A Quick Recovery

The above picture gives you an idea of what Parker may have felt like on Monday afternoon when I picked him up from the vet. Still a little drug-addled, bordering on sore. He slept most of the day and was pretty lethargic, in general. There was no wrestling with Ripken, no hi-jinx, not much of anything but snoozing and looking sleepy-eyed.

Tuesday, it was back to normal. I had to physically convince Parker not to jump on Ripken at least twice. He tore around the back yard at full speed for a few laps, he tugged his usual tug on the leash. We did our best to keep him from rupturing his sutures. We were successful.

By Friday, the puppy and we were behaving as if he were as good as new. He gets his stitches out on Tuesday, and he has resumed normal activity as of yesterday. His stitches look good. There is no swelling or weird coloration. He is recovering just fine. On Tuesday, he'll be one hundred percent, no doubt.

After only a few days, Monkey and I both see a slight change in Parker. This might be due to some new equipment (a control collar--just like his big bro's), or a slowly progressing maturation process (he is creeping up on six months), but we are finding Parker to be a bit more tame on walks and a bit more compliant as well. He still tries our patience several times a day, and I secretly (well, not so secretly) suspect that he is not quite as sharp as Ripken. But, I think we are going to have us a fine dog--a big (he is now fifty pounds!), fine dog.

In about five years.