[nagdu] Counting the costs and Cocoa update

[avapup.7 at gmail.com]

My pup, Cocoa, just had a routine vet checkup -- physical check, annual  vaccines, heartworm test, and nail clipping. Everything was great -- even her weight, my girl weighs 65 lbs! But just for this routine exam, it cost about $105.00! Dogs are expensive. Worth it for sure! But expensive.

I need to have my vet's office call the Cosequin company, I just ran out of Cocoa's Cosequin, that IAADP provides, free. It's amazing of them to help out that way.

And thank you all who gave me suggestions to help with Cocoa's behavior. I was really nervous, because her behavior was just so extreme. Well, when things at home calmed down, so did she. She's still very energetic of course, but she behaves and has remembered her manners. I did keep her on leash with me or gated into rooms with me for a few days, and although her barking issue isn't totally fixed ( she doesn't bark uncontrollably or in my opinion inappropriately ), but by making her go inside every time she barks has worked really well. She's realized that, oh! Ava-mom is outside and I really want to be with her! But now I'm inside! She's finally making the connection between barking and a consequence she dislikes.

She's such a great girl. We went grocery shopping last week. I tend not to bring her grocery shopping because she gets so bored. She's like past boyfriends I've tried to shop with, plodding along like they're going to fall over from sheer boredom LOL. But Cocoa enjoyed it! I was really surprised! We went to Wal-Mart and got to walk a little bit, and since I am able to see well enough in the light, I'm able to shop alone with her, her primary function then becoming a hearing dog.

We had several sneak-petters, including one woman wearing a sweatshirt with huge letters advertising some type of dog rescue, who began to tell me all about her friend's service dog, or something along those lines. I was so stunned I just stood there and stared at her. Not only did she sneak-pet, but she had to lean in between the cart and me, across the front of me to even reach Cocoa. I did a kind of nod/smile thing and then began to move on, when a second woman did the same thing! 

Ava and Cocoa

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