Living Maintenance - Maintainers Weekly Chat Feb 14 - Feb 20, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! May you joyously celebrate it or joyously ignore it.

Here's hoping that this is the week for Carter to return to being a full time dog. I visited friends one evening this past week; their Black Lab got excited about something going on so they just opened the door of her cage, she walked in, latched, she lay calmly, the exciting thing passed, door opened, a calm dog emerged. I was impressed that I'd just read about such behavior here.

It was a weekend of de-cluttering for me. Some 9 boxes are at the front door for me to get to the steps to be picked up by a charity this morning. It continues to amaze me how much pain and joy is felt by digging through boxes untouched for decades.

More decluttering, Bill? Really, when are you going to get bored with your house and get started on mine?

Because I have the attention span of a flea, I can't remember how we wound up last week's chat, so I won't try to respond to everyone. I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday. Mine is workout + meetings + work (notice how those two are separated) + The Boy's school party + skiing + leftovers at home. No fancy-pants V-day meals for us: we leave Friday, so its Clean-Out-The-Fridge week.

Scale read in the 140s today. I know it will bounce around over the next few days, and rounding takes me to 141. But the goal of 140 is in sight, and better still near enough to provide that little bit of extra willpower to pass up on the V-day treats. I've never much liked conversation hearts, anyway.

//b. strong

Good morning! Thank you for starting the thread, Bill.

I've just had a blood orange and some cottage cheese for my morning snack. Very nice.

Let's hope it's a healthy week all round. Good vibes beaming to Carter across the Atlantic. :)

Hey, I thought Bill was coming to my house for decluttering! :p I have about 2-3 years to get all of our stuff sorted before we move across the country (if all goes according to plan :dizzy:).

Vday is not celebrated in our household (due to birthday 2 days before) but I give DH a card and a small box of chocs (which he shares most times).

I am at that "fluffy body" point in winter. I bought a lot of salad stuff on the weekend and am determined to get below my red line for my actual birthday.

Great Monday all! We are expecting rain and gusting winds today so I'm gritting my teeth. Better than snow tho'! (no room left on the front lawn for more).

Dagmar :rain:

Good morning guys. The snow and ice is finally starting to melt away here which is nice. It's a lot easier to handle getting the dog outside in the middle of the night at 35 degrees than it was at 13 degrees.

I'm waiting for the surgeon to call me back right now so we can discuss Carter's progress. I'm hoping he can give us some insight into what is going on with his bladder and whether there is anything else we should be trying to do. Even though I know he's capable of getting up, Carter seems hesitant to do it today and last night. I know he needs his rest so maybe it's no big deal. He did wag his tail a little when I came to pet him this morning which was nice to see.

DH is going in to the office today so I'm alone working from home with the dog. I'm probably not going to bother putting him in the play pen since at least right now he doesn't seem to have any inclination to try to move around much so it doesn't really make much difference. With the diaper on I don't have to keep him on top of pee pads so that's okay too.

Good morning one and all, and hoping Carter regains some strength while resting up. I want to take the tail-wagging as a good sign.

I wonder how many people will blow off my circuit training class in the gym this evening? Also, I'm curious about whether my evening commute will be easier. This is generally not a night to ask people to stay late to work on a project.

I've committed to bright red lipstick today. Very annoying, because it has to be reapplied periodically & it looks badly when smudged. (This may actually keep me from drinking enough water today.) But it looks so good with the red cashmere, it was a natural choice.

Anyone been to Charleston recently? I'm traveling down there in a few weeks for a family wedding & plan to stay on a few days. My chief interests are historical & architectural, antiques, art museums, birding, hiking in national parks, and maybe a bit of shopping. I like good food but preferably extremely healthy. If anyone has any recommendations to pass along, please do.

Good morning and Happy Valentine's Day to all.

I felt quite drained yesterday after having a most wonderful Saturday. I'm afraid I'm coming down with a cold. I relaxed a lot yesterday and took a nice nap (which normally interferes with nighttime sleeping but didn't this time). I still feel rotten today which makes me think I do have a cold or something. I blame my FIL who was sick with a cold last week (rather than blaming my son who had a cold three weeks back).

I made chicken ala king for dinner last night and it didn't turn out right. The sauce was way too thin and runny. I was disappointed because this was something I've wanted for a long time.

Hope Carter continues to get better, Jessica! Buddy had a bout of diarrhea last night and DH had to clean up the garage. This morning he seems better but obviously had some sort of problem in the garage again (not poop, though). When he came back in he had a big black smear on his face. I think he must have fallen into one of the cars' wheels.

saef~I refuse to wear lipstick! Just a little gloss or chapstick is the way I roll!

Well, time for a banana and then I'm off to work.

Allison, LOL, I misread that last sentence as "Well, time for a bandana and then I'm off to work" and I was wondering why you needed a bandana for work! :lol:

Saef, I have never been to Charleston but it sounds like a nice place.

I spoke with the surgeon this morning. We are going to make some changes to Carter's medication and see if that helps. On Wednesday when we go in to see him they may do an ultrasound of his bladder to see if there is an obstruction if the medication changes don't do the trick. At the moment he is conked out on his doggie bed dreaming, and even twitching his back feet.

Darn! I'm so far down the line for Bill to come to my house. Wish I'd gotten in line sooner. Do I get to jump the queue if I tell you my Dad's name was Bill?:devil:
I keep having grand ideas about cleaning and decluttering, but alas, I find a million other things to do instead.

Allison-- hope you don't get sick. I'm also wondering if I'm fighting something. Totally exhausted and I have a headache. I have a sore in my mouth that keeps disappearing and reappearing every few days for about the past month. Thinking it might be time to check with the doctor about it. I hate it when I cook and it doesn't turn out well.

Saef-- I'm also curious about the gym tonight. I'm planning on my 7:30 pm bootcamp and I suspect I will have plenty of room for my equipment!

Jessica-- very good sign that Carter is wagging his tail. Hope the surgeon can give you some positive news or advice.

Dagmar-- rain has started here as well. We had beautiful weather for a week but it is due to be cold (for us), rainy and blustery for a couple of weeks now. Yuck!

Good morning Silverbirch. Yummy sounding snack. I just recently started snacking again on cottage cheese (sometimes with grapes). Another of those foods that I'm hot and cold on.

kaw-- I will keep strong with you today against any Vday treats. Working in a school, I expect to find little chocolates and goodies making their way to my desk today. The break room is a whole other story!

No special Valentine's Day for me. My dh is in London on business. Just a regular Monday here except the kids at school will be all hopped up on sugar from Valentine's parties!:dizzy:

I understand tha Bill is organizing a North American decluttering tour. When do you think you will make it to California ? I will try and hold on until you get here.

I checked the CVS circular this morning and found myself thinking, "Ooh, Digourno pizza, $5! Yum!" Right, never a good start to the week. I'm just tired I think. I will eat my healthy lunch and snacks, and stay away from the candy jar. BF is coming home tonight, but we don't usually do much for Valentine's either. He stayed w his DS and said her whole household is sick, and now he doesn't feel great either. Snot and congestion, very romantic.

Yesterday I went with friends to see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". Very funny show! Besides walking Emma/taking her to the beach and other exercise, I spent most of my weekend trying to pull a cast together for my directorial debut, and making a lot of phone calls. I've nearly got it, rehearsals start Wednesday night. I'm both nervous and excited. And tired already! After this I'm going to take a little break from the group...

Who needs to declutter? I cleared off my dining room table last night so that I could actually see the table and maybe even eat on it. That's good enough for me! Jk, actually, Bill, I'd appreciate it if you fit me in somewhere. I live in Florida and it's winter where you are - does that boost my spot in line? :devil:

Bill will probably never speak to us again since we've volunteered him for all this work!

Alison, sorry the chicken didn't turn out right. I've never made ala king but don't give up. Maybe try a different recipe and see if it works better for you, or could you add some cornstarch or arrowroot to the sauce to thicken it or something like that? Cooking failures are disappointing. I hope you're not coming down with something.

Saef, sometimes we must make sacrifices for beauty! If Shane was still around I'm sure she'd tell you the same thing.

Jessica, I'm glad Carter is wagging his tail and it sounds like he's whining less. I'm sending more positive vibes your (his) way!

Have a good Monday all.
Megan

So, I get into work this morning and from the time it took for DH to drive to work from home, he seems to have come down with a cold and he sounds horrible. He said he is amazed at how fast it hit him. Mine seems to be a much slower moving thing. I still feel rotten, but no more worse than yesterday. Other than really itchy eyes right now, I'm doing ok. But I really don't want to be sick. We have a party Friday night and we were planning on golf Saturday and Monday.

Since the state budget cuts here, my DS's school district had to cut a few days. So DS gets a 5 day weekend this weekend! 5 days!!! Wish I could do the same. I really need a day to get all my tax stuff ready for our CPA. I probably should have brought in the stack of papers to the office and work on it here. It's going to be a really slow day...

We're expecting rain this week which isn't going to be any fun with golf. At the car show we went to on Saturday, it was hot and sunny and I got a sunburn. And now it may rain and get cold. Weather sure is weird.

You know how it can be when you're in a group of people (usually family) and someone calls you by the wrong name? Last night we were cleaning up from dinner and suddenly my DH says "Adrienne" (my sister) and I said, "No, I'm Allison" thinking he was having a sudden lapse in memory. Turns out it was my sister calling on the phone and since we switched to cable phone, her name comes up on the screen for caller ID. It was pretty humorous once I figured out what was going on!

I'm going to be one of those skipping the gym tonight - I'm making a special dinner for the BF and I and it will take some time (beef wellington... mmmm).

Jessica, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Carter to improve quickly. Sounds hopeful, just slow.

I sure need to declutter too. I hate getting rid of things but sooner or later I have to face the fact that some things just need to go.

Saef, my brother lives in Charleston but I haven't been there in several years now. He works at an Italian restaurant called La Tabella, but I don't imagine it's too healthy! There are some neat walking tours of downtown that would hit on your interests for architecture and history.

I went to Charleston for a work conference several years ago. I had one afternoon off where I went to the aquarium, walked along the waterfront, and I ate at a restaurant called Poogan's porch. The restaurant was very good but I don't recall it being particularly healthy. The waterfront downtown might be what you're looking for, Saef. There is a huge sidewalk that runs by the water, and just happens to go right by the historic district - exercise and history, architecture all in one. Walking through the Charleston city market is nice, too, though it's got lots of restaurants and sweet shops that aren't low-cal. Charleston is known for its pralines. But there are art places, jewelry, all that kind of stuff too.

Anyone else checking in several times a day just looking for Carter updates? Hope he's had a good day Jessica.

Thanks Michele, Carter was okay today. He slept a lot and did a lot of twitchy dreaming. I haven't really been able to express his bladder at all though (got a little bit around 2:30pm but that's all) so hopefully when DH gets home he can get some more pee out of that dog. At one point I took him outside and he must have seen or smelled a bunny or something, because he tried to take off running. He got away from me and did this goofy stumbling run around the yard before I caught up with him!

Sigh. This is such an emotional rollercoaster. It is so frustrating that Carter seems to be making big improvements in his leg function, and he seems to be in pretty good spirits, but his bladder is either stalled out or getting worse. He has been soaking his diapers all day but we haven't been able to get him to pee more than 15 seconds since 6 this morning. He's acting up even more when we try to express him -- yelping, thrashing, and snapping at our hands. Wednesday's appointment with the surgeon can't come soon enough. To top it off I caught him starting to try to pull off his diaper this afternoon even though he had been leaving them alone up until now (I sprayed it with bitter tasting spray so hopefully that will keep him away from it).

Jessica,
I know you are seeing the surgeon soon, but have they explained WHY he is having such bladder difficulties? I just don't remember that happening when I was a vet tech. It's been awhile but I saw tons of dogs post surgery and I don't remember them having the issues you describe Carter having. It seems quite unusual.

Jessica is your yard fenced? Why not leave Carter out there alone for a few minutes (maybe watch through the window) so that he can pee in private. It sounds like he's picking up on your and DH's frustration with the peeing and this might be making him nervous :o about doing it.

And taking the diaper off would be likely as dogs don't like :o to be in their own urine or excrement.

The twitchy dreaming and bunny stumble chasing sound excellent in terms of his nervous functions coming back.

Speaking of stumbling I kinda fell on my head :p this morning! I got out of my car for the first dog walk, walked around the back end of the car, slipped and hit my head on the bumper on the way to landing on my butt on the concrete sidewalk. Those plastic bumpers that give way are a great idea! I had a bit of a headache for about 5 minutes and then everything was fine. Whew! :dizzy:

Now if I could only do something about my dark purple fingertip (a fall in my dad's driveway while carrying groceries).

I'm ready for winter to be over! I'M READY!!! :tantrum:

Dagmar aka the Big Bruise

Carter, pee. Pee in the yard. Just pee it all out, dude. Good boy. Pee real hard, so we all know you're healthy & on the mend.

(Do dogs have prostate glands & prostate issues? Cause I feel like I've head of older gentlemen with something like Carter's complaint.)

Thanks, all, for the tidbits on Charleston. I'm dreaming of a few days away in a beautiful old Southern city. I need it. I do. It's not the weather. I've had happier Februarys in the past. It's that I'm feeling as if I'm so deeply in a well-worn rut, it's nice to look up outside of it. I have something to look forward to, something new & stimulating to Google while procrastinating on work assignments.

saef - I haven't been to Charleston but I did see Gone With the Wind. Do remember to bring your hoop skirt and crinolines so you won't look out of place. A parasol and bonnet would also be appropriate, LOL.

Michele, part of the problem is that the vets don't know what's wrong. Based on his neurological function in his hind legs he should be able to pee like a champ right now and they don't know why he can't. If he doesn't make an improvement by the time of his appointment tomorrow they're going to do an ultrasound of his bladder to see if he has some kind of blockage like a big blood clot or something. Of course that's kind of a double-edged sword because if they find a blockage, the treatment is likely to do surgery on his bladder. :-/

Dagmar, yes, the yard is fenced, but our instructions from the surgeon to help Carter's recovery were to not leave him unattended unless he is confined to a 6x6 area, and to always take him outside on a leash. I think they want to avoid the stumbling running around because he could hurt himself really easy falling (or catching the staples in his incision on a shrub or what have you) and he is dragging his knuckles on one side and could scrape up his foot. I guess we could put his playpen outside and leave him in it for a little while though, that might be a possibility. Another thing to try might be taking him for a "walk" on the sidewalk in front of the house.

The good news is that last night a few times he got up and turned around on his bed to get more comfortable, which he wasn't doing before. Also his diaper only had a couple drips on it this morning (after we expressed him around 2am). So maybe cutting off the phenoxybenzamine is helping with the dripping, although potentially making it harder for us to express him. Since last night we've only been able to express him lying on his side on a pee pad, not standing up outside. On the other hand since we cut back the prednisone he's drinking much less water so maybe he just doesn't have to go as much? He didn't poop yesterday either but the vets did say that the chicken and rice diet doesn't produce as much poop as kibble does.

In any case I am at work today and DH is home with Carter so hopefully everything will go okay with them. It was tough for me yesterday because he was so calm and relaxed most of the day, but he seems to get antsy and irritable from about 3pm until bedtime, and midnight to 2am.

You all know that point where being overweight becomes unbearable right? You decide "that's it, I'm done" and you mean it and start dieting/working out for real.

I think DH is finally there. He has to do a presentation for his CMA course and he can't find any sports coats that fit. If they do up over his belly they are huge all over everywhere else.

He wears casual clothes all the time and has been able to find all sorts of stretchy shirts but now he's stuck.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. For the past 2 weeks DH has been saying things like "I really AM obese" and "I really DO feel fat now".

I will commit to helping him with any diet plan he chooses and will not bring home any foods he doesn't want in the house.

I'm really, really hoping he can get this started without a major health event (most likely involving surgery on his stomach hernia, which is getting visibly worse as his abdomen gets larger and larger).

We don't need any further problems right now, particularly ones that would derail both his CMA studies and his job search. I am about to lose 3 more dogs and our income is going to be about 1/2 of what it was.

No wiggle room any more. Time to get it together.

Dagmar

Dagmar, I hope you are right and that your DH will get on board!

I have some great news. Carter peed!!!! I was at work, but DH tells me Carter got up all of a sudden and wanted out, and as soon as he got his diaper off he started peeing. He then proceeded to wander around the yard, peeing the entire time, and has peed two more times since then. Hooray! Hopefully he will continue to get better!

If it was the pain medication interfering hopefully it is at a lower level overall in his system now because we just gave him his evening dose and I really would love it if he could pee again before bed. But in any case if we don't have to express him that's a major victory!

That is GREAT NEWS, Jessica!!!! :cheer2: :cheer3: :cheer2: I love it! Good dog, good dog!

Now, don't let those docs go poking around and mess up something that ain't broke! ;)

Jay

Hooray for Carter !!!!

Oh, thank goodness. Carter is peeing again.

And Dagmar's husband has had a come-to-Jesus moment & feels really fat, and may be inspired to do something about it. (Hey, I know about those moments.)

And no, Bill, as a matter of fact, I don't own a crinoline, unfortunately. I'm not a re-enactor or anything. The oldest item of wearable clothing that I own only dates back to the early 1900s. I've got two shawls from the 1860s, but I don't wear them. (I use one as a table covering & the other is folded up across a chair.)

Once, at an antique show,I almost bought a bustle that was patented in the 1880s, but I managed to walk away & talk myself out of it. It was a great deal. But it was slightly rusty. Some of the tapes holding it together would have had to be re-sewn. Now & then I have moments of pure insanity at antique shows, where I think that my life will only be complete if I own ____ (a rusty bustle, a taxidermy hummingbird, a silverplated ear trumpet, a Victrola horn hand-painted with blue morning glories). And it's only with an act of will that I walk away. (I don't always: I am the only person I know who owns a stuffed hummingbird inside a glass dome.)

But if I did want to buy a crinoline, I know which dealer I'd probably call up & ask if she had one.

I don't want to live in the 1860s. Sure, they had great heirloom vegetables & animal breeds. But dentistry hadn't been perfected & there wasn't any electricity or Internet or airplanes & the child mortality rate was really sad & let's just not get into the whole slavery thing.

But I do like (& still covet) some of the stuff people kept in their houses in the 19th century.

Yay for puppy pee. You go Carter - go mark your territory everywhere.

I'd never heard of "a stuffed hummingbird inside a glass dome", now I'm jealous. Is it a Ruby Throated?

Dagmar - sending supportive thoughts to your DH. I've gone through that awful feeling as I put on my blue blazer and had to admit that it made me look even fatter by being undersized. When I emptied my closet of big clothes, I sent 4 blue blazers to Good Will.

:cheer2: Carter :cheer:

Dagmar :dizzy:

No pee yet this morning but he sure peed a bunch before bed last night. He's just had his breakfast so maybe there will be more pee soon. Surgeon appointment is at 11:30 this morning.

Great news, Jessica! :dancer:

Well, Carter had to refresh all his markers on your property, didn't he? To assert that he's still around & still on duty & still claims the yard as his own little kingdom?

Hoping for good news from this visit to the surgeon.

And hoping for a respite for you & your husband. For a return to normalcy. (Which personally, I find I never appreciate sufficiently until it's gone.)

Yay for Carter!!

Oh Dagmar, :crossed: that your DH really means it this time. Sorry to hear you're losing more dogs. Do you depend on word-of-mouth for your clients, or do you advertise?

Things are quiet here - and freezing temps again, -10F to be exact. :brr: Last night DH showed me a lovely brochure for a snorkeling trip to Fiji. Looked wonderful and WARM!

Still no pee today (we did manage to express him a couple times though). The surgeon thought he was doing really well neurologically and is hopeful that he'll make a full or nearly full recovery. They took the staples out and his incision is healing well, and we're taking him in for a physical therapy evaluation Monday. We're going to take him off the pain medication entirely because the surgeon is now thinking that the pain medication may have been what was causing the problem, and the area near his incision is not tender to the touch so he shouldn't need the drugs anymore.

Hopefully he will pee for us again today! He's been dripping into his diaper but not nearly as much as he was a few days ago.

Wow. I've signed on several times today and saw no updates on this thread and suddenly there's a whole page worth. All my other subscribed threads showed updates as they occurred.

Great news on Carter, Jessica!

Sorry about losing clients, Dagmar. And I hope this is the impetus that your DH needs.

I'm not into a lot of antique things, but I do have a soft spot for what they call "mid century modern." I have the COOLEST clock from around 1940 that I got from ebay when we first moved into our house. And I keep looking for these particular wooden candlesticks that I distinctly remember my parents owning, but they claim I'm delusional.

DH spent two days home "not feeling well" but couldn't pinpoint his affliction other than "feeling like crap." No fever, just a little congestion. I don't know, but at least I didn't get it.

The weather here is turning cold again. We're getting some front in from Alaska that's bringing rain and cooler temperatures but right now we've got wind gusting to 55 MPH. And DS didn't wear a jacket to school...

Oh, yay Carter yay!

Hey, no blaming Alaska for California's weather! :) I'm sure it comes from the Canadians...... :rofl:

Hey, no blaming Alaska for California's weather! :) I'm sure it comes from the Canadians...... :rofl:

Hey! Actually we are having spring :rain: here and I and the dogs (and my cats) are all enjoying :D it immensely. Back to Alaska :brr: temps Saturday though - SIGH. Will winter ever be over?

Anyone else got the winter blahs? I'm finding it really difficult to motivate myself to start losing those extra 4 lbs. I'm carrying. I know I'm going to be wearing a parka until at least April :p.

Dagmar :tired:

Taking him off the pain medicine seems to have done the trick!! Carter peed on his own last night AND this morning, and slept very well and didn't need to have the cone on. Hopefully in another day he will be out of diapers and in another couple weeks he will be back on his normal dog food. I am so relieved! Now we just need to figure out how to get him to tolerate being left alone in his pen and how to get him to not whine for attention all day. ;)

The weather has actually been great here the past couple days. It warmed up and got into the 60's! Feels like spring! The snow and ice is almost entirely melted away. OTOH it's supposed to get back down to the 30's next week. Oh well. But it's certainly been a nice respite from the bitter cold we had before.

Great news Jessica! Pain meds can do funny things to people so I'm sure that goes for doggies too.

I feel like doggy poo myself so I'm staying home from work. I feel very guilty missing because I can't get a sub so the library stays closed and hundreds of children miss library class and getting books. However, I think I've caught a tummy bug and the thought of trying to make it through the day just sounds impossible to me. I guess they'll live. I plan on sleeping and reading hopefully.

Yay!! Jessica, I'm so glad it was something simple, like stopping the pain meds! Pain meds can cause constipation in people, and it's because of how they affect smooth muscle--so it's not too surprising that his bladder was affected.

Plus, I remember how after abdominal surgery, one of the big deals is to get people peeing again. Really! Something happens to those reflexes under anesthesia.

Jay

I've been working our catering department for the last few and missed some updates, so when I poked back in I had three pages to catch up.

Yay Carter! Woo hoo! I've never been so happy to read about a dog peeing. :) Pain meds are funny things.

Allison - we have been in the 60s here this week, too, but two weeks ago I was excited when it got up to 50 for my runs.

Saef - I love Charleston. If you go make sure that you leave time to walk on the waterfront. Or skate, or bike, or whatever. It is lovely.

:wave: to everyone else! I'll hopefully catch back up tomorrow when life gets somewhat back to normal.

I'm so relieved to hear that Carter is on the mend.

And that there's a prospect of normalcy returning in your household & your daily routine.

We're also having a thaw. Temperatures in the 50s are in the forecast for today & tomorrow. How I love the February thaw.

I just need to grit my teeth & get through the next two days at work.

Then the three-day weekend. I plan to do some loafing. Maybe I'll go eagle-watching again, as I did last Sunday afternoon. My fingers got really cold clutching my binoculars, but the birds were thrilling to see, as always.

Glad to hear Carter is doing so much better!!!

Se we're planning golf for Saturday and Monday and now rain (scattered showers) and cooler temperatures are predicted. I'm not sure how to dress. I only have golf shorts and sleeveless golf shirts. I can wear a sweater, but I wonder if my legs will get too cold. We went golf shopping on Sunday and I didn't bother trying on anything other than shorts when I really did like a lot of the golf capri pants they had. It's really slow here today, perhaps I should knock off early and go shopping...!

We're having our trees trimmed this week. They started yesterday and things look so much better already (but I'm going to miss the shady driveway this summer). They're stripping the palm trees of the bark on the lower parts and it makes them look so pretty! No more messy trunks (in which small critters tend to nest). But they must have dropped something on the gas meter as DH noticed last night. We had to call the gas company (it wasn't leaking, but would either of us sleep well knowing there was something wrong with it?--I doubt it). They showed up right after dinner and she said it was just a regulator valve and not an emergency. Normally she would have scheduled a tech to fix it during the day when it was light out, but she knew it was predicted to rain and so she stayed and fixed it last night. I'm glad because otherwise I would have had to go back today and wait for the tech. DH was so happy with her that he took down her name and is going to send in a nice word to her supervisor.

Okay, now to decide on that shopping trip.

:cheer2: Carter :cheer2:

Speaking of warmer temps all sorts of things are thawing out of the snow heaps up here. Gross out warning here - yep, it's a dog story!

Little Quincy is doing a lot of "trading" with me. He brings me a "treasure" and I give him a treat in exchange.

So yesterday he ran over to me with what I thought was a piece of string sticking out of his mouth. I grabbed it and offered the treat. He opened his little mouth and out came a very dead (very, very dead) mouse, attached to it's tail (the string).

Bleagh!!! Quincy was so cute about it though that I couldn't be too grossed out (and I was busy running across the snow to a garbage can, pursued by 3 adult dogs all jumping and barking to get Quincy's treasure).

This is what I do at work. :rofl:

Dagmar :lol3:

LOL Dagmar-- too cute!!

Rough second half of the week for me. I've been sick and took yesterday off. Today I'm at work though really wishing I was at home in bed. Luckily I have Monday off so I'm planning on a recuperating weekend. No gym for me since Tuesday which really makes me cranky and makes my weight skyrocket. I feel like a fat blob.

Last night, my great dane, Jozi, had her first seizure. It was a big one and she couldn't stand or walk after. The vet was about to close (5:45 and they close at 6:00). I couldn't get them to answer the phone so dd and I hoisted her into my car (remember, I am sick and feeling very puny)-- she weighs 125 ish pounds! Off to the vet where they checked her out-- took blood, checked her blood sugar (low) and gave her a shot for nausea (her eyes kept swirling in her eye sockets making her dizzy and nauseous). Waiting to hear about the blood results today-- best case scenario is that she had a seizure and we'll never know why. Other possible not so nice causes include pancreatic cancer (which would explain low blood sugar) or a brain tumor. I am barely holding it together after just losing Ozzie two weeks ago. Dh is still out of the country and returns tomorrow night.

Please keep us in your thoughts-- I'll update later.

Michele - thinking about you guys and Jozi. Hope you get good news.

Just heard from the vet. Her bloodwork was normal so it could be either idiopathic epilepsy (no known reason), or a brain tumor. We will wait and see if she has any more seizures and if she does, we'll have to decide what we want to do treatment wise.

Glad the bloodwork came back normal. Idiopathic diseases are not fun, though. Buddy had idiopathic vestibular disease--with at least one recurrence. It took him weeks to get over the first bout. I hope everything turns out ok for Jozi!

This thread is just full of sick puppies.

I'm so sorry to read of Jozi's illness & hope that the testing results turn up something tangible (so you can stop worrying about all the things it might be) and treatable & curable (so you can take actual steps to help her, rather than having to endure passively all the wheel-turning that worrying can bring).

My financial adviser owns a pair of Great Danes & their pictures are all over her desk at work. There's this little blonde & these two big galoots on either side of her. One is black-spotted with a blue eye; one is pure black. In the picture I like best, they're inside her car, which is surprisingly small & sporty for someone with such big dogs. Their heads are hanging out the window & tongues lolling. Their paws look huge. When I go to see her, I love looking at these pictures & asking about her dogs. They're such emphatic personalities. It's like she owns a pair of horses.

Michele - :hug: I'm glad the bloodwork was normal and that your DD was there to help you get Jozi to the vet. Could it be possible that she had the seizure because her blood sugar was low? Like hypoglycemia? Since she has been mourning for Ozzie maybe she isn't eating enough?

Jessica,
Actually, they did check her blood sugar and it was a little low (at the vet with the quick test). The vet checked it further and it wasn't low with the extensive testing. It is good that it wasn't low because that would have been a sign of pancreatic cancer. She hasn't been eating well (has lost 4 pounds) and I did talk to the vet about that too. She suggested giving her complex carbs. I gave her some cheez-its and other crackery things. She is a picky eater so it is hard to get her to eat normally, let alone when she is depressed and has no one else to guard her food from. We are already thinking of getting a puppy this summer so she'll have some food competition then which should improve her appetite. We are looking at getting a miniature dachshund. Can you picture a mini dachshund and a great dane together!? We've had two dachshunds in the past and they have been great (long-lived) pets.

So happy to hear Carter is peeing!! =)

Michele, I hope Jozi is ok and it was just a one-time thing. Scary - will keep you in my thoughts.

I've been really sick and finally went to the Dr. today. Both of my ears are infected - haven't had this problem since I was a pre-teen! Anyway, in the midst of my pain and misery I have not been working out or making any attempt to eat healthy food (well, I DID have some broccoli last night with my soup...) so like Michele I am feeling like a fat blob.

Hopefully next week all of us and our dogs will be doing much better! =)

We had "small stinky dead fish" treasures today. Frozen in the ice mountains and now thawing in the 10+ degree heat :p (well for Feb. that's hot in Canada). Quince gave me 5 of 'em - beat Javi's 2!

Sorry to hear Jozi's ailing Michele. My dog had the idiopathic vestibular thing and she only ever had the one seizure. It did take her several weeks to come totally back to normal but she did. Hope Jozi's the same.

I just turned down a lab puppy to walk. Former client - bad history with me and other major problems as well (rehab didn't take). I saw her (puppy) in his driveway weeks ago and my heart just melted for her. She's in for a rough time of it.

He's already boarding her with one of the other walkers (I think she's can't be more than 10 weeks old) while he "recovers from pneumonia". SIGH.

I have nothing in the house to eat or I probably would be stuffing my face right now to deal with the sadness I feel for this little puppy. Maybe my former client will man up and straighten out - hope so for her sake!

TGIF!

Dagmar :tired:

Turns out I've been focussing on the wrong thing to try to get DH to lose weight/work out. I kept emphasizing the health benefits of aforesaid (always wanted to use that in a sentence).

I should have been appealing to his vanity! He's been desperate to get some clothes for this presentation he has to do this weekend.

The lack of things that fit him (even remotely well) has spurred him to begin on the road to slimness. Last night he asked me to not bring any more chips, crackers, etc. when I grocery shop.

"If I want a bag of chips I'll have to walk for it". DH's plan is to walk through the neighbourhood for an hour if he wants a bag of chips. If he really, really wants the chips then he'll get them from the grocery after the walk.

That's a great start for him (and something he might be able to commit to) and I'm hoping we can find more options like this for him as he progresses.

Great Saturday all!

Dagmar :brr:

Great idea , a chip walk !

Dagmar, I hope the chip walk idea works for your DH!

Iris, get well soon!

Michele, the thought of a dachshund and a great dane together is pretty funny! Ben's cousin has a great dane and a puggle -- apparently the puggle is the alpha dog. You should be aware though that dachshunds are prone to the same kind of ruptured disc injury that Carter just had. I'm sure they are much easier to nurse back to health though since they are so small!

Carter is doing great. Last night he didn't whine at all and he got up to turn himself over all on his own several times so DH and I managed to actually be in bed mostly sleeping for the whole night. We've got him back on two meals a day and are mixing kibble back into his food and he seems to be doing okay. His stomach sticks out but that might just be because he used to have a bunch of fat covering it so we didn't really see it, and now he's so skinny that you can see it. In any case he doesn't seem to be uncomfortable at all after eating anymore. He is still very attention-hungry though but hopefully as he starts to be more mobile that will calm down too.

Right now I've got him sleeping in his play pen. DH is out for his group run (1 hour run) this morning so I'm going to leave Carter in the pen while I go upstairs to take a shower. Hopefully since he's already asleep he won't notice that I'm out of sight.

Sigh. No luck keeping him calm during my shower. I set up the webcam on my laptop to record him while I was upstairs. I was gone for 14 minutes. He started whining after 2 minutes, barking after 3, he got up around 9 minutes and kept barking until I came back to get him. I need to try recording when I'm actually not in the house as well.

Historically Carter has been fine with us leaving him alone in the house, but he has been not okay with being confined to one part of the house while we are in another part. I'm wondering if his barking when we leave the house right now is because he is confined to the play pen, and if he was free range he would be okay. Of course for his recovery we cannot leave him in the house unless he's in the pen for another three and a half weeks. I'm reminded of the time we tried to leave him in the backyard while we were gone and he ripped up the screen and jumped through the window to get into the house.

Jessica, I had a dog that refused to be confined as well. The day after we moved into our new house, the painters had to return to do some touch-up. DH locked both dogs in the spare bedroom (which might be an idea for Carter). Anyway, the darn dog ate a 2' x 3' (yes FOOT) patch of carpet. BRAND NEW carpet in our BRAND NEW house. I was beyond mad. Thankfully the carpet guy fixed it and no one could tell.

Dagmar~it is sad when irresponsible people get animals. It is so unfair to the animal.

Last night DH and I went to a cocktail party honoring some new architectural graduates. It was held at a home that DH did work on and it is simply a piece of art. Amazing house. As soon as it's published in a magazine I'll share links. One item that is amazing is the spiral staircase. The risers are glass and the panels that hold the railing are glass. It's breathtaking.

Today we're planning golf, but it rained all night so I don't know if we'll go or not (it's not until this afternoon). If it doesn't warm up and dry up, we'll probably go see a movie. Unknown got some great reviews.

DS is going with a friend to San Diego tomorrow for a Linkin Park concert. He should have fun (his first concert!).

Jessica-- yes, I know all about dachshund's back issues. Both of my previous dachshunds had minor back problems (thankfully no ruptured discs). Usually (though not always), if you keep weight off of them and keep them from jumping, their backs are okay. My only concern is that the Great Dane might accidentally hurt the puppy but we certainly wouldn't leave them alone together until/unless we could trust them.

I am also well versed in dogs that are destructive when they don't want to be locked up. My in-laws unfortunately were always on the receiving end of this! Every Christmas we used to go to their house for the day. We had to bring our dog/dogs as we would be there from extremely early to extremely late or overnight. My in-laws have a spoiled dog that is the Queen of the house (cocker spaniel) and fairly nasty. Their dog always got free rein while we had to lock up our dog. We tried to come up with compromises but to no avail. One of our dogs (I can't actually remember if it is was our Dachshund or our Boston Terrier) destroyed the carpet trying to dig its way out of the room it was locked into. Another time, they insisted we lock our DOBERMAN into a TINY bathroom while we went to church. We tried to insist this was a bad idea. While we were gone, there was a thunderstorm and we got back to find she had tried (and almost succeeded) to get through the door. The door was ripped to shreds and had to be replaced. We told them!

I haven't exercised since Tuesday as I got sick. My shoulder has hurt since yesterday as I think I hurt it lifting Jozi into the car Wednesday. I think I'm going to try the gym but not sure if it is a great idea. I'll have to listen to my body.

Just got back from a wonderful ramble with a great dog.

Luther is an 11 year old lab who is in great shape. We just strolled for almost 2 hours on the lake front. A gusting wind and chilly temps kept a lot of people away so we had the whole area of the point to ourselves.

Luthie and I (when it's just us two on the weekend) are totally on the same wavelength. No need to talk, command, go after, etc.

We walk.

Today we enjoyed a wintry landscape (small glaciers calving off large ice mountains, bunnies feeding on frozen grass, ducks bobbing beyond sheets of ice, etc.) together.

This was what walking my own dog was like. I miss that, so being able to share this with Luther is pretty special.

I think he enjoys it as much as I do. His owner is quite elderly and she talks a mile a minute non-stop - to me, to him, to delivery guys, etc.

I rarely say anything to Luther - no need. He looks at me, I look at him, and we go. These walks with him are not work - they are a joy.

Before we get too dignified or maudlin here Luther did throw himself on his back and roll around in the snow like a pup a couple of times. He's got a goofy grin!

And I was quite conscious of the fact that I had forgotten my fleece pants under my wind pants and was freezing my *ss off!

Dagmar :cool: :brr: