I have this dog. Her name is Maddie and she is a weimapeak. A weimapeak is the deliberate cross of a weimariner and a Chesapeake Bay retriever. I know this strikes horror in the hearts of the purists who think dog breeds should be only what the AKC says they are, but this dog is amazing. Weimariners are highly intelligent, skittish, and nervous. Chessies are intelligent, stubborn, and willful. This dog is the best of two worlds. She is intelligent enough that I’m glad she doesn’t have an opposable thumb or the ability to talk – she might surpass me! She learns faster than any living thing I’ve been around. She actually does try to talk, but it sounds like the monster in Young Frankenstein. She has a lot of energy – she is only 16 months old – and wants to work and play. Her loyalty to our family is unsurpassed. She is sensitive to our moods, our commands, just about everything. She is a beautiful dog and looks like a reddish brown weimariner . She is tall, sleek, and has golden eyes.
Being a responsible dog owner, I recently took her to be spayed. There isn’t another weimapeak in this state that she is not related to and I am told that because of the hybrid, the puppies of two weimapeaks are inconsistent. Besides, a dog in heat is not a whole lot of fun. So we got some good recommendations and took her to the vet to be spayed. We almost lost her. We picked her up and she was bleeding from the mouth and nose by the time we got home. After 90 minutes of this we took her back in to the vet. She was in pain and miserable. The vet quickly started injecting her with pain killers, steroids, antibiotics, and a sedative. I could not keep the tears from my eyes watching her trembling with pain, her head and tail down and flat. The vet said she had a reaction to the anesthesia and upchucked so badly that it tore her esophagus. I was not impressed when the vet mentioned that she thought Maddie was a chocolate lab. A vet should easily be able to tell the difference. We stayed up with her all night.
The next day, she slowly came around. I noticed the incision had been stitched, despite the fact that I had asked for it to be surgically stapled; staples hold better and she is an active dog. She continued to improve but three days later, there was blood on the floor; her incision had broken open. It was 11:00 P.M. so we took her to the 24-hour emergency vet hospital. I have never seen a dog so scared. She couldn’t have anesthesia again so four of us held her down while the vet stapled her up. Now she is on stronger antibiotics and has a huge “lampshade” collar. I also have put her on an anti-anxiety medication until this ordeal is over.
Is she worth it? Yes, a thousand times, yes. She is bouncing back well although I may not have any paint left on my walls by the time we get done with the lampshade collar. Spaying and neutering are no-brainers, but be sure to get a vet who can do the job right. Breed does matter when it comes to health care. I believe the vet did think she was a lab, which is a sturdier dog, needing more anesthesia than Maddie. Maddie got an overdose of anesthesia. She still coughs, but is back to her old antics of teasing my cats, begging for treats, and trying to talk. She is tired of the lampshade, but still looks at us with complete trust in those golden eyes.
