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The Love of a Dog

Sentient or not, Ellie’s stomach got upset after the 4th of July weekend and Monday morning and evening we had the pleasure of cleaning up after she pooped in the house. Sometimes she gets diarrhea like this when she eats something she’s not supposed to, but to the best of our knowledge she’s had no misadventures lately. My wife moved her right away onto a bland diet of rice and chicken and she regained control of her bowels.

It’s possible it’s stress related from all of the fireworks activity. When it got loud on the evening of the 4th I closed all the windows despite the heat to help deaden the sound and ease the nerves of the cats who were hiding under beds and couches. Ellie didn’t show much outward sign of distress, and although she would look up at me when a boom was especially loud or close, she always settled back down when I told her it was OK.

If she thought it was doggie Armageddon, she didn’t seem too concerned that she wasn’t being raptured, so long as we were together. That is unconditional love.

Sentient Beings

I’ve made a couple of modifications to our morning ritual of treats for the pets. We had started giving Ellie Checkups once a day, a white dog-shaped treat that is supposed to be good for her teeth. When we discovered this is by far her favorite treat of all, instead of giving Ellie a charcoal dog biscuit in the morning she now gets her white bone.

And oh how she loves them! When I open the door to the closet where we keep them, she runs into my office and quickly lies down on her dog bed, so intently focused that she doesn’t move apart from her big black tail which wags furiously.

My wife takes her about once a week to doggie day care so she can spend the day socializing with other dogs. She normally enjoys this and doesn’t need any encouragement to go out the door, but one day my wife was running ahead of schedule and was ready to leave while I was still feeding Scout her treats, and thus before Ellie had gotten her highly anticipated white bone. When my wife called her, Ellie got up and started for the door but then returned to me and half-sat and half-stood, torn between obeying my wife’s call and waiting for her treat, as if she were being controlled by two minds.

I think her stomach has become self-aware.

Queen of the Decade

Our good and gentle queen turned ten back in March. We’ve had Scout since she was a kitten so she’s been by my side the entire decade. She is a queen that rules with a soft furry fist. Her monarchy is characterized by a modified form of laissez-faire — everyone is welcome to do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t interfere with what she wants.

For example, if Sam is sleeping on my lap and she wants to snuggle too, he’s welcome to stay where he is just so long as he doesn’t mind when she steps on him as she goes through her rituals of getting petted before she’ll lie down. I try to tell her that a good queen doesn’t walk all over the little people but this subtlety is lost on her.

She also considers one of the cat beds hers. The others are welcome to sleep in it as long as they get up when she wants it. When they don’t, she gives them the evil eye for a few moments. If that doesn’t work, she comes over and starts giving me the business until I evict them.

Yes, she can be a little grumpus. But she’s my little grumpus. I wouldn’t trade her for the world.

Seven and Two

Happy Birthday Ellie!

We adopted our sweet girl two years ago and, since we don’t know her real birthday, we celebrate it today as well. She was five when we adopted her and so now turns seven. This picture is from June when she was still recuperating from her surgery, this is the look I get in between sleeping and snuggling and hedgehogging. Speaking of which, someone has been patiently waiting all night for me to finish my chores, so I’d better go.

Moving On Up

Ellie went to the surgeon on Thursday for her follow-up x-rays and he was delighted with the progress she’s made in the six weeks since her leg surgery. Everything is healing the way he hoped and she goes back for her final x-rays in another six weeks. So while she still isn’t allowed to run and play the way she’d like, we’re headed in the right direction and today was the first day I didn’t keep her penned up when I left for work. She is allowed to use the stairs now and so has free reign of the house, finally able to rise up from the basement and join me on the main floor. And the bedroom on the top floor at night, this morning I literally woke up covered by all the pets but Emma!

Her walks have also resumed, slowly increasing in 5 minute intervals as she builds back her stamina and muscle mass. We don’t get too far, she’s eager to get reacquainted with old friends and say hello to you little bush, and you little tree, and you blade of grass, and you little leaf, and …

I’ve been working a lot of long hours for work, including many nights and weekends, so I haven’t been able to play with her and the cats as much as I’d like. Or as often as Ellie would like, given by the number of times I get pelted by hedgehogs as I work. Thankfully things should be slowing down in the next couple of days.

Welcome back, Ellie! All the pets are zonked out around me in my office at the moment, some sleeping more quietly than others. Even the hedgehogs are enjoying a moment of peace.

The Patient Patient

I took Ellie back to the surgeon on Thursday to get her sutures out and they were really pleased with her progress. She’s feeling much better and ready to get back to hedgehogging, but unfortunately for her she still has another six weeks of taking it easy before she goes back for x-rays to see if the bones have healed. We’ll keep her on a light dose of sedatives for a bit, just enough to take her edge off, as she’s more than ready to run and jump and do all the things she shouldn’t yet. But by and large, our girl remains as sweet as ever and has been more patient with her recovery than I expected.

Birdie

One morning before work I stepped out of the shower and saw Emma sitting on the ledge next to the bathroom. She loves wet hair and I had a few moments before we needed to leave, so I leaned down and let her play in my hair. She purred and purred her quiet chirpy purrs and put me in a good mood to start the day.

Here the warm beds put her in a good mood to end the day.

The Prisoner

We picked up an exercise pen at a local pet store, which for Ellie will be an anti-exercise pen. It’s necessary to keep her off her legs as she’ll tolerate pain as long as it means she gets to play. Resisting her gaze I feel like a modern day Perseus, except Ellie is the anti-medusa, her sad puppy dog eyes will turn you to mush. She’s tolerated this all pretty well, and still has a ways to go, but oh how happy she will be when she is back on her feet.

Grounded

Ellie’s leg woes continue. She’s had a bit of a limp so I took her to the vet today and she thinks it might be a torn ligament. Ellie is getting anti-inflammatory pills for a couple of days and then she will probably have to go back in to see what comes next. She’s isolated to the basement now with no activity, not even a walk, and certainly no hedgehogging.

Poor girl.

Silent Night

Sam and Emma underneath the Christmas tree, a slightly calmer scene than yesterday. I was going to title yesterday’s post “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”, but since I recently got a nice new camera I couldn’t do it in good conscience. Today’s cameras really are remarkable. I took both of these pictures tonight, handheld, with the Christmas tree lights providing the only illumination. I decided to try the 7D at ISO 3200 and used the image stabilization in the lens to compensate for the slow shutter speed.