u/Hot-Science404

So a family emergency happened and I forgot to lock the gate to the stairs last night. Cassidy is still afraid of coming down them.

She walked up the stairs last night and got stuck.

All day today, from 6am I was trying to get her down to no avail. Well the family emergency was still going down and I was in and out of the house for various amounts of time. My sister called me and I ran outside to talk to her in private.

Seconds later my roommate came out with Cassidy on the leash!

Roommate said she thinks Cassidy had FOMO because she bolted down the stairs, WHICH HAS NEVER HAPPENED, and barked at roommate( also never happened before)until she got her leash and took her outside.

So I had to impromptu take her to the park to get her zoomies out while consoling my sister on the phone 🤦‍♀️.

She’s a total nut but is also keeping me grounded while dealing with a horrible situation.

How many of your cow dogs are spayed or neutered? Have you noticed if it impacted their want or need to explore? What about their health?

I have different vets giving me different opinions on whether or not Cassidy is spayed. My personal opinion is that if she isn’t, I want to wait until she is 3 to spay as it appears that’s the best time to do it. I want to make sure she’s done growing. I cannot out her in a doggy daycare without it but I’d prefer not to do it at all.

What lead you to or not to spay/neutered your cow dog?

I have mixed feelings since I grew up on a small farm. We never did that to any of our animals but these days I live a pretty normal 9-5 life.

I just want to give Cassidy the best possible life so I want to hear everyone’s thoughts on why or why not.

I put up new photos of her and I with our matching blankets. They were hand made by the same person who did her crate pad.

She kept me up all night with her boops and rug digging so today I got up at 6AM for a an hour jog and walk, then came on lunch to let her out of the crate for a 30 minute walk, and right after work we did a two hour session in a park with alternating styles of walk, jog, and run.

By the end of it I nearly had to carry her home. She’s happily lounging on the cold hard floor and could barely muster a happy tail wag when we got home.

I think I wore her out! 😆

I’ll casually walk her before bed to make sure there are no 4am potty walks. Problem is that I go to bed at 9pm at the latest so it may happen anyway.

https://imgur.com/a/szYtfoh

The trainer came and got her out within minutes! We went to a jog and walk and she assessed her as a good girl!

She said that Cassidy was scared of slipping on the stairs, not scared of the stairs themself. She said I have to think from a dog’s perspective with their claws. I already have nonslip stickers on their way from Amazon.

The trainer also said structure, routine, regular and frequent outside trips, and that she can tell Cassidy chose me as her person. She loved the relationship Cassidy and I have and said it’s beautiful and so rare for a dog to choose someone that quickly.

Cassidy naturally stays close to me on walks and watches my movements to be in sync, doesn’t pull on her lead and the longer we were out the more comfortable she was with being outside again. Within minutes we got her to relieve herself and she seemed much happier than doing inside on pads.

The dog trainer said I had good instincts and gave me homework and things to watch out for. First thing is to get this dog a bath! I wanted to wait until she was assessed so keep the groomer safe.

The trainer was really sweet and we started talking on what jobs she thinks would be good for her to do to stay busy and have a purpose. We are going to start her on training to be a companion to help others. I think she would be perfect to take to the hospitals and help calm people down. And perfect for my SO as a working dog to guide them through anxious situations. Because of the nature of their accident, it’s hard to socialize and be anywhere that isn’t home. If we can take Cassidy out on trips it would help SO get their life back. And Cassidy seems more than willing!

I have a camping trip coming up. What do you guys use for your ACD in nature?

I live in the Appalachian mountain range so please tell me how your pets stay safe 👇