It’s a difficult morning.  I can’t believe how ‘in love’ I am with my little man.  This morning he is in  shock that our morning rituals have been changed and his food dish has been hidden.  There’s one thing my little guy loves…and that his cereal in the morning!  For me, it’s heart breaking!  He has learned to sit about four feet from where his dish is placed.  He follows the command to stay, as I place it down….he watches my hand command intensely, until finally I give one wave of my hand in the  direction of the bowl  and say "come and get it Max".

So, at this very moment, my pooch is sitting four feet from where his bowl sits…staring at the spot, as though I somehow have forgotten what is supposed to happen next.  AHHHH!

As you have likely guessed, today Max is being neutered and he is also having his two back dewclaws  removed. There is as much debate about their removal as there is about whether a young boy should be circumcised.  These dewclaws are not attached at all to Max’s back legs and he has already  begun a degree of licking and nibbling on them.  In the end, these may rip, tear or poke him in the eye over time.  I just think that to wait any longer for this procedure will likely be more uncomfortable for him.  I can only hope that I’m making the right decision.

The next few days will require me to be vigilant regarding steering him away from his stitches.  I’m guessing, because of the exposure, the stitches on his legs will be more of an issue.

It is going to be very hard for me to leave him this morning…but Dr. Marty is full of love for animals and I know that things will be ok.  Max and I have shared every day since the day I brought him home in June and I know that he will have a sense of abandonment when I leave him there  during the next hour.  At this moment, he is frantically waving the kitchen  dish rag around…a flag of surrender?