I closed the door very slowly feeling dazed!! Puppies? Nanette and Puppies? ' But they told me she was sterilised???'....I went to the drawer and searched for the identity papers.....there they were...Nanette, Male, Castre!!!!! Mon Dieu!! I knew then that anything was possible with a mistake like that!!!! I felt angry!! What incompetence!!!
I heard Nanette behind the closed door and went immediately to her. I let her out and she rushed to the bed in the corner...after all, it was the first time she had voluntarily left the corner and gone as far as the passageway to my bedroom!! ! 'If you are going to have babies cherie, we are going to have them together' !! I said ( in French of course ). I prepared towels, boiled water and waited....and waited.....and waited some more. There were no babies!!
There was a strange mixture of relief and disappointment!!! Relief for me but disappointment for Nanette. How marvellous it would have been for her to have babies and be able to bring them up normally and then keep one for herself!! The vet was mistaken.... it was not meant to be.
Shortly after this episode, Nanette began to go to the top step with me and then descend gingerly into the garden. Her movements were very slow but gradually we increased our visits to the garden from one to two times a day, then three times!! I was consciously steering away from ' progress for progress' sake'!! If some days we didn't manage it, I didn't worry.
Then the day finally arrived when we both had the confidence to put on the harness and venture outside our gate into the co propriete and gradually towards the communal garden and parking. The second time that we ventured out, she was on a flexi....a very unwise move!! Half way to the small gardens, I dropped the handle and the terrified Nanette tore up the parking in terror, trapped the lead under the rear of a parked car and ended up at the top of the steps into the main building! I looked frantically towards the electronic gates which I saw, with relief were closed.
I retrieved the trapped lead....now in fragments....and went up the steps to comfort a very scared dog. Having no proper lead, I was obliged to make do with the remaining pieces and somehow got her back inside our garden. Whew!!! that was scary!! As a result, the next day, she simply would not go out.