Hello all!
Sorry for the absence, but I have been busy out of my mind getting this term started.
Short update, Lycia is doing well and has finally fully adjusted to life here. All that angst about her staying home alone and all she needed was some time.. at the cost of the molding on the door during her fledgling weeks. 
One thing I wanted to get a opinion on, she was extremely "bitchy" this season. This has been a very new development as she has never displayed this behavior in her last two heats. My best guess is she completely finished cycling at the beginning of last week or perhaps the end of the week before. But through out these last 1.5 "season" months she has been quite snappy when on the leash, which is also a brand new behavior for her. This evening we were on the bedtime walk and a friendly dog approached her very neutrally and she made her little tasmanian devil noises immediately. She almost never follows up with anything more than noise but it's rather off putting to her "dog friends" who knew her before (and their owners, ahem ahem). She raises her hackles and takes the "stealth" position when approaching other dogs on lead. This has not happened when she is off lead. Is this typical behavior after a heat? If so, when should I be looking for improvement? What I really don't want is this to become a habit, and if this has been a learned trait over these past 2 months it would be wise to start countering it immediately.
We were puttering about the Louvre 2 weeks ago, and unbeknownst to me we stumbled into the Mastaba of Akhethotep (2400 B.C) . And low and behold!!!
I had seen it once online, but it was really something else seeing it in real life by chance. How amazing is that!!
My bitches have always had what we here call the "blues" after season… and even during it... of course they have done it from the beginning. If this is now her third season, she is maturing... and their "tastes" change. She just may be growing up and deciding that she doesn't like other dogs invading her space... While we might think it was nothing, a dog will see it different.
goodness, looks like she's hitting the bottle pretty hard.
@ agilebasenji … yes she goes bonkers for coke bottles.
OK, well I'll just wait it out and see. Keep my fingers crossed that she eases out of the blues and back into her amicable self. But I'll bear that in mind that she is developing and changing, I thought the same but I wasn't completely confident in my assumption. Cheers!
I give my bitches 'Hormonise' from www.animal-health.co.uk before, during, and after their seasons. It solves most of the 'bitchy' problems. It is herbal and was originally developed for mares in season, I have used it to good effect for many years.
