Hot Dogs

I was planning to blog tonight, though with no idea as to what the topic(s) would be.  I've thought of very little other than school and getting through the first week of classes for quite a while now.  I made it through the first week.  Whew.  Now I only have fourteen weeks to go, and I'll be through the first semester.  The first week, first semester, and first year is always the toughest for me.  I don't love adjustments.  Getting through each of these firsts, for me, means that I'm adjusted and look forward to the feeling of being in my groove which makes everything easier.

We watched Taming of the Shrew (the BBC version w/Jon Cleese) tonight for our family movie night. It was the first time Luciana had seen it, and she laughed and seemed to enjoy it.  I left the subtitles on for her, as they speak very fast Brit, and can be hard to follow.  She said they were very helpful.

After the movie ended, L and I were chatting for a bit before she went to bed (not to sleep, but to bed), and she asked me if dogs have hot flashes after they are spayed.  I don't know why I never thought of that before!  So I looked it up, in several different ways and found that nobody seems to know for sure. 

Why wouldn't they experience them?  They are mammals who experience hormones much as we do. The ovaries and uterus are removed, causing the sudden cessation of estrogen production.  It's the same surgery I and countless other women have, which can indeed cause horrific hot flashes.  When I observe our girl dogs' behavior in that light, it really seems to indicate that two of the three do have behavior that is inline with what you would expect to see if they were experiencing hot flashes.  Random, climate-independent panting that both stops and starts suddenly--and on several ocassions, I have noticed that Chloe is hot to the touch.  Poor pups!