A week has now gone by since Riley's surgery and he is recuperating very nicely, we feel. Since the two drains in his leg were removed he no longer seeps as much serum tinged with blood as he did before. His little outfits are changed several times daily, and washed and hung out to dry in preparation for next use.

We are left to wonder what will happen, how it will appear to affect him when the last of his tiny opioid tablets is used and their cumulative effect wane, late this afternoon. We will keep him on his other medication for another week yet, until his stitches are removed. What are 'withdrawal' symptoms' like in a little dog, and will he experience them, we wonder? Will he evince symptoms of pain that we will be able to interpret, requiring another round of those opiates that we are informed can be addictive in human use?

It's a lovely sunny day, much nicer than yesterday when the humidity was so oppressive. Riley is beginning to assume his old routines. After breakfast, the outdoors beckons. He responds to the presence of the sun just as Button before him had, extracting huge pleasure from its warmth. Invariably he wants to go out and immerse himself in the sun.

Sniffing about, wandering the backyard, and finding comfortable places to lay about and soak up the warmth. We're aware that he must be protected from too much sun and it's a relief that he has to wear his little outfits keeping him from attempting to lick the incision sites across his stomach and his leg. Far more comfortable and preferable to wearing those clumsy, intrusive, preventive Elizabeth collars.  That coverage protects him from too great an exposure to the UAV rays.