Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Our little puppy Bella died last night. We have no idea what happened to her, but yesterday morning Cathy found her burrowed into the cushions of the couch. She was alive, but comatose. Cathy took her to the emergency vet and they said that she appeared to be suffering from liver failure.

When our regular vet opened, Cathy took Bella up there, and they put her on an IV to help her blood pressure and they confirmed the diagnosis. They said that it looked like she had eaten something that poisoned her. They kept her there overnight, but they said that there wasn’t really anything they could do. She would either recover or die. And she died last night.

We’re all very sad about this. Bella was a sweet and loving dog, and we’re going to miss her a lot.

When Cathy took Bella to the vet, Lucinda told us that she didn’t want to talk about it, so she doesn’t know yet that Bella died. We think she probably knows on some level, but she just can’t deal with it yet.

This is a very sad day for us.

We got a new puppy yesterday. Some years ago, we’d promised Lucinda that we’d get her a puppy when we lost one of the other dogs. With Buddy gone, we decided it was time to go ahead. Cathy had started scouting a few weeks ago when we knew this was coming, so we were ready.

Bella is a chihuahua-mix who we found from Ruff Riders Rescue. Lucinda wanted to have a small dog. She is estimated to be about four months old, and she has a very nice personality. And of course, she’s very cute. So Lucinda is happy.

We had to put Buddy to sleep today. This was a very hard thing to do, since Buddy is one of the sweetest and most affectionate dogs we’ve ever known. But he’s a biter.

Buddy has been part of our family for four years. For reasons nobody can seem to remember, we’ve always been calling him “Butt-Boy”. When we first adopted him, he decided that he was Lucinda’s dog. He was always very affectionate with her, and he stayed close to her all the time. Lucinda liked to play with him and get him to jump for treats. But he was always good with her, no matter what she did to him.

About three weeks ago, he bit a workman who was in our neighbor’s yard. This was the fourth time he’s bitten someone in four years we’ve had him. We took him to training classes, we got a muzzle, we got an electric-shock training collar. Still, he just would go berserk at completely unpredictable times and bite.

So in the end, we decided that we just couldn’t live with the uncertainty and the liability of having a dog who bites. And nobody else wants to adopt a dog who bites.

Good-bye Buddy. We will miss you.

Yesterday, I saw that Heather B. Armstrong had posted a video of her dog Chuck wearing an ice cream container on his face. I thought this was tremendously funny, and I showed it to Cathy and Lucinda.

This evening, I finished off a container of ice cream. Lucinda immediately grabbed it and stuck it on Buddy’s face. We didn’t think that Buddy’s head would fit in it, but it did. And from the noises coming out of it, he was having Great Fun. He was even pushing it against the furniture to get his snout deeper into it. So perhaps this can be a new blog meme. Post pictures of your dog with a Dreyer’s Ice Cream container on his face…

I was looking out the window today when I saw the neighbor’s cat batting at the bush in front of our window. The cat had a mouse treed in the bush. After a while, it knocked the mouse out of the bush and proceeded to sit and play with it on the lawn. I went out to snap a picture. The mouse was just dazed and panting on the grass. It was bleeding a little bit. I took my pictures and went back inside. The cat came back and took the mouse off to parts unknown.

Later on, I went in the back yard and noticed a rather colorful dog turd on the grass. Our dog Buddy had eaten some crayons a couple of nights ago. And the evidence was there for all to see. So I went back and got the camera again. So here it is, in full macro-focus glory: orange and blue crayon-speckled dog turds. Yum.

I don’t usually (or ever, in fact) write about poop. But in keeping with the grand tradition of Heather and Zoot, I think that last evening’s adventure warrants an exception to my policy.

We had gone out today and seen the costumes from the “Star Wars” movies and also gone to the Natural History Museum. When we got home, we were all pretty tired and ready for bed. Then Cathy came out of our room holding her sweater and she said that our dog Buddy had gotten shit on it. I immediately grabbed Buddy and held him up. We looked and saw a pretty big chunk of shit impacted between his toes. We put him in the sink and washed all four of his feet. But when we went and looked at our bed where the sweater had been, he had gotten shit on the blanket and sheets.

So it was off to the laundry room. We had to wash everything.

Several hours later, all the laundry was done. I took the sheets and blanket and reassembled the bed. But when I lifted the comforter to put it back on the bed, I suddenly felt something between my toes. I looked down and saw a pea-sized turd lodged there. I picked it up and tossed it outside. Then I washed my feet. At that point, we were pretty tired of the whole dog-shit experience. So we just shook out the comforter and did a nose inspection of it and called it Good Enough For Government Work.

And we went to bed. Yick.

Our dog Buddy is a jumper. Lucinda likes to climb up on top of the bookshelf with a couple of dog treats. Then Buddy jumps up to get the treat. Ripley isn’t a jumper, but she is a good catcher, and she can catch a treat dropped from up there. So here is an “action shot” of Buddy in mid-jump.

Our dog Buddy is kind of weird. He likes to jump up on things like a cat.

Lucinda and Aunt Maggi colored Easter eggs on Wednesday. Then on Friday, Buddy got hold of the eggs and ate all of them. All that was left was scraps of shell on the floor.

Go to Cosmo’s memorial page

Cosmo’s Last Ride

We had to put Cosmo to sleep today. After more than 12 years with us, she just couldn’t go on any longer. This was the hardest and saddest thing we’ve ever done.

We met Cosmo in 1991 at the Humane Society animal shelter in Austin, TX. She was a stray, and they estimated that she was about a year old at the time. We adopted her, and she has been part of our family ever since. She was the most perfect dog ever, and she was our first baby. If not for her, we might never have had Lucinda.

On her last day, we gave her lots of treats to eat, and took her for one last shuffling walk around the neighborhood. Then we went to the vet. She was so scared, and we did our best to comfort her while they gave her the injection. And then it was over.

We will never forget her.