Project Recovery: Day 54

Today = Freedom!!!

Bean's appoimtment with the surgeon this morning went great. Dr. Clarke gave her a clean bill of health and told us that we could stop her confinement immediately and gradually introduce more activity until she was back to her usual routine.

When we got home, Bryan walked her inside and she headed straight for her penned-in little recovery area. She was certainly surprised when we took her off leash instead and let her walk around on her own! She walked around the downstairs part of the house all afternoon, just checking out all the rooms and sniffing all the furniture. I guess she forgot what it smells like?

Our plan is to confine her to the first floor of the house for one week. We have baby-gated the bottom of the stairs. Then she will be allowed upstairs but will be kept inside for another week. And then, in two weeks, we will take the cover off the dog door and let her have her backyard back. She will be so thrilled!

We are so happy to have our puppy back. She is putting weight on the new knee, and there is not a limp or anything anymore. It's amazing what Dr. Clarke was able to do. But what's even more amazing, what I will never forget, is how all of you pitched in to help make this happen. We will always be so grateful.

Thanks everyone! I'm baaaaaaaaaccccckk!!

Project Recovery: Day 44

Sorry for the long absence folks. We have been having a bit of trouble with our internet service (Darn you, Verizon! Darn you to heck!!!). We are in the process of switching ISPs and should be back to our regular high-speed selves soon.

In the meantime, I spent twenty minutes uploading a photo for you. I hope you like it:

Mmmm......rawhide......

As you can see, Bean is continuing to improve. In fact, she now feels so good that she does not feel the need for further recovery, and is emitting a constant, high-pitched whistle to let us know that she is done, much like a little kettle. There are only three instances in which she does not make this noise: when she is being walked, when she is sleeping (which is not happening as much as it used to), and when she is chewing on rawhide. As you can imagine, we are going through quite a bit of the stuff over here!

Oh, and she has her 8-week follow-up appointment with the surgeon on the 26th of June, during which we will find out if Bean needs an additional 4 weeks of confinement, or if she will be be released early on good behavior.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Project Recovery: Day 35

Bean has a history of taking out her frustration on her stuffed animals (see previous post), so it was no surprise when we noticed the stuffies in her "cell" starting to look a little mutilated. Many of them are missing faces, and all of them are little lighter since they "met" Bean, due to severe hemorrhage of stuffing.

What surprised me was a recent, unprecedented act of kindness she performed for one of these poor creatures. I walked by one day and saw that she was allowing the gray kitty to have first dibs at her breakfast.


I can only guess that she made a deal with God - that she will start showing mercy and remorse for her past acts of violence against these innocent creatures in exchange for a speedy release from her own hexagonal prison of sin.

Well, if nothing else good comes from all of this, at least our little Bean has found religion.

Project Recovery: Day 32

This blog seems to be full of examples of sub-standard parenting these days. What can I say? We are doing the best we can in a difficult situation.

Don't judge me!!

Exhibit #352:

What do you do when the (dog's) valium is no longer working but it's too early for the next dose; you are out of rawhide chews; you can't make a peanut butter Kong because you are out of peanut butter; Bryan is hours away from coming home to relieve you of duty; and your dog is repeatedly making a sound that is just slightly more bone-chilling than that of a dentist's drill?

Answer: Give the dog the remains of the peanut butter jar and let her tire herself out trying to lick the peanut butter residue out. You are smarter than she is, and know that her tongue will never reach all the way to the bottom, and that she will fall over from exhaustion before giving up.

Uh...guys?...I don't feel too good...

I realize that this is equivalent of me posting a picture of my toddler passed out on an empty jumbo-sized bag of Cheetos. I am not ashamed. If I had any such pictures, I'd post them too. But we are years away from having a baby other than Bean. So for now, she will have to bear the brunt of my poor parenting skills.