Callie Teaches TheQueen a Lesson

Seven weeks ago my 7 month old lab pup Callie broke her leg and we have been carefully tending her since then. Two and a half weeks ago, on a Friday, she got the pins out of her leg and was still on 2 more weeks of careful watching.  That Saturday she started playing in the yard and you guessed it - re-injured that leg. Worst yet - I didn't notice it till we were walking home on Sunday after picking up the paper. The rest of Sunday was pure torture for the two grownups in this house. Monday she went back in for surgery and came home with an exterior pin and a prescription for another month of confinement.

It has been a tough 2 weeks for us. (imagine how hard we had to work to not recriminate all over each other - only partially succeeded)

Callie? she could care less. all she can think of is "Where's The Fun?!?"

And that, my friends is the best lesson I could ever learn. I agonized. I blamed. I ached. I angered. I raged. I wept. I wrung* my hands.

Callie thumped her tail. Callie nuzzled my face. Callie ate a healthy dinner - neither too much nor too little. Callie has a much more enlightened soul. She takes what's good in life and concentrates on that. No obsessing for Callie.

Lord - Please make me more like Callie. Thank you.

Callie's Progress

It's been 4 weeks since my beautiful little dog leapt out of the truck and broke her leg. We've all adjusted to adjustments and the reward for our efforts has been some wonderful healing. I would say that she has become so spoiled that she can lie on any couch in the house - except that she was always that spoiled.



I think she looks like Manet's Olympia with her white throat and black collar - she can really give you that blase face. That's me, the servant girl in the back ground, offering things to tempt her pleasure. Can't you tell?

She is wearing the collar because we don't walk her unless she's on the leash now. Well. I take her off for short spurts so she can find the perfect spot in the barley to take care of business. And we release her when we're at the big ditch or at the riverbank since swimming is permitted and she loves it so.

The fur on her leg is growing out so that the stitches are hidden unless you stroke her and I believe the pins are sort of working their way back up the leg bone - as we were warned they might. They'll be taken out on Friday and then she'll be banned from the river again.

We were treated to the magic of a visit from LD this weekend and many a walk was taken, both with Callie and without her. She is a handful when there are two other dogs to chew on and though she struggles on the leash a little with me, she struggles A LOT with the guys (who have more tender hearts).

When it was time to say good-bye to LD, two dogs decided that they'd love to drive south and of course they aren't a bit crowded and there's plenty of room in the car for 3 dogs.




Even after they'd been called out, told "Nooo Nooo Nooo" and given lots of strokes, you can see how they don't believe a word of it. I love the expression on Jack's face.

 Please, please, take me with you.

But as BD says - who should feel sorry for dogs who have to stay at Chesituxent, a.k.a. Dog Heaven? They quickly settled down to life at home without Cousin Buster. 

So. That's the story from Chesatuxent, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the dogs are above average. 

Life is a Roller Coaster

This has been a full week - with ups and downs and goods and bads.

The DOWNS AND BADS -

1. Daylight Savings Time - an anathema for a morning person like me  
2. Baby Puppy Callie's broken leg 
3. 4 of my library staff down with bronchitis/flu/pneumonia 
4. Tuesday night board of supervisors meeting - had to skip gym and stay out late   
5. Began to feel 'off' Thursday and didn't feel any better on Friday. Actually feeling low down by the afternoon.
6. As a result of all above - have not gotten in the exercise I normally do  

The UPS AND GOODS -

1. Baby Puppy Callie back on at least 3 of her feet again after surgery. 
2. 2 of my sick library staff were much better by end of week
3. BoS meeting didn't last too long and I had good news to share that brought big smiles. Just in time for the budget sessions which start in 2 weeks.   
4. Got 3 big tasks done at work - three things that had been nagging at me and making me feel guilty. DONE! Yes.  
5. Had the absolutely most awesome strength training workout Thursday morning ever. Actually did 2 sets of pushups much deeper than I've ever done before.  
6. Got to go home early on Friday and slept 11 straight hours  
7. Got to within 2 lbs of my goal weight and no longer have to pay for WW meetings.  

What a week! Still, it looks like the good outweighed the bad. And sometimes a week is just like that. Plans had to change and routines got disrupted and most important of all - I had to adjust and adapt. I do regret not getting in the exercise I normally do because I seriously love exercise. But I don't worship it. It is high on my priority list but not at the top. Balance is at the top. And today I do feel better so I'll get in some exercise and some housework - which, around here, in the land of guys and dogs and farm fields, tends to be very aerobic.

A week like this doesn't leave much time or opportunity for creativity but I hope to get in some Art and some Fiber tomorrow. And on Monday I go to the city and after a brief dr. apt. I get to visit my mama, have lunch with my sister and shop for myself. That's a triple whammy! What a roller coaster ride!

Callie wishes a happy, healthy weekend to you all.

Broken Bones

Jack and Callie on Friday - before her leap from the truck.

 On Sundays we like to take long walks. On beautiful Sundays, like yesterday, we like to take very long walks. So around 2 o'clock, yesterday, we loaded the dogs into the back of the truck and drove over to White Oak Swamp. That's about 2 miles away - down our dirt lane and over about a mile and a half of tar surface. The truck is ancient. It does not go very fast. In a mile it can  hardly get up to 30 mph. Not very fast but fast enough that when a wild spoiled impulsive 7 month old puppy sees her neighbor dog running down the field and decides she wants to PLAY - and leaps out of the truck - broken bones will follow.

I'd been watching her out the back window. We weren't going fast. I turned my head for just a moment, then heard a thump and looked back to see white puppiness on the slope of the field as it dips down from the road. I hollered and BD slammed on the brakes. "She can't get up!" I could see her try to get up and fall back down and then try again. We were at her side in a flash. BD scooped her up and she yelped. He set her gently on the front seat of the truck. Instantly the bossy school marm in my left brain began issuing instructions but before things could deteriorate into an adrenalin squabble my wiser self clamped my mouth shut tight. BD was already wrestling with his own accusatory and self accusatory brains and we drove back to the house in silence.

I would NOT be scared and I would not imagine The Worst. In the living room we set Callie down and examined her for breaks but - neither of us being anatomists - couldn't really tell and didn't want to hurt her more by moving her about. I sat on the floor with her head in my lap while BD called Dr. Lauriel, who, thank God, was home and in her very sober quiet kind and gentle way said "I'll meet you in 45 minutes".

I got up to change my shirt and my little baby, wanting her mother, tried to follow me. She could hop on 3 legs but fell down when she tried to climb the steps. Did I mention that my heart, lodged somewhere just below my uvula, constricted yet again? I sat back with my baby and stroked her gently till she was calm again. She never really did yelp or complain so we could battle those black demons of fear.

Jack wondered why we didn't take him with us in the car, but he's very forgiving about that sort of thing. Callie was silent on the back seat, head down, slightly sleepy. Dr. L was already at the surgery when we got to town and right away identified a broken femur.

This is not a photo of Callie's broken femur - her's is the right leg. She tested her for other things - internal bleeding, and such - but there didn't seem to be anything else wrong. Callie lay as sweet and gentle as could be. She even flapped a tail as BD lifted her, only to gently lay her down on that broken leg for the x-ray. She never whimpered and she never complained. I don't know if that's because she was in shock or there is nerve damage so she couldn't feel it - but she just acquiesced to whatever her humans did to her. Dr. L did say that if she could hop on 3 legs it was a good sign that she was going to be alright.

The treatment will be surgery, this morning, first thing. They will put a pin - or pins - inside her bone to hold it straight while it heals and then take it/them out in 4 to 6 weeks. We left her at the vets for the night to be sure she would be confined and quiet. Dr. L gave her some shots to keep her relaxed and some antibiotics to prep her for surgery.

It was a sober and somewhat sad afternoon without our little wild puppy. But we're deeply grateful that there are good doctors near by and that Callie is young, can heal fast, and is in great health at the moment. Whatever comes next we will just take it a step at a time. But what a day!