Three weeks since I ran over the masked heeler.

She is doing well. At least the vet and his staff are pleased with her progress.

At three weeks, most of the damaged bone has been absorbed by the body, and the new replacement matrix is being formed. But is quite fragile.

Much of the pain is also gone, so this is the most dangerous time. She feels better than she has in weeks, but she can easily snap open the breaks.

To prevent stress on the pelvis, the orders are absolutely no running or jumping. To go outside, she has to be on a short leash to keep her from making some mad dash after her sister or a squirrel.

She has gotten used to that, although today she tried to jump up and grab the leash for a game of tug, something we used to do nearly daily.

Of course, she has to be carried down and up the front stairs.

But the biggest adjustment has been arranging the house so that she cannot climb up on anything, nor get run over by her mother or sister as they make mad dashes from the living room window to front door and back again when ever somebody comes home or to the door.

Our first plan was to keep her in a large pet carrier, but with the cone on her neck, that was impractical. Also no way to keep her in there long term, with food and water.

So we tried barricading off the hallways to the bedrooms and dining room, keeping her in the living room. But that also required barricading off all the chairs and couches so she wouldn't climb up (and hence, down) on any furniture.

On day two, I figured out our current solution. The wife had bought over a dozen plastic storage boxes to clean up some of the clutter in the house, but most were still unused. So I barricaded off about half the living room with a double-high wall of the plastic bins. Keeps her off the furniture, out of her sister and mother's way, and she has full time access to food and water.

But she would never stay there all night by herself. Knowing that masked heeler like we do, we know she would try to climb or jump the barrier to get to somebody's bed.

Hence the sleeping bag and pad in her enclosure.

I sleep with her most week nights, with the wife taking weekends. And whoever is watching television in that room is invariably in with her. It is not restful sleep, as you are always conscious of where she and her sacred butt are whenever you want to roll over or shift.

It's a cozy little den for her, but she is going stir crazy.

She wagged her tail with wonderful enthusiasm when she was allowed into the kitchen and the bedroom this weekend (slick floors, you know). And today she bulldozed her way out, just to greet us at the door. May have to start filling the bins up with old newspapers or something.

Her incision is well healed, but she still tries to chew on it, so the cone goes on when she is unattended. All the swelling is gone, but her leg muscles are atrophied, and I am worried about the possibility of myopathy. You can feel part of the metal plate along her back. We let her walk as much as she wants on her outings, but then she wimpers and whines when she lays down again, obviously in some pain. It will take some time to get the muscles back.

Thought about asking the vet about painkillers, but realized he is probably working on the assumption that, unlike a human you can reason with, if the pain goes away, she will simply try to overdo her recovery. So we keep it to a moderation.

I volunteered for the sleeping bag again tonight, which pleased the wife. But means I have to go to bed much earlier than normal. So I am way behind on diaries and emails.

But she is still here.