White Dog shook her head and said, "When they make The White Dog Army Movie, I want it to open with Tina Turner introducing Proud Mary when she says we don't do nothin' easy..."WD was lamenting with me after speaking with Dr. Julia who told us that we should take Puff's womanly condition seriously because with her age and heart damage from the heartworms and continuing congestion a pregnancy could be life threatening. She also confirmed my suspicion that like Steve's vasectomy, YoYoMa's neutering would not render him impotent for a week to 10 days (residual sperm in tubes)! That means we have to take steps to separate Still Another White Dog, not just to avoid TOWD's and YAWD's harassment, but also to avoid a potential unwanted pregnancy! Yikes!
We discussed the possibility of sending SAWD to stay with a friend who has all girl dogs but Steve and Puff have a special bond that would make such a separation a punishment for both. A former puppy mill breeder who was kept kenneled most of life, SAWD has difficulties with being crated. YoYoMa was physically abused while in a crate by a man who rolled the crate around and over, kicking it in a drunken game of "soccer" with his friends.
This new vet information means that we will not only have to separate our girl who is just beginning to become social but will also have to deny her freedom of the dog door to go in and out. Last night, we crated her in our bedroom, in a different crate from the one she uses as her safe haven (which has no door so she doesn't feel imprisoned). We awakened to a mess. She had soiled the crate and herself and was timidly remorseful.
After brainstorming, our best solution seems to be to use a giant travel crate (Mastiff sized) and place it in the living room so that our girl is protected but can still be part of the family. Yes, the boys, YoYo in particular, will congregate at its door but she will be safe and still will hear and see all that goes on. We will leash walk her in the front yard to avoid a yard mob scene. At night, we are going to try to again crate her in the smaller kennel in our room rather than leave her alone in the other half of the house...if that doesn't work then we will try keeping her in the big box.
White Dog has positioned herself on the couch next to her incarcerated sister and Nuka lies nearby. Quinn has gently approach SAWD and touched noses through the gate in a gesture of solidarity. Even YoYoMa has calmed a bit and lies across the room in the doorway facing poor Puff (not with lust in his eyes but rather, seeming to understand that all of this is beyond both their control).
The White Dog Army, we don't do nothin' easy...but we do it with love.