So, here it is three weeks after Ducky’s back-end surgery and the great news is that she is completely healed physically.

And the physical healing seems to be having a healing effect on her emotions/anxieties/attitude. 

Since the vet removed the sutures and the “cone of shame”, Ducky has been showing her sweeter side more often.

I can’t really call her “Demonbrat” any more. This realization makes me sad and glad at the same time.

Sad because, despite her snarky behavior toward Shadow, I have always loved this little girl and used the nickname affectionately.

Glad because the snarkiness has been much less intense these last couple of weeks. And much easier to catch and manage. 

My little girl is growing up. And her “bratitude” is morphing into a “big” girl’s attitude. Her Corgi heritage, her herding instincts, will always be a part of her.  And her Lab heritage, her retrieving instincts, added in make for an interesting, lovable mix of personality “quirks”.