Ellie – Page 25

Keep Me Away From My Dog

I can’t seem to stop injuring Ellie.

I took her on an extra-long walk today, during the day she had somehow gotten into a sealed jar of treats and ate the whole batch, so I figured she could both use the exercise and an extra chance to do her business. Right at the end of the walk she started falling behind and even labored up the steps to our house, I just figured she was a pooped pooch from the long walk. When I got her inside, I noticed blood on the floor and realized she cut her foot at the end of the walk, it’s the opposite front foot from the one she injured the other day while we were playing ball so it’s a wonder she can walk at all.

It stopped bleeding pretty quickly but I’m feeling a little cursed. Fortunately she bears no grudges, when I get home from work the three cats greet me at the door and after playing with them a bit, I go downstairs and there’s Ellie with her tail wagging in furious delight.

Emma is once again reveling in the electric warmth of the heated bed so last night’s foray was not a fluke. Fortunately Scout has preferred the window seat in the living room the past couple of nights as she will not be too pleased when she discovers there’s no room in the inn.

There’s plenty of room in Ellie’s bed Miss Scout.

I Broke My Dog! I Broke My Dog!

Today was a shutdown day at work, so instead of my usual workday routine here is how the day unfolded:

Sleep in with the cats all around me
Play with Ellie
Play with the cats
Play with Ellie
Eat lunch
Play with Ellie
Take Ellie to obedience training
Play with Ellie
Take Ellie for a walk
Play with the cats

Except in between playing with Ellie and taking her for a walk, there was a vet visit. We were playing ball in the backyard when all of a sudden she came up limp with her left paw hanging lifelessly and all I could think was “I broke my dog! I broke my dog!”

The vet was able to see her right away and as we walked her down to the car she was able to put weight on it, so I started to breathe a little easier. The vet gave her a good checkup and while we don’t know exactly what happened, it doesn’t appear to be serious so she may have just sprained her ankle.

She gets a week of taking it easy so we can watch for signs of trouble, which means no horseplay. Ellie tried to convince me that the vet actually said “mo’ horseplay”. Bless your heart Ellie, I can’t fault you for trying, but I didn’t just fall off a turnip truck. She and my wife are sleeping in the basement while Scout and Emma are snoring in harmony beside me.

Leave It To Ellie

Today was our first day of obedience training at the Humane Society, we focused on getting Ellie to answer to her name and to obey our “Leave It” commands. Our star pupil did very well and since I’m off tomorrow (one of our mandatory shutdown days this quarter), it will be a good day to practice what we learned.

We’ve been curled up asleep on the dog bed in my office, a little reward for the both of us.

A Super Weekend

This past week we’ve made good progress on our slow introduction of Ellie to our world. She has free reign of the house as long as we’re home and this weekend was allowed to join us in the bedroom for the first time. No cats were eaten!

In fact, the cats continued to sleep on us just as they always have, with Ellie beside our bed on the dog bed my wife made for her. To show you just how well I know my cats, I thought the order of Ellie acceptance would go Scout -> Sam -> Emma. Exactly how it happened, except I got the order backwards.

The other day when my wife had the morning off, she and Ellie joined me on my walk to the train station. When it was time to part ways, I walked off and looked back to see her staring with such sorrow that you’d think I was drifting off to sea. It’s a cold soul that can turn from such a longing gaze but I knew the warm welcome I’d receive at the end of the day. Oh how her tail wags!

Some Advice For Our Dear Ellie

You don’t have to do everything little Sam says. While I applaud his use of the scientific method, after getting into chocolate you didn’t have to eat a tub of caramel just because he wanted to see if your poop would smell like Twix bars. (In the interest of science, the answer is no. No it did not.)
You don’t have to believe everything Scout tells you. When she told you that she is the only one who didn’t come from the Humane Society, that was true. But when she told you that she didn’t come from the Humane Society but instead hatched from an eagle’s egg high atop a Sitka spruce, that was not.
In a similar vein, she’s missing fur on her foreleg because they shaved it at the vet, not because she gave a grizzly bear the what for.
And please, please don’t listen to Emma when she asks you to bring back a tree when we take you for a walk. It’s only ten more months until Christmas. She can wait like the rest of us.

Dark Chocolate & Caramel

What happens when your dog eats a whole tub of caramel? I don’t know but we’re about to find out!

In all seriousness, I did call the emergency vet when I got home, she should be fine but with vomiting and diarrhea, oh joy!

Ellie dear, this is not the way to weight loss!

The Dog & The Tennis Ball

You don’t need to travel to the Galapagos to see evolution in action. Consider that when Lewis & Clark first crossed the Rockies into the West, they looked across verdant fields and saw dogs chasing tennis balls, with some highly evolved breeds specializing in catching the hapless balls on the bounce.

While at the time dogs seemed to have the upper hand, in the intervening years evolution seems to have lobbed the advantage back into the ball’s court. The balls have increasingly learned to anticipate being caught from above and have developed ever more complex bounces to evade their slobbering foes.

But recently, dogs seem to be regaining mastery over their prey of old. While the ball nervously scans the skies, the dog flattens itself against the ground and sneaks up from the side, catching the ball unawares.

Usually catching the ball unawares. Sometimes the ball still manages to escape. That’s nature for you.

Dark Chocolate

Ellie had a vet appointment this morning to get a booster shot. She got a good health report all around (apart from needing to lose a little weight, which we are working on). But late this afternoon I got a call from my wife saying she was heading back to the vet.

During the day, Ellie had somehow gotten a hold of some of my wife’s chocolate calcium chews. This is not the way to weight loss Ellie! Although at least we won’t have to worry about her suffering from osteoporosis. The vet didn’t think any harm was done but had us watch for vomiting and unusual stools just to be safe — any blood and it was off to the emergency vet. Thankfully she’s been fine, a little hyper but she got a lot of exercise this weekend and calmed down nicely by nightfall.

Ellie’s a black lab, at least we thought she was, but I’m thinking now she may be a chocolate lab. Dark chocolate.

Ellie & Smelly

The title for today’s post comes from little Sam, who is skating on thin ice I assure you.

He asked me today if I knew which part of Ellie I most smelled like. I said no but to consider his answer carefully and reminded him who plays countless hours of String with him. He deliberated far longer than I thought necessary, eyes darting between me and Ellie, before finally answering “Why the sweetest part of course!”

Hi-yo, Silver, Away!

When I got home from work this evening, little Sam started peppering me with questions about saddles. I know nothing of horses and knew neither the answers to his questions nor the reasons for them. Slowly I realized that he hoped to ride Ellie to glory in the great Emma hunts that rage through the midnight hours.

No Sammy, no. No no. No no no.