Dr. Nik

I changed River's bandage tonight. It definitely takes 2 people. The cut was bloody and crusty but not actively bleeding or oozy or infected looking. She has at least 5 stitches from what I could tell, though she didn't let me look at it really well.

She was not a fan of the whole process. I think it probably hurt a bunch, but once we got her on her back with a cone on her head, she calmed down. Carolyn's head scratches and soothing sounds probably helped, because I was going, "Ooo! Ick! *sucks in breath* I'm sorry! Oh, ouchy! Stop it! I know... I know..."

But, it's changed... so, I hope we can keep it dry because this isn't something I want to have to do again if I don't have to.

Dumb dog.


End Blog.

I Do Not Like the Cone of Shame

And my paw still hurts.

Glass is stupid. Why is it so easy to break? And how can something so easy to break cut me so bad?

I hate this.


End Blog.

Suicidal Dog Slits Wrist

Tonight River took a sliding shoulder into the back door and broke the bottom pane of glass. In doing so, she managed to cut the outside of her right paw and puncture the area right near her dew claw. The laceration was clean and right to the muscle and was bleeding enough that I didn't think I'd be able to stop it myself.

I trapped her in the bathroom and tried to clean her up a bit and then taped paper towels to her paw to apply some pressure and stop the bleeding. (You know, after I stood in the bathroom for a minute staring at the medicine cabinet thinking, "I need gauze." "I don't have gauze." "I need gauze." It was a vicious cycle.)

Carolyn looked up an emergency vet and drove us there and I called Belinda to pick up Remy and take her to her house so that she didn't somehow get into the broken glass. I didn't need two cut puppies and bills to go with them. (Remy got a bath at Belinda's! How cool is that?)

When we got there, the vet cut off my make-shift bandage, looked at the wound, and bandaged her back up. Then he gave her a sedative. And it knocked her out. It also made her vomit up her dinner. She she is being really sleepy in the doctor's office.



And here is my shirt with dog blood on it. Luckily, I was in my lawn mowing getup, so I don't really care.



I think I might donate this shirt to the lab. What's not fun about dog blood on a shirt?


They gave her some stitches and bandaged her up. While she was there, I went to Lowe's to buy some stuff to fix the window. I settled on plexiglass and silicone to fix it in there, with a backup plan of plastic tarp in case I wasn't handy enough to fix it.

The bandage can't get wet and it needs to be changed if it does. If not, I have to change it every 3 days. It's starting to bother her because she keeps licking at it and limping and favoring it.

I put a latex glove over her paw to keep it dry and carried her outside because I thought she might have to pee. She turned right around a gimped herself back into the house. Then I fed her because I realized she threw up all her food earlier. She liked that, because she always likes food... and I gave her an antibiotic and some pain meds that are supposed to make her drowsy. It's kind of working, but she keeps messing with her paw.

Hopefully it will kick in soon.

Carolyn babysat her while I fixed the back door. Turns out I am awesome and managed to clean up the glass and put in a piece of plexiglass to fix it. Not sure how permanent of a fix it is, but I'm going to try to keep it for as long as I can. I'm pretty sure a new door or new glass might be really expensive.




I know, those pictures were really exciting.

Update: I took her out again and she peed and ran right back to the door. Then came in a drank a whole bowl of water. Maybe I'll set my alarm for the middle of the night to check on her.

Because this is the kind of thing she does when I'm sleeping:

(Not all the time, she just apparently didn't like Kovu's bed.)

Okay, it's late and been an eventful day. I'm going to try to get some sleep. I hope River does the same.


End Blog.

Gezuntite

When you watch this, just remember that I had to first realize that she was continuously sneezing, had to find my camera, and then had to actually get it on video. There must have been like 15 sneezes before this even happened.

Wow. Ever hear that thing about how if you sneeze seven times in a row it's like having an orgasm? Lucky dog.


End Blog.

Crunchy!

Beetles, beware! River has a new favorite thing - eating those of you that fly into the house at night. At first she would play with them for awhile before eating them, now she just sits down and has a snack... unless it's a remarkably big beetle. Then she plays with it forever, throws it at me and scares me half to death, and then only eats parts of it, forcing me to clean up after her.

Lucky for you, I got the best part of that story on video. Watch:

You'd have screamed too. It was a big, scary beetle. It doesn't matter that my six month old puppy wasn't afraid of it. That's not the point!


End Blog.

Pictures of My Children

Here is some more puppy picture spam. They get along much better than they used to, but Remy still gets a bit upset with River sometimes. And when she's not running away or digging holes in the yard, River is a pretty good puppy, if not a little hyper. Forgive the grainyness of some of these. I took them with my phone because my camera is in the car and I am too lazy to go retrieve it.

Are you really surprised?






Adorable!!


End Blog.

What is this Factor, Exactly?

How does anyone watch Bill O'Reilly? I mean, honestly, I can't even understand how anyone, even those who actually have similar beliefs, can manage to watch his show. I don't think that he has a normal speaking tone. He's always yelling about something ridiculous and it always seems like he is defensive, never lets his guest speak - instead they have to try to scream over him to even try to answer his questions, and then he goes about contradicting himself from one sentence to the next, so that he doesn't even make any sense.

If this is what he is like in real life, I can't imagine he has any friends. Who would keep a friend who never lets them express opinions or have a normal, casual conversation? Must he say exactly what he thinks immediately for fear that it will fall out of his head?

I can't watch him. Every single time I try to, I can feel my blood pressure spike. And I'm sure that it's not just because of his content (although I rarely, if ever agree). It's because he just seems mean. Not only that, but I don't understand why anyone would agree to appear on his show.

People in the "left" media blame O'Reilly for Dr. Tiller's murder because he kept calling him a "baby killer" on the air. I don't necessarily blame that specific action on Tiller's death. No, I'm sure that anyone who regularly watches The O'Reilly Factor would simply go insane. That's what happened to Scott Roeder. If I were him, I'd use that as my defense in court and to prove it, I'd have the jury watch a few hours of that show.

I'm sure they'll let him go under the condition that he never has access to a television again.

Which leads me to a really great segue. Why in the world is FoxNews or MSNBC on televisions in public places like the dentist office or the airport? Everyone knows that we don't get unbiased news anymore. And since this country feels so divided, why would these be the things piped into waiting areas filled with people that have different views on life?

Wouldn't it be nicer to just put on the discovery channel or the food network? We don't need this sort of stress in our lives. (Okay, for truths, I would really like a "fair and balanced" news station. Remind me again why we don't have one.)

It's amazing that O'Reilly hasn't keeled over from a heart attack on the air yet. I thought about embedding a clip of his show to prove my point, but I can't even bring myself to spread his rhetoric. I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about without it.


End Blog.

How Can They Be Cuter in Their Sleep?

I love it when they sleep. And get along. Right next to each other.


Those are some good dogs. Wouldn't it be nice if I trusted River enough to just go to bed right now?


End Blog.

Thankfully, She Loves Me Anyway

Remember when Remy got dressed up in Royals gear? Or when she was put in a hat? (I know, you're asking, "Which time?" right now.) It seems that many of the times the shenanigans of torturing Remy occur, Brenda is around. This past weekend was no exception. This time we decided that Remy should join in on the mustache fun.

She was not pleased... can you imagine? But she did get a lot of treats for her trouble. Here are the fruits of our labor! (You can see Dany in the background of some of these photos. As you can tell, she had nothing to do with this.)



















I can't tell you how much I love this dog. I'm sure Caesar Milan would totally disapprove.


End Blog.

River Has a Higher IQ Than I Do

River pulled my blanket off of the sofa and put it on her pillow. This dog is crazy smart.

And Comfy.

And Cute.

I lurves her!


End Blog.

Yard Wish List

My parents are coming to visit in late June and as part of the visit, Dad has agreed to finish off the fence around my yard. I have received a request for pictures of what needs to be done, so here is the portion that requires a fence. The left side of the house: (click on pictures to make them bigger)


There's kind of a slope. That will probably make things difficult.

And the right side of the house:

This is the side that I would like some sort of gate to go on.

The whole house with yard:
The entire lot that I'm on is 75 feet by 140 feet. I have taken no measurements. I'm guessing the fence-needing part is 30ish feet.



This area here is right along where the fence would go in along the left side. I think some bushes were cut down here before I moved, leaving a bunch of stupid root things that keep sprouting ugly foliage. I'd really like to get this out of here, but I don't have the tools to do it. Maybe if I bought a hatchet I could hack it up.

And while we're at it, here is the wish list I have to fix up all of my backyard.


You can't tell, but this is part of the fence in the back yard. It's leaning pretty badly.


Here it is from the side. I think all the vine crap that grows on it is pulling it down. I'd love to get rid of the vine stuff, but 1) it's my neighbor's fence too and I don't know what he thinks about that, and 2) the vines might be what's holding it up. It would look nicer without it, but all I really want it to make sure it's supported and isn't going to come down anytime soon.

Then there are the tree stumps. Some of them seem dead, some of them still sprout new shoots... all of them are a little too tall to mow over. I would really love to just mow my back yard without worrying about these or having my blades hit them accidentally. I so want to get them at least short enough to mow over. Gone would be better, short is all I ask.


I think this will be the easiest to get rid of. It already seems like it's rotting.

You can't really tell what's going on here. But I have issues with the mowing. I hate tree stumps.

I HATE this one. It keeps trying to regrow its tree. By the end of the year I'll probably have a huge bush out back. I cut it down last fall, but it grows really fast and I'm sure that at some point I won't be able to stay on top of it. (Hi Remy's head!)

And then there is the horrible back corner of the yard. The fence needs a little bit of work and this is where all the trees and sticks around my house go to die. I'd like to get rid of them. I'd also like to not have to cut them up in little small pieces for the garbage. Some of the things in here have really sharp thorns. I hate this pile. I wish I could just burn it all or something.



I also hate the huge tree stump by this pile.



It's got some cable thing by it that is attached to the electric/telephone/cable line pole. Probably I'm not supposed to touch it. I really want it out of there.

And finally, last but not least, this damn clothes line pole. I only have one, so I can't even have a real clothes line! (Not that I want one.)

I hate this whole area of my yard. Blerg.

So, that's all the things I'd like to do outside. They probably won't all be tackled, but that is the dream.

Dad, please use this as a guide on what you need to bring with you. =)


End Blog.

Pub Crawl for Cancer

Saturday a group of us participated in the Pub Crawl for Cancer in Westport. It is an insane event that must raise a ton of money based on the number of people that were there. And it turns out it's an excuse to be completely ridiculous and offensive in public and people will cheer for you as they pass.

Let me explain.

The group that I was with was a bunch of college frat friends of Daniel/Alex/Tom, and then my friends who joined their group. There were over 20 of us. Their group dressed up based on an SNL skit/music video "I'm on a Boat". (See below. If you don't already know about this, you have to watch it to understand these pictures. I had not seen it before Saturday, so the joke was completely lost on me. It was sad. I think this means that I am old.)



Because we didn't know what the theme was on the other half of the team, and we were encouraged to "dress silly" by the team captain, we decided to take our fake mustaches out in public again. They were also a huge hit. I get more compliments when I wear a mustache than at any other time... ever... in my entire life. Scratch that - you get just as many compliments in a fake mustache as you do when you're wearing a bridesmaid's dress. I know which I'd rather, but as long as the end result in these costumes is getting drunk, it doesn't really matter much. Right?

I think that is all the background story you need. Enjoy photos from the pub crawl.

Howdy!

Team captain, Alex in his ascot. Classy.

Only Brenda and I managed to keep our 'staches the whole day. This is the free after party. Trust me, there were way more people there than it looks.


He'll probably kill me for catching this photo at such a perfect time and putting it up on my blog. All the guys felt the need to rip each other's sleeves off. I'm sure it has something to do with being a boy, so I'll never understand.



I have no recollection of this. I don't know what they are doing. Maybe it was when I went to the bathroom because I didn't think I was so drunk that I wouldn't remember...


Messy much? She puts ketchup on her ketchup.

Brilliant! Best photo of the day.

Hungry found us and followed us around all day. We said he could stay as long as he wore a mustache, too.

If you don't know who hungry is... (Is this a lesson in pop culture or what?)

I think Ashley's hungry...

Hungry for beer!

And Tom's hungry for Hungry.

This little dude was obviously too fun.

And this, folks, was how our group walked through the streets of Westport. We had a boombox that continuously played the SNL song. We were on a boat!

There was a buoy. His back read "No Wake Zone". He would stop traffic in the middle of the street. It was amazing we didn't get hit by a car or arrested in the streets. You can kinda see T-Pain behind him.


Colleen somehow convinced the people working the burger line to let her flip the burgers. It's amazing what being appropriately dressed will get you. The back of her shirt also stated "I Flip The Burgers"

I can't tell you how many strangers on the street asked ME how this was possible. I would shake my head and say that I wasn't sure, but I did know that she gave him crabs.

It was a pretty awesome day. I'd totally do it again. Nothing like getting cirrhosis to cure cancer. It's worth it though.


End Blog.

Disappearing River

More River video! She destroys the couch and hides herself within its cushions. The little toy that she has is a heart that was ripped off of a stuffed animal.

Maybe she's trying to build a fort... What a goofball.


End Blog.