The time came too soon again

So not ready for this time

And while I was trying to save up money, and do my investigations about what definitive solution was really best for the problem that you can expect if you take a young intact male in your house, and you also have an intact female in the house… so the same female decided to NOW spontaneously getting into heat again.

Keep the dogs apart from each other

More than 5 months earlier than expected, I am now again looking at a situation where I have to keep the two dogs apart. But that is not easy, because all dogs really want nothing more than to stay with the pack.

A dog is and remains a pack animal AND therefore always wants to be with the pack.

Feels like I'm punishing my dogs

Putting a dog aside is a great punishment for the dog. And that feels very unfair to that dog who can in fact do nothing about following his nature.

Lana in a bench is not a possibility

Putting Lana in the bench is unfortunately not possible because her traumatized past made it impossible for her to live here. The first thing she does as soon as the crate door closes is pee in the crate and as long as she is in it she vibrates like a straw. That is simply not an option.

I don't want to traumatize my dogs… The opposite. I want to give them what they need and that's no punishment ...

It feels so unfair

Raising a dog with punishment is never a good idea, but right now I can't help but punish one dog by putting her in a bench or punish the other dog by shutting him out of the pack alone in the kitchen . It feels so unfair, and because I am also highly sensitive myself, this situation puts a heavy burden on me personally. I empathize with all my dogs and I feel worthless under this.

Mind and feeling go a different way here

Of course I know with my mind that there is no other way, but mind and feeling both go a different way. My feeling is horrible and I feel torn in two. Not a good feeling… and yes, I can logically argue that this situation lasts about three weeks. But in those three weeks I am emotionally at the end of my strength because I know all too well that the dogs just do not understand this and feel let down.

In fact there's only one solution

The only definitive solution for this is a sterilization of Lana. The biggest problem is the finances. Because she is an elderly bitch, she needs adapted anesthesia, continuous monitoring during the operation until she wakes up again. In addition, sterilization is one thing, but given her age everything would be completely removed from Lana. Where ordinary sterilization is nothing more than cutting the ovaries, which is actually a castration. Would this be a different story with Lana. She would have to undergo major surgery in which her uterus and ovaries would be completely removed. Which entails a much longer recovery time, but also a greater risk of course… Every operation carries a risk. But the older the dog, the heavier the operation ... the greater the risk.

Higher costs because of her age

And unfortunately also, the higher the costs. A normal spay / neutering would amount to about 250 euros. The operation that Lana should undergo rather entails a cost of around 700 euros. It is of course not that Lana is not worthy of this, but it is a serious trade-off to be made.

Another solution can be to castrate Skipper.

Much lower costs ... but NOT a good solution

This results in a completely different cost… it is much cheaper. BUT there are also disadvantages here. A castrated male is much more susceptible to other diseases. So, among others, the anal gland tumor to which Rowan died. I don't want to experience that again! Nor does that even solve the whole problem. Skipper's nose is still wrong after a castration, and still tells him that Lana is in heat. With which his behavior would in fact remain exactly the same with the only difference that he could no longer make puppies. But as a result I would still go mad from him. And not only me, Lana would still go mad with his behavior and his attempts to jump on her.

I expected to have more time

A dilemma that was being thought about and I expected to have some time to make that final decision BEFORE the problem arose again.

Nature goes its own way

Unfortunately, nature now seems to go its own way, and the dogs in this case too. And so Lana has now made it clear again that something will have to be done.

Trying to get the needed relaxation time

In the meantime I am again facing the problem of keeping the dogs apart, and while I have taken Skipper for a good walk, a bit of a distraction and a bit of thought and a bit of relaxation too… so I decided to take my camera also with me. We both enjoyed the time, we relaxed a bit ... and for the next few weeks the situation will be like this. There will certainly be more opportunities for this type of photo in the coming days.