Sunday Randomness #305: Couch content

B on patrol looking out the window, B-B totally content to just sleep on the comfy couch.

B may pretend that she doesn't like B-B or doesn't really want to be around him.   Then we get these pictures of her snuggled up next to him on the couch.  Taken on different days, we found her sleeping next to B-B with her head on his body.  He is a snuggly big teddy bear of a golden retriever.

And finally we have a joking "awkward family" photo-even B-B and B look like they'd rather be anywhere but taking this picture.

B's ears are back and you can see the tenseness in her back.  B-B on the left looks like he just wants to hurry and get this over with.  That's not one of his relaxed happy faces, that's a "I'm looking at the photographer because I've been told to do so and I will suffer the humiliation to get a treat."  

Why the pink bathrobes and pink blanket couch cover? Why indeed. Isn't that kind of the point of awkward photos? An intention, formulated late at night, sounds amusing at the time, but can result in an execrable reality upon execution of the aforementioned, but inherently flawed, intention.  

 

Sunday Randomness #210: B's lump surgery with stitches but no cancer!

Stitches the day after surgery  They tested the lump and it came back negative for cancer.  It was a small oil cyst bump for a couple of years but then it started growing fast, becoming really sensitive to touch (we couldn't stroke her side without her glancing around concernedly), and then it started changing color.  So we chose to have it removed and tested.

Amazingly she did act a little tired the next day.  This is her shaved front leg where she had her IV.

Stitches about 3 days later.  No redness or swelling, crusting up nicely.

B in her surgery suit.  She didn't need to use the tail hole so we tucked it and just kept her side covered.  Look at those beautiful light brown eyes!

But even superhero puppies need their suits washed occasionally so B switched to an old t-shirt from Daisy.

And then she decided to go for a swim, sigh.  The shirt dried quickly.

Fur growing back, tight stitches healing nicely.  This was about 15 days after B's  surgery.

Stress yawn as we waited in the front lobby at the veterinarian's office.  B jumped on the bench to be between us which is a stress indicator.  Other stress indicators are that her tail is to one side, she's leaning her back legs against the back of the bench (normally she's very independent in standing), and front right paw is touching Mego's leg a little.  (Normally she's close but not touching unless she's in the mood to be cuddly which is not often.)  She had also started whining which increased in volume, pitch, and tempo once she determined in the car that we were heading in the direction of the vet's office.  She got her stitches out super fast and she's pretty much back to full energy. B-B has needed to lick her ears to calm her down but that's a video for another post.

 

Cookbook club from fandom cookbooks part 2 of 2

B-B shows off a selection of Disney cookbooks including ones from Disney Parks, Christmas, and Encanto.

B-B (in his House scarf!) surrounded by cookbooks from the Harry Potter fandom.

B wears a silver snood to celebrate American Girl cookbooks.  Thank you to Vintage Hairstyling for a great introduction to snoods: https://vintagehairstyling.com/bobbypinblog/2017/12/28-pictures-of-vintage-hair-snoods-that-will-make-you-want-to-wear-your-snood-tomorrow.html

B is ready for the bake-off with her wooden spoon!

Have a desire to cook like a Wizard or Elf or Geek?  B shows us that the library has the book for you as she wears her red wizard robes.

 

Sunday Randomness #426 : The stand-off and The chase

The stand-off...

...the chase

 

And now a break with a couple of cute, happy animals in an idyllic setting

With abandon, the golden creature and black/white creature raced through the greenery, reveling in the coolness of the April afternoon.

I approached slowly, so as not to startle them as they foraged on the tender shoots of grass.

On another day, earlier in the month of April, they were given a block of ice.

Though they are of the same species, they approached the unexpected frozen treat in very different manners. 

 

Sunday Randomness #124: B-B and the door (A mystery!)

B-B planted himself by the bathroom door. 

What has so captivated his interest?!?

Ahhh, but of course!  It's the little piece of popcorn between the white door frame and the brown door, lurking in the the shadow on the tile, just behind the door, with not enough space for B-B to get it out. 

He lay there pondering the piece of popcorn for a particularly puzzling period of persistence.  Then the barking started and we retrieved the popcorn piece and B-B got his coveted prize.
 

Sunday Randomness #127 : Visiting Scheels with puppies

Scheels has the Hoka brand shoes that are really comfortable for working at the library.  I'm on my feet for most of the day and getting in an average of 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day which isn't a lot compared to some but for me it keeps me moving.  Mego and Daisy accompanied me along with B-B and B back in January of 2024.

They have a connected aquarium set-up at the entrance.

Along with a number of photo back drop opportunities.

Daisy posing with B-B who was getting a little tired by this time.

Daisy with another photo op at Scheels.

Perfect example of B-B and B and their everyday personalities.  B-B is kind of paying attention but B is actively waiting for the next command.

And a moment later B-B is losing interest, but B is still focused on me.  What a good girl (and boy)!  We appreciate their differences and that they are both great additions to our family.  Sometimes we wish B-B would pay more attention and sometimes we wish B could calm down a bit and not be so hyper-focused but we wouldn't trade either of them for practically anything.

 

Sunday Randomness #187 : Dogs and Rodents don't always mix...

B cornered the rat, barking ferociously in the early morning hours when they went outside for a bathroom break.  The rat was trying to escape through the gap on the top right between the cement and the wood.  But it was B-B that snatched up the rat, and in one swift chomp, it was dead.  Mego saw most of this happening and got the rat away from B-B with a bribe of cheese and was able to scoop up the rat's body with a shovel and tossed it outside the fenced area.

 

We didn't know that B-B was a rat killer-constantly learning new things from our animals.

In a lighter moment-the pups after going out in the falling snow.

B-B looks a bit thin in this picture but it's an illusion.  He was a healthy 75.5 pounds at his recent vet visit.

Sunday Randomness #413 : B-B update and uncovering the wood floor

Top picture taken Dec. 4, 2023

Bottom picture taken Dec. 16, 2023

B-B's incision site is nicely healed with fur starting to grow in again.  
 

And we started tearing out the carpet:

It was rather funny the first day because B-B was scared of the new wood flooring and didn't want to walk on it to get to his nighttime spot under the bed.  We had to coax him with treats to get him to go on the wood floor.  Once he realized it was solid he was okay.  On the other hand, B wanted to help with taking up the carpet tack strips-she didn't mind the wood floor at all. We had to keep shooing her away so she wouldn't accidentally get hurt on a tack or staple from the carpet pad before we had a chance to pull them all out and shop vac up the residue of wood splinters and lots of dust. 

Sunday Randomness #417 : A Month of Medical Pt. 4

Mego escorting B-B back inside so that B can be in the backyard for a bit because...

---if we don't keep them separated to a certain extent they want to play.

But they do have their moments where they will be peaceful.  B-B gets up on the couch very slowly and very carefully.  We're at the stage of weighing his actions with his recovery.  Will letting him on the couch help speed his recovery?  Yes. Can he get on and off without injury?  At this point we believe the answer is yes.  We've monitored him closely and inspected his wound for any signs of complications like swelling, puss, stretching, excessive heat, etc...

All looks good and he's healing nicely after a week at home.  

So much so that we separated these two  who attempted some mild play in the house.  Silly puppies.  They're definitely going to be excited when they can play together again.  But not yet!

 

Sunday Randomness #417 : A Month of Medical Pt. 3

The first night ended up with me sleeping on the floor next to B-B.  He moaned unless I was petting him or holding on to one of his paws and gently squeezing.  (It's a thing he likes-it seems to soothe him when we handle his paws and gently squeeze them.)  

Next day he slept on the yoga mat and mattress pad.

Incision site looks nice and clean.  

He's been a good boy and let us put corn bags from the freezer on his belly.  The first time he actually sighed and closed his eyes like it felt so good. (We put the inner bag with corn inside a ziploc bag and the pink you see is the corn bag pillowcase.) 

Learning to eat with a cone on.  Rice and the bland canned food that they said is the dog equivalent of saltines.  He's been amazing with taking all his medicines.
 

Sunday Randomness #417 : A Month of Medical Pt. 2

The three priorities for Triage at AVC.  B-B was in priority 2 for Bowel Obstruction.

After checking into AVC they got B-B on an IV to see if the fluids would help anything move.  He had his second set of X-Rays around 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. and they called to say that nothing had budged and they wanted to operate to open B-B's stomach before anything more happening such as a section of his digestive system getting cut off to the point of getting infected or, worse, necrotic.  We gave them the go ahead and they said they'd be calling in a couple of hours.  I set a timer so that I wouldn't sleep through the ringing of the phone.  He came out of surgery just fine-and was recovering around 1 a.m. Saturday morning.  Thank you AVC Vet Team!

We went to visit him around 1 p.m. and he looked all sad and doped up with his red and blue surgical tape holding on his IV.  They said as long as he kept recuperating well and held down some water and food that we could take him home Saturday night.  We fed him solid food that they provided (canned chicken and bland gastro-intestinal canned dog food) and he ate well but we didn't try to feed him all of it at once. He was drinking water so around 8 to 9 p.m. we got to go get him and bring him home.

First night home was rough-he started out on the dog cot-his choice.  We gave him a couple of options from the dog cot to a yoga mat with a mattress pad.  B laid down right by him on her own.  She sniffed him with concern the first night.

 

Sunday Randomness #417 : A Month of Medical Pt. 1

Mego had never been tested for allergies or asthma but has had a lifelong cough.  No asthma but a bunch of mild allergies including cat and dog.  No allergy to horse.  He joked that we should get a pygmy horse like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  https://www.sportskeeda.com/bodybuilding/dogs-donkey-miniature-horse-arnold-schwarzenegger-s-pets  Ultimately he seems to have a case of chronic post-nasal drip which results fairly frequent nose blowing and some coughing.  But nothing like lung cancer or the asthma so we are grateful.

Then B-B who is usually so prolific with bowel movements only had two in a twenty-four hour time period and did the curl of pain (lying in a circle and just looking miserable) after throwing up in the middle of the night.  So of course Daisy and I decided he needed to see the emergency vet at 3:00 in the morning.  I called Mego who went with me so Daisy could go back to sleep.  They had polite signs up to remind clients to be courteous.

I know people are hurting when a family member (human or animal) is in the ER but  from all the medical people I know whether for human or animal they are there to try to help.   When clients try to be courteous and show patience it can go a long way in making their jobs more bearable. They had other cases so they sent us home to see our regular vet in the morning when they opened.  We got a 9 am appt. and B-B got x-rays which showed something stuck in his stomach that was unidentified but not food and not metal but nothing more specific.

B-B at the regular vet-they are amazing!  B-B loves all their staff from the front desk to the back room.