Another Visit to the Vet

It seems like I'm becoming a frequent flyer to the vet lately.  Daddy says it's because of Mommy's habit of breaking the dawgs in our family.  She was on guard duty both times Hunter tore his ACL and when Dixie broke her toe as a puppy.  Recently Mommy noticed I was favoring my right hind leg.  She felt fear in her heart when she noticed because she knew this could be a torn ACL.  NOT something she wants to deal with (as if I do???).

She gave my limping a day to correct itself and massaged my knee, foot, and paw.  She wasn't sure which part of my body was actually troubling me, and I wasn't about to breathe a word to her.  Finally she took me to the vet and we were able to meet the surgeon on the staff for the first time.  Don't panic yet over the word surgeon!  I think she was sent into evaluate me just in case the worst had happened.

As it turns out, I did have some inflammation in my knee, but no tear . . . yet!  I have to be on restricted movement for TWO WEEKS!!!!  Seriously?  That vet obviously doesn't know me very well.  We are trying to prevent any more injury to my knee that would result in a full blown  ACL tear and full blown surgery!  Mommy is relieved.  I'm going into withdrawals without my frisbee chases.  Dixie is suffering too because it's so unfair for Mommy to go out and play with her and not take me as well.  (Sorry about that, Dixie!)

I have an anti-inflammatory to take for several days to help in my recovery.  So far, so good.  I am counting the days until I can run like the wind again!

Until then, let's hope Mommy doesn't break Dixie too!
Jenna

PS: Betcha can't tell what was really on my mind during the visit to the doctor . . .

FINALLY!

Missing Hunter

Today would have been Hunter's fourteenth birthday.  We still miss him terribly, especially Mommy (after all, no one does a selfie like Hunter and Mommy).

Happy Birthday, Hunter!

Vet Trip in Pictures

We took a trip together to the vet recently.  We were both very well behaved, but we weren't able to answer our most burning question: WHO WEIGHS LESS!?!?  The scale had recently broken, so we'll just have to wonder who the Supermodel really is . . .

Here's our most recent adventure in pictures:

Here's hoping your trips to the doctor are just as adventuresome as ours!
Dixie and Jenna


PS:  We have a couple family birthdays coming up in the next few days.  Happy Birthday to Poppa on the 13th and to Uncle W on the 14th.

Happy Mommy Day

Dear Mommy,

We wanted to give you something very special today for Mother's Day.  We know how you LOVE photos, so we took your selfie stick and tried to make a picture of us just for you.  The pictures didn't turn out quite like we had hoped . . . 

It's the thought that counts, right?

We want you to have a GREAT Mother's Day!  Happy Mother's Day to Grandma and Mimi too!

Wags and Kisses, 

Dixie and Jenna

Confusion Strikes Again

I told you my crate had been moved around recently and was causing me all sorts of confusion.  I forgot to tell you that this relocation had also caused me to be without my usual table setting.  I have eaten in my crate since I arrived on the scene here four years ago.  Part of that was because there simply wasn't room at the "table" for three dawgs with Dixie and Hunter already eating there.  I have to admit the more pressing reason I eat in my crate is because I'm a fast eater and I like to eat everyone's food.  It's not a point of pride for me, but necessity.  What can I say?  I LOVE food!

When Hunter passed away, Mommy tried to move me to his place setting, but that didn't go over well with Dixie.  It's hard for her to simultaneously eat and bare her teeth at me.  That resulted in me eating my food and hers.  I thought this arrangement was fine, but Mommy and Dixie disagreed.  I went back to eating in my crate, but I no longer have to have the door locked.  I've learned to wait it out until Dixie is finished.  Once she is finished and moves away from her bowl, I take kitchen patrol and do a quick once over to check for any morsels left behind.

For the two weeks my crate was in the garage, I no longer knew where to eat my meals.  Mommy finally sat my bowl down behind the love seat.   This played havoc with Dixie for a few days, but overall we both adjusted fairly well.  Until Mommy lost her mind one evening . . .

For reasons unknown to any of us, she placed MY bowl in front of Dixie and Dixie's bowl in front of ME.  You must remember I have a bowl with dividers to slow me down.

Dixie had NO idea what to do with my bowl.  She just stood and stared at it.  Mommy didn't realize she had made a mistake until she heard a horrible noise coming from my direction.  It was me scarfing up all of the food in Dixie's normal bowl at super sonic speed since there were no dividers!  I was finished in no time at all and ready to move on to the other bowl!

Dixie finally tried to eat HER food in MY bowl, but she wasn't happy about it. And she was really slow . . .

I thought the sisterly thing to do would be to show Dixie how it's done, but Mommy held me back!

Finally, in an effort to make us both happy, Mommy took Dixie's remaining food and dumped it into Dixie's original bowl.  Dixie was able to finish her meal in relative peace.  I made sure there was nothing left for me in MY bowl!

We still aren't sure what came over Mommy that caused her to make the switch.  She's paying closer attention when she feeds us now, so hopefully this "problem" won't happen again.  Although I'd be okay if it did.  It worked out just fine for me.  Super fast yummmm!

Here's to fast food!
Jenna

Happy 6th Birthday to Us!

Today's our birthday!!!!  We are SIX this year.  That's FORTY-TWO in dawg years which means we've officially caught up to Mommy (for a few months anyway)!  Boy, do we feel old!  The good news is that only one of us looks old.

Jenna

Dixie

We had fun playing outside with our favorite toys.  Jenna chased the frisbee and Dixie had the ever-present tennis ball with her.  One of us was more cooperative than the other during picture time.  We'll let you decide who that was.  Hint:  It's the dawg with the most pictures!

Happy Birthday to Us!

PS: We celebrate our big day with Princess Charlotte of Cambridge . . . a coincidence?  We think not.  From a couple of princesses to another . . . happy birthday!

Where's My Bed?

Something is going on at our house, but I'm not sure what it is.  At the beginning of April, Mommy moved our crates into the garage for two weeks.  It was HORRIBLE!!  It was COLD and DARK out there.  Mommy did feel sorry for us; she put our blankets in the dryer before leaving for work so that we'd have a bit of warmth until the sun came up.  She also covered our crates with blankets to help with the draftiness.   This new location had both me and Dixie totally confused.  We couldn't tell which crate was which!

I will not be able to get those two weeks of my already short life back!  Mimi said for once we were actually treated like dawgs, but doesn't she realize that's NOT how we expect to be treated?!?!?!?

Have no fear, we didn't have to sleep in the garage at night.  I guess we weren't treated THAT badly!  [whew]  You need to understand we LOVE our crates.  We sleep in them all the time even without the doors closed.  I tried and tried to find a comfy position on the carpet in the evenings before the official bed time, but to no avail.  Instead, I just went upstairs and made myself at home on my parents' bed.

Dixie didn't suffer the way I did.  She's made Hunter's orthopedic bed her own in the last few months.

Our crates are now back in the den, but not quite the way they used to be.  Mommy had moved an end table into place in the absence of our crates and now she won't move it.   Apparently the end table was in place before I joined the family.  Personally, I think it needs to GO AWAY, but Mommy feels differently and she's in charge of the decor.  Dixie's crate is back in its original place, but mine had to find a new home.

I am NOT happy with this new position.  Mommy doesn't understand why.  She says I still have the best view.  I just can't seem to remember this new crate position.  When Mommy gives me the command to go to my crate, I immediately run to its former location.  It's a wonder I haven't run into the end table!  Then I try to run to Dixie's crate, but she's already in there giving me the evil eye.  I can't seem to manage finding my way to my crate until Mommy shows me the way!  It's very frustrating.  [sigh]

Lost in my house,
Jenna

I've Got My Eye on You!

I had to go to the vet this past week because I had some sort of eye infection.  Mommy had applied a topical steroid left over from Hunter, but it wasn't working.  After two days with the whites of my eyes turning a nasty shade of red, Mommy bit the bullet and took me.

I was such a good girl.  Truly I was!  I deserve a trip to an all-you-can-eat-buffet somewhere!  For starters, I've lost weight.   I guess I can't say for sure that I've reclaimed my Supermodel title because Dixie wasn't there being weighed as well, but I had lost about FOUR pounds!  For you humans that's not that much, but for us dawgs, that's HUGE!

Second, when Mommy said that Dixie wasn't experiencing the same eye problems, I think the doctor thought something might be terribly wrong with my eyes!  Dr. O tested my eye pressure to make sure nothing was pressing on the backs of my eyes like glaucoma, and she tested my tear ducts to make sure they were producing the right amount of tears.  Thankfully all was normal.

Before Dr. O did all of these tests, she showed me her instruments and told me exactly what she was going to do.  She spoke to ME, not Mommy!  Seriously!  And she did all of this in her amazing Australian accent.  I think I might have a girl crush on her!  Dr. O was AMAZING!  Mommy liked her too.  Dr. O is new to our usual practice.  She was so super understanding, she even let me lick and sniff all of those instruments before she used them on me.  Well, all except the most expensive one!

The most expensive tool was for looking at my corneas.  Dr. O had to first put a neon green dye in  my eyes.  I felt like I was glowing for a while.  She looked at my eyes with a special light to make sure the corneas weren't scratched.  That test result was normal but my eyes were a different story!

Since nothing serious was wrong with my eyes, the vet gave Mommy a steroid ointment to put in my eyes twice a day.  We've learned that I do NOT like anyone messing with my eyes  . . . except maybe Dr. O!  I looked quite pitiful on the ride home and slept pretty well that night.

I'm back to normal now, and I'm keeping my eye out for another possible visit to see Dr. O.  Or that all-you-can-eat buffet!
Jenna


PS: Although I was a good girl, I did leave my mark on the vet's office . . . no, not what you're thinking . . . Maybe we should have weighed me after my exam?  I may have lost another pound or two in fur!

Here's Your Sign!

As you know, Mommy LOVES to take pictures of anything and everything.  She has even been known to take pictures of street signs.  When our parents are on vacation and she sees a really neat sign, Daddy will turn the car around and go back just so Mommy can snap that photo.  Isn’t that super sweet of him?   (Remember one of his mottoes is "Happy Wife, Happy Life!")

Mommy will also take pictures of bumper stickers she spies on the road or in parking lots.  On a recent outing with friends, she saw this magnet stuck to a car and just had to capture the moment.

She immediately texted the picture to Daddy so they could both enjoy a laugh.  The same car also sported this magnet:

We’re all pretty sure this won’t be true for us, but it's still funny.  Of course there are famous, wealthy (insane?) people who have actually left their millions to their dawgs, but we don’t think our parents fall into that category.   You can figure out which category we refer to for yourself!

Have you seen any funny signs lately?  

Dixie and Jenna