Weekend?

Hobbes hasn't quite figured out the difference between the week and weekend. Seems everyday is a lazy Sunday for him.

Monday edit... See? This is how Hobbes prepared for the start of an arduous week:

I want his job.

Taste Testers

Mini Hobbes

A dog's tears

Perhaps it's our tendency to apply human emotions to our pets, but I could swear that when at the vet yesterday Feo (and Les and I) found out her patella was still popping out that she really got sad. All that suffering and to not be fixed... deflating is the only word I can come up with.

Feo's expression last night pretty much sums it up:


Those sure look like tears to me.

Lazy weekend

Feo has been forced to be lazy and is none too pleased with that.


Herman, on the other hand, seemed to be thrilled at the sudden lack of competition in the presence of food.


The cats... well, have you ever known a cat to need any reason to laze the day away? Two are far better at that than one.


Les was able to take advantage of the weekend and make a couple cat toys on the new sewing machine. The cats did eventually figure out that they were toys and not pillows. (Oddly, enough, these two pictures were taken on separate days!)


And I got to try out my new KitchenAid (courtesy of my mom and dad for Christmas) and made a recipe of Cathy's that I saw on her daughter Abby's blog.


Good weekend.

Best Laid Plans

Ok, so I'm not a genius. I like to think I am when I come up with these epiphanies (Small dog big box!) that I really am a phenomenally brilliant individual, but sometimes I forget to really think things through, and end up looking a bit more like the court jester than Merlin the Magnificent.

Case in point. A small dog in a big box sounds great. Makes for a great picture. Causes problems when at some point in the middle of the night the small dog decides to quietly barf up her dinner. Add to that a 6 gallon "accident" (one side effect of morphine is apparently an insatiable thirst), and the nice big box quickly becomes a nice big soggy box. Ugh.

So instead of Feo being in a cozy homemade "crate" all day long, she was in the cat bed on the floor with a towel for a blanket (everything else was covered in barf).



As you can see, she is not at all happy with that set-up, though my dad tells me that she stayed that way all day. He took her out a couple times to do her biz, but other that that she just slept the majority of the day.

That was good as it actually gave me a chance to play off of Les's genius. Feo is a small dog. A small dog is like a baby. A baby playpen would make the perfect crate!

It just so happens that a bit down the the road from work is a used baby store. They were all out of used babies, but they did have a nice used Graco Pack 'n' Play (aka juvenile detention center). PERFECT size for Feo. Plus, it's got the mesh sides so she can see out. Double plus, it's designed for easy cleaning (toddlers are not known for their cleanliness), a must after last night (hence the double plus).



She seems to really enjoy being able to see out the sides, and now that we've switched her from morphine to Tramadol and Rimadyl you can almost see her sparkle in the eye again. Almost.



Needless to say, Hobbes and Boogs are quite pleased to know that Feo will be spending the majority of February in her new "crate."

The start of a slow recovery

Well, after a long 2 days Feo got to come home this evening. It was a bit touch-and-go there this morning as when she woke and they gave her a dose of morphine at the vet I guess she started throwing up. Vets don't like to release animals that are getting sick like that (thankfully) so they were not sure she was going to be able to go home at all today. She did improve throughout the day with no more urping, so I got to take her home as planned after work.

She is one UNhappy camper. Doped up, bandaged up, goobered up (lots of new hair mats she didn't have going in), shaved up (from her toes right up to her rump), and I imagine generally fed up with her lot right now. Oh, and add cooped up to the list. NO exercise, NO jumping, NO walks, NO playing... no nothing! Ok, she gets to eat and sleep, but being as that's about all she's allowed to do until the sutures come out (2 weeks!), I had to figure out how to keep her relatively still. During the day I can corral her in the bathroom with her bed and whatnot (and for tomorrow my dad, Art, came up from Denver to watch her), but while I'm home I don't want her jumping up to follow me everywhere or trying to jump up on the couch or chase the cats. So I was thinking a kennel from Petco, but the prices for a big chunk of plastic really turned me off (especially since Les has one she has lent to her dad -- seemed like a waste to buy another just for this).

Then it dawned on me! Feo is a small dog. I have big boxes still from moving. Small dog in a big box! I'm a genius!

Here are the results. Notice Feo's lovely expression in the first pic. Her shaved leg in the second would almost be comical with the green wrap (with paw prints and all), if she wasn't suck a sicky-icky. :(





So, the next week should be a nice and cozy one for Feo. Her bed and bowls fit nicely in her new "kennel," and I imagine the pain meds for the first few days will keep her from wanting to do too much. I'm not looking forward to when the narcotics run out and it's just what the vet called "really strong aspirin" (Rimadyl). I'm sure she'll start to go stir crazy shortly thereafter.

Will burn that bridge when we get to it. ;-)

On a more positive note, as you may recall, a few weeks back we had Kelly of Corgi Butts do an illustration of Herman for us. We were so thrilled with how it turned out that we asked her to do one of Feo, too. Well, the day before Feo went in for her surgery Kelly sent the news it was done! Yippie! So, here's Feo in all her happy go-lucky self. Maybe a reminder to me that the vet said this surgery should leave her even better than new! :)



Thanks a ton, Kelly! We love it! And thanks to all for the support and words of encouragement. It really has meant a lot.

Preparing for surgery

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Feo is going in to get her right knee operated on and hopefully fixed. We're catching this early in the game, so she's not showing a lot of symptoms yet. Lots of folks apparently wait until their dog can no longer even walk on the leg before doing something about it. That causes major problems as by that point their favoring that leg has also affected their other legs as well as their hips. Catching it now when it is only popping out occasionally and her daily pain is still manageable should prevent any future issues of that nature. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway, as watching her for the last few days act completely fine (it's popped back in right now) has me questioning the logic of operating, but I digress.

Anyway, Les is such a great lady that she decided to take her new craft sewing machine (a Janome Sew Mini) and make a little toy for Feo to take with her to the vet.

Well, the toy was really just a practice run for the real deal. Practice, because neither Les nor I are an expert seamstresse/er. Les knows how much Feo loves blankets and dog (or cat) beds, so the goal all along was to sew a blanket for Feo to have in the kennel at the vet when she comes out of the anesthesia.

Herman is great at guarding the fleece. He knows fleece is kinda like wool, and wool comes from sheep, so he's very content.

Notice how Les's nails match the two colors of fleece? That's called good planning. Les's leaves no detail unnoticed. ;)


Don't let the lumberjack plaid fool you. I can swing a needle and thread just as well as an axe. Ok. Probably a lot better. :p


Isn't she precious?! Ok, few men use the word "precious," but c'mon! She's far too cute in her new blankey to worry about that.


Think good thoughts for her tomorrow, folks. She (and we) will appreciate it. I promise to update later in the week.

Poor Feo

Herman found out his buddy Feo was having x-rays tomorrow. He says he is willing to help her eat any treats she can't manage.

Bliss

It's a hard life.

Poor Feo

She has patellar luxation and has to have knee surgery Feb. 1. ):

Princess Feona

Kitty Toes

Boogs

Hobbes

Oz

Ori

Herman is a star!

Immortalized forever!

Kelly from Corgi Butts has finally made her talents as a graphic designer available to the rest of us (for a very reasonable price I might add)!

Being as photogenic as Herman is, it was a difficult choice on what picture to send Kelly for her to work her magic with, but I think we made a good choice:

Kelly's talents have really captured Herman's spirit. What a handsome Corgi he is! Honestly! Have you EVER seen a more handsome dog? Corgi owners, please just humor us and nod politely -- we all know all Corgis are equally beautiful!

So here he is, in all his illustrated glory....

Herman!

Thanks, Kelly!

Tough to be a cat

My view while working out

Herman likes to be as close to me as possible while I do my exercises on the floor. This is accompanied by lots of quacking from the new stuffed pheasant toy he is chewing on. He is also really shedding which makes no sense since it is 10 degrees out.

People herding is exhausting

Seriously.

It seems like all Herman does when there are people around is herd them. His problem is that people don't really herd too well, so instead he ends up following anyone that gets up to leave the room until they come back or stray too far from the herd. When the people multiply in number around, for instance, Christmas, it makes his job that much harder.

A near week of unsuccessful people wrangling has reduced Herms this:



Couldn't even make it to his bed (top left). Poor pup. ;-)

8 Days a Week

Perhaps you'll see a pattern here. ;)

Monday...


Tuesday...


Wednesday...


Thursday...


Friday...


Saturday...


Sunday...


Happy day!

Snow Corgi

There's got to be a snack out here. Anything tasty in here? I found a bird last time and got in trouble.

I'd better keep searching. I'm down two pounds. They are trying to starve me. I hope Art, Nonna, and Principessa get here soon to save me.