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24 September 2007

Plague, Dogs, Fall

Monday. There's nothing like it, huh? I'm one of those freaks who actually likes Monday. I like the end to the weekend. It probably has something to do with school and how you got to go back and hang out with friends.

We did nothing this weekend, since Sully mysteriously woke with a fever and was sort of icky the whole time. Never did figure out what he had, since his tummy, head, eyes, butt, legs, ears, didn't hurt. He did briefly mention a sore throat, but then it was all better. Oh and all of Saturday his knee hurt. Hasn't been eating much either. At dinner he'll ask for three different things, none of which he'll eat. Today he had about 8 bites of pasta stars, 3 bites of a hot dog, one bite of a fig newton, half a cup of chocolate milk... poor kiddo.

Sunday I had what I think might have been a "real" contraction. Unlike all the others (which are more than likely just braxton-hicks), this one came with a lower back pain that pulsed with the contraction and went away with it. And the contraction itself felt different. It wasn't painful, but I was more aware of it than I have been of others. Since then I'll get one of those every once in awhile, but not often enough for me to worry about it. I am annoyed that it might be something I should talk to the midwife about, but I don't want to be threatened with more "drastic" measures. Drugs (that would have to be taken every 6 hours, and I'd be lucky if I took one at the right time each day), pelvic rest, possible monitoring. Ugh. I denied drugs last time. I know my body, and if something was wrong, I'd know and get help.

Our new neighbors, the ones we met after the dog fight, came out and chatted with us for a bit yesterday. She told me that they called the cops too, because her husband did in fact get bit. Apparently the dog is now gone. Thank goodness. And I think the other 2 that they had are gone too, because I haven't seen either in awhile. I'm glad. I was pretty concerned about the male, since I knew if he ever got out while another dog was out, there would be a bad situation. And on a more positive note, our new neighbors have the cutest puppy EVER. It's a pug-a-poo, pug/poodle mix. It looks like a walking dust bunny. And it's totally giving me puppy fever. Caayn keeps saying no (he has to be the rock in this situation, we've learned this the hard way). It doesn't help that the last two pups we've gotten, no 3, have had a bad time.

First was Maya, a lab/chow mix. Cutest gal ever. She got parvo, a bad strain, and died. (Achilles got it from her.) Then we got Arwen, a german short-hair pointer/australian shepherd mix. DAMN good dog. She was gorgeous, intelligent, good with both our dogs, good with Sully... Well, a few weeks later, we found a store with greyhound pups. We got one. (Let me say, for the record, Caayn totally picked her out--I would have chosen this cute little male.) That was Abby, also known as the devil dog. We decided that maybe Arwen would go to a new home. It killed me, because she was really good for our family. The day after we sold Arwen, she got a nasty case of Parvo. Possibly from our house, but Abby never got it, so we aren't sure. She did survive. Abby we kept for a year or so, before she really just had to go. She had so many UTIs we had to get her fixed early, and because of that, she never really learned how to be potty-trained. She was starting to show a lot of aggression, especially to me (nipping, pretending she'd bite)... We gave her away to 2 different homes, one who kept her for a couple of months before bringing her back. We took her to the pound, which was one of the worst things I've ever done. YUCK. I still feel guilty about that. But there was no way we could take having her in our house for who knows how long trying to find another owner.

All of that boils down to NO MORE PUPPIES. I'm not allowed to buy any more, because we've had such a bad run of luck. I still miss Arwen, because she was just so darn perfect. She would have been the right size so that she could rough house with Achilles, and Artemis. Tem is too small to play with Achilles, and I think she misses playing with someone her size. (Our very first dog was a Jack Russell Terrier, so she was used to playing with her...) But at the same time, I think about how much it would have killed me to do the parvo again. When Achilles was at the hospital, it was the worst week of my life. I cried every day. I called the vets so often they knew who I was. I'm not sure I could have done that again with Arwen, watching her waste away, smelling that awful stink... too hard. She's in a good place though, so I know she is okay.

I'm totally torn though. We had agreed that if we did get a dog, it'd be from the humane society. But at the same time, the only breeds of dog we're interested in probably won't be found there. We'd really really like to get a whippet, but we've never seen them sold. It'd be a situation where we'd have to go out of state and find a solid breeder. Or another greyhound, but we've also agreed there that we'll only adopt. There aren't any rescue orgs in North Dakota, closest is St. Paul, I think... but I dunno. I keep telling Caayn that I am so ready to move to an area with a rescue. I really want a chance to volunteer there, and maybe even foster. It's something of a dream of mine. :)

Hmm. Can you tell I have dogs on the brain? Caayn thinks I must be having the baby soon, since last time I also wanted a puppy before Sully was born. Heck, we bought Achilles when I was pregnant; he was 1 week older than Sully's gestational age, lol.

Trees are all turning yellow. I love seeing people's yards with leaves in them. Brings back all kinds of fall related memories. And I love the smell in the air as the trees change and drop. It's like cookies and pumpkin pie and spices. Yay for autumn!

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