Oh boy, you guys are going to get a kick out of this if you haven't heard already.
I got a puppy.
!!!!!!
I must be out of my mind, right??
Let's start from the beginning. I finally got Logan in to see an orthopedic specialist regarding his hip dysplasia. He looks at the films and gives my dog a full work-up and says, "Your dog doesn't have hip dysplasia."
You can't imagine the relief I felt at that simple statement. I had geared myself up to spend at least $2,000 for surgery on him... And this whole time, I had been freaking out for nothing! However, with my relief came some annoyances. For example, my vet in Boulder had pointed out all these things on his x-rays and said, HE HAS HIP DYSPLASIA. The fact that he was oh so very very wrong is a bit disconcerting and I don't know if I will go back to him (despite him being great at the holistic part). So this whole time, I had been worrying for nothing. The other annoying part is that he (at the time) is still limping, regardless of his "healthy" hips. We took more x-rays to evaluate for that pannostisis (too lazy to check spelling) that he had in his front legs when he was younger. However, the radiologist could not for certain say he even had THAT. The other option was a soft-tissue injury, and to just "wait and see". This 1-hr long eval and 1 x-ray of course still cost about $300, but it was well worth the money... despite not having a definite diagnosis, we now know that it is NOT my worst fear - dysplasia!
This was perhaps a month ago. Now, my original plan before I even got Logan was to eventually get two dogs. Makes it a little easier in the long run, not having to be the sole entertainer of one dog, 24/7. I hoped that having two dogs, they would keep each other company during the day, and Logan wouldn't be such a momma's boy (because he is!). Now that I didn't have an impending expensive surgery to worry about, I started looking online for rescues. If Log Dog DID have hip dysplasia, I would've gotten another shepherd puppy from the breeder at a discount/maybe free price... but now that he's in the clear, it would probably be full price (though I really would love another shepherd). I went to Project REX in Loveland and checked out some pups I saw online. Their intentions are good there, a no-kill rescue... but they are so crammed in there with so many dogs, these puppies were covered in poop and pee and I felt so bad for them. The pups I was interested in weren't available yet, so I went back a week later (Februrary 20th). I played with three female puppies, all around 10-13 weeks old; one fluffy, amber colored shepherd mix with a black nose, that was super energetic and jumped alllllll over me; one German shorthaired pointer mix, shy but friendly; and this little reddish who-knows-what mix that was a little shy but still friendly, and not as rambunctious as the amber one. She had pointy ears, shepherdish color on her face, and green eyes. Of course, I decided I wasn't going home empty-handed... I went with the little green eyed girl. :)
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| From The New Puppy... |
After bringing her home, she wasn't just a little green eyed girl... more like a little green eyed DEVIL! As in, Tazmanian Devil! Stick her in a crate and you'd swear it was a wild animal jumping and yelping around in there. Let her out, and you better look out! She runs around like a little red whirlwind. Logan at first had a love/hate relationship with her; he liked having a dog to play with (and they play great; puppy is real spunky and gives Logan a run for his money!) but sad that he wasn't the spoiled rotten only child anymore. Thanks to Linda, we named her Luna in honor of getting her on the date of the Lunar eclipse. Ironically, after I realized how nuts she is, Luna is now short (in my mind at least) for "Lunatic"! She's about 14 lbs and 13 weeks old, now that I've had her for almost two weeks. The rescue said she was a "Shepherd/Cattle Dog" mix... but since then, my friends and the vet and I all have different opinions. We do see shepherd... perhaps Australian shepherd?? But she has a curly tail and white "stripes" along her shoulder blades, which are typical of the Asian dogs - Akita, Chow, Jindo, etc. Some people even think husky. I have no idea how big she will get (60 lbs?? 50 lbs??) or what she will look like, but she is incredibly smart. I've already taught her to sit, lie down, and even roll over sometimes. Potty training has been a pain, she pees SO MANY TIMES but only a little bit at a time, so it's nearly impossible to always catch her! I even took her on a 3 1/2 hr drive with Logan to Grand Lake for my friend's going away party, and she slept the whole time and was fine. She sleeps through the whole night. She's really quite the sweety though she does drive me nuts. :)
The only problem I might have is that... I think I'm allergic to her. I've been pretty sick the whole time I've had her, but I can't seem to get better and I'm not sure if allergies have anything to do with it. I'm not allergic to Logan at all... So, we'll see what happens.
In the meantime, Logan finally got neutered, but not without slight complications. There was supposed to be a little swelling and fluid, but he ended up devoping a hematoma in his scrotum. Which in turn, became the size of a softball! Poor guy. But with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory, he's finally healing up nicely.
I took the dogs to the annual Dog Weight Pull Competition this weekend and watched dogs pull a weighted sled across a snow track. I think Logan would enjoy it and will hopefully be able to enter him next year! The most weight pulled was about 1,200 lbs. They had every weight class from the little 20 lb dogs, to the 135 lb dogs.
Well, I'm crossing my fingers that THIS year, I will get a hazard tree crew leader job - and now they've turned it into TWO TERM crew leader GS-6 jobs, and FOUR crew member GS-5 jobs. Then maybe I can get back to work before mid-April.
Tim is in Fruita, CO for training this week. Last week, he was shoveling snow off of rooftops in Grand Lake (west side of the park). He will be back next week, and then off to Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico for another month. Sigh. And so it begins, a summer of him being gone. It sucks, but it's his job. At least he has fun doing it. He has a good shot of getting Trails Supervisor job on the west side of the park once the current Sup. sells his house and moves. That would be an incredible opportunity for him and I really hope he gets it!
I can't even remember everything else that has happened in the past month. OH yeah, I had painted a picture of a mountain lion head for the Valentine's Day Art Show at the Rock; I was really happy with how it turned out, titled it, "Universal Look of Feline Bliss", and slapped a $160 price tag on it. Guess what?! Somebody bought it on Sunday! Woo hoo! Talk about an ego boost. What should I paint next? :)
My friend that had the going away part in Grand Lake was getting rid of some of his stuff, and Tim surprised me by buying me... a kayak for my early birthday present! It's funny because I keep teasing him to buy me one, which I have neven been serious about because they are expensive. Well, my friend gave him a really really good deal. So I'm still driving around with a 13 ft. sea kayak on top of my truck, until I decide where to put it!
And last but not least, I put in for my hunting licenses today. Turkey, elk, and deer. This year, I am determined!
Oh and another thing I forgot. Tim's sister and brother-in-law came into town a few weeks ago, so I finally got to meet somebody in Tim's family! They were a blast, and we kept them busy... we were all exhausted by the time they went home. We went snowshoeing in the Park one day; out to eat quite a few times; to the annual Rails in the Rockies model train show; skiing/snowboarding at Keystone; and can't forget the Red Wings/Avalanche game at the Pepsi center! We had reserved Club Level seats through the University of Michigan Alumni Association of Denver, and I'm telling you, once you go club level you will never go back. It was about $100 a seat, but they only play in Denver maybe 2x a year so we have decided to make it a sortof tradtion. Club level is sooo nice, you even get a waiter to your seat... with great prices on good food, and so much less crowded because you're not allowed on that level without a club ticket. Tim and I were surrounded by all Avs fans except for one woman behind us, and the rivalry was good-natured and a lot of fun... until some 60 year old dude, who wasn't even CHEERING, got ticked at Tim (which is funny because I was just as obnoxious as he was) and stood up and tried to pick a fight. This stupid old guy finally sat down but you could see him clenching his hands on his legs, his knuckles turning white. We still have no idea why he got so set off - the other Avs fans all thought that guys was out of line and totally nuts too, because we weren't saying anything inappropriate or different from what they were saying. We even took our picture with that chicky Wings fan, and some Avs fans because we all had such a great time. :)
Here's the only photo I got (from my cell phone) of my painting; forgot to take a good one before it sold!
