Marley is doing excellent

save for the 'accident' in my computer room earlier today (it probably still smells like cats- this is the room they were in for 3 months) (keep in mind this is her third accident in this room, out of four total). and then there was the accident in our bathroom that I found when I got home from work.

I wondered why she didn't have to go when I got home (she was only alone for 4 hours) and found it where I least expected it. Not surprising it's in the place where we go, I guess, but still.

It's kind of frustrating that she pees in my little sanctuary whenever she gets the chance... But at the same time, I don't blame her, and other than stern "Bad girl" type talking, I don't really punish her. (Not sure any other way. Besides physical, which I can't and WON'T do.)

About a week ago, Marley started getting sick, and she vomited twice after coming in from having a large bowel movement. We called the vet to see if they had any suggestions, and after giving a few more details, they said to bring her in right away. The vet checked for abdominal sensitivity, and tightness, and a million other things, and was impressed at what all we had done for her since we'd gotten her. He determined that she just had an upset stomach, and gave us a syringe (not needle) with which we were to give her Pepto Bismol. A few times.

For the record: She doesn't like it.

Anyhoo, the third and final dose we were told to give her, she vomitted right back up, and then within about ten minutes, she vomitted another two times. (Once, very abruptly on my blanket, and then she jumped off the bed in time to go again on the carpet.) This was at about 2 in the morning, and I had to work at 11, but started to get really upset. I was worried, and didn't know if I should call the vet's emergency number (especially since they would charge us a lot more for an emergency than the regular exam (which was about $55. Is that a reasonable amount?) and we were running a little low on extra funds.)

We figured that we would wait until the morning, try giving her some baby food (vet's recommendation for after a bout of stomach upset - start her on bland meat flavored baby food that contains no onions. Onion powder is fine, but onions are apparently toxic to dogs.)

She ate the 3 Tbsps of baby food I gave her, and so an hour later, I gave her another 2 Tbsps, which she readily gobbled and looked at me expectantly. I waited another hour to give her a little more, and went and had a shower. When I was just about ready for work, I stepped in yet another little pile of, you guessed it, doggie vomit. This one was obviously the last bit of baby food I gave her (I had three different kinds, and they were pretty distinguishable). I changed my sock cleaned it up, consoled her a bit, and went to work.

She has been fine since.

Yesterday, we brought her down to the vet for the free checkup that came with the adoption (the vet honored it) and we asked the vet just shy of a million questions.

Not only was the vet still inquiring about how she did after the last time he saw her, (they called a couple of days after the first visit, too!) but he answered each of our questions very thoroughly, and even complimented us on asking the right questions, and said that Marley is in a good home. (I wasn't in the room for that part, halfway through the visit I was overcome with nausea and had to leave. I was fine, but after he showed us one thing: the draining of the @n@l * sacs (this website's blog entry describes it pretty clearly for those who seriously want to know), I started to feel a little ill. Which was weird, because I've never become sick to my stomach from a sight or smell, and it wasn't really that bad.

The vet reassured me that it is a fairly frequent reaction. **

*I'm hoping using the @ symbol will stop any extra traffic that might be looking for something else.

Yeah, so the visit went overall very well, and we learned an awful lot (like Chris can take her for that part of the visit from now on, or if he so chooses, can do it here... blech) and the best part is that it was free.

The only thing that might eventually become a concern is a lump centered right between the corners of her jaw on the bottom of her chin, which right now the vet is not concerned about, but mentioned to keep an eye on it, and if it gets bigger then we will get it checked.

There is only one thing that is already a concern, and that is her teeth. She will need to be knocked out to get them cleaned, and the vet already knows that a few of them will have to be extracted (poor puppy). She's got black cavities on a few different teeth, and he cleared some pus from a part of her gum, so he figures the sooner the better, but that it's not yet urgent.

Until she gets it done, we have been soaking her food in water. She won't eat it when it is hard unless she absolutely has to (practically starving) and I think that's why she seemed so underweight when we got her. (She gained at least a pound!).

She will pick up a piece of hard food, taste it, do a test crunch (lightly) and spit it out. We end up with more food on the towel her dishes are on than in the dish, and she rarely eats any of it. So, to make it easier on her overall health, we figure softening it is the way to go. She readily eats way more food than I thought she would when it is softened, and until she starts to get pudgy (she gets a fair amount of exercise), we aren't going to limit her food intake. (We only put down so much, softened, and then if she doesn't eat it within an hour or so, we throw it out (don't want it to go bad then eat it. We think that may have been what happened before, in combination with a lot of stress from the day before.)

So. Yeah.

Marley's good. I'm good. **No, I am not preggers.

Chris is good, too.

I'm cold right now, but other than that...

yeah.

Will post a few more pictures soon. Have a cute one of her in her jacket that she only wore once, and shakes quite violently if we try to put it on her again.

:) Will post more soon... need to go get socks on, and a sweater... make some tea... curl up on the couch... maybe clean the house....

:) Blaine

We got a dog!

Chris and I have been talking/thinking about it for quite awhile now, and I have been looking at the various websites of the different SPCA/Humane Society/Shelter/Pound/Whatever's that I could find.

Well, out of all of the shelters in Alberta, there were 3 possible dogs we could adopt, all in the same 'society'. S.H.A.R.E.S. (Safe Haven Animal Rescue Edmonton Society) is the one we found Marley, Lexus and Mason at. Both Lexus and Mason were cocker spaniel crosses, female spayed and male unaltered, respectively.

Marley, however, was a female poodle crossed with what they thought might be bichon frise. (Once I saw her... holy shamoly, definitely bichon frise). The website had no pictures of Marley, as she is camera shy (still is).

But Chris had an appointment in Edmonton this afternoon, so I went along, and we made arrrangements to meet Marley and Lexus. (Lexus had another potential adopter coming already, so they said that she might not even be an option. I was more interested in Marley anyway.)

Long story short, we now have her here at home. :)

Some of the bad to go with the good: her hair was very badly matted when we met her, and her tail was sort of matted to her body. She was therefore very lumpy, and we weren't sure if we were hurting her when we were carrying her... I spent some time trimming the mats, well, most of them, and now she is much healthier looking! We also gave her a quick bath, and hopefully the conditioner we used will help with what we hope/think was just dry skin!

She is white ish... and surprisingly looks kind of like Pookie did. At times. When she is laying down she looks like Pookie, when she's standing, she looks like a bigger, white version of Ember. Sort of.

I will post pictures soon!

She weighs (guesstimate) about 7 lbs. She's very light. And so far, is a picky eater.

She is about 7 years old, or at least that's the guess from the people at SHARES. She is very well behaved, rarely barks or whines, is excellent on a leash, and they suspect she has been spayed, but they aren't sure. They didn't have any background information on her, but she is up to date with her parvo virus vaccination, and we have a 'coupon' for a free vet exam within 14 days of adoption. If the vet says that she isn't spayed, SHARES will pay for her to be.

She is still getting used to us, and I can only imagine what thoughts are in her head as we are trying to pet her and get her used to us.

(She has so far been freaked out by the dishwasher draining water, the furnace several times (it's loud), and ?the house settling?... she barked for no real reason...)

She is very shy, but I think that will go away with time.

But I have to work tomorrow morning, and will be home after 5 p.m.

To play with our new doggy!

Yay!

An Inconvenient Truth

 
An Inconvenient Truth.

It's a good movie.
 
I just watched it. And it kind of scared me. To think about what the world might be like (or worse) by the time I am forty, let alone, seventy years old... It kind of makes me sick.
 
This movie shows the real data about Global Warning. I know that here in Canada, it's not quite as bad as some other (more to the south) countries, one in particular is absolutely horrible, but I still think that everybody should be doing absolutely everything they can to reduce the problems.
 
The website is www.climatecrisis.net and has a TON of information about how you can do your part.
 
I wish this movie had been made 20 years ago. I wish Al Gore had gotten Florida instead of Bush. I wish a lot of things, and today, they are changing. My mind is changed. I've been a recycler for some time, and other than because my parent's did it and it was a learned habit, I never really knew why. I have 'suffered' through ridicule when I told people I recycle. I have been laughed at when I take cans out of the garbage. I have not cared each and evey time, and never really wondered why. It was always just who I was, and if people didn't like that, then they could leave. 
 
I am trying to think of things to do, more things to do, to help out. I want to compost rather than fill garbage dumps (apparently composting is not really recommended around Hinton, as it attracts animals... like bears and cougars, which are already a problem.). I want to share these thoughts with as many people as I possibly can, and encourage as many people I know to watch this movie. Not just because I care about the issue, but because I care about you, our futures.
 
So please rent this movie the next time you go to the movie store. Or borrow it from a friend. Or download it, I don't care. Just watch it. It won't be time wasted, and it might save our lives, our kids' lives. (especially those not yet born, or even conceived!)  

And Just so you know, I love you!
 
:) Big Hugs
 
Blaine

 
 
 

Happy New Year

Hope it's shiny and wrapped in plastic, with the new car smell!

Or something.

:)

So... christmas was definitely rushed for us. After a long drive, we got to Mom and Dad's much earlier than they'd expected, and we ended up being so tired that we had to have a nap that night...

Christmas morning was good, lots of smiles, we played games later on, and Chris, Joy, Mat and I made fools of ourselves playing "Don't be a dork"... It's an interesting game in case you want to know, but I don't think I'd play it again.

(By some freaking miracle, I won the game we were playing, so I won't feel the need to accomplish that.)

Hmmm... my thoughts were totally derialed by a train, so gonna go...
:)