Today we were able to try foot soaks with Lady for the first time at sanctuary. As many of you know, there was a large and angry wasp nest on the gate leading into her foot soak jacuzzi tub. Even after we removed the nest and relocated it quite a bit down the road, numerous wasps stayed and only dissipated yesterday.
Lady was very good, coming right in once she had a drink and a mini bath. We did warm her water soaks today, but we don’t intend to try any jacuzzi jets until it is a bit more of a routine for her. Since she does seem to like to take things slowly, we will do just that. We did a medicated foot bath, and she gave her body a little bath as well. Anything we use in foot soaks will always be ok for her to drink or bathe herself with. It’s essential.
As you can see in the video, we are working on her presenting her trunk calmly, holding it loosely in our hand, and keeping it there for several seconds at a time. She is doing really well with it. If she loses focus during treatment, she can be a little hard to get back, but she’s starting to understand the nuances of it all. Her nose has to go through one of the lower holes since the upper ones give her an opportunity to reach out further and grab. She also has to present her nose facing up, again, to protect against grabbing. This will all be refined down the road to what we have shared in videos of us working with Rana and Maia, but Lady’s off to a good start.
December 7, 2019
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