Speed Bumps and Learning Curves

Well, not only did the shelter initially get Luke’s sex wrong, but their prediction that he was approximately 3 years-old turned out to be way off, too.  According to Dr. Ellis at Animal Care Clinic, Luke is actually only around 11 months-old!  Yes, ladies and gentleman, it appears that Justin and I have ourselves another puppy (not that we’re complaining).  The vet said that he’s very healthy, and he’s scheduled to receive more vaccinations, as well as be neutered, in about three weeks. 

While Luke’s lack of appetite worried me for the first few days, we’re learning that he just doesn’t like to inhale his entire bowl of food in one sitting like his sisters.  He prefers to eat his food a little bit at a time, although we do have to make sure that Margot doesn’t sneak and finish off his bowl of food in between sittings.   I’m just happy that he is finally eating better, and I’m sure he’s going to fatten up a little in no time. 

Overall, Luke is a very good boy, although there are a couple of issues that we’re trying to address with him.  The first issue is the fact that he jumps up to greet people.  Chad, who is a vet tech at the Animal Care Clinic and also teaches obedience training there, told us during Luke’s check-up that the best thing to do for that is raise our knee and hold up our hands whenever Luke jumps, and of course reward him if he sits instead of jumping.  We’ve been doing that, but our little Luke just doesn’t seem to be getting it.  He is definitely a smart dog, but he does seem to be a little bit slower to pick up on things than we’re used to.  So, Justin and I are just going to have to be a little more patient when trying to train him, that’s all.

In fact, his inability to “get it” is the other issue we’re having with Luke.  No many how many times I give him a quick touch to try to correct him, he immediately comes right back and repeats his bad behavior again.  The worst is when he tries to run out onto the porch as soon as we open the front door.  Despite his short stature, Luke is a pretty powerful little dog and will just keep trying to barrel through our attempts to keep him back and away from the door.  He will even lower himself all the way to the floor and stick a paw or his nose in the doorway so that we can’t shut it.  I know that sounds kind of funny, and I do at least have enough of a sense of humor to appreciate Luke’s sneaky tactics, but it’s also very dangerous for Luke and quite annoying for us when we’re trying to leave. 

This morning, I decided to practice more of Cesar Millan’s methods by trying to wait until Luke achieved a fully calm-submissive state before I even opened the front door.  Unfortunately, I can tell that it will take quite a long time for Luke to achieve that state of mind, and I only had a few minutes before I had to be at work.  Regardless, instead of just opening the door and fighting Luke off so that I could shut it behind me, I first walked to the front door and just put my hand on the doorknob.  As soon as Luke came into my space, I turned around, gave him a quick touch, and told him, “No.”  When he immediately moved forward again, I repeated the correction.  After I did this several times, he did finally stop moving forward.  So, I took a step toward him to further claim my space around the front door.  He looked me right in the eyes and backed up a step, which was good.  Then, I stood there and waited, and Luke finally sat.  However, his attention was still clearly focused on the door.  If I had had more time this morning, I would have continued standing there and claiming my space (not allowing him to move closer to the front door) until he finally laid down and relaxed.  Then, it would have been okay for me to walk out the front door. 

However, due to lack of time, after Luke sat and I stood there for a moment, I decided to go ahead and reach back for the door knob.  As soon as I did, Luke lunged forward towards the door again.  I was able to correct him enough so that I was able to get out the front door, but in order to shut the door I had to physically push Luke away with my foot, which made me feel awful.   So, I’m definitely going to work on this problem with Luke more when I have plenty of time to practice patience with him, as well.

While I’m on the subject of behaviors that need correcting, Miss Margot has developed a new behavior that is very disappointing.  She’s begun pulling on her leash during walks, which she never used to do before, and this has only developed over this past winter.  (Luke is a dream to walk on his leash, by the way.  He stays right by your side, and if he starts to pull even a little bit, he corrects himself.)  I’ve tried correcting Margot by giving her leash a quick jerk and making the “anh!” sound, but all she does is spin around for a brief second, and then continue to pull.  I’ve also tried stopping dead in my tracks as soon as she pulls and making her stand there with me for a few seconds before walking again.  The problem is that, even though we’ve stopped walking, she is still in a very high-alert state of mind.  Justin and I have both attempted to snap her out of it by trying to get Margot to look us in the eye and even sit during these pauses on our walks, but she absolutely will not pay attention to us.  In fact, she acts like we’re just in her way if we try to look her in the eye, and she’ll keep moving her head around to see what’s behind us.  I’ve also tried doing that thing that Cesar does, where he kind of taps the dog on their hindquarters with his foot while they’re walking to surprise the dog and snap her out of their anxious state of mind, but when I do this with Margot, it just ends up looking like I’m kicking my dog, and it doesn’t even work anyway.   So, now I’m considering buying one of those leashes that Cesar recommends that fits right up under the dog’s chin.   Something has got to work because it’s getting to the point where I don’t even want to walk Margot, even though I know I have to.  So, it’s starting to feel more like a chore to take her for a walk rather than an enjoyable experience for both of us, and I don’t want that.

Justin and I decided to take all three dogs out for a couple of walks this past weekend, which went fairly well.  The first walk was better than the second walk, though, and I cut the second walk short out of frustration.  During their first walk together, I started out walking both Sam and Margot and let Justin walk Luke because Sam and Margot are the two “pullers,” and I feel like they respect me as an authority figure more than they do Justin (no offense to Justin, but he’s just too tender-hearted and gentle to really demand their respect the way that I do).  However, Sam was actually being very well behaved and not pulling on her leash at all, and because Margot was turning into quite the handful, Justin offered to walk Sam with Luke.  That turned out to be a much better arrangement, because Luke and Sam were excellent walkers together.

So, yesterday, when we decided to walk all three of them again, Justin took Sam and Luke and I took Margot.  I want to preface this by adding that I had just come back from a four-hour photo shoot, which was fun, but a bit nerve-racking for various reasons.  So, my nerves were already a bit frazzled when we decided to go for a walk, which probably didn’t help make Sam and Margot feel any more relaxed.   However, the main problem was that there were a lot more people and dogs out at the park yesterday, so Margot and Sam were both at higher states of excitement and energy than the day before.  (Notice I’m not mentioning Luke because he remained a calm, happy dog during both pack walks.)   I tried to pause several times during the walk, taking deep breaths each time to try to release my own anxious energy, but as soon as we’d start walking again, it would come right back.   

Sam’s energy was more of a nervous/scared/anxious energy, which is very typical for her, whereas Margot seemed to have more of a high level of alertness and excitement in general, as in, “What’s that?  Who’s that over there?  Where is he going?  Why is she running?  What are those people doing?”  Whenever Sam and Margot would come close to another dog, however, they would both lunge and pull to get to the dog, but for different very reasons.  I believe that Margot is truly just very excited and simply wants to meet the other dog to see if he/she is friendly and wants to play, but Sam barks out of fear and actually wants to make the dog go away.   So, the owners of the dog in question don’t really know what to think or how to react to our dogs, and the whole time Justin and I are trying to yell over all the barking to explain to the other owners that Margot really is just trying to be friendly, and Sam really isn’t being aggressive towards their dog; she’s just nervous and barking because she’s scared.   In other words, every time Sam and Margot encounter an unfamiliar dog, it always ends up being just this huge, loud, chaotic, embarrassing mess, and it always ends with Justin and me having to pull Sam and Margot away from the other dog in order to restore the peace.  It really bothers me because not only is it physically exhausting and embarrassing, but I feel like it makes Sam and Margot look like they’re both aggressive towards other dogs, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

The thing is, Justin and I both feel that if Sam and Margot were to encounter an unfamiliar dog by themselves, without her sister there, those two encounters would be much different.  Margot would still get excited and want to meet the other dog, but without Sam constantly barking behind her and making the other dog nervous and unsure about what’s going on, that other dog would probably just let Margot sniff him/her and reciprocate.  In turn, if Sam were to encounter another dog without Margot there being all excited and anxious to meet the other dog, Sam would probably just keep her mouth shut and go out of her way to avoid the dog all together.   

So, unfortunately, it seems like the solution is pretty clear:  Margot and Sam shouldn’t go on walks together; at least, not in heavily dog-populated areas, like the park.   However, if we decide to walk Sam and Margot at separate times, I do think that it might be a good idea to still include Luke on both of those walks because I think he sets a good example for both girls.  Luke’s main focus during walks is following me and/or Justin.  He truly sees us as his leaders, and he behaves accordingly.  As I said before, he walks right by our sides, and we’re able to keep his leash loose and relaxed the whole time.  Occasionally, Luke will walk ahead a little bit, especially if he’s trying to keep up with his sisters, but as soon as he feels tension on his leash, he automatically slows his pace and/or returns to our side.  Justin and I both suspect that Luke would probably be able to walk with us without a leash, but it’s definitely too soon to test that theory.  I wouldn’t want to try walking him without a leash until he’s undergone some formal training and I feel confident that he’ll come when he’s called.

Anyway, despite everything that I just mentioned above, which are all correctable behaviors, Justin and I are really happy that we decided to adopt Luke.  Not only do he and Margot get along very well, but Sam has finally relaxed around him and doesn’t get as upset anymore whenever Luke and Margot start rough-housing.  Also, just as I had hoped, Margot now prefers to pick on Luke instead of Sam because she knows that Luke will be happy to play with her.  Besides wrestling, Luke and Margot’s favorite games are Keep-Away and Tug-O-War. 

My favorite is when they start chasing each other around the living room, kitchen, and dining room, which are all open and connected rooms, so it’s kind of like they’re running around a track.  They’ll run in that circle a few times, and then one of them will stop and wait for the other one to catch up.  However, if Luke hears Margot stop, for example, then he’ll stop, too, and then they will both slowly sneak around and peek into the next room, hoping to catch the other by surprise.  When one of them finally does surprise the other, then they get all excited and start chasing each other again.  It’s really fun and heartwarming to watch, because that’s the type of high-energy playing that I know Sam just can’t (and doesn’t want to) do anymore. 

So, overall, I believe that everyone is much happier now that Luke has joined the family.  Sure, we’ve got a few wrinkles to iron out, but that was to be expected, and honestly, it could have been a lot worse!

Post-Surgical Bliss

Feeling a little dopey.

My heart is bursting with how happy I am about Margot’s recent surgery and recovery.  As you may recall, I took her to the vet to be spayed first thing in the morning, the day after Christmas.   I was nervous about the surgery because of her Von Willebrand factor, but Dr. Ellis said that she “did fine” during the surgery and had no real bleeding issues.  WHEW! 

The reason I scheduled Margot’s surgery on Dec. 26th was because I was off from work that entire week, and I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her.  I was really dreading her having to wear that awful cone around her neck because I knew Margot would probably just try to take it off the whole time, but when I went to the vet to pick her up, they actually gave me an alternative to the cone.  It’s called a Medical Pet Shirt, but really it’s just a “onsie” for dogs.  Haha!  It’s brilliant, though!  It’s made out of some kind of compression-type material that gives her a gentle squeeze around her midsection, and then it closes in the back with snaps and Velcro, leaving a hole for her tail.  Her entire belly and stitches are completely covered, and the shirt’s closures are in a place that’s pretty hard for her to reach.  Honestly, though, Margot hasn’t tried to take the shirt off at all, and, in fact, I think she kind of likes wearing it. 

When I brought Margot home, she was pretty doped up and just wanted to fall asleep, but her surgical site was still fresh, and it hurt her to sit or lie down.  Therefore, she actually kept falling asleep while standing up.  It was kind of funny at first, but after about an hour of making sure she didn’t fall and hurt herself and also not being able to get her to lie down, I started feeling really sorry for Margot.  I was afraid it might hurt her to sit or lie down for several days, but thank goodness that wasn’t the case. 

First night of recovery.  FINALLY lying down.

The very next morning, Margot grabbed her Christmas rawhide (a present from her Aunt Kristy), laid on the floor without any sign of discomfort, which was a huge relief, and she chewed on her rawhide until there was nothing left.  I tried my best to keep her from jumping onto the couch, but she snuck up there a couple times when I wasn’t looking.  It didn’t seem to bother her, though, except one time when she tried to jump down, which caused her to give a little yelp.  By the third day of Margot’s recovery, she was obviously feeling a lot better and even kept bringing me the ball, but I refused to play with her.  I hated that because I could tell she was really bored and didn’t understand why I wouldn’t throw the ball or wrestle with her, but I also knew that it was for the best. 

Margot's Frankenbelly.

By the fourth day of her recovery, I had completely stopped giving Margot her pain medication because she was getting on and off the couch without any problems, and she was running around a bit, playing on her own.  So, at that point, I decided to start playing with her again.  I took it easy, only rolling the ball a few feet away so that she wouldn’t take off in a sprint to chase it, but she didn’t seem to mind.  I think she just appreciated the fact that I was no longer ignoring her when she brought me the ball.  By Day 5, Margot was completely back to her old Tasmanian Devil self, and we’ve been playing our usual games ever since.

The only time Margot ever tried to lick her stitches was the first time I took the Medical Pet Shirt off to throw it in the wash.  I immediately put a different sweater on her, hoping that it would deter from messing with the stitches, but it just wasn’t as effective.  So, while her medical shirt was in the dryer, I took Margot with me to the studio because I was supposed to meet with my new partner, Mark, and I didn’t trust her to leave her stitches alone while I was gone.  That proved to be a smart move on my part because not only was Margot distracted by exploring the studio, but Mark also took a couple of test shots of me and Margot that day, which I love! 

  

Impromptu modeling at my studio!

Cuddling Daddy in her Medical Shirt.

I actually really missed Margot when I went back to work this past Wednesday.  I spent most of my Christmas break sitting on the couch and working on my laptop, re-designing my photography website and preparing for the upcoming Bridal Expo.  While I was working, Margot would entertain herself by chewing on a toy or ripping apart her Wubba for a while (she’s still in Margot the Destroyer mode).  After she got tired, she’d curl up beside me on the couch and sleep for a few hours.  Sometimes, she’d get tired of me being on the computer and would try to climb into my lap, despite my laptop and the fact that she no longer actually fits in my lap, at which point I would usually put the computer a way and cuddle her for a while.  She was such great company, though, as always.  I really couldn’t have asked for a sweeter puppy.

Anyway, I’m taking Margot back to the Animal Care Clinic tomorrow morning to have her stitches removed, and, as I said before, I am just so pleased with how well she handled both the surgery and her recovery.  I give a LOT of credit to that wonderful little Medical Pet Shirt, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone whose pet has had or needs to have surgery.  It is a genius alternative to that awful Elizabethan collar (aka The Cone).   

Getting Spayed

Well, today is the big day.  I dropped Margot off at the vet a little after 8:00 a.m. this morning to be spayed. I know this is a routine surgery, and normally I wouldn't be so nervous, but because I know that Margot has Von Willebrand disease AND after I almost lost Lexie during her enucleation surgery because of the same disorder, I can't help but be a little anxious right now.

Cheering me up on Christmas Eve.

When I got to the office, the receptionist told me that they had cleared almost the whole afternoon for Margot's surgery.  This made me feel both comforted knowing that they are not treating her surgery as a typical, routine spaying, but it also made me a tad more anxious than I already was.  I guess knowing that Dr. Ellis is taking Margot's surgery so seriously kind of also made me realize exactly how real the possibility is that the vWD could cause complications.

I've been trying all day not to even entertain that possibility, however.  I just keep telling myself and others that I know she'll be fine, but she was supposed to go into surgery around 10:30 a.m. and it's already 12:45 p.m.....

Spent Christmas cuddling with Margot and Sam.

Whew!  No joke, just as I was typing that last paragraph, Dr. Ellis called from the Animal Care Clinic!  She said that Margot is just now waking up from anesthesia and is looking around at everyone, and she seems to be doing well.  Dr. Ellis also said that the surgery "went fine," but they "had to use three vials instead of two."  I'm not 100% certain, but I think what that means is that Margot didn't do quite as well during the surgery as they had hoped.  I know that they had to order some vials of a certain medication to have on-hand during the surgery in case Margot's blood didn't clot on its own, and from what Dr. Ellis said, it sounds like they had to use more of that medication than they had originally anticipated.  However, at least they HAD the extra vial of medication on-hand, and Margot IS currently in recovery, so I'm just not going to think about how smoothly (or not-so-smoothly) the surgery went.  What's important is that she survived it, and hopefully she will be coming home tonight.  I'm supposed to call around 4:00 p.m. to see if I'm able to bring her home.

THIS was my Christmas gift last night.  :)

19-Week Progress Report (But Who's Counting?)

I feel like I haven’t been keeping up with this blog very well lately, but I assure you I have a legitimate reason.  The last couple of weeks have been super busy with a To-Do list for my photography business a mile long.  Then, to make matters worse, last week there was a fire in the building where my studio is located, which set off the sprinkler system, but only in MY studio!  So, the firemen and building staff had to take EVERYTHING out of my studio in order to vacuum the water from the carpet and set up industrial fans for a few days to dry everything out.  Luckily, my studio lights and equipment were not destroyed, and the damage to my backdrops, props, and furniture appears to be minimal.  However, I am now left with one hellacious mess to clean up, the electrical system in my studio and hallway are messed up, and I have a wedding consultation scheduled at my studio tomorrow after I get off work!  

My disasterous photography studio

Anyway, enough about my ongoing saga of terrible luck; allow me to update you about Margot instead!  She turned 19 weeks-old yesterday, although I swore I would stop counting the weeks now that she’s past that 16-week milestone.  Haha!  I do have several things to report today, though:

Margot has unfortunately tested positive for von Willebrand disease.  For those of you who don’t know, Dobermans are prone to this blood disease, which inhibits their clotting ability.  When we found out that Margot was old enough to be spayed, I requested she have a von Willebrand Factor test performed first, because the reason why Lexie almost died during her enucleation procedure this past summer was due to the fact that the vets couldn’t stop the bleeding.   Margot’s vWD test ended up costing me $160, which was kind of a shock, but now that we know for sure that Margot has this blood disorder, I know that it was money well spent.

So, what does this mean for poor Margot?  Well, first and foremost, she’s OKAY.  Dogs with vWD lead perfectly normal lives, and their condition only becomes an issue whenever they require any type of surgery or have some type of injury with moderate to severe bleeding.  For example, Margot received her first wound when she was around 8 or 9 weeks-old, which was a small scrape to her nose that bled just enough to create a little scab.  Obviously, having vWD was not an issue in that case.  However, now that we know that Margot has this clotting disorder, before she is spayed she will need to be pre-treated with a certain drug prior to her surgery that will build up her clotting factors, and there is another medication that the Dr. Ellis will order to have on-hand during Margot’s surgery that will help stop the bleeding if it becomes an issue.   Had I not had Margot tested for von Willebrand prior to getting her spayed, we probably would have found out the hard way, and perhaps even too late, that she had this disease.  

19 weeks-old!

Unfortunately, because of this news, Justin and I have decided to postpone Margot’s spaying procedure, which was previously scheduled to take place tomorrow.   It was going to be difficult enough for us to be able to afford the surgery, and now, with the addition of also needing pre-treatment drugs and yet another type of medication to have on-hand during the procedure, I have a feeling that it will probably end up costing an extra couple hundred dollars, which we simply cannot afford right now.  Mind you, I didn’t ask Dr. Ellis how much the vWD medications will cost, but I’d be willing to bet that my guess of a couple hundred dollars is pretty accurate.   I’m a little disappointed about postponing Margot’s spaying procedure, but at least it’s not CRUCIAL that she be spayed right away.  As long as she has the procedure done within the next year, I’ll be happy, and I’m sure we’ll be able to better afford it at some point within that amount of time. 

In other news, I’m very happy to report that Margot has only had one accident in the house over the past week or so!  Not only that, but I also think she’s starting to understand the concept of telling us when she has to use the bathroom so that we can let her out.  On more than one occasion, I’ve gotten up to check on her after she’s gone into the kitchen, and I’ve found her just standing by the kitchen door waiting for me.  In the past, she would have just peed as soon as she saw that the kitchen door was shut, so this is definitely a great improvement!   She’s also had fewer accidents in her crate, although that still happens more frequently than I would like.  I tend to blame myself and Justin, though, whenever she uses the bathroom in her crate because usually it only happens if she ate/drank a little later than usual the night before and/or we forgot to let her outside before putting her to bed.   BAD pet owners!  BAD!



Margot, Lilly (airborne), and Archer



As far as developmental milestones go, I actually have a new one to report.  I have officially heard Margot’s “grown up bark” on more than one occasion, but only when she’s playing at the dog park.  She has yet to bark when she’s at home, but I’m not exactly complaining.  I’ve heard that once a Dobe discovers his/her bark, it can be a little annoying for a while.  So, as far as I’m concerned, Margot can just save all those barks for the dog park.

Speaking of the dog park, I cannot even begin to tell you what a wonderful experience it has been for Margot, me, and Justin.  Almost every day that it’s been nice outside, I’ve taken Margot to the dog park after I’ve gotten home from work, then Justin has driven straight there after he has gotten off work, and we’ve stayed until dark just watching Margot and all of the other dogs play.  It’s been so much fun getting to know all of the other dogs and their owners.  So far, Margot’s BFF’s are a couple of boy dogs named Cody and Archer, but she’s also good friends with Lilly and Miko.  Margot, Archer, Cody, and Miko are all about the same age, and it’s been so cute watching them grow so fond of each other.  I think that they’re really going to miss each other during the winter. 

Margot's First Play Date

I have so much to talk about this past weekend!  It started when Margot had a vet appointment on Saturday.  The office was packed that morning, so we ended up having to wait for about an hour.  While we were waiting, I think Margot made her first boyfriend, a little Jack Russell mix named Max.  Max’s owner and I were sitting directly across from each other in the waiting room, and Margot and Max kept meeting in the middle to sniff each other .  Margot really didn’t know what to think if Max at first because she was so much bigger than him, and he kept trying to play with her the same way she usually plays with Sam.  Once she got over the size difference, though, and started playing with him, it was neat to watch how gentle she was with this smaller dog.  Since Sam is so much bigger than her, Margot is used to full-on romping on top of Sam and playing with all her might.  With Max, however, Margot made sure not to swat him too hard whenever she’d paw at him, and she never even tried to romp on him.  Unfortunately, Max started to “fall in love” with Margot a little bit, if you catch my drift, and his owner and I decided that Margot and Max should take a little break from playtime. 



12 wks Vs. 15 wks.



As for Margot’s appointment, she weighed a whopping 28 lbs this week, and she received her last set of booster shots (the ones that make her immune to the Parvovirus).  The real news, though, is that Dr. Ellis said we could go ahead and have Margot spayed in three weeks, so we set up her appointment for October 23.  My poor puppy is going under the knife!  No, I’m actually totally okay with it.  I told Dr. Ellis during Margot’s very first check-up that I wanted to have her spayed as soon as she was old enough to do so because I didn’t want to make the same mistake with Margot as I did with Lexie. 

Lexie was around 8 years-old before she was finally spayed, but it wasn’t an elective surgery.  Lexie had developed pyometra as a result of having never been spayed (my late husband and I had considered breeding her just one time before we had her spayed, but after we finally decided we weren’t going to breed her, we just kept forgetting to have her spayed).  Lexie required life-saving, emergency surgery to remove her uterus, which ended up weighing 4 lbs. because it was full of blood and pus from the infection!  I felt like the WORST mother ever, and that day I vowed to NEVER put off spaying another dog.  Not only that, but I was later told that Lexie’s mammary cancer probably had a lot to do with the fact that she wasn’t spayed at a much earlier age.  So, YOU HEAR ME OUT THERE?!?!?  SPAY YOUR FEMALE DOGS ASAP!!!!!

Anyway, as I was saying, Margot is going to be spayed in three weeks, then, when she goes back ten days later to have her stitches removed, she’ll receive her rabies vaccination, and then that will be the end of her vaccination visits.  I guess my little girl officially isn’t a baby anymore.  :’-(



Yesterday, Justin and I decided to take Margot to Petco to buy her a new Nylabone.  She always loves going to Petco because she usually receives a lot of attention from the staff and other customers, and yesterday was no different.  The girl who checked us out gave Margot a free dog biscuit, and then after she talked to us for a little while about Dobermans and other dog-related things, she ended up giving Margot another biscuit before we left.  

As soon as we walked out of the store, Justin said, “I think you should call Brett and Courtney and see if Elsea wants to play.”  Brett and Courtney are friends of ours who own a 2-1/2 year-old, red Doberman named Elsea.  We’ve all been so anxious for Elsea and Margot to meet each other that we’ve literally been counting down the weeks until Margot was fully vaccinated and cleared to play with other dogs.  Even though Margot won’t be 16 weeks-old until Wednesday, Justin and I both decided that it was probably okay for her to go ahead and meet Elsea, as long as we didn’t take them to the park or anything.  So, I texted Brett and Courtney and set up their play date.

Meanwhile, Justin and I stopped at Walgreens so I could pick up a few things before we headed over to Brett and Courtney’s apartment.  While I was shopping, Justin walked Margot around the parking lot.  When I came out, Justin told me that Margot had just had two bouts of diarrhea.  We knew immediately that it had to have been from the free biscuits from Petco because Margot has experienced diarrhea in the past whenever she ate something other than her regular dog food and Iams puppy biscuits.  She must have a sensitive tummy.  I wasn’t too worried about it, but a few minutes after we got back in the car and started driving, Margot threw up.  Luckily, I had a sheet covering the back seat so I was able to quickly wrap up the mess, but several minutes later, she threw up again.  I felt so sorry for her!  She looked pitiful.  We considered postponing her play date, but we decided to go ahead and take her to Brett and Courtney’s and just play it by ear. 



Margot's first play date with Elsea!



Well, I’m glad we didn’t call off the play date because it ended up being so much fun!  It took Margot a good 20 minutes or so to warm up and probably shake off some of the car sickness, but after that she was perfectly fine.  Elsea kind of freaked her at first, though, because she’s so much bigger than Margot or even Sam, and Elsea kept running full-speed at Margot, causing her to hide behind me or Justin.  Like I said, though, once Margot warmed up to Elsea and realized that she wasn’t trying to hurt her, they got along really well.  They mostly just chased each other and explored the yard together, but they also had a brief wrestling match a little later on while they were lying on the porch.  Brett, Courtney, and I took pictures the WHOLE time, of course.  Haha!  What can I say?  We were some happy, proud parents watching our kids finally playing together and getting along so well. 



Brett with Elsea and Justin with Margot



As I’m sure you can imagine, Margot spent a large majority of the rest of the day napping, as she was pretty worn out from all of the excitement.  Before we left Brett and Courtney’s, though, we talked about going to the dog park together later this week, after Margot officially turns 16 weeks-old.  I would love to take Sam, too, but I may take Margot by herself the first time just to see how it goes.  Sam, believe it or not, is quite a handful to take out on her leash.  She just gets SO EXCITED that she pulls and barks constantly.  I know it’s probably just a matter of working with her in order to correct those bad behaviors, but that’s where I keep falling short because I simply dread taking her out.  (It’s that bad.)  I know that I need to, though, because it isn’t fair to leave Sam at home while Margot gets to go out for walks and play at the dog park.  So, maybe I’ll do that this evening when I get home.  In fact, maybe Justin and I will take Sam by HERSELF up to the dog park as sort of a trial run.  Yeah!  I like that idea a lot, actually.  :)

Weekend Highs and Lows

Well, we certainly had an interesting weekend.  It started on Friday, when Justin took Sam to his parents’ house to drop her off for the weekend.  I decided not to go with him because I thought it might be too difficult for me, but we received updates all weekend and she apparently really enjoyed herself.  We’ll probably be going up there tonight to pick her up and bring her home for the week.

9 wks Vs. 12 wks (The bigger she gets, the more afraid she is to be up on the counter.)

Saturday morning, we took Margot for her 12-week check-up and another round of vaccinations at the Animal Care Clinic.  The last time I was at the vet, it was when I took Jocie to find out what was wrong with her, and I was told she had advanced kidney failure and, unfortunately, I felt it was best to euthanize her.  After that visit, the receptionist told me not to worry about making a payment at that time.  She said she’d just bill me.  Therefore, I was fully expecting to pay around $200 when we checked out after Margot’s appointment on Saturday.   I also knew that Jocie’s ashes were ready to be picked up (a separate charge of $256), which Justin had generously offered to pay for me.  However, I was quite shocked when I was told that my total account balance was over $400, which did not include Jocie’s cremation and ashes!  That included x-rays, blood work, and who knows what other tests they did in order to diagnose Jocie’s kidney failure.  The only reason why I’m kind of put off about this total is simply because I wasn’t given any sort of heads up about it beforehand.  Usually, the vet will call and ask permission to do a bunch of tests like that while also giving me an estimate of how much it will cost.  I’m not saying I would have denied Jocie any of the tests she had done, I’m just saying that it sucked being blindsided with a total that was more than double what I was expecting to pay!

Thankfully, they are allowing me to make payments, but this really doesn’t help my already bleak financial situation at the moment.  To make matters worse, this weekend was my little brother’s 30^th birthday and all of our friends were planning to have dinner together, then go out to a bar afterwards.  After giving the Animal Care Clinic 2/3 of what was in my bank account that morning, I seriously questioned whether or not I would be able to go out and celebrate my brother’s birthday that night.  Justin happened to have a friend in from out of town, whom he said he could hang out with for free, and he, therefore, insisted I take the only $20 bill he had in his wallet so that I could join our friends for Zach’s birthday dinner and drinks.  The only reason I felt okay with this arrangement, though, was because Justin was already planning to make a big pot of chili to take over to Zach and Kristy’s the next day, which was Zach’s actual birthday, and spend the entire day watching football with everyone. 



So, I went out Saturday night without Justin, but by the end of the night I wasn’t so sure if it had been such a good idea, after all.  Maybe it was the pitcher of margaritas I had shared during dinner plus the few beers I had while at the bar, but I got a little teary towards the end of the night.  I just hated the fact that Justin wasn’t there due to our horrible financial situation, on top of all the other crap that has happened this past summer.  I just feel like I’m not really dealing with everything very well , and I keep trying to ignore the pain of it all by distracting myself and pretending to be happy and okay.  The downside to this strategy, of course, is the fact that my repressed pain and depression is finding the most inopportune times to rear it’s ugly head and create embarrassing social situations for myself (i.e. while sitting at my desk at work, while eating out at a restaurant, while hanging out with friends, etc.). 



Margot watching football with Justin.  (So cute!)



Anyway, Sunday was a little bit better.  Justin made his fabulous veggie chili, I made a batch of buffalo cheese dip, and we took Margot over to Zach and Kristy’s place for a day of watching football.  I’m not the world’s biggest football fan, mind you, but I enjoyed spending the day with friends and eating TONS of yummy food.  It was definitely a prime socializing experience for Margot, too, as she played her little heart out with all of our friends.  The boys, especially, loved rough-housing with her.  By the end of the night, she was completely WIPED OUT!  In fact, she was so zonked that she barely woke up when I scooped her up in my arms and carried her home. 

All in all, I think Justin and I did a decent job of making the most out of this past weekend.  I know that Margot had a fantastic time, and hopefully Sam enjoyed her puppy-free weekend relaxing over at Justin’s parents’ house.  I can’t wait to pick her up tonight and bring her home!  I missed my Samul cuddles. 

Sam just being Sam

Preparing for Jocie's Diagnosis and Vacation Tomorrow (Fantastic Timing)

Waiting for the vet to open this morning.

I just dropped Jocie and Margot off at the vet, and then dropped off my car at the garage for a state inspection and oil change before we leave for Emerald Isle tomorrow morning.  I wish I could say I was more excited for our vacation, but this Jocie situation is completely stressing me out. 

Sometimes I look at her and think, “This is it…” and other times I look at her and think, “She doesn’t seem that bad…”  Yesterday afternoon, after coming home for lunch and finding that Jocie hadn’t eaten any of the food I had left her and it looked as though she may have even vomited at some point, I gave Zach and Kristy the heads up that “Jocie doesn’t look good.”  Justin even asked me if I was “prepared for what the vet might tell me tomorrow.”  I still felt less than hopeful after I got home from work and couldn’t get Jocie to eat a peanut butter sandwich.  However, when Justin got home about an hour later, he managed to get her to eat the sandwich by breaking it up into little pieces, and her mood even seemed a little better.  This morning when I asked Jocie if she wanted to go for a ride, she actually got excited and practically ran and jumped into the back seat of the car! 

So, I don’t really know what to think about Jocie’s current condition.  All I know is that she’s not eating, she’s vomiting occasionally, she’s using the bathroom in the house occasionally, she’s more lethargic than usual, there’s a growth/sty on her left eyelid, green mucous has started forming in her eye, and her eye appeared to be swollen yesterday.  The good news is that she is still drinking plenty of water, she moves around just fine, and she still gets excited at the prospect of taking a walk or going for a ride.  Needless to say, I’m extremely anxious for Dr. Ellis to call me after she’s examined Jocie.  (I forgot to mention that the reason I dropped Margot off at the vet this morning, too, is because she needs to be weighed and given a de-worming treatment.) 

We will be taking the girls over to Justin’s parents tonight and dropping them off for the week since we plan to leave for the beach super early tomorrow morning.  I am going to miss them so much, especially little Miss Margot.  I know it’s silly, but I just don’t want her to be scared and wonder where her Mommy and Daddy went.  I also hate to think about how much she’ll have grown by the time we get back.  Again, I know these things seem a little silly considering we’re only going to be gone for a week, but as you have read in Margot’s weekly progress reports on this blog, a LOT seems to happen with her from week to week.  I just don’t want to miss anything.      :(

Anyway, I’ll post an update as soon as Dr. Ellis calls, which I’m hoping will be before noon.  Is it weird that I’m hoping Jocie has diabetes???  (I mean, as opposed to other, more life-threatening illnesses, of course.)

A Fun Evening with the "Aunties"

I have forgotten to mention in previous posts that, at Margot’s last check-up, Dr. Ellis informed us that she should not be playing with other dogs or going for walks until she is fully vaccinated, because the Parvo virus can live in the ground for up to a year.  Therefore, it’s just prudent not to expose young puppies to too many unfamiliar environments or other dogs until they’ve received all of their shots.  The sad thing is that Margot won’t be fully vaccinated until she’s 16 weeks-old, which is still six weeks away!  So, we haven’t been taking her for walks around the neighborhood like we had been, which I have suspected is part of the reason why she’s been so crazy this week.

Last night, I decided to take Margot over to my friend, Susie’s, house to play because I know for sure that Susie’s house and yard are Parvo-free (Margot has already been over to her house once before and never got sick).  I don’t know what it is about Susie’s back yard, but Margot just LOVES to romp and play back there!  She especially loves to jump in and out of the thick, grassy plants that line Susie’s gravel walkway.   I also knew that Margot and Susie’s cat, Pete, seemed to get along pretty well during our last visit, so I was hoping that Margot would actually have a little playmate for the evening.   In addition, I thought Sam and Jocie might appreciate having a few puppy-free hours at the house.

Margot and Susie played in the back yard for a while, then Mandee and Kristy came over, and we all ordered pizza.  As we ate our pizza outside on the deck, Margot continued to play and explore on her own for a while.  I loved watching her have so much fun.  She especially seemed interested in sitting in Mandee’s lap, which I thought was adorable.  She could probably smell Mandee’s St. Bernard, Atticus, on her dress, although Mandee does adore Margot and showers her with attention, so I’m not surprised at all that Margot likes her so much.

After a couple of hours outside, we decided to go inside to watch a movie.  I crossed my fingers that Margot and Pete would get along as well as they did last time, and to my pleasant surprise, they actually ended up playing the whole time we watched the movie.  Well…by “playing” I mean that they would take turns stalking and chasing each other from room to room, but that’s pretty much how one would expect a cat and a dog to play together.  At first, I was a little worried that Margot might have just been bothering Pete, but on a couple of occasions Margot took a break from Pete in order to join us girls on the couch, and within minutes Pete would come creeping around the side of the couch to see where Margot had gone.  So, it seemed like Pete was enjoying their little game of “Stalk and Chase,” but then again, I’ve never been an expert on cats. 

Her first battle scar.

Margot had only one little mishap while we were at Susie’s.  Mandee took Margot outside after she noticed that Margot had started sniffing around inside the house.  Once Margot was outside again, she got so excited that she tried to run down the stairs and into the back yard, but she clumsily tumbled down a couple steps and fell head-first into the bricks that line the gravel walkway.  Mandee said that Margot immediately got up, shook it off, and continued playing, but now Margot has a little spot on her nose where the brick actually scraped off a bit of fur.  I hate that her tumble left a mark, but at the same time I actually think it’s kind of cute.  After all, what kid doesn’t have at least one cut or scrape on their little body?  Besides, Margot thankfully wasn’t hurt, and I’m sure the fur will grow back eventually.

As for Jocie, I’m starting to believe that the majority of her problem is just Margot.  She tolerated her for the first couple of weeks, but I wonder if all of a sudden the realization just sunk in that “this puppy isn’t just here for a visit, she’s here to stay?”   The reason why I think a large part of Jocie’s problem has to do with Margot is because she almost refuses to be anywhere near the puppy right now.  She stayed upstairs all day and night yesterday.  She even peed in our bedroom because she refused to come downstairs.  Thankfully, Jocie is still eating and drinking, although she still isn’t eating anywhere near as much as she used to. 

This morning, after I let Margot and Sam out and Sam went back upstairs, I heard Jocie come down to the first landing in the stairway.  I encouraged her to come down, but she just stood there looking at me and Margot through the railing.  She must have really had to use the bathroom, though, because after a while she went down another couple of steps.  Once again, though, she just stood there staring while I coaxed her to come down.  Finally, I decided to pick up Margot off the floor, and as soon as I did, Jocie came all the way downstairs and went outside to use the bathroom.  It was like she was being hesitant about coming downstairs because she was dreading having Margot “attack” her as soon as she got to the bottom. 

So, while Jocie was outside, I shut the back door to the kitchen and took Margot upstairs to hang out in the bathroom with me while I got ready.   After I was ready for work and put Margot back in her crate, I went out into the bar to check on Jocie (our kitchen door leads into the bar, which has a sliding glass door that leads out onto the back deck).  Sure enough, I found Jocie lying behind the bar.  I decided to let her spend the day out there today, so I got her food and water bowls and put them behind the bar with her.  As I sat there petting her for a few minutes, I noticed that her left eye looks a bit swollen today.  So, after talking with Justin, I’ve decided to call the vet today and see if I can just drop Jocie off in the morning to be examined.  Again, I kind of doubt Jocie’s eye problem is related to her strange behavior and decreased appetite lately, but I’m anxious to hear Dr. Ellis’ opinion tomorrow.  I just hope that none of this is serious.