Healing and Happiness

The days fly by and the healing continues. Tess has improved since we brought her home over a week ago. It was this week when I saw a noticeable difference in her. She would still be in pain when getting up or down but she no longer walked with pain. Her eyes are not clouded but clear and begging for treats. She tail is no longer tucked under her belly but waving in hopeful anticipation of a treat. For the longest time, she would struggle with half portions of her twice-daily meals but now she eats them, slowly but not in pain.

The Vet and vet techs at SVS have been outstanding. Dr. Michael B. Mison did the surgery on Tess and the vets and vet techs that I had talked who worked at other clinics to said he was the best. He was great and fixed Tess back up! We are so grateful to him. When we would visit, the staff made sure all of our questions were answered and showed compassion.They called us several times  after we brought Tess home to make sure everything was fine. They also found Tess's Towel and sent that back. It was a towel she had won at a trial and that had embroidery on it. Dr. Jen Rubinstein made sure any questions we had were answered and to make sure we were happy with their service. Her speciality is geriatric herding dogs! I highly recommend this place if you require emergency care for your pets. click -->>; SVS (Seattle Veterinary Specialists)


Tess  used to pant with pain but most of that is gone. We still see it occasionally when it is time for another pain pill or in the middle of the night. The huge fluid filled area on her underside is gone now and she is sore on her flanks. However, she is internally bruised and it will take time to heal. The stitches are healing nicely and they should gone out later this week. Audrey came over on Saturday to give her a checkup and pronounced her as doing well. Audrey will be taking the staples out later this week and we hope that goes well.

Tess spends most of her time next to me on the couch with her head on my lap. She usually is asleep but when I am having dinner, she decides that is a good time to wake up. I save a piece of my dinner for her and she eats it with gentleness. She is back to the begging routine with the white rimmed eyes, the slight turning the head and tiny smile. I fall for it each time and she knows it. I massage her back legs each night and now the swelling is gone. I also massage her face and shoulders and she gives me the deepest sighs of contentment.

Luckily, for Tess, she had extra padding on her so during her recovery she did not get thin. In fact, her weight is perfect now and the extra layer probably helped her when she was hit. I think she probably will get a few ponds back but we can put her on a diet next month as now, we want her to heal, have an appetite and get back to normal. She has been going to the bathroom and going up and down the stairs quite slow but she does make it.

She gave me a scare the other day. I let her out to go potty before I went to work and then went back in to grab my coffee off the counter. I was gone for about one minute and when I went back out, she was gone. I called but no Tess and then I panicked. What if she fell into the blackberries, the pond….what? I rushed about the front yard looking for her but no Tess. Suddenly the barn dogs began to bark and I raced down to the barn, calling for Tess. She trotted out of the barn with a embarrassed grin on her face and then I knew what she was up to. Obviously, she felt well enough to trot down to the barn to see if she could get some kitty food. She loves the kitty food and will jump up on a four foot ledge that is about one foot wide, balance on it and eat the kitty food with the cats under her. Tess trotted all the way up to the house, up the stairs and stood next to the couch so I could lift her on it. I smiled as a couple of days prior; she would barely walk to the front yard to go to the bathroom.

My mom, Aunt Kimiko and my brother Nelson came over for my birthday dinner. Tess was trying to be as she was before and begging for treats. She wore herself out and then went to her bed where then my mm and Aunt Kimiko went to her bed and handfed her some soft treats. Tess really enjoyed that! We had a nice dinner and soon Tess worked her way to the table. Everyone fed her some steak, prawns and other assorted food from the table. She normally never to gets to eat from the table area but we made an exception. She worked the crowd at the table and soon was full and went back to sleep.

She is getting better and better each day and in three months, we expect her to be back to normal. She suffered huge damage internally and it will take time to heal but she is healing and she is alive and that is great. We appreciate all of you that got in contact with us about Tess and your prayers and thoughts. You all know what she means to me and that she is the love of my life. She has made me the handler that I am today and the reason that I do the sheepdog trials. I can only hope that each of you have a special dog in your life like I have with Tess and you can truly know the love, devotion and richness of life with a dog like her.