A Page for Woody

I decided Woody was probably feeling a bit left out from all the scrapbooking fun, so I decided to whip up a quick page for him:

All papers, alphas and elements from "WF Elements"

Emma and Izzy Make a New Friend

Part of our homework for puppy school this week was walking nicely on a leash, and socializing with other dogs and people. Because there are no dog parks in Auburn (Wegmans, I know you got my email about sponsoring one here, like Liverpool's Good Dog Park), I have to make do with taking the girls on long walks and hoping that people and dogs will interact with them. Today we decided to go to Hoopes Park, which went really well. We met several people on the way, who all wanted to pet Emma and Izzy, and I think Emma is getting a little better about not running away from strangers...it's funny, if Emma was my child, I would want to reward that kind of behavior, and instead I'm trying to break my poor puppy of it! Anyhow, once we got to the park we met some geese and ducks that didn't really want to socialize with us. It didn't seem to hurt either Emma's or Izzy's feelings to be so brutally rebuffed, and I was secretly relieved that there was no goose pate on the menu! Then we came across Riley, an 80-pound Golden Retriever, who was also wearing a Gentle Leader and was remarkably well behaved, except when his mother looked the other way and he went flying into the pond to "retrieve" a duck. I think the girls were mildly terrified at first, but they quickly "shook hands" (or in human terms, sniffed each other's butts) and then proceeded to frolic. Very cute. And now I feel no guilt, as we have completed all of our puppy kindergarten assignments for the week!

Izzy's Illness

Finally, we have some news about poor Izzy...after about a week of her peeing in her crate at night with no warning, and then starting to urinate around the house randomly as well, I happened to mention the problem to the vet. She asked for a urine sample, which turned out to be an interesting experience for both me and Izzy, but more on that another time. Kelly, one of our awesome vet techs, did a urinalysis, and it turns out that Izzy has white blood cells in her urine. For right now, she's been put on Clavamox (Augmentin for animals), and her urine sample has been sent off to Cornell to be cultured. And there I was, scolding her when I caught her peeing in the living room...I feel so bad, because it turns out she's not badly behaved, she's just sick! I hope that once she's better, her "mistakes" won't have become ingrained in her, and she'll be a nice, housetrained puppy once more!

Puppy Kindergarten Update

Well, last Thursday was the girls' second day of classes. They did pretty well at sitting, and walking on a loose lead, and they are flat out awesome at "watch me." Of course, if I got a treat every time someone said "watch me" I'd never take my eyes off them!
So class is going fairly well, except this week we are learing "stay" and "down." Now, I've got "down"okay, it's pretty simple. But "stay" is really not going well at all. I think we're going to have a problem with it. I think I need to quit my job and focus on turning my babies into model Canine Good Citizens! Anyhow, class was fun, as always, and it wiped poor Izzy and Emma right out:I just love when they flop on top of each other. Maybe I'm biased, but I think I have four of the best looking creatures out there! I mean, Ruthie is the prettiest cat EVER, Henry is so handsome, Izzy is adorable...and when I walk Emma, people actually pull over in their cars to ask about her, like she's some kind of purebred or something. Little do they know she's a labrador/border collie mix straight out of Hades! That's all for now, I have to rest up for an early morning training session, so everyone have a great night!

It Might Have Been the Soda...

Well, today was a very exciting day! The puppies woke me up at 5:30 am, like always, and then after a pee stop and a short walk around the block, we all went back to bed until 7, when breakfast is served. So I fed the cats and dogs, and was sitting at the computer checking my email and enjoying a tasty strawberry SlimFast, when I got the most horrible pain in my right side ever! I thought for sure my appendix had burst! Then I developed nausea and a fever, alternating with chills, and the pain wouldn't go away. When I started throwing up and realized I couldn't go to the bathroom, I decided I must have a UTI or appendicitis, so I took myself to the ED.
Once I got there, the doctor interviewed me for about 2 minutes and announced that I most likely had a kidney stone. A kidney stone!!! I'm only 26!!! But apparently I looked pretty bad, because they insisted on giving me IV fluids because my blood pressure was so low, and because, according to the doctor, I looked "awfully white." It took 4 nurses and 8 tries to get an IV in me because I was so dehydrated! My arms are all black and blue. Shortly after they got the IV in me and gave me some wonderful drugs, the pain disappeared completely. But they sent me to radiology anyhow for a cat scan, and the radiologist announced that yes, I had passed a kidney stone, and even better news, there is one in my other kidney! I really can't believe it.
So I did some research and it turns out that soda drinkers are more prone to kidney stones. So I am ending my diet Pepsi addiction right now. No more soda, I'm going on straight water. I know, I have little willpower, so you all have to help me. If you see me with a diet Pepsi in my hand, feel free to slap me!
Really, this whole hospital thing is getting out of hand. In my entire life, I had never been to the hospital once, and now I've been twice since January! Everyone there is really nice, but truly, I'd prefer to never see any of them ever again!