Hi All,

Thought I'd pop in and say hello. Cora is now 5, can you believe it? This summer has been up and down but I think most of the down has been a result of allergies. I'm also going to be exploring some issues around myofascial pain. On the up side, she's still learning new skills. It's amazing that at 5, she keeps picking up new things. One of the skills she recently gained is being able to lick peanut butter off a knife. She's been resistant to taking treats all a long. A lot of that is, I believe, frustration. She could smell it but with the coordination issues, blindness and numbness she would have troubles getting it. This would lead to huge meltdowns. Add in, Floyd sneaking in and stealing it, and being a food guarder, and the negative associations were just too big. But, now, with encouragement she can lick peanut butter off a knife. Why am I working on this? Well, how much easier is a dog to manage if you have a way of rewarding her? I figure both Cora and I can gain from this. Another new gain, is she's starting to like her tummy being rubbed. In fact, she's more accepting of touch all over instead of just her preferred spots (head and stump). 

For those that don't know Cora, something terrible happened to her, either in the womb or at birth. She was brain damaged and her right front leg was deformed. What exactly happened will remain a mystery because she was a stray. Her mama and siblings were rescued and it soon became clear that something was wrong with Cora. A rescue group took her on, but they weren't up for the challenge so I adopted her. As well as the deformed leg, which was amputated, the brain damaged causes her to be completely blind. The brain damage also caused so much other issues. She has weakness on her left side, coordination troubles, issues processing where sound comes from, and and and... she never gives up. She is a stubborn, silly and loving girl. She loves to be outside, goes camping with me, talks back, and finds mayhem. That's the short version anyway. 

Another change, those of you know that Cora wears her harness almost all the time. This summer we've set some heat wave records so she's been running around.... naked!!!! I'm working on a new way of helping her get around. I've actually pondered, if I perfect it, merchandising it. We will see. It still needs some refining. She seems to like being naked better and I think that's part of why she's becoming more touch friendly so I'm going to keep trying to make it work. One of the things that makes it possible is that she's become more accepting of being carried. Sometimes Cora really does need to be helped out and sometimes I need a way of getting her where I need her.  

I'm hoping to be around a bit more, but I'm also insanely busy so who knows.  Anyway, now the fun stuff. Some Cora photos.

Cora fell asleep with her head in her water bowl during the heat wave. Not a bad strategy

Yep, anyplace is a good place to sleep

Cora having a cuddle. She prefers this to being in my lap. (Ignore the goofy guy in the photo)

Cora seemed to have mixed emotions about being in Floyd's toybox. She was not in a rush to get out, but she also wasn't comfortable for some strange reason. Ha!

This was our last trip. The whole area was a slope so it was rough on the girl. She tended to slowly go further and further down hill and eventually I'd end up carrying her back up. She insisted on exploring though.