Bizarre Blessing

This is another TMI post.  Probably.  But it is also one that is where I'm at.

Willow is a girl dog.  My first EVER.  I have had dogs, but only ever boys.  Boys, you either fix or you don't.  And unless there are nubile girl dogs around, it really doesn't matter much.  Especially if your dog gets car sick or you keep them at home. 

Our vet wanted Willow to go through one heat before her spay.  (Which was not even a discussion, if Willow is going out with us into the community, she MUST be fixed.)  Something about it being healthier...which I never could figure out why, something about all her hormones being happy systemically.  Whatever.  They are the experts.

I didn't really give it much thought.  I somehow thought it would be a few days kind of thing, tops.  SO wrong.  It's more like 2 weeks in larger dogs.  Yay.

Also, it looks like the dog is having a period.  No lie.  Yuck.  She's also all PMS-y and wants snacks and to nap.  So yeah. 

Elise is still all over her and wants to drag her around all over the house, so I bought her some reusable diapers that you put maxi pads in.  Elise thinks this is great.  She's all about the diapers.  She likes to choose the color and helps me stick the velcro on.  I never would have thought that she would have noticed or cared.  But apparently, if it involves her "Lillow", nothing is outside of her interest.

 

The bizarre part of this icky story, is that Elise has no comprehension that she may "become a woman" in the next year or so.  I've told her sisters, because they ask All The Questions, All The Time.  But if Elise were to start menstruating, it would be a completely blind-sided attack that would cause her to completely panic.  And the depressing part, is that I can do nothing to prevent that.  She has no concept of abstract ideas that don't fit into her interests.  The beauty of this whole Willow-in-heat fiasco, is that Elise is up close and personal.  It has suddenly become in her realm of interests and is noticed.  I cannot explain it the way I have with her sisters, but at least she will recognize it and it will not be frightening.  She will have an aquaintance with maxi pads and the idea behind them.  And so Willow has unexpectedly smoothed the way for the next giant hurdle in life.  I swear, I cannot thank this dog enough.

Willow Speaks

I owe you all a Willow update.  She is still happy here, and we are still happy to have her. 

She has a stomach fit for a delicate flower.  She is apparently allergic or overly sensitive to something in dog food.  Which has resulted in me dealing with far too many "virus/infections" than I care to disclose.  That said, I've finally put my finger on her gastro-intestinal distress, and I mix up a batch of rice, chicken, pumpkin, and broth once a week, and then mix dog food into it daily, so she gets the nutrients she needs without getting sick.  I cannot even begin to tell you the mess and stress that put on me and Elise until it got ironed out.

During that time, Elise had taken to sitting outside of her cage and talking to her.  And talking and talking...it was funny.  They apparently bonded deeply from their conversations, because now they are inseparable.  Elise will put her on her lead and drag her all over the house and talk "through" her.  Willow just loves the attention.

Here's the newly cool part.

Elise is stuttering again.  Badly.  She gets so gummed up that sometimes her singing and tapping out past it wasn't even working.  Sing-songing her words and tapping the syllables used to be the silver bullet that always fixed it.  But when she talks to Willow, she does not stutter.  At all.

Even more interestingly,  Elise has taken to talking through Willow as Willow's voice to express her feelings.  Willow, shockingly, has remarkably the same feelings about everything as Elise.  She doesn't like veggies, she's hungry, she needs a snack, she wants to read, she wants to watch TV, she wants to see the same movies, she hates the "loud in her ears" as we have construction going on in the basement....and so on.

And she never stutters as Willow's voice.

Even as she is petting Willow, and for a while after, the stuttering either doesn't show up or resolves quickly. 

I spoke to Elise's Speech Therapist about this phenomenon.  Kathleen told me that Animal Assisted Therapy is particularly effective, and there is quite a push to incorporate animals as much as possible, because it really does have an impact.  The animals lessen stress, and smooth many verbal disfluencies.  Even if there are only pictures, computer animals, or animal puppets, they see many of the same benefits, and it is still referred to as Animal Assisted Therapy.

So.  Not only are we seeing a decrease in Elise's anxieties and stress and sensory issues, but we are seeing a huge impact on her speech that we simply weren't expecting.  Willow is a lovey and I leave you with some of out latest pictures of the "girls" together.

(Oh, and Willow got a haircut for the summer.  I was terribly afraid that Elise would panic and refuse to believe it was still her, as it made her look incredibly different. But Elise knew her baby and loves it as it makes Willow's fur even silkier.)