Luther now too???

He's supposed to be our good dog. In the last week he's consumed 2 paper towels, 1 toothpick, 1 avocado and nearly a slipper. What the hell? That guy has been on strictly dog food and treats for years.
Jeez.

Luther loves baby

(This is Luther on my belly, I'm not sure how obvious it is since you don't know what I'm wearing and you weren't holding my phone...)

to puppy or not to puppy

Oh dear. I know we're not ready to get another puppy.... but...

There is one, and she's cute, and she's 8 months old, and she's FREE, and she's black like Luther, and she's got a tail! What's a girl to do?
I'm going to meet her and try to assure that she's not too insane in the next few days. I'm excited, and nervous.

for perspective

I was cold the other night and looking for a blanket. This is one that I found. I find myself asking... A SOCK??? After everything, a dinky little sock is what got the best of this dog. My goodness.

At least she was wearing clean underwear

We said goodbye to our beautiful Moxie this afternoon. Our poor girl was never able to recover from her surgery and showed no signs of improving. After I went to visit her this morning she took a turn for the worse. Her abdomen became full of fluids and the fluids turned out to be leakage from the site where they reconnected her small intestine the day before. Our options were limited and she was miserable. We said goodbye tearfully and peacefully, there was no shortage of love for dear Mox.

She was a "bad dog", but we couldn't have loved her more. No matter how much trouble she caused there was always forgiveness to be had, she was too sweet to stay mad at. I only feel bad now that she had such limited time with us, I am confident that we gave her the best life possible. If you don't know, she came from a neglectful situation where she wasn't taken care of and I don't believe even her basic needs were being met. Since joining our family she enjoyed walking every day, the best food, the best dog companion (Luther, of course), infinite affection from both of us, and a lifetime supply of socks. Like Scott said over a beer earlier, "at least she went doing something she loved".

I don't want to bother to medically comprehend what she was going through over the last few days, it's too upsetting to imagine. Rather, I think I'll interpret her actions and behaviors as I've done all along. We had such a nice day on Sunday, it was Halloween - our favorite. I think that was her day to say goodbye. She toughed out the day w/ hardly a sign of illness. We all celebrated and it was delightful. Once she showed signs of sickness again she declined quickly. I'm so grateful for our holiday together and I'll try to remember that as our last day. Today we said goodbye to her body, her pretty ears, and her sad eyes and while it broke our hearts, it was the kind thing to do.

Here are my 2 favorite pics of her with each of us:

oh, I gave her a quick bath Tuesday before she went in because sometimes baths cheered her up, hence the title.

And if you've just read all these sappy words about how much I love my dogs then I thank you. You're a good friend.

Missing M

SO... pretty much we've got our worst case scenario going on here. Moxie's intestines had perforated and fecal matter had leaked into her peritoneal cavity, which means she's at high risk for infection. The doctor had to remove about 10 inches of her small intestine, between the jejunum and the ilium. I don't know how this will effect her later on. She's currently in a doggy ICU being monitored and receiving plasma transfusion(s). Can you believe this??
I went to visit her this morning. She's a little gorked on morphine and incontinent of urine and drooly. She also has a temp probe in her bum. It was a sad site. She's sweet as pie though, regardless. I kissed and loved on her for a while before I had to go. She's going to stay at the hospital until her labs are stable and she's eating and pooping - probably for a couple more nights. The staff is careful not to be too optimistic, which is really difficult. They do a lot of reminding us that she's "stable" and they're careful not to say that she's improving. Sounds a little too much like my job.
As for Scott, Luther, and myself, we miss our pain in the ass.

PS - it was a sock, a small one at that. Why now? poor sweet thing.

no, and THEN it happened

I guess I was fooled into thinking Moxie was OK the other day. Yesterday she was back to moping and not eating. I made an appointment first thing this morning and they took more x-rays. Her bowels are definitely obstructed and she definitely needs surgery. We left her at the animal hospital; she may be on the table as of now (C - is that the correct use of a semicolon?). Such a sad day! Such bad timing. She's made it 1.5 years so far with us w/out too much concern for her terrible habits. I don't think we've ever taken her to the vet for it even. I'll let y'all know what they find in there. It has to be bigger than a sock. In the meantime, think good doggie thoughts for her please!