Addison's Trash Can

I am pretty sure that if you added up Toolman's lifetime medical bills and compared the sum to Colin's lifetime bills, Colin would be the "winner". Monday, Colin added to his extraordinary total with another vet visit.

Sunday, during my mommy-cleanup-a-thon that happens as soon as CRB is tucked in every night, I noticed that Colin was chewing something but I assumed it was a rawhide. On my next trip back through, I found that Colin was choking. Getting closer I realized that he was trying to eat the pork chop bone. I was able to remove it, and next I stuck my finger very, very far down his throat and I retrieved more pork chop bone.


Though I had just taken out the kitchen garbage, I did that too late. Earlier that evening we had pork chops. Toolman is a good cook but I was not able to finish mine. I guess the pork did not get wasted because during CRB's night-time routine, Colin got the pork chop out of the kitchen trash can.

Monday morning Colin began throwing up, and unusually rejected his breakfast. As dogs cannot digest pork, I became very worried, so after a call to the vet, we made the 70 mile trip. Our vet x-rayed Colin and the x-ray revealed that there was some object that was not poop in his lower intestine. This was good news, and the vet said since it had made it that far, it should make it's way out. Colin was not showing any signs of pancreatitis, so our doctor thought Colin would be fine.

I don't know how many times Colin has scavenged through the garbage since CRB was born but Sunday night will be the last time. I don't know how he manages to open the pantry door, or if he has just lucked out with it not being completely shut, but I have a new challenge for him.

When I told Toolman that our trash can has a website, he said "That's disturbing." But it's less disturbing than a yorkie eating most of a pork chop, bone and all.

The Tail of a Three Legged Dog and CRB

Colin the yorkie had his annual checkup a few weeks ago. At the appointment, his regular vet remarked that this was the longest we had not seen each other in a few years. Somehow, Colin did not go to the vet from May until October. After catching up with her, seeing pictures of her new baby and sharing child care provider dilemma details, I came back to reality and realized it’s not that we have not been to the vet because everything’s been fine. My dog has some new issues. What on earth will she find now? Insert feelings of panic here.
Suffice it to say at the end of the appointment, we were referred to two doggie specialists, one who was new to us and one which we had seen numerous times and who has operated on Colin 3 times. The new specialist was a canine eye care specialist who needed to check out Colin’s eyes and determine why one of his pupils is not constricting and make sure that there were no treatable underlying causes or diseases present. We now know that Colin is experiencing iris atrophy which has begun and will continue to advance and no treatment is available. She stated that when he is 12 he may not see too well. At this point, I burst out into inappropriate laughter. She was quite puzzled and I responded that I am not sure my 5 surgery dog would make it to the ripe age of twelve. I believe I usually come across better to health care provides but I am sure I appeared to be kooky lady with a crazy 1 year old who was infatuated with all of resident pets and who was drinking apple juice out of a bottle instead of a sippy cup. Couple that with the fact that in the next breath I am begging CRB to not eat Colin’s doggie treat or any of the banana puffs he discarded to the floor, I am sure that the eye specialist thought I was a loser dog mom.
Next up was the doggie orthopedic specialist. In some way it warmed my heart when I called to make the appointment and after I said “for my dog Colin” the vet tech said, “Oh for Colin? He’s a great dog. Can you be here tomorrow at 9:30? You know the drill, no food after midnight.” CRB accompanied Colin and me on this trip and was not in a good humor from the get-go and the hour or so ride in the car had not helped. But once in the room, he saw her: A young white dog that was wagging her tail at him. CRB’s legs started kicking with excitement. He said “pa” (for puppy I guess) and I realized that unless everyone wanted to witness a fit, we needed to go see the white dog up close. CRB stuck his hand out for the dog to lick it. Then CRB patted her head. We eventually found our seats but CRB kept trying to get the white dog to notice him. To pacify CRB I tried to make some light-hearted conversation about the white dog which got increasingly hard to do.
The white dog had clearly been through some extensive surgery very recently. She still had many surgery markings on her, and had been shaved in lots of places. One of the recent surgeries had been to remove one of her front legs and most of that side’s shoulder. Her owner appeared to be in a great deal of pain over his animal’s condition and the decisions he was going to have to make over her care. I sincerely hope his heart was warmed by CRB recognizing that she was still a beautiful dog.
Colin has some cracking in his right shoulder and must lose 1.7 pounds immediately, but is also on activity restriction. We are scheduled for a follow-up in a few weeks.

Vital Statistics

Number of household members: 4

Total number of legs in household: 10

Number of household members who strongly desire to drink out of the dog water bowl: 2

Number of household members who want me to buy more Chew-eez because they are tasty: 2

Number of canines: 1

Weekend Reflections

Last Sunday, I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series before I let myself read the last book. Today I finished book three, HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was such an enjoyable read, it was not at all like I was re-reading it. Tonight I may begin The Goblet of Fire, since it appears ToolMan and Wren are having a late night machining on the lathe.

Today, Colin and CRB had a good day together. This afternoon ToolMan cleaned out the yellow kiddie pool for CRB to have some fun. Colin, never one to miss water activities (so strange for a yorkie!), had to join in the splashing. Colin did not try to dominate the action in the pool, preferring instead to keep bringing me soggy tennis balls to throw again and again. At times Colin would jump in to check on what CRB was doing. To me this means that Colin was not ignoring CRB, and I believe that it is good that Colin had some interest instead of just shying away, which I would not think would be good for our fear aggression dog. Later, ToolMan fired up the grill and fixed us a late lunch outside, so we could chaperone the boys.

The highlight of my week was Thursday when I got to get to know a wonderful family member better. Somehow, growing up we never got to see each other. It's a special blessing to have a new friend out of your family.

For more weekend reflections visit Judi.

Thorazine Shuffle

Colin's issues have come to an unfortunate head. His anger has been pretty effectively channeled away from CRB and it is now directed at my carpets. As of Friday, Colin is now being doped with a thorazine medicine for dogs while we continue his behavior modification. Our plan is to only use this about 2-3 more days.

Last night we had one of our worst nights with CRB. We tried mixing some Lactose Free Sensitive formula into his regular Alimentum hypoallergenic formula at a ratio of 20%, 80%. He was awake and upset roughly every 45 minutes. It was hard for everyone and I am officially chickening out of the effort to introduce anything other than soy products to him. He does fine when he has soy cream cheese and soy cheese, but even the amount of milk in goldfish crackers causes a problem for him.

The one good thing that came from last night is I feel that I really did all I could do to breastfeed him. I gave up everything with milk for 7 weeks and his tummy did no better. I am not sure how long the milk elimination would have taken but I could not pump and dump any longer than 7 weeks. He is truly sensitive to it and I did everything I could. If later in life CRB tells me that my not breastfeeding him the recommended 12 months caused him to score 5 points less on the SAT than he would have otherwise I will remind him that formula is why he is alive and thriving.

The other crazy thing we did today is a major toy elimination for CRB and Colin. Our lives were becoming entrapped with stuff and ToolMan and I could not take it any more. CRB and Colin both play with the same things over and over. For CRB, his favorite toys are the simpliest with the least amount of batteries. I am going to continue my push to buy him very few items that need batteries. He's much more likely to babble and have fun making sounds if he's the only source for sound.

We kept plenty of toys for each of the boys to have a great rotation, and the ones that we elimated are going to stay in the shop's attic while we finalize what we really need/want and where the extras need to go. Lately I have been doing a good bit of shopping at the Salvation Army place so I have some insights into how I need to package up the toys so someone else can get some use out of them: leave the batteries in so the staff can easily tell the toy works; if the toy has parts, firmly attach the pieces with packing tape or place an item and its parts in its own clear plastic bag.

Weekend Reflections

I have so many things to be thankful for this week.

First, I am thankful for our allergist. He is a great man and helped CRB this week. Dr. D's original training was as a pediatrician and he went back to for the allergy/immunology specialty. What this means to me is I can feel good about having all areas addressed. I have been watching CRB especially closely as he has been doing some extreme nighttime coughing and a bit of wheezing, on top of his regular constant sneezing. Dr. D was ready with a plan. CRB, already a pro at the nasal spray, now has an inhaler system ready for those (scary) nighttime problems. Dr. D also said to bring him back if he needed the inhaler much or if I have concerns. CRB has still not had an ear infection. Dr. D said that was quite remarkable especially considering his congestion. I am so extremely thankful to have Dr. D and access to such excellent healthcare for my boy.

Dr. D said no meat til 12 months, and no milk products either. I have not been giving him meat, but milk is in a surprising number of things. Since we cut out the milk items this week, CRB's stomach is great. He may have that intolerance we suspected. Yesterday, I got to the grocery and found some soy cream cheese. This has been a big hit with CRB, so I am no longer very stressed about "depriving" him.

ToolMan has made excellent progress with the F1000 project. Progress=happy ToolMan=happy Leslie.

Lastly, I am so thankful that the Cesar Millan techniques are working. It would be a stretch to call the CRB-Colin interaction perfect, but it is a process and we are making excellent progress.

For more Weekend Reflections, check out Judi's blog at Mommy of Two.

Pack Leader

We arrived safely home Thursday night thanks to ToolMan and the Garmin 396 with XM weather. It was great having Next Rad in my lap while listening to the controllers re-route traffic around Atlanta for weather. Our self-imposed weather deviation may have cost us a whole 15 minutes. Although we were on an IFR flight plan we only spent about 20 seconds or less in MVFR conditions. I am glad ToolMan solicits my input for circum-weather-navigation.

Friday morning was quite upsetting. Colin's anxiety turned to aggression against CRB. CRB was obliviously crawling towards one of his toys, and Colin took a predatory few steps and then lunged for him. ToolMan, my mom, and myself were all in the room. ToolMan picked up Colin before he managed to nip CRB. Colin was firmly held, told NO!, and whacked with a cupped hand on his booty. Then we set Colin outside the room and closed the door. Unfortunately, my mom said "Oh poor Colin" and left the room to go comfort him 3 seconds later.

ToolMan and I were quite horrified for ourselves for not realizing that Colin's feelings had escalated to this point. For months, we had seen and laughed at the toy stealing. For a few weeks, we had seen the slight grumbling. Earlier in the week, we saw Colin lift his lip and "smile" at CRB. That was not smiling! It was bearing his teeth, and is a show of aggression in a dog, even if that dog happens to be a yorkie. We made quick decisions (Colin was not going to ToolMan's parents and would go home with my mom til we could re-group.) So we unpacked the car to get Colin's stuff out, and repacked it and left for our trip minus Colin.

Before we left town, ToolMan took me to the bookstore to buy Cesar Millan's book. On the way up, I managed to read 100+ pages. I have always been really amazed with the things Cesar does on his show. His book is fascinating. It is not a 1-2-3 style how to book, and he spends the beginning part of the book explaining dogs and packs. I think his technique could only be understood and implemented once you have the background he provides. One thing that he wrote that sticks with me is that you have to be 100% pack leader 24-7. As I value my dog, and as I want him to be a trusted part of the family, I have completely committed to Cesar's techniques and mentality. I did not think it was going to be easy to get Colin to walk on his leash beside or behind me, to "let" me leave through the door first, etc., but I understand now how important this is, and I will make it so.

Monday morning I headed to my parent's to help my mom clean up some cabinets and closets. As soon as I got to their home, I tried to be calm, assertive pack leader. I had told my mom some of it, so she was ready and supportive. I had always thought that the jumping and hyperactive excitement that dogs do when there owner's get home was out of love and joy. Cesar explained why it is actually dominating behavior and must be stopped. I let no crazy jumping take place. I am going to miss that but it is not an acceptable part of the plan so it is out.

The difference in our interaction was kind of shocking. I truly believe (as Cesar said) Colin is going to be a happier dog. We made enough progress at my parent's house for me to bring Colin home. During our drive home, he was completely calm and relaxed in the car.

At home ToolMan and I continued with the plan letting Colin know that he a pack member not the pack leader. Colin is showing a great deal of fear to CRB, but we are carefully following Cesar's plan, and we are being sure to not let Colin run off and hide or conversely, show any aggression.

If you are a dog owner, don't just buy the book, or passively watch the show, read the book.

And yes... I managed the leash thing and I completely agree that it is an imperative first step.

Letter from Home

Dear Colin,

I heard that you are enjoying time with your grandparents and that you are very relaxed and are having a good time back as the proper center of attention.

I am glad that you are having fun but your family misses you. Since you've been gone, you would not believe what the floors look like. Cheerios, banana puffs you name it. I guess I will have to get off my booty and do some vacuuming or borrow a Roomba, or since you may be staying another week.

CRB looks for you all the time. He wants you to know that bathtime is lonely without your surprise jumping in, and that pool time on the deck is lame without you to attack the fountain and re-assign ownership of the toys. Tonight he spent some time with the three doggies next door and let them lick his toes.

I will have to say your Dad and I are sleeping better. Perhaps some little, stealthy yorkie has been sleeping in our bed at night….

Love,

Mom

Weekend Reflection

Monday we had a great evening by doing a cook-out for five of ToolMan's cousins. Everyone ate a lot and had a great time. We should have more days like that.

Tuesday and Wednesday were difficult days for Colin the yorkie. He had a seizure on both days. Thursday he had another, but much more minor episode. ToolMan thinks that over-exertion may be a partial trigger of the seizures so we have been trying to limit Colin's activity. We also think Colin seems anxious, and perhaps has just figured out that CRB is here to stay. It may seem that Colin should have figured this out long ago, but Colin is the dog that needed almost two years to figure out that the treats are kept on the top of the deep freeze.

Friday we went to a retirement party for one of our secretaries. It was a nice party and CRB was well-behaved. He even got to have a tiny bit of cake.

This week ToolMan and I discussed how I am ready to let CRB go to church nursery. This is a big step for me. I also put CRB on some pre-school lists late this week.

Saturday we arrived at the university pool when it opened. It was not crowded at all and we had a wonderful time. We made some more new friends, too. Saturday afternoon I got to do a little shopping with Kerri. We had an awesome time!

Today, I baked some cinnamon rolls and brought them to ToolMan as breakfast in bed. He enjoyed his cards and he was excited to hear about his father's day gift. I tried to spend some time in the shop with ToolMan as he has said he misses that. This afternoon, I put the baby pool out on the deck. Colin was determined to participate. He got and out of the pool many times before CRB did. He had the best time retrieving tennis balls and removing all the toys from the pool. I am thankful that CRB thinks that Colin is playing with him as opposed to understanding the real motive – steal all the toys. With his love of the water, sometimes I think my yorkie must be part Lab, a Labra-dor-kie perhaps?

ToolMan made a piece to fit in the little sprinkler I put in the pool. The piece makes a water fountain out of the sprinkler using an unbelievably low trickle of water.

I am making some progress on my sleeping, but I am still plagued with nightly nightmares: cancer, drive-by shootings, smurf-blue snakes, ToolMan setting fire to different items in the kitchen, ToolMan removing the Start button from the microwave,… it goes on. Many times in the past we have noticed that Colin has experienced major anxiety whenever I am anxious. Here's hoping for a little less anxiety next week for the two and four-legged folks.

For more Weekend Reflections, click here.

Photo Hunters: Hair

My yorkie has beautiful hair!

Check out his hair in puppy days (10 weeks):

Then at 1.5 years:

Favorite Grown-up Photo (taken by Kerri) in Dec 2005:

For more photo hunters. click here.

The Battle for Captain Floaty Boat

Colin and CRB had a bunch of fun this afternoon on the deck. Colin delighted in stealing Captain Floaty Boat (a little people figure) and Admiral Sinker (captain of the other boat that won't float).

Manic Monday Typed on Tuesday

Colin the yorkie had a seizure Monday morning at 3 a.m. The last time he had a seizure was winter 2006 as a result of confirmed vitamin D poisoning in his special food. His special food is necessary because of the huge bladder stone he had in 2005. The dog food company, Royal Canin, responded in a very good way by paying for all medical bills related to the incident, and Colin made a good recovery. But long story short, I am worried that his food may be making him sick again. There may be something in the Colin's system that is responding in a bad way to the food, or it may be the food. The RC Urinary SO food is quite different than any other food in the way it is trying to prevent both kinds of bladder stones.

I had said several times in the last month that I did not think he was feeling well. But after the seizure, ToolMan and I were concerned because the last time he had a seizure was with the poisoning. I took him to the vet on March 15 and he got a great report, or I would have taken him in sooner (Never in Colin's life has he been given such a good report).

We don't have clear findings yet, and we may not get them without some more repeated testing, but I have switched dog foods and I think he is beginning to feel better. Perhaps I am right, and perhaps he is better.

CRB went with Colin and me to the vet. It took about 1 hour 10 minutes to get to the vet, 4 (yes four!) hours at the vet, and about 1 hour 20 minutes to get home. CRB did great. He found everything fascinating and he enjoyed the other animals and toys. This was his 5^th trip to the vet with Colin. That's a lot of vet trips for a 7 month old.

Purse Meme - a.k.a Anyone need a pen?

Amberly tagged me for the purse meme earlier today. I am so excited about participating!! Colin the yorkie even helped!

This is my first over-sized purse. I was always one of those small purse people. Well, I finally got tired of having to take my wallet out every time I needed to answer the phone or find my keys. About two months ago I bought this beige purse. I had 15 whole minutes to choose it but I am really happy, even if it is a Jessica Simpson. (Full disclosure on the selection of the purse: I read somewhere that you might possibly look skinnier if you carry a large purse. So forget convenience, that fact alone would probably have been enough.)

The contents of my purse are kind of surprising to me. At the moment, I do not have any student papers in it! Here's the unabridged contents:

I tried to follow Kerri's organization scheme, but anyone that knows me very well knows that was very short-lived.

Top row: Baby amusement: Toot Toot the elephant beanie, some car seat jingles, and CRB's Elmo/Cookie phone. Baby necessity: one used spoon from our dinner out. My essentials: USB key and the knife I purchased with a salesman's help when I told him that I did not want a wimpy knife. That knife really impresses the guys :)

Middle row: Reading glasses (I am only 33!), wallet, sephora hair brush (love it), two #2 pencils, MINI Cooper pen plus 5 other pens, cell, Tylenol sinus medicine for ToolMan, regular Tylenol with with the anti-nausea pill from being preg., & inhaler.

Bottom row: receipts (only 2!!), fortune cookie fortune (The question of life is 'Why?' The answer is 'Why not?'), Kerri's new card, 5 lipstick items, sanitizing gel, pocket mirror, tape measure, keys and more keys (note the huge allen key/hex thing), and membership card keychain.

Whew! Anyone need a pen?

Wordless Wednesday: Tired Big Brother

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