Weekend In Black And White

My photogenic 3-yr old Boston Terrier. She takes such great pictures I had to give her a feature shot. As you can tell she has a wide field of vision!

Cornelia

Linking to the Weekend In Black And White.

A Scary Fourth Of July



Some of you may remember my sweet little pup Cornelia. With her super power split-vision she can watch both sides of a room at the same time. She just turned 3 at the end of the June so what better time to traumatize her Daddy than on July fourth.

 

Here is a picture of Cornelia in all her cuteness... adorable right?

 

 

 

So after waking from my well deserved mid-morning nap on the 4th, I walked to the kitchen and turn around to see her following me...looking like,

 

 

 

 

THIS!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My wife had left for work an hour earlier so being the dutiful Dad...I freaked out!! You can see how much her eyelids had swelled up. She had hives starting on her back and chest. My panic was due to the breeds notorious breathing issues and figuring she had got into something outside that morning on our walk. I try and pay close attention to the fire ant mounds as those guys can take down a horse given the time. (My other Boston, Caesar, likes to eat the mounds...story for another day). I am thinking her throat is going to start closing and I have only a short time to get her to the vet...who is closed because of the holiday...arghhhhhh!!!!!! I call my wife and do the verbal version of running around in circles. She tells me to shut up and get in the car and get going.

 

Finally I get her down to the car and we are headed to the animal emergency hospital about 15 minutes away. Now this is causing even more anxiety for me because it was I who rushed our 13-yr old Boston to this same building on New Years Eve 2007 and he passed away that night. It was devastating. So I am driving, and freaking, and petting Cornelia as she sat in the passenger seat. Thankfully she was very active and wanted to explore all over the new car (didn't happen). But at least she was breathing okay...she just looked like she had gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson. And she was looking out the window at everyone when we stopped at a light. Nice. Probably gave everyone the impression I bred fighting dogs or something.

 

We get to the hospital and they take her in. The picture above is in the pre-exam room. The doc comes in and examines her and takes her back to the treatment area. A little while later she comes back and said they had given Cornelia a shot of Benadryl and a steroid shot. They wanted to keep her for the next 4 hours to watch for any respiratory problems. So I left to wait. 

 

 

My wife got off work at 3 on the 4th and we headed over to pick Cornelia up around 4 PM. By then the swelling in her face was gone but the hives on her belly and back remained. These shots are AFTER we got home...



 

The hives on her back actually got worse after we got home and we gave her another dose of store bought Benadryl before going to bed.

 

Sleep is a wonderful thing. The next morning I pulled back the covers to find...a pile of puke!!! Cornelia had thrown up all the food from the previous night. Good news....she was all better and not a hive left on her!

 

 

Hope you all had a happy and puke-free 4th!



Today's Apocalypse Sign: Father And Daughter Day At Petco

Cornelia getting some groomer lovin' (notice the giant bowl of dog treats she's eying)

With a half-day off today and my wife having to work non-stop this week, I had to use my time wisely. So here was the quick plan to make an afternoon of it.

First: Take a nap. What else can you do at 12:45PM?

Second: Go to Supercuts and get super cut! Actually got an American citizen who spoke English and assuaged my usual Supercut fear of getting a bowl cut no matter what I tell them. She was perky and earned her two dollar tip! Bonus: No waiting...first time ever!

Third: Grab the baby Cornelia and hightail it to Petco for her canned food AND a trip to the groomer for nail trimming. While at Petco she got to walk around the store like a big dog...sniffing all the cat cages, wanting to get in with the ferrets (they wanted no part of that!) and generally creating the oohs and aahs that beautiful Bostons tend to create when they are about town. She even made friends with a rescue (her size) and a giant dog (5 times her size). The store was empty when we got there and bustling with activity when we left. She enjoyed her time with daddy today at the doggie mall.

Fourth: After the Petco trip we drove over to a nearby lake and just slowly drove the shore line. Sizing up a spot for next weeks day out. Bonus: we also found a section at the end of the lake cordoned off as a dog park...with benches, and things to climb on...we may go there next week. But only one dog and Mama is coming too!

Today's Apocalypse Sign: I Am A Contest Whore, Just Once

Yes the season of giving is upon us and I want someone to give to ME. No...no, I'm not being selfish in THAT way, I am doing this for my wife. And to reaffirm I would not stumble into Jesse's bear trap.

My wife and I are not able to have children. Our dogs are our kids. As luck would have it I am a true blue follower of Nat The Fat Rat's blog. And while most of her followers are women, I can say I enjoy reading her musings, about the Holbs, moving from Moscow, ID to NYC, and all things Natalie. Her blog is a great read so stop by and check it out, unfortunately you will need to go back to at least the first of this year and read it all because you will miss a lot of great stuff if you just start now. Hey, what else did you have to do for the holidays?

Anyway, side tracked as always....the reason I mention her blog AND to justify the title of this post, she has teamed with a great friend of hers, Rachel Stratford, who does amazing drawings, to sponsor a contest. She and Rachel are giving away a drawing of the contest winner's pet. I intend on winning and presenting my wife with a spectacular drawing of one of our Boston Terriers. I mean how can you not want me to win with a pooch like this:

Click to enlarge

This is Cornelia after her eye surgery for a condition called Cherry Eye. The entertainment value of the flexible cone cannot be overstated.

So let's recap:

* Go read Nat The Fat Rat...do it!
* Go check out the amazing drawing on Rachel's site 
* Show Cornelia the love and support my efforts to win the contest (prayers and voodoo accepted)

Thanks, you've been a great audience.

Today's Apocalypse Sign: The Cutest Girl In The World

Here are a few shots of the new little girl in my life. She is growing up so fast (9weeks old and we've had her 3 weeks). Can't believe she already weighs 5 pounds. She will melt your heart. Click to enlarge for best viewing.

Cornelia at rest (finally)

Kind of in a sleep-stupor

And now she's awake and ready for action

Bad Shot from my bad cell phone camera

Sorry I missed the weekend graphs last Sunday but work has been a grind for the last couple weeks. Should be back to normal shortly.