Konrad's Tan Line

Last week we found quite the tan line on the tail of our dog.
Silly pup. We're still trying to figure out how it happened.

Easter Hunt

One tradition that I brought from my childhood to our family is the Dog Easter Egg Hunt. This year in planning for the baby's first Easter I neglected to get special treats to fill the dog's eggs with, so I resorted to just regular kibble. I felt bad for only a moment because I had also gotten them stuffed toys to destroy. We have a stuffed animal ban now in our home as hours have been spent rounding up the fluff in the backyard. Thankfully I snuck in this purchase before Brad could make the rule official.

I took the dogs up into our room and placed kibble filled eggs throughout the main level. Angela watched the action from her Dad's shoulders and Brad had the video camera ready as both dogs barreled out of our room. Konrad was the first to see an egg and instantly turned into an egg hunter. Sammie soon realized what was going on and resorted to the same tactic as last year : stuff as many whole eggs in your mouth as you can ... eat later.

Konrad went egg by egg opening them and eating the treats. Sammie got four in her mouth and then couldn't fit anymore. After several failed attempts to squeeze in a fifth she gave up and dropped them all. Konrad was more than happy to help her eat its contents.

After all the kibble was consumed we gave them their stuffed toys. Sammie took hers and methodically bit it from end to end looking for a squeaker. When she was unable to search it out she did the same to Konrad's toy. After some prodding I was able to locate the squeakers. Both dogs became excited and destroyed the toy within minutes. Thankfully the fluff balls were centralized in our living room for easy cleanup.

After all the excitement we were all ready for bed. It was a very eventful Easter weekend! I love my Life With Our Dogs.

Sammie Ate Butt Paste (UPDATED)

Our incredibly intelligent dog ate a full 1 1/2 oz tube of Desitin intended for use on my baby's bum. She came in the house, the tube completely empty, wearing little smudges of cream on her face. Feeling slightly inclined to worry, my husband suggested we call the ASPCA Poison hot-line. I did, and after hearing something about a $65 fee I hung up. I then called our veterinarian's office which of course closed the hour earlier. I called the "nicer" of the two Emergency Vet locations and the man couldn't find any information on Desitin, suggesting instead I call another Pet Poison Line. I did, but after hearing about their $35 fee I hung up. My last shot was our "less nice" Urgent Care location. To my total surprise the woman was incredibly helpful.

It turns out that Zinc Oxide is poisonous to dogs, of course, and that it is imperative to get the dog to vomit. If not, many horrible things including kidney and liver failure can occur. She suggested two tablespoons of Hydrogen Peroxide. She said if Sammie did not vomit, if she started to bleed or became lethargic we should bring her in right away.

So my husband, baby and I wrapped up in warm clothes and headed outside. Thankfully our incredibly intelligent dog who will eat a tube of Desitin will also gladly drink Hydrogen Peroxide from a measuring spoon.

We waited and waited. Nothing happened. Sammie ran around the yard chasing her ball, pausing for nothing. We tried giving her a little more and again no response. My husband and I thought perhaps we were just being too impatient. So we waited. But nothing happened. She started to slow down a little and began to look like she wasn't feeling well, but did not vomit.

Now my husband and I have never wanted our dog to get sick before, but man were we praying for it then! Facing a huge vet bill in order to pump out her stomach, we became desperate. So I thought maybe if I start making vomiting noises she will throw up. So I did. My husband laughed, and nothing happened.

His next idea was to "scare the vomit out of her." When that didn't work he resorted to vomiting noises. Still nothing. Needless to say several hours passed and there was nothing. We even gave her several more tablespoons with an oral syringe and nothing happened. We made her feel worse, but no vomiting.

I ended up having to cancel my plans of dinner with the girls of Brad's family and stay home to watch Sammie. It's been many many hours and she has perked up and is back to her old self. Lesson learned: don't doubt the dog, she can eat anything. It has been just another day in the Life With Our Dogs.

UPDATE: Later that night at 9pm Sammie threw up. I walked in my room to see she had done so on our bed. I called for Brad and he ran upstairs so concerned for her. He then ran downstairs got the cleaning supplies and then cleaned up the whole mess by himself! He has never done that! He was so worried about her and so relieved that she finally threw up. He is such a great daddy to all of our kids :)

Where Do I Sleep?

Life With Our Dogs :)

Springtime

Yesterday I was in my bedroom when Sammie came running in burrowing her head in my bed. I was quite dense as it took several minutes to realize that she was rubbing her face. When I finally stopped her to look at her this is what I found. The poor girl's face had swollen up to the size of a softball! I ran down stairs and gave her some Benadryl cleverly disguised in a glob of peanut butter. A half hour later she had stopped itching but her face was still very swollen. An hour later she was running around the house frantically searching for the best scratching surface. I called the Emergency Vet and was informed that due to her large girth, the amount of Benadryl I gave her was insufficient.

What do you do when you realize half way through the medications' duration that gave too small a dosage? I decided that she couldn't wait another 2 hours to get a full dose so I gave her one more tablet. This meant that for the remainder of the night we had to give her medicine every 2 hours. And like clockwork she reminded us. The frantic scratching and whining let us know it was time for more.

When I left for work this morning Sammie barely got out of bed, and did not come downstairs so I didn't get a look at her face. I gave the dogs a treat and left (yes I took it up to her in bed). An hour later Brad texted me asking if I'd given Sammie medicine because she was scratching again.

Poor girl! He said her face wasn't as swollen but she was definitely as itchy. We'll have to see how she is when I get home today. Sounds like it'll be another crazy day in Life With Our Dogs!

How They Ended Up On The Bed

My husband and I both had dogs growing up. My husband's mother recounts several nights where Brad would say "Sorry Mom I have to go! I have to beat Hunter to bed!"

Our decision to have no dogs on the bed was unanimous. So how did this happen?When we got the puppies we bought them an adorable blue bed to sleep in. With how tiny there were, they could easily share.So we put that in one corner of our room, a puppy pad in another and hoped they would sleep. But puppies, like babies, wake up every few hours. We would wake up to the sound of someone chewing through the boards of our bed, whimpers of Konrad needing to go potty, and cries from a Sammie stuck behind my nightstand.

I was excited to care for the puppies. Their late night awakenings were quite cute for the first couple of weeks, but sleep deprivation was beginning to set in. We had made a strict "No Dogs on The Bed" rule. It was perfect because the dogs were too small to jump up on the bed, and even though that meant me hanging my arm over the bed so Sammie could fall asleep, it was worth it. Or so we thought.

One particular morning Brad refused to get up. It was a Sunday and due to an active night of puppy-ness he claimed refuge in bed. He was ignoring the whines and whimpers of the dogs, as well as his wife, needing him to get up. So in an effort to get him up quickly I put the dogs on the bed, and this is what happened .... They magically quieted down and fell right to sleep! I was absolutely shocked. So I too joined in the party welcoming the extra sleep.

The next night we tried desperately to hold out but as the pups got more and more active they were eventually plopped on the bed. We gave in. We broke our big rule and now this is what we have ...

It seemed like an okay thing to do at the time. Sometimes we regret that decision. Usually it is when Konrad stretches and kicks us, or we roll over to find one of Sammie's bones jabbing us in the back, or someone pretends to be asleep so they don't have to move to the end of the bed. But mostly when a large fur ball plops down asleep directly on top of you, it's amazing how I have become accustomed to the encased feeling, the jabbing elbows and immovable head. In fact I occasionally miss it when it is not there ..all 77lbs of Sammie and Konrad at 87lbs! Just another story in Life With Our Dogs.

Animal Sacrifice

One night, while my husband and I knelt to pray together before bed, I looked up to see Sammie. Asleep on the bed she had rolled onto her back, legs high in the air, with her head to the side. Had she not been snoring I could have thought she might be dead.

Of course it was my turn to pray and with out realizing what was being said I began the prayer:

"Our Dearest Heavenly Father we thank thee this night for this animal sacrifice ..."

The laughter could not be stifled.

It was just another night in our Life With Our Dogs.