Thanksgiving in VA

So....sorry about not posting in so long. I am in my third consecutive month of inpatient clerkships. If you are lucky enough not to know what that means, consider yourself blessed. Basically I have been crazy busy.

I had to make the time to write this though. I just want to say that I am so proud of our girl. Bean went with us to VA to spend part of Thanksgiving weekend at my in-law's place. I have to admit, I was nervous. Would she beg during the dinner? Would she knock Bryan's 90-something-year-old grandpa over? Would she bark constantly?

I am happy to report that Bean was a perfect little angel the whole trip, starting with the drive up (although she is always good in the car).

I'm not going to look at you, woman. Please get that camera out of my face.

OK, fine. Here you go. CHEESE. Happy now? Now can I go back to helping Dad drive?

When we needed to baby-gate her upstairs (for the fancy dinner), she did not cry. She kept watch over us for awhile and then went to sleep. Here she is at the top of the stairs, looking down at everyone else in the living room. She really likes being high up!

Hey! I can see everyone from here. This is the perfect spot for keeping tabs on all my humans at once.

She especially likes how the windows in that house go almost all the way to the floor, making it possible for her to look outside without standing up on her hind legs. She spent quite a bit of time at this window looking at the other dogs in the neighborhood and watching out for squirrels.

Dog...dog...another dog....SQUIRREL!!!...oh wait, just a Chihuahua....dog...dog...

And when she finally got tired, she rested quietly on her new turquoise dog bed (which is from bow wow beds and is awesome).

Whew! It sure is exhausting being such a good dog!

We hope your holiday was just as relaxing, and there are lots more photos to come. Only, not until after my shelf exam on the 19th. Speaking of which, I am off to go study. Bye bye!

The Scariest Basement Ever

I went to take a shower tonight, and was none too happy to discover there was no hot water. Apparently the pilot light went out on our gas water heater. In the interest of basic hygiene, we called the gas company and they are sending someone out to relight it.

This house has a basement. I have never lived in a house with a basement, and am sort of scared of them anyway. But this basement is the prototypical scary basement. It has cobwebs and creaky wooden stairs and a single bare light bulb. If I was an ax murderer, it's totally where I would hang out.

Someone had to go down there to confirm that the pilot light was indeed out. We drew straws and Bryan lost. Actually we didn't draw straws. I told him he had to go down there and Bean and I would wait upstairs with the phone ready to dial 911 if he screamed.

Bean was very disturbed by the sudden disappearance of her favorite parent, and stood with her head in the doorway until he was safely back upstairs.

"Dad? You OK down there?"

"Daaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad? Bark twice if you can hear me."

Bean has relocated!

Well, the move is over. We are...25% unpacked. Also we have painted 25% of the house. The rest will happen when it happens. Bean is loving all the space. This house has much more room for her to run around. You can go from the office to the hall to the dining room to the living room and back to the office in one big circle. When Bean gets a chew or a new toy, she she takes it in her mouth and runs a few laps around this circle to get out some of the excess joy before finally settling down on her bed to consume whatever it is. The number of laps she runs corresponds to her level of excitement over the treat. For a regular rawhide, she will do maybe 1 or 2 laps. I gave her a squeaky-stuffed hot dog toy yesterday and I thought she'd never stop running!

Here she is surveying her new (and much larger) backyard from our bed.

How the *&^%@ did those squirrels get my new address??

Bean visits the Burbs

As I mentioned in the last post, we spent the 4th of July weekend at Bryan's parents' house in VA. They live in a very nice house in a very polished subdivision. It is a very different place than where Bean has spent most of her life, and she really enjoyed investigating it. One of the most striking differences, from her perspective, had to be the immaculate condition of the sidewalks and lawns. She really loved her walks there!

"This is niiiiiice. Do you think they wash these sidewalks? I mean there is NO trash whatsoever! Although, I do miss the fun of looking for a stray chicken bone or an old piece of gum, like we do at home."

"Just look at that curb! It looks bleached. It's clean enough to eat off of. Of course, I also will eat out of the trash. I'm not really picky."

"The grass is still green here! It looks so comfy! I just want to roll around in it and scratch my back! Don't you?"

"Mom, we have GOT to do something about the landscaping situation at home. Seriously."

Sorry Bean! Until your Mom graduates and gets a J-O-B, we'll just have to live with weeds and dead leaves.

(By the way, we move into the new house this weekend. I will be sure to take pictures of Bean's first moments checking out her new digs!)

Well, I am so glad that's over!

I took the boards on Thursday! The entire ordeal was much, much worse than I had anticipated. But it's all behind me now! Now I just have to wait 6 weeks before I find out how I did...

As soon as I finished, we drove to VA to spend the holiday weekend with Bryan's parents. I took lots of photos. I think some of the best are a few that don't even have Bean in them. I'm sure you will agree that they are still cute, though.

We were all in the car on the way somewhere when the traffic stopped to let a rather large group of geese cross. They just went right out like they do this all the time. The leader made sure they all got across before they regrouped on the other side and waddled up the hill.

I wonder where they were going...

I would not dare post without including at least one photo of Bean. So here she is, completely worn out on the way home. As I have mentioned before, Bean finds it especially comfy when she can wedge her extra large head into an extra small space. She slept for about 45 minutes with her head wedged in between the car seats.

"This spot is taken. You'll have to find another place to wedge."

I especially like this photo because it shows how floppy her lips have gotten as she has grown up. Here her left lip is draped over Bryan's armrest. You can also see the crumbs of sleep in her eyes. Definitely not her most becoming photo, but I think it's so funny!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

The whole family (Me, Bryan and Bean) went to stay with Bryan's parents in Virgina over Mother's Day weekend. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about how it would go. Bean has only been to their house once, and that was when she was recovering from her surgery, and was therefore confined to a small pen. This time she would have the freedom to explore the whole house as she pleased. And it's a nice house. With nice things. I had visions of crystal vases, throw pillows, and floral arrangements scattered in shreds and pieces all over the nice wood floors.

Bryan had more faith in Bean's ability to "act right" when needed. In preparation for the visit, I took her to get a mani/pedi (nail trim) so that she would not leave claw marks on the wood floors. I bought half a dozen plush squeaky toys for emergency use, and we packed a Super Jumbo bag of rawhide chews. We were ready.

On the drive up, she was a perfect angel. She is very good on long car trips. She alternates between napping and checking for other dogs in the cars that pass by.

Clear...Clear...Clear...Cle-WAIT! Is that a CAT in that car??? Oh..It's just a Chihuahua...OK Clear... Clear...

Where'd Dad go? Oh, he's filling up the tank.

WHAT??? Gas costs HOW much??!!

Later on, after the sun set, she slept for the rest of the trip. When we slowed down to get on the exit ramp, I snapped this photo.

Huh? What? Are were there yet?

I'll have to split the rest of the trip into a different post. I really should at least pretend to study!
Stay tuned...

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

...because I am studying for the boards. I have 5 weeks left to study. It seems impossible!

Anyway, I may not be able to find much time for the blog. I will try to post photos at least. Bean is pissed. She is considering firing me and hiring a professional biographer to take over the site.

Wish me luck!

Mystery at the Friday Night Movie Fest

Last night we were watching the last few episodes of the final season of Gilmore Girls. (Fans of the show will understand how distracted and emotional we must have been...for those of you who don't like the show - where is your heart???)

After the last episode, when we were done crying about how inevitable it is that your children will grow up and stop needing you and break your heart (and how do you even begin to deal with that anyway?), Bryan got up to go pee. From the bathroom he yells, "Hey, did you shower today?"

Given that yesterday morning I took the last exam of my second year of medical school (Whoohooooo!) and have been very busy this week, this was a totally reasonable thing to ask. So reasonable, in fact, that it took a minute for me to recall when I had last showered. After a brief sniff of the pits (sorry, I'm gross), I responded "Yeah, why?"

Bryan: Um, ever hear of a towel?
Me: What are you talking about?
Bryan: The bathroom rug is still wet. Did you just stand here and drip-dry?

I get up to go see what he's talking about (yes, Bryan is still peeing during all of this. He is a World Champion peer.) and sure enough, there is a big wet spot smack dab in the middle of the rug.

Bryan looks up at the ceiling: Maybe there is a leak from upstairs.
Me: This is a single story house. How is that even possible?

Eventually, we pieced it all together. Somewhere during the episode where Luke takes Lorelei car-shopping, I noticed Bean sitting by the front door staring at me. Knowing that this means she wants to go out, and having no intention of getting up myself, I told Bryan to take her to pee. "Sure, just after this episode." Three episodes later, he found himself standing on a wet bathroom rug....

Yes that's right. Once she ascertained that we were not going to take her out to use her bathroom, she decided she'd just use ours.

I was actually impressed. She is clearly smart enough to have figured out that the bathroom is to us what the backyard is to her. That's pretty awesome. A lesser dog would have just peed by the front door. I'm not sure why she picked the rug. Maybe it reminded her somehow of grass? I can assure you she has never seen me take a leak on the rug (though, I can't speak for Bryan).

So, Bryan washed his feet in the tub and I hauled the rug off to the garage to wash it. Then we all snuggled in to watch The Heartbreak Kid. Looking over at Bean, who was wedged in between us snoring, I took Bryan's hand and said, "You know what? Bean will never grow up and leave us."

"Nope. I ain't going nowhere."

Bean is a Daddy's Girl

I took this photo on Saturday night, from my tiny corner of the bed. You can see my pink-pajama-covered knee in the picture. Why was I smooshed into a corner of my own bed? Because of this:





Aren't they precious? They were so cute I didn't have the heart to shove them over. Bean loves her daddy.

Bean Ignores Mom

Yay! Another video!




Here, you can see that I am making a fool out of myself trying to get Bean to do something (anything!) for the camera, while she is obviously just trying to go back to sleep. It's shocking how she can be perfectly still when I want her to move, but turns into a ball of pure energy when I want her to be still. If you look closely, you can see that she blinks her eyes once. Other than that, it is pretty much the most boring 17 seconds of your life.

I hate having to work with moody celebrities.

Bean Gets Comfy

On a recent ride in the car, Bean got tired pretty quickly of looking out the window and settled in for a quick nap. Or at least she tried to settle in. It took a little repositioning before she could find a comfy position.

"This won't do at all."

"This is even worse."

"Ah, yes. I forgot about the Dog Nose Holder. What a neat invention. How thoughtful of Toyota to put one of these in all their cars. All that shifting around wore me out. I'm...so...sleeepp....zzzzzzzz"

Just a note. #1 Yes, my car is filthy. Bean and I are the only ones who ride in it, though, and she doesn't mind. #2 She is still wearing her head-collar because it was a short trip. For longer trips, I take it off and let her get really comfy!

Once, Bean got to ride in her Grandma's SUV. She got the whole back section to herself, and she loved it! Windows on three sides, a nice carpeted area to stretch out on, and no chance of sliding onto the floor at stop lights! She is really lobbying hard for me to get an SUV when my car dies [Updated to Add: My car may be dead now. It stopped working yesterday. Rest in Peace, 1994 Toyota 2 door Camry with the paint falling off, RIP.]. I think the best I can do will be some sort of hybrid station wagon thing, though. She will just have to ride with Grandma when she wants to ride in style!

Bean is Busy

I took this yesterday. Bean and I are on the bed, waiting for the start of the Friday Night Movie Festival. Well, I'm waiting. Bean is busy concentrating on the window behind the bed, scanning the yard for squirrels. Those are her "concentration ears." Bryan is busy returning phone calls.

Can't pose now Mom. I'm busy.

I suppose I'm busy too. Busy watching them both and giggling.

Wake Up Sleepy Head!

This has been a rainy, lazy weekend. It's one of those rare weekends when I don't have an exam on Monday. It was so hard to get out of bed! Some of us (Bean) decided just not to try. When I attempted to wake Bean and get her out of the bed so I could make it, it went like this:

Me: Bean. Time to get up now!

I'm invisible. I'm invisible. If I can't see her, she can't see me. I'm invisible...

Me: Bean, I know you are in the bed. I am looking right at you.

Okay. I'm in bed. But I'm soooo sleeepy. And sooo cute. You don't really want to get me up, do you? Look at this face...

Me: If you get out of bed, I'll make you breakfast.

Breakfast!? Did you just say "breakfast"?? I love breakfast!

And then she got up to eat. Within ten minutes of breakfast, we were both back in the bed!

Baby Talk

Congratulations to Shelby the Pug, another dog-who-blogs, because she is getting a new (human) baby brother! Many blessings to Shelby and her family. It will be interesting to see how Shelby adjusts to having another baby in the house. I know she'll be a great big sister.

We have often wondered what kind of a big sister Bean will be. She hasn't really been around very many babies, simply because we don't know that many (aside from the ones I babysit for). Of course, we are years away from introducing a new little brother or sister to Bean, but I think it would be good for her to have some exposure to them beforehand.

Well you know what? It is surprisingly difficult to get anyone to let you borrow their child for use as a "practice baby" to see how your dog reacts. Can you believe that? I even asked the parents I babysit for. They said no! Some people are just selfish, I guess.

So, we will just have to practice with dolls for now. Although, considering the fate of Bean's other toys, that might end in a gruesome mess!

You know they just aren't as much fun after the stuffing is gone...{sigh}

Bean Goes Multimedia!

I got an awesome new camera for my birthday on Monday (thanks Mom and Dad!) and decided to play around with it after Bean and I got back from the vet on Wednesday. It has the ability to take short (1 min) videos, and thought "Finally! I get to show Bean in action!" So I taped the destruction of the fleece toy I gave Bean in reward for not killing any cats in the waiting room.

I taped it in three parts. Unfortunately, the last part (which is the most thrilling) is kind of blurry. I tried to get fancy and mess with the settings without actually reading the manual first. Oh well. There will be many more toys for Bean to destroy I am sure!

So without further ado, I present to you:

Bean vs. Squeaky Toy - Part I



Bean vs. Squeaky Toy - Part II




Bean vs. Squeaky Toy - Part III




Notice in that last clip that she is able to remove the stuffing and the squeaker in less than 60 seconds. Now that is impressive!

Close Call in the Cat Room

Yesterday we went to the vet for some routine blood work. Our vet, like many others, has separate waiting rooms for dogs and cats. In the dog waiting room, there is a selection of toys for sale. The proceeds go towards the clinic's Stray Fund. We always buy Bean a toy on the way out to reward her for being a good girl at the vet.

Well, yesterday, I stayed in the waiting room while they took her back (it was just a quick lab visit). I had already picked out a toy for her (a pink fleece squeaky horse, more on that later) and stashed it in my purse. I don't like to give it to her until we get home, because she tends to make a mess with her toys. Well, there I was, thumbing through the latest issue of Dog Fancy, when the door from the lab bursts open and Bean comes tearing out of it, dragging her leash along, and followed closely by a vet tech. She had gotten free from the tech on their journey back to the waiting room. And her destination?

The cat area.

Oh yes. Bean decided that instead of the usual plush toy, this time she wanted a living, breathing chew toy to take home. One that meows instead of squeaks. She was caught before she could make it there, and no cats were harmed during this ordeal, although there was some hissing and back-arching. When they brought her to me, I wasn't sure if she still deserved a toy. Should I reward this behavior?

OK. I know how that looked. But let me just say... the cats started it.

I ended up giving her the toy once we got home. How can I resist that face? Besides, she looks sorry, doesn't she? Man, I am a pushover.

Profile shot

Here is a nice shot of Bean in my back yard scanning for squirrels. She is lovely in profile, isn't she? As you can see, there is a huge old tree in the middle of the yard. There must be hundreds of squirrels that live in that tree. And every one of them has tormented Bean at one time or another. Their newest trick is to climb out to the end of a branch and fall. That's right. They just fall to the ground with a loud thud! and then tear off for the tree trunk as fast as they can.

Uhhh. Where'd he go? Where'd he go!!! Let me at 'em!!!

As you can imagine, this drives Bean absolutely insane. By the time she focuses on one of them, it is already too close to the tree for her to get it, and in the meantime, the next one has jumped. It's pretty much the craziest thing I've ever seen squirrels do. Kind of like a real-life version of Whac-A-Mole. Either they have a death wish, or they are confident in the knowledge that Bean is the Worst. Hunter. Ever.

She doesn't so much as glance at me during this, even when I open the gate. Like this past weekend, when I needed to go inside and grab a sweater. Nothing. I did not even exist to her. But when I came back? It was a whole different story.

Hi mom!! I missed you!!! Don't ever leave me again, OK?

Dog Years

I saw this posted on dooce yesterday, and just had to post it here. It is so funny, and so well done. I also kind of teared up at the end. It is surprisingly moving.

I give it 4 paws up, which is the equivalent of "2 thumbs up" in human, because you only use two of your paws correctly. Just one more reason why I pity you poor, confused creatures. But that is a topic for another day. You'll laugh. You'll cry. Just watch it.

Coworkers

Both Bryan and I have desks in the office, each of which are in front of a window. That way we can stare out the window, which greatly enhances our ability to procrastinate. The downside of this is that Bean can't see out of these windows like she can in the others in the house - by standing up and putting her paws on the windowsill. Her solution is to just stand up and put her paws on our desks instead. Occasionally, she will do this while one of us is working, and it looks like we are discussing some very important project. The other day she did this with Bryan.

See, if you move this sentence here into the conclusion, I think it makes the whole piece flow much better, don't you?

It can be very distracting when you are trying to study or grade papers and there is this gigantic dog head in your peripheral vision like that. But we love her anyway!

In other news, it seems that we have found a new house, and will be moving in August. There are 2 windows in the office at the new house as well, so Bean will be able to continue to "help" us with our work.

Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear

We spent some time this weekend driving around town with Bean. Mostly, we were all enjoying the lovely weather. We were also looking at houses, as we are considering a move. Since Bean will be spending more time in any house we take than we will, we thought it best to bring her along so she could give us her opinion.

See, this one is big enough, but there aren't many trees around here. That will seriously impede my squirrel-hunting. Also I'm not sure I like the widows. They are too high for me to see out of. I like the porch, though. Is this a Cape Cod or a Bungalow?

I kept getting distracted by this scene in the rear-view mirror on my side of the car:

Is that Christy's car? That looks like Christy's car. Where is she anyway? I miss her.

And when I tried to talk to Bryan about what we were seeing, I turned my head to face this:

If you take this next left you can cut across town without having to take the freeway.

This whole process could take awhile....

Gizmo has been found!

Thanks to the help of volunteers and the media, Gizmo has been found and reunited with her foster family! All the dog-nappers in this town had better pay attention. This is just not acceptable. Congratulations Gizmo!!

Another stolen dog!

I can hardly believe it, but another dog has been stolen in Durham. Her name is Gizmo and she is a 12 year old Pekingese female. More info and pictures at Animal Protection Society of Durham. The weird thing is that Gizmo was stolen from her foster home. That's right, she was up for adoption! If anyone wanted her that badly they could have adopted her for the $120 fee. Ugh! Humans!!

Bean't first fashion accessory.

We went out of town this past weekend to visit Bryan's parents in Virginia. Bean stayed at the Doggie Spa and Daycare. This was her first time staying there and we were very impressed. When we picked her up, she was so happy! She clearly had a good time. Earlier today she got a bath with the works (nail trim, ear cleaning, teeth cleaning, and anal gland maintenance...don't click on that link unless you really want to know). After her bath, they dressed her in this shamrock bandanna, in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Bean has never worn a bandanna before. Doesn't she look so pretty?

Give me the cheese, I want the cheese, give me the cheese, I want the cheese, give me the cheese...

To get her to sit for this picture, Bryan stood off to the right and held up pieces of string cheese, which she got after each shot. I was able to take like twenty shots! I can never get her to sit still for that long by myself. Bryan may just have to become my official photographer's assistant!

Have it Your Way!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but remember how we took Bean to the vet the day after we got her back? Well, not only did our Bean not waste away to skin and bones during her week on the streets, she actually gained two pounds. I think we figured out why.

Two days before she came home, I wrote about a dog spotted hanging around the local Burger King that looked a lot like Bean. When Bryan got there he saw a loose dog, but it was not Bean. He made sure this dog got back to his owner, and came home.

It turns out that Bean probably was there at the Burger King that Friday afternoon. But before Bryan could get there, another man picked her up and took her home with him. This was the man who saw our flier on Sunday and later gave her back to us. So all those people who called us actually had seen Bean hanging out at Burger King. (Thanks, people!)

Judging by her weight, it seems she spent quite a bit of time feasting on Whoppers and french fries culled from the dumpsters behind the restaurant. Since we got her back, she has been on her normal, no-frills diet. She had to go back to the vet this past Monday to get her vaccinations, and is now back at her pre-dog-napping weight. While we are pleased that her very becoming girlish figure has returned, we will miss calling her Fatty McFatdog.

Do you smell fries? I could have sworn I smelled fries out here...

Back on the streets

Because walking Bean is a lot like walking a Clydesdale, she wears a Gentle Leader when we go out. Like most dogs, Bean despises wearing this thing. The first time I put it on her, she thrashed around the living room for 20 minutes, rolling around on her back and pawing at her face to try to take it off. So we were not surprised to hear that, within hours of getting away from the man who stole her, Bean was spotted wondering around without her Gentle Leader and leash. I am sure the first order of business after getting free of him was to roll around and paw at her face until she finally got that thing off. Now that she is back (Yay!!!), I have bought her a brand new leash and head collar. She was none too happy when we pulled it out and put it on her.

Damn you!!! How did you find this??? I thought I threw it in the creek...I'll have to find a better hiding place next time...maybe in that dumpster over there...

Even with the collar, Bean is very happy to be back patrolling the neighborhood like usual. Now all the residents can sleep soundly, knowing that they are protected from squirrels, cats, blowing leaves, plastic grocery bags, the wind, and everything else that Bean thinks is suspicious.

Also, Bryan wrote a wonderful article in which he discusses what the search for Bean taught him about community organizing. It can be found in multiple places, including here.

Friday night film festival

We spent last night in bed watching movies with Bean. Here she is right after we watched The Painted Veil with our friend Christy, but before we watched more of the series Planet Earth. We highly recommend both.

If you don't come back to bed right now, I am claiming your pillows (and your husband) as my own. Also, enough with the flash, OK?

However, if you are grossed out by cockroaches and bat droppings, you might want to skip the episode called "Caves." I kind of wish I had....

Now that the search is over....

The city has very nicely asked us to take down the Bean fliers that were put up all over town. Since so many people put them up in so many places, it would be really great if everyone could take down the fliers they put up. If you are unable to do that (because you put up fliers in an area other than where you live) please let me know where you posted them, and I will get someone else to take them down.

Also, if you happen upon a flier in your daily travels, please take a moment to rip it down. It will be such a happy task compared to putting the posters up! We don't need them anymore because we have our Bean back!

The city has been unbelievably understanding about these fliers, and I really don't want them to have a reason to regret it. So if we could try to get those fliers down as soon as possible that would be awesome!

No photos. Sorry. Just business, since I am sending this from school. I am pretty sure we can all guess what Bean is doing right now anyway!

Sleeping Beauty

Here is another photo of Bean. As you can see she is still sleeping most of the time. This time she is on the bed.

Go away. I'm sleeping.

I did however get her to at least raise her head this time, so that you all can see that she is not dead:

Please leave me alone.

I am happy to report that her stomach has settled down, and we are adding the dry food back into her diet. I am also happy to report that I passed my psychiatry exam!

Also, I feel that I have been done wrong by the press. From reading some of it, you would think I didn't even exist! It is bad enough I was left out the photos for the paper, I am also barely even mentioned in any of them.

I would just like to point out for the record that I am the one who wanted a dog, I am the one who picked Bean, I am the one who is on the official adoption papers, and (most importantly) I am the one who created and maintains this blog. There is some reference to "Bryan Proffitt's blog" somewhere. Please give me URL. I would love to see this blog, because as far as I know he doesn't have one.

This is kind of a sore point for me, as you can tell. Why? Because when I started this blog 3 years ago, Bryan was mortified. He laughed at me. I think his exact words were "What kind of a nerd makes a website for her dog?"

Who's laughing now, baby?

Finally a photo....

I'm getting up. Just ten more minutes...

Here is a photo of Bean sleeping in the living room this afternoon. This is proof that we do indeed have her back. As you can see, she is healthy and settling back into her routine quite well. She has been pretty much sleeping non-stop since she got home. I couldn't even get her to get up off her blanket and move into the light for this picture. I ended up having to use the flash, which is why it's not such a pretty picture. I am sure the one the professional photographer took will be much, much better! He took a bunch of photos of us outside. Bean was sitting on her bench on the deck, and we were standing beside her petting her. After a few minutes, for no apparent reason, she got up and went back inside through her dog door. She is such a diva that she is actually walking off the set during photo shoots. We are so proud!

So, we reached the goal of $1000 in less than one day! At $1000 per day, Bean is now the breadwinner of the household. We are not going to tell her that, though. She is already letting her celebrity status go to her head.

It's so good to have her home.

WOW!

So, I post this plea for donations to Bean's Recovery Fund, I eat my lunch, pack a bag, meet Bryan in Durham for lunch, come home and do a photo shoot for the paper (more on that later), and then check the blog. Now we are 93% of the way to the goal!??!

Wow. Just....Wow.

We have gotten calls from both local papers today. One (The News and Observer) sent a photographer over to take some shots of Bean and her family.

Why was I left out of the final shot? That's cold.

It's a photo of Bean kissing Bryan on the chin. I am off in the background welcoming visitors. That pretty much sums up how things work around here. Bryan gets all the love! But when he is not around, and it's just me and Bean, it's a whole other story. Then she's all "Mom, I totally love you best. I just do that stuff with Dad because he's insecure. Seriously....Let me get in the bed. Please?...Mom?"

I just took some photos of Bean. She is sleeping on a blanket in the living room. All of her beds and things are in the laundry from the puking last night. The vet says she is totally healthy. We are trying her on a bland canned food for a day or two, and if she keeps that down, we will mix in her dry food until she is back to just dry. Bean probably stuck her paw down her throat last night while no one was looking, just so she could get some of this canned food. She LOVES this stuff. She had some after her knee surgery too. Bryan gave her 1/2 a can when he got back from the vet, and he said she almost hurt her face she was trying so hard to get all the food in her mouth at once.

Unfortunately, I didn't pack the cord that let's me download photos from my camera to the computer, so you will have to wait until tonight for those. But there are professional photos coming! I will let you know when they are in the paper and link to them from here.

You all are the best!

Rebecca

Passing the Hat for Bean!!

Are you still giddy from the news that we have found our Bean?? Do you want to make that feeling last a little longer??? Can you spare five dollars?? Then this post is about you!!!

In the last days of Bean's disappearance, there was talk on this blog in the comments about us increasing the reward, and that some folks out there would be willing to help donate for us to do so.

Well, the good news is that there was no need to take such drastic measures. The less good news is that even with the reward set to $1000, that is way more than we actually have. Our thought process went like this: "We will cross that bridge when we get to it, and PLEASE GOD let us get to that bridge!!" In fact, at this moment we owe most of that amount to the various friends who ran off scrambling with their ATM cards trying to get the cash together yesterday afternoon.

There are many costs of getting her back which either cannot be recovered or we will come up with the money on our own for, including: the HUNDREDS of hours put in by us and everyone involved in the search, the astronomical copying costs of making thousands of fliers, and the vet costs (which we are hoping won't be too bad!) for getting her back to her usual excellent health. But we are really hoping it is not too much to ask for more support in this one last thing.

So, I have set up a campaign where YOU (yes you!) can donate and make this happen! There is a little icon in the top right of this page, which you can click on to donate (via Paypal). You don't even have to have a Paypal account to donate, just a credit/debit card. There is a progress bar so we can all watch as we reach this goal.

I have done some math (which is really painful to do post-exam, by the way), and figured out that the following scenarios will all get us to the $1000 goal:

1) Every person who has checked this blog during the past week donates ONE dollar

2) Every person who was involved in the search in some small way (from putting up a flier to combing the streets for Bean) donates FIVE dollars

3) Every person who wanted to help, but because of time/distance (hello out-of-state Bean fans!) constraints were limited to praying and hitting the refresh button on this page every 3.6 minutes donates TEN dollars.

4) Oprah Winfrey (a well-known dog lover) sees this, checks the cup holder in one of her cars for loose change, and donates ONE THOUSAND dollars

Which will it be? Stay tuned to find out!!

The Story...

I just got home from my exam. I definitely passed, so no worries there. I talked to Bryan. He says that Bean threw up again this morning, and has an appointment with our vet in a couple of hours. I think it's just something she ate, but we'll have her checked out head to paw anyway.

Bryan sent out an email to friends/family last night with the story of how we got Bean back. I am posting it here, but with all the names changed (except for Bryan and Bean, of course!):

I'm on my way back from Chapel Hill today, after a long day of crying and exhausted naps. I was getting to the point of really feeling like we wouldn't see Bean again. Listening to the blues and everything.

Then I got a phone call from a young sounding dude (late teens?) who said that he had Bean and could I meet him around 9th St. I said sure, told him which parking lot I'd be in, and headed straight there. He called back and asked about the reward, was it still $1000? I said that it was, but that I wouldn't have it on me. I then told him what kind of car I was driving and what I looked like, and asked him to do the same. He hemmed and hawed for a minute about not being sure what car he'd be in, and then told me he'd have on red pants and a blue short.

At this point, I'm pretty sure that the dude is going to try to rob me since he sounded so shaky and wouldn't give me any info about himself.

So my two most ride-or-die-for-Bean comrades Elizabeth and Jane came out and parked nearby and waited to make sure that I was cool. We waited for about 45 minutes and decided to leave because the person obviously wasn't being serious. Or, he'd been dissuaded when I told him I wouldn't have the money on me. Whatever, we didn't have any more energy to waste.

Then, Elizabeth gets a call from Fitzwilliiam saying that he's at the bike co-op and he's looking at Bean. He said that the guy who was bringing her to me rolled up to get a flyer, and that he had jumped out to stop him. Elizabeth's all, "yeah right," because there were about 1500 phone calls from folks saying that they had her, and of course, none of them were her. So, the 3 of us speed over there, and sure enough, I get out of the car and see my baby pulling on her leash like she always does.

It was Bean for sure.

So I go talk to the guy and he tells me that he had picked her up two days ago by the Burger King at Club and Guess (by the mall). She was wandering around. I'd actually gotten several calls that she was over there, and Elizabeth and I went, but we found another loose dog that people could have mistaken for her. It turns out there's about 10,000 loose dogs in this town.

He had gotten her, taken her home, and kept her in his garage to try to take care of her. His nephew saw the flyer at Walmart on Saturday, and they called me today. We stood there and talked a while, and he was the nicest guy. He had just lost his dog, an 11-year-old chihuahua/poodle mix like 3 weeks earlier and he'd been real sad about it. Elizabeth and Jane went to get the money, and we brought Bean home.

Then came the phone calls, the visitors, and the lovin on our Wonderdog. She looks healthy, but she's exhausted, and clearly just ready to lay in bed for like the next week or two. We're taking her to the vet tomorrow. She'll be snuggling in bed with me tonight.

Y'all have all been so amazing with the constant walks, posting the flyers, calling your friends, telling your co-workers, saying your prayers, having your dreams, driving around yelling her name out of your windows. It's overwhelming really, and y'all can't know what it means.

There will be a Bean party later on in the week, maybe Friday, so be on the lookout.

Goodnight y'all. Going to bed tired, but so so happy.

love

bryan

Waiting to take my exam..

Just a quick post before my exam starts. I am shockingly unprepared for this, but I can't make myself study anymore, so we'll see.

I called Bryan a little while ago. Apparently, Bean threw up earlier this morning. Probably a combination of whatever she's been eating this past week and all the excitement/treats after getting home. Oh well, back to her plain old healthy kibble I guess! We will have her checked at the vet just to be sure.

I'm going to look over my atypical antipsychotics one more time...wish me luck!

She is home and HEALTHY!!

OK

I am taking a break from Bean's impromptu welcome home party (which she is sleeping through, she is so tired!)

The story is detailed, and Bryan is the one who really was there for the whole thing. He didn't call me until he had her safe and sound.

She is FINE. She has a scratch on the top of her nose, which she probably gave herself when she pawed her head collar off. She had one tick. Other than that, she looks EXACTLY like she did before she was taken! We are taking her to the vet tomorrow, just to be safe, for a check up.

I will have Bryan write a detailed account of the whole day, and will post it tomorrow. For now, just know that she is safe at home, curled up in the middle of our bed, snoring.

I can't thank everyone enough.

PS - Photos to come - I was so excited I left my camera in Chapel Hill. I will take lots tomorrow!

SHE IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bryan just called. He was shouting. He said something about having Bean in his car. I am going to Durham right now.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Sunday 8:10 AM

Well, we are officially well into our second week of the search. I keep remembering the story of one woman who called to say she knew of a pit that was stolen and showed up 3 weeks later. We are not even close to that yet. This is great, because there is still so much reason to have hope. It is also scary, because if we are this close to complete physical and emotional exhaustion after one week, what kind of shape will we be in after three??

I am letting Bryan sleep in a little. Later I have to go back to Chapel Hill and study. My exam is in less that 24 hours and I have even started to prepare. I have no idea how I will make myself concentrate....

Some wonderful Team Bean members are looking in the woods around where Bean was last seen today. The hope is that maybe she has avoided being seen for this long by staying up in the woods. Oh Bean, I don't blame you for hiding! I would hide too after what you have been through. As you have so cruelly found out, there are awful people out there. But there are some great ones, too, so please let one of them see you today, OK? We really need for you to be seen.

Rebecca

Saturday 4:56 PM

Well, that was not Bean either. But I think that the word is spreading to the right people, people who know about the many (illegal) ways there are to get a pit bull.

I just had a wonderful pep talk in my living room from 4 wonderful women. They are involved with the organization that let us adopt Bean, and they are angels. I even laughed, which I didn't think would happen today. One of them had her dog with her, and he wondered around looking for treats. It was nice to have a dog in the house again!

Bryan's phone continues to ring. Some calls are helpful, and some are not ("I don't have your dog, but I have dogs just like her that I will sell to you for less than $1000...")

Bryan is home and I hope I can convince him to sit down and eat something. (He has had a bagel and a bag of chips today, both while on the move.)

I'll post as soon as there is any news worth posting.

Rebecca

Saturday 4:11 PM

I was so moved to see so many new (to me) faces this morning at the meet-up. People brought water, supplies, fliers, and most importantly HOPE.

Lots of ground was covered by the morning crew. We are trying to keep track of it all with maps and lists.

I came home just before the 1:00pm meeting. It was generally agreed upon that a sobbing little brown woman covered in snot would not really be useful in the search.

I have just spoken with Bryan. Apparently, the flier was shown to someone in a house where people are known to steal pits. When the person saw the flier, he slammed and locked the door. The police were called, and are on their way there now (and so is Bryan). This is exactly the kind of house I am scared she is in. Please pray that this leads to something!

The word is spreading like wildfire. Bryan's phone has been ringing constantly.

Bean, if you are out there honey, just hold on a little longer. We are coming as fast as we can!

Rebecca

Friday 5:43 PM

OK now Bryan is going to check out another stray someone called in about. He is getting really good at this, and thinking of changing careers and working for animal control.

About tomorrow...

A very smart friend had a very good idea. Let's have 2 "meet ups," one in the morning at 10, and one in the afternoon at 1. This way people who can't do both can do either one or the other, and people who can help the whole time will have time to get lunch, reconvene, and just catch their breath.

So THE PLAN is:

Meet us tomorrow at either 10:00am or 1:00pm (or both) in Northgate Park. It should be easy to find us. The park is not that big. From there we will distribute supplies (thanks to the nice lady who left 2 cases of bottled water on our porch!) and figure out who is going where. There will be a pep talk, and group hug, and then we will head out and flier the crap out of this town.

Thanks!

Friday 5:18 PM

It's not Bean.

It's another stray. Bryan is trying to catch it now, and I have alerted animal control. THANK YOU to the woman who called us though. That kind of quick action is what will bring Bean home!

I am at least relieved to know that Bean has not been spotted without her collar, as that really makes her stand out from the other strays.

Whew! My heart is jumping out of my chest. I found my shoes and I am not taking them off until Bean comes home.

Friday 5:08 PM

Possible Bean sighting!

A woman called Bryan 30 seconds ago and said she saw a dog matching Bean's description (no collar though) running loose across Club Blvd near Northgate Mall, where the Burger King is. Bryan and a friend are headed there now. I didn't have any shoes on, so they raced out without me. Please keep your fingers crossed! And if you are in that area please please look around!

I'll update as soon as I hear anything.

Where are my $*#))(*) SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rebecca

Friday 8:56 AM

Sorry about the rapid-fire posting this morning. I just won't be near the computer for awhile once I leave to make the rounds of all the vets/shelters.

Here is an important link:

http://pctraininggirl.com/teambean.html


This is the TEAM BEAN resource page, created by the talented and wonderful Kelly. It has all 3 fliers (English, Spanish, and the Car flier) available to download. If you have access to a printer and copier PLEASE make as many copies of the flier as you can to bring to the meet-up on Saturday. We think it will be at 10:00 AM at Northgate Park in Durham. More info will be posted as the day goes on. Things that you should bring (if you can) include:

1) as many copies of the flier as you can make
2) bottled water (enough for yourself and maybe a few others if you can swing it)
3) Leashes/Collars (for when you find her. If you find her and you don't have a leash, just grab whatever part of her you can get your hands on and yell like crazy for help.)
4) Maps of Durham
5) Comfy/warm clothes and walking shoes.

I think that's it for now. Hopefully she will turn up today, and we can just change tomorrow's meet up into a Welcome Home Bean Celebration!

Rebecca

Friday 7:59 AM

Well, sleeping sucked. I kept dreaming about Bean.

Anyway, I am up now. I have been notifying vets/shelters individually about Bean and her microchip number, and I will continue to do so. I have also just called HomeAgain (the makers of Bean's microchip) and notified them that she has been stolen. I enrolled her in their lost pet program, in which (for $15) they will be sending out an alert to all facilities within a 25 mile radius that have microchip scanners. That should help.

By the way, when Bean gets home, in addition to her microchip, she will also be equipped with a GPS navigational system like Zoomback. It's the same technology they use to track down stolen cars.

Also, she will no longer be allowed outside the house for any reason whatsoever. We will be putting astro-turf down in the spare room, installing one of those light bulbs that simulates daylight, and maybe dragging a few potted ficus trees in there. That will be her new "outside". She'll deal.

Rebecca

Friday 12:18 AM

I can't sleep. I am considering driving around, but I seriously doubt Bean will be out and about at this time of night...

The nights are the worst by far. It's the time when Bean would normally be snuggled with us on the bed. I can't not think about where she might be sleeping right now.

A note about my previous post:
I absolutely did not mean to portray the Durham Shelter in a negative way. If I am mistaken about their policy, please do let me know! I am just going by what the woman who answered the phone told me on Monday. We go there at least once a day, and the staff have been extremely sympathetic and accommodating. I only wanted convey what some folks have told me about why someone would take her to a shelter outside of Durham. I would consider it the greatest blessing for Bean to end up in their capable hands!

I'm going to try to sleep. Goodnight everyone. And goodnight my little Beanie.

Rebecca

Thursday 7:57 PM

1) No Sightings Today. Not much more to say about that....

2) Bean is still not at the Durham County shelter.

3) A "nest" has been set up along the trail that runs through our area. It includes Bean's favorite fleece sleep-pad, and our bedsheets. We will be checking it regularly.

4) I have tomorrow "off" (I am supposed to be studying for the exam on Monday, but oh well!). My plan is to: a) Pay a visit to every vet in Durham to make sure they have a color photo and her microchip number. b) Go in person to the Wake County and Orange County shelters and make sure they know about Bean and have her microchip ID number. Someone may have picked her up in Durham and taken her to one of those shelters, thinking that she would have a better chance of finding a home. The Durham shelter does not adopt out pits, from what I understand. Pits that are picked up on the streets or brought in by someone are kept for one week. If no one claims them in that time, they are put down. If someone knows about this policy, they might have chosen to take her to a neighboring county. c) Contact the microchip company and report Bean as missing.

5) The plan is to organize a meet-up on Saturday. The idea is to meet at one central location and divide into groups. Each group takes a neighborhood and a stack of fliers, and then puts one on every door there. I think the best chance of finding Bean is to have every pair of eyes in Durham looking for her. Would you guys be up for doing this? What neighborhoods should we put on the list? I am especially interested in getting the word out in areas where people have a lot of pits in their yards, etc. I think we have missed those areas so far, and maybe they would be more likely to notice Bean on the street? What do you all think? We will also need people to volunteer to bring bottled water. Or everyone could make sure to bring their own? More info about Saturday is coming...

6) The window fliers are working!! We got a call from a woman this afternoon who had just seen the photo of Bean and our number in the window of someone's car. Unfortunately the lead was one we had already checked into (the found pit in Southpoint). Please print them out and get them into those car windows! I am going to try to bring out a bunch to the Saturday meet-up to hand out to people who volunteer.

7) Photo copying costs are getting big. Does anyone know of anywhere cheaper than Kinko's? If I post a link to the flier, would people be up for printing it and making/paying for copies? Then you could bring them to the meet up. We need LOTS of copies!

I think that's it for now. Keep up the awesome work everyone!! We are getting so close, I just know it!

Also, apparently Bean was mentioned on the radio this morning! We have covered every type of media now, short of having her name written in the sky (which we will look into next week!).

Much love,
Rebecca

Thursday 1:28 PM

Aaaaaghhh!!! This class will NEVER end!!

Here's some good news. I got this response from the city about the flyers:

Dear Ms Silver:

The recent mobilization of the community to assist in finding Bean clearly indicates that losing a pet is a distressful situation for not only the pet’s owners but for everyone who hears about it. Those feelings of distress and sympathy for the owner are shared by the staff in the City-County Planning Department.

Interim Director Steve Medlin is attending an out-of-office meeting today but he forwarded your message to me so that I could provide you with a more timely response to your concerns about posting flyers in the rights-of-way and on utility poles.

As you may have learned, such signs in the rights-of-way and on utility poles are not permitted by ordinance. In addition, most power companies, including Duke Power and Progress Energy prohibit signs on utility poles. We have been told that the residual staples create hazards for line workers. As an alternative, we encourage people to put the signs adjacent to the right of way on private property.

The standard procedure for the Planning Department is to first provide information verbally about the violation, since most people are not familiar with zoning regulations. A second step would be to write a Notice of Violation seeking voluntary compliance with the ordinance. Compliance is our goal for a better Durham. We are NOT seeking fines, although fines have been used as a last resort to resolve situations.

At this point in time, the Department has not issued a Notice of Violation in this case. Since Steve Medlin is out of the office, we will await his return to discuss the situation with him, review our obligations to enforce Durham’s ordinance with equality, and determine what course of action the Department should take.

We will be happy to keep you informed of the situation and, in the meantime, continue to hope that Bean will be returned home safely.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Estes

Assistant Director

Thursday 11:15 AM

The dog found at Southpoint is NOT Bean. That dog has been taken to the animal shelter. I am trying to get out of class early so I can resume the search. I'm sending this from class right now, so I have to go. Just a quick update!

Rebecca

Thursday 6:25 AM

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! Please send some of that Valentine's love Bean's way!

I am sitting at my desk looking at a sweet card I ordered from Etsy for Bryan, which I never even got around to opening, let alone writing in. Our Valentine's Day has gotten a little sidetracked by all of this. But angel, you know that I love you and that our little family is too strong to be broken by one bad person. We will celebrate Valentine's Day when Bean comes home with a romantic dinner of steak, hot dogs, puppy chow, and peanut butter. All mixed up together. Over candlelight.

Someone posted a lead in the comments from the last post about a pit bull that has been found in the Southpoint area. I have no idea how Bean could have gotten that far, but maybe she decided to do a little window shopping. At any rate, we will be calling them as soon as the sun comes up.

Someone called me at one o'clock this morning to tell me that they saw a red pit bull being walked by a man yesterday morning and that it was a male dog. My heart jumped out of my chest when the phone rang! But after I assured the caller that, yes, we are positive Bean is not a boy, and, yes, we think red-nosed pits are beautiful too, I was able to fall back asleep without too much difficulty.

I have to put in a major appearance at school today. So I will be pretty much off the search until 6pm. Which sucks because it is a perfect day for Bean-watching! But I know that Team Bean will be out in full force, and that Bryan will be searching starting at noon.

Today is the day! It will be Bean's Valentine's Day gift to all of us!

Rebecca