Back from Solvang

I decided to take Katie to Solvang for the annual greyhound gathering.  I debated this for a long time.  She is just starting the loading dose of the new drug, and hasn't been outside the house in the last month, so it would be a pretty intense shift for her.  On the other hand, she would be surrounded by greyhounds, and she does get a lot of confidence from other greys.  So at the end of the day, I decided to give it a try and monitor her behavior and manage as required.  She did "ok".  I debated getting her a red bandana (used to designate dogs that need space), but decided against that, since she does have a habit of throwing herself into the middle of a group of dogs, and I figured owners would freak if they say a red-bandana dog come charging up to theirs.  She did generally acclimate to the lectures and shopping hall, but I also gave her a lot of down time in our room while I did stuff on my own.  Surprisingly, she did not like being out in the Secret Garden with the other dogs that much.  I was hoping that she would actually play, but they did need to be muzzled, which I generally don't do with her, and it was outside, so maybe I shouldn't be as surprised.  Of course, in perfect Katie-fashion, she decided that she needed to go potty at 1:15 AM, and then to go explore the Garden.  Yep, she's perfectly willing to go sniff around and poke her head in bushes and stuff if it's the middle of the night!  And she didn't want to go back upstairs to the room, either.  Had to take her up the "other" set of stairs.  I think that she would have been perfectly happy to go for a walk, but I found it a bit cold and dark for that!  She's spent most of the afternoon sleeping, and of course the wind is blowing tonight, but she did go out in it for her last potty break.  (Trust me, the wind out here is enough to make a reasonable dog or person a little jumpy!)

I can't say that I am seeing huge changes in her behavior with the drug, but it does seem to be taking the edge off.  She's more relaxed, but not so much that you can really put a finger on it.

We did pick up some pretty new collars.  I'll post if I can get some good pictures.

Oh, and she handled the stairs like a trooper! Up and down them with no problems at all (except for the time that she really wanted to go explore instead!)