I grew up with dogs in the family and took our family dog, Toby, to my new home with my husband when we got our first mortgage and had the freedom to keep a family pet.

When Toby crossed the rainbow bridge, I had to fill the dog-shaped hole in my life, and that is when we adopted Baxter the Staffy X from a local city dogs’ home.

Read my blog post to hear about my adventures of being pregnant for the first time and being a dog mum to an exuberant adolescent dog.

14/07/10 – Being pregnant and being a dog mom

I woke feeling ill today.  At three months’ pregnant that is to be expected, but this wasn’t made any easier by my Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross, Baxter.  Two weeks’ ago he cut his foot while out walking.  He had surgery last week, and this morning the vet removed his bandage to allow his foot to heal in fresh air.  But I got him home, put a giant lampshade collar on him, and he went crazy!  He alternated from bucking around the living room like a crazed bull, to glaring at me, barking at me, and finally staring at me with big, brown puppy-dog eyes, hoping I would feel guilty and remove the collar.

No such luck Baxter-Boy!  Eventually he went quiet and then I discovered he had managed to reach his foot, which is his back left one, and he was licking at the wound furiously. I jumped out of my seat, shouted loudly, making Baxter jump (and probably our two pet turtles as well), and wrestled his head away from his foot!

This carried on for the next hour, by which time I was at my wits’ end, with a thumping headache, and I phoned the vet.  They were surprised that he had managed to get round his collar, but asked me to take him back and they would change it for a larger size.

Another visit to the vet

So we set off to the vet for the second time today, Baxter very excited at the car journey, and me very grumpy and ill. The vet and her assistant, both of whom have become very well acquainted with Baxter in the last few weeks, met me. They brought out a massive lampshade-shaped collar, which is apparently meant for rottweilers, and similar sized dogs, not medium built Staffy-Crosses! Of course it was too large around his neck, so they attempted to fasten it round his collar.

After much wrestling, griping from Baxter, reprimands from the vet, her assistant and me, we emerged from the veterinary centre with one extra-large collar, and a roll of bandage for use in securing it round his neck. He looked like he should have been in traction, with the amount of white gauze wound around his collars and neck, but it was necessary to hold the contraption in place!

So we returned home, and Baxter managed to get stuck around the steering wheel in my car while trying to get out, then he hit the car door with his massive collar, then he hit the front doorway, and eventually we made it into the house! And now he is lying cuddled up to me on the sofa as though nothing has happened. Removing the collar so he can eat his tea, and replacing it after, will be another amazing feat, no doubt requiring two people to complete….

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