Howya Doin'?

Boy, say one little thing about being bored and next thing you know... it's busy busy busy!

I've been going every week to see the physical therapist. Having a good time and last week I was on the underwater treadmill for 15 minutes!! FIFTEEN WHOLE MINUTES!! Boy was I tired when I was done! But it was a good tired! Daddy says Jenni has to clean up all my hair when I get out though. I guess it's springtime in the Rockies!! Laugh Laugh!! I am blowing coat and Mommy just can't keep up. 

I've been for slow walks around the block to help exercise my leg, and of course my exercises. Although Mommy and Daddy have been slacking a bit on the exercises. Bad Mommy and Daddy! I guess they have an excuse since there is a lot of other stuff going on around the house!! Good thing Daddy has taken me to work again recently!! And to Home Depot and PetsMart!! I love both those places! And everyone there loves me; Me; ME!!! But of course. Because how could you not love all this??

Daddy has been working on his favorite project - remodeling the downstairs. The bathroom is almost complete! The tiling is almost done and then Daddy can attach all the fixtures and it will be useable!! Mommy is SO HAPPY! She can't wait until there are two full bathrooms in the house! I don't see what all the excitement is about. My bathroom is the entire outdoors! I suppose the neighbors would be shocked if Mommy started to use the outdoors as her bathroom... that's too bad. But oh well. Laugh Laugh!

Mommy has been busy because Gimme Mom finally had her babies!! She has 7 suckling kids - 3 girls and 4 boys. I've peeked into the room where they are and she looks so content with them. But they are so tiny! I am quite sure I was not that tiny when I was little. And where is all their hair? I know that Gimme Mom has no hair but I figured that it just all fell off. I don't get it? But it's made Mommy very tired lately. And of course Gimme Ma'am has not had any time to spend with me and that makes me sad.

Good thing that Trekkie also has no one to play with. Hmmm, that sounds wrong. See, Trekkie normally plays with Gimme Ma'am too! But now that Gimme Ma'am is Gimme Mom she isn't playing with us. All she does is spend time with the little squeakers. So Trekkie <heart> has to play with ME!! And she is so fun to play with!! Play, play, play. OK. Maybe we don't play all day long. But we do play and it's so fun! It makes me so happy that Trekkie finally knows I'm alive! Laugh Laugh! It's great to be busy again!!

That's about it for now! I'll leave you with a picture of Gimme Mom and her babies and wish you all someone to play with!

Alf

They Listened!!

I have the best - the absolutely very BEST - Mommy & Daddy in the whole wide world!! As you know, I was recently whining because I was so bored. Mommy and Daddy listened and now I'm not so bored anymore!!

First, they took me to a new, special vet. She is a doggie orthopedic specialist. She made me feel funny and took some x-rays of my knee and leg. She confirmed that nothing was broken but she thought I had had a bout with HOD (hypertrophic osteodystrophy). Mommy couldn't believe it at first because HOD normally affects two legs at the same time; and usually starts in the front legs first. I am the right age and I am a large, fast growing puppy though... So Dr. Lewis had their radiologist take a look at the x-rays as well. And they said the same thing. I had had HOD. Hmmmmm. I guess that explains the unexplained swelling I had in my leg that we all thought was an infection. And why I didn't really play the last time I was at day care. Scary. It kind of explained a lot of things! I guess I'm just an unusual puppy for getting it in only one leg (and a rear leg at that!). But then, I knew I was totally special from the day I was born! But we were still looking at the possibility of a torn cruciate ligament too.

So Dr. Lewis recommended I see a physical therapist and start underwater treadmill work. Mommy immediately made an appointment for me and boy was THAT interesting!! And fun! Don't get me wrong! It was actually kind of fun! Jenni is really cool. And before we started the treadmill, she showed Mommy some exercises that I should be doing to help me strengthen my leg. And then she put a harness on me and walked me into this box. When the door was closed, it started filling up with water. Mommy was right there with me so I didn't panic at all! She kept saying what a good dog I was <blush>. It was when the floor of the box started moving that I got confused. Notice, I didn't say panicked! Not once did I panic! I just wasn't sure what to do. So I started walking. Mommy was at the front of the box calling my name and encouraging me too. That helped. It seemed like forever, but Mommy says it was only 8 minutes when the walking finally stopped. And then the water drained out and they opened the box and smothered me in kisses! And Jenni dried me off a little too. Jenni used a towel for this trip, but they even have a blow dryer for those that prefer it. Especially in the winter when it's snowy that is probably a good idea!!

Here I am on the treadmill.

My goodness, aren't I studly? Wow. Sometimes I just amaze myself!! Laugh Laugh!! Ladies, please! I am still too young!! Laugh Laugh!

But no. That wasn't enough! Dr. Lewis called Mommy back and said she would like to "tap" my knee to verify that the fluid she saw on the x-ray wasn't bacterial and causing me to still be sick. So Mommy went back and Dr. Lewis made me feel funny again. And then I started snoring. Or so I'm told. I am quite sure that I don't snore! The results were that it was not bacterial so that is good! However, Dr. Lewis said since I was knocked out a little more than the first time she did notice a lot more play in my knee as compared to the first time. This means the cruciate ligament might be totally torn after all. This bummed out Mommy & Daddy a lot. But no surgery or anything will be scheduled for my knee at this time. I am still too young and growing. So hopefully the treadmill and exercises will help build up my muscles and we won't need surgery at all.

In the meantime, Daddy took me to work with him again! Yeah! I do love going with Daddy to work! Everyone there loves me and pets me and hugs on me!! But boy am I tired at the end of the day!

And then the next day Daddy took me to Jenni and I stayed on the treadmill for 10 whole minutes! I am getting good at that!! I don't like my exercises much though. I make it really difficult for Mommy or Daddy to help me with them. I've been getting around good on three legs. I know I should use all four, especially if I'm going to be a TOP DOG like Mommy wants me to be. But I have to get my kicks in somehow, you know?? Laugh Laugh!

And lately, bunches of people have been over at the house too! Gimme Ma'am Soon-To-Be-Mom has been hogging all the attention, but they've had time to pet me too! It has been busy! Whew!

So that's it for now internet friends! If it stays like this I'll have plenty to blog about over the upcoming weeks! So keep an eye on this space!! Here's hoping you have a place to be warm, comfortable, and loved too!

Alf