Dog Tales

That was a long weekend. On Saturday night Belle had a seizure at 11:15 PM and we had to take her to the emergency vet. Bob called first and got a voice message saying they were no longer a 24 hr emergency vet and gave the phone numbers of 2 other vets. The first one said they were very busy and it would be 4 hrs before Belle would be seen. The second one was a vet clinic where Belle has been seen before and after we carried Belle to the car, we headed there. Belle went right in and after 2 hrs we got to take her home. She walked into the house by herself but was still very agitated post-seizure. She finally calmed down around 4:30 AM and went to sleep. She woke up at her usual time (7:00 AM) Sunday morning, went potty, got her meds and had some breakfast. She was still tired so I wrapped in blankets and put her in her bed on the front porch since that is her favorite place to be. She is doing well this morning and I will be calling her regular vet later to make an appointment so they can check her out.

Belle Got A Bath This Morning

"Why am I lying here completely surrounded by no biscuits?"

Is Anyone There?

 At about 5:OO PM last night I thought I heard someone at the front door and went to check. Yep, I was right.

Next Project

 I'm going to start a Facebook page for Belle called "Belle's Delivery Photobombs."

The Wheels On The Cart Go 'Round And 'Round

 
My dog Belle could no longer go on her normal walks because of her arthritis and I noticed that not doing so made her depressed. We were putting her in the car and driving her to the park and letting her walk around for a bit but that didn't seem to be enough. So we bought her a dog cart.

Belle in her dogcart waiting to go for a walk. She was a bit worried on the first walk but when she realized that the cart took her to the park where she could get out, sniff around for a few minutes, and meet people and dogs she hasn't seen in some time, she decided she loved it.

It took a few trips but she now knows she can lie down and enjoy the sites and smells as we walk to and from the park. In fact, we have reached the point where she no longer sees us as those great people who figured out a way to take her on walks again but as her servants. She is very regal now and will start scratching at the mesh if we are not quick enough when letting her out at the park.

Hello!

                 "Can somebody come get me. I'm waiting patiently here."

Doggie Dreams

 I've been dreaming about my dog Dusty (He died in January) for over a week now. At first he was just in the background of my dreams but the night before last he came close enough to me so that I could pick him up. I was carrying him through a field and the next instance we were in the work pit of an old garage that was filled with water. I struggled to get him out of the pit. After I set him up on the concrete I woke up. Last night Belle was also in my dream and both he and Belle stayed close together. Belle and I were the only ones in the dream who could see Dusty. That I found out when I ask other people in the dream if they could see him. Everyone I asked said no. Now I wonder why I am dreaming about Dusty every night.

Two months ago Belle had a seizure. The Vet gave us seizure medication but said she wasn't sure just why it had happened and that it could be from a brain tumor. About a month ago Belle had another seizure. The Vet increased Belle's medication and said she was now sure it was a brain tumor. She could not say how long Belle had before the tumor would end her life but it was probably no more than a year. We have accepted the fact that Belle will not be with us a year from now and are just enjoying each day we have with her.

So, about the dreams. Am I dreaming about Dusty because he wants me to know he is here? Am I dreaming about Dusty because he wants me know that he will be here to be with Belle when it is her time to leave us? Is he here to tell me that when Belle does leave she won't be alone? Is he here to tell me that her time is closer than I thought? I am OK with all these reasons but I am worried that the last question is the main reason why he is here.

Every Dog Is A Lion At Home

-Henry George Bohn (1797 - 1884)

I have told my husband time and time again that he is a pushover for the dogs. The other night I walked into the kitchen to find my husband wiping down the counter tops and Belle licking the plates in the dishwasher. I pointed out to him that Belle doesn't do this when I'm cleaning up the kitchen, because when I tell her to stay out of the kitchen, she stays out of the kitchen since she knows I mean it.  My husband said Belle does what he tells her to do, too, and then very sternly said, "Belle! Get out of the kitchen!" 

This is the look she gave him. 

I rest my case.

Drum Roll, Please

I went down to the basement and found Belle's lobster doing a handstand.  Now, is he showing off or is Belle punishing him?

Belle, Queen Of The Serengeti Plain

WOOF!

Yesterday morning, Belle is sitting it the front window barking at something I couldn't see.

Loudly, "WOOF!"

"Belle, no."

Loudly, "WOOF!"

"Belle, no."

Loudly, "WOOF!"

"Belle. No!"

(Silence for 10 seconds.)

Softly, "Woof."

It's A Hard Knock Live- Part 2

Deja vu all over again.

Poor Belle was at the vet again. I noticed two side by side what looked like infection bubbles on the inside of her mouth above her lip a week ago Tuesday. Got her back into the vet on Friday. They said if it got any bigger to give them a call.  Sunday night when I looked under her lip I could see that one bubble was a bit larger and a third bubble had formed. So Monday morning I made sure not to feed her and had my husband take a photo of the whatever it was and we  e-mailed it to the vet's office. They said to bring her in. Once they looked at it they agreed it had to come out and we left her there. The doctor said that she is optimist about Belle's surgery because the margins looked good. Next is the pathology report.

Belle is doing great and  wakes up full of energy and demanding her breakfast each morning. The only post surgery limit on her has been to feed her soft food only. I've been putting boiling water in her dry food and the wait for it to soften and cool down drives her crazy. She can smell the kibble and cannot understand why I am not giving it to her right away. In  four days we can go back to normal meals. Hopefully, everything goes back to normal then.

It's A Hard Knock Life

This is Belle tucked into bed with a small goose down blanket wrapped around her on Monday night.  Right before this she had gone potty, finished eating a little chicken and rice with her meds hidden it, and enjoyed some comfort scratches and words.   She had received her second set of PRP  injections at the vet that day and was still recovering from both the shots and the anesthetic.  The  anesthetic was the reason for the down blanket  since she was still cold.  That blanket worked well and she was  toasty warm an hour later.

If you haven't heard of Platelet Rich Plasma injections, they are used to help with severe osteoarthritis.  The first injections she  had done two month ago helped a bit so I am amazed by how much the second ones have helped her already.  The Doctor said she wouldn't show any real improvement until a week had past.  I was rubbing her belly and it finally dawned on me that she was lying in a position where both legs were wide open just like a puppy sleeping on its back.   She is feeling so much better today it is getting hard to keep her as quiet as the vet  wants her to be until Sunday.  So she is on leash walks only, not allowed to go out into the backyard to go potty without being on a leash, and not allowed to go downstairs.  On Sunday we are all free to get on with our normal lives.

BBJ

Baby Bluejays on the backyard patio.

Belle, very interested in the baby Bluejays on the backyard patio.

I've Been Away From Blogging For So Long I Forgot What I Do Around Here

It's almost four months since my husband had his knee replacement surgery and he is doing better than expected.  In fact, he is doing so well that, when his therapy sessions were over,  his physical therapist gave him a certificate praising him for his commitment and for being the best client he (the therapist) had ever worked with.  Getting there took a long and stressful three months for the both of us.  So, as my husband continued healing and getting even stronger, I spent the last month getting back on track. 



First, like Dusty here, I caught up on sleep.

(to be continued)

Life With Belle

Took Belle with me today when I went to the Vet to refilled her meds.


Me: "Belle. You want to go for a ride?"

Belle: "Yeah, yeah, put me in the car. Now, now, now! I'm doing my happy dance.....On second thought, I should check to see if there are any bunnies at the side of the house."

Me:"BELLE! COME BACK HERE!"

Shannon's Dog

"If I could be half the person my dog is, I’d be twice the human I am."
-Charles Yu

My husband and I were walking the dogs last night when a friend who was driving down the street pulled over to talk to us.  She had her dogs with her and since they are friends with my dogs, all four dogs were very happy to see each other. After chatting a bit our friend drove off and we continued our walk.

When we reached our friend's house instead of passing it by Dusty turn into the front walkway to go and visit her dogs. At first I laughed because we had already seen the dogs in our friend's car and I thought Dusty was being a goof but then I realized that wasn't true. Actually, he was a genius who understood both quantum mechanics and the thought experiment, Schrödinger's cat.  In Dusty's interpretation of the Schrödinger’s Cat experiment his doggie friends could be either in the car or in the house but he wouldn't know which until the front door of the house opened.   And that, my friends, is how a genius thinks.

A Doggie Dog World

On one of our twice a day walks Belle discovered that sometimes there are bunnies hiding under the parked cars in the neighborhood.  Since the word "sometimes" is not in her vocabulary this means she has to look under every single parked car on every one of our walks. 

Our walks take a little longer now.

Snow Dog

Portrait Of Belle

Belle had a benign tumor removed from her leg a couple of weeks ago and had to wear the dreaded cone of shame.