circle as if to get away from Sydney, but Sydney just kept following her around in a circle.  It was very cute!  Shiloh wasn't really trying to get away - she wanted to play with Sydney, she just couldn't figure out the wheelchair.


When Sydney got up on the deck to sniff around, Shiloh and my parents' dog, Daisy, followed.  Sydney tends to run into things with her wheels, and Shiloh and Daisy were terrified when Sydney's wheels caught some of the deck furniture and started dragging the furniture across the deck.  Daisy is a little cockapoo, and at one point she got caught underneath Sydney's wheelchair, between Sydney's back legs and the wheels.  Poor Daisy was seriously alarmed!  But she got out just fine.

Exploring my parents' back yard.

Checking everything out.

Getting a treat from Granny with Shiloh and Daisy.

Shi sniffing Sydney's chair in the front yard.

Shi asking Sydney to play with the tennis ball.  Shiloh LOVES to play with a ball.  To Shiloh's disappointment, Sydney remains uninterested in balls.  But then again, that just means more ball-time for her!

Sniff Sniff!  Shiloh made sure to stand very still so Sydney could check her out.

Playtime! (That's me)

Playing and cuddling.

More sniffs.

And more.

Rooting around in the garden together.  Sydney's wheelchair is not the best thing for plants. Sorry Mom!

Happy Sydney!

Playing with the frisbee inside while Shiloh looks on from a safe distance from Sydney's wheels.

Sydney's back legs moved around a lot as she ran around my parents' yard.  :)  I can't wait to talk to her therapists about what it all means.  All this movement must mean really good things!  We do her stretches, passive movement exercises, and massage 2 or 3 times a day, though she doesn't seem too keen on the whole thing.  It's easiest to do them when she is in her wheelchair, but then she often wants to lay down while we are doing the exercises and gets impatient.   We make her wait, of course - these exercises are important!

Sydney is passed out on her bed in the living room right now.  She's a happy girl.  I'm going to pick up another soft squeaky toy for her today.  Looking forward to her reaction!  I'm also hoping to get some video at some point of her legs and tail moving when we are out for a walk, so I can post it on here and everyone can see what I mean when I talk about her movement.  There will also be many more stories and pictures of Sydney and Shiloh together once Shi comes home later this week.  So stay tuned!