Curly Joe (and Tank) wanted me to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I had to get a jump on it because I'll actually be at work when the clock strikes midnight. Thanks for tuning in to this blog and for all the love and support. It's hard to believe Curly Joe has only been here for four months, especially since his birthday is in February. He's been urinating a lot, and I'm pretty sure it's because of his liver issues. I may take him to the vet on Friday, just to check things out. He's not acting any differently, just drinking and peeing a lot, like when we first got him.
Anyway, here's to Good Things in the year to come. We wish you all the best.
Curly Joe wasn't feeling well last night. He vomited (food) three or four times and was really restless. I've only had him for four months, so I'm still learning how to read him. My other dogs I had for 12 years or more and I knew them better than the back of my own hand. When they weren't feeling well, I usually knew why and what to do for them. Curly Joe has a serious liver problem, and it's something I've never encountered before. I can't tell when it's just a bad puppy day and when it's a bad liver day, so when he isn't feeling well, I have to work hard not to freak out.
My main concern last night was cleaning up the puke before Curly Joe inhaled it again (gagggg), but his gums were nice and pink, he wasn't dehydrated and he didn't react when I palpated his abdomen. I know for a fact he's peeing and pooping okay, so that wasn't the problem. It looked like there were bits of paper towel in his vomit, so I figured it was just regular old garbage gut. He didn't eat dinner and he didn't eat breakfast this morning, and that was fine. One thing I learned working as a vet tech, when an animal vomits, you put them on NPO for 24 hours. When I fed the inmates this evening, Curly Joe ran upstairs and sat by his bowl, so I knew he was feeling better. Not wanting to push things, I gave him about a quarter of what he normally eats. He ate slowly, but finished it all, so I think he'll be ok.
I was really nervous because with all this snow we've gotten, I'm pretty sure we couldn't have made it out to the vet if it had been serious.
This afternoon we had some fun out in the big yard. Since we got him, I've been nervous about letting Curly out into the big yard because the fence on the south side of the property is old and our neighbors' dog is always getting through somehow. I was worried Curly would find the hole and escape. However, I keep forgetting that dogs need a pack, and that wherever Tank goes, Curly follows. Tank has never run away once in his life (except for the time he jumped out my window -the day after he was neutered- ran to the front of the house and sat by the door to wait for me); he's only interested in sniffing, so I know that he'll stay in the yard and hopefully so will the puppy.
At any rate, Sis and I were out in the yard trying to fix a busted pipe. The dogs busted out of the yard and ran around in the snow. They were having so much fun, I didn't have the heart to make them go back into the little yard. And really, Curly Joe isn't going to learn anything if I don't let him get out and explore.
We haven't had any water here for a week and we ran out of wood pellets the other day. With all the snow/ice/more snow we've had, we haven't been able to get to the store. This afternoon, a guy from the plant nursery across the road helped dig us out of the driveway and put our snow chains on, and my sister was able to drive to the little store a couple miles down the road. She bought pellets and a few provisions, so tonight we and the animals were nice and toasty warm. I think it was a combination of good, strong heat and an afternoon frolicking in the snow that made Curly Joe sleep so much. He's been quiet all night, but still frisky and lovable when you say hello to him. For my part, I was so unbelievably relaxed (and, more importantly, warm), I dozed off in the middle of the Bruins/Devils game.
I'm sad that I won't be able to make a special First Christmas for Curly Joe, but the important thing is that he's even here for his first Christmas. Honestly, animals don't give a shit about holidays. It's just nice to include them in our celebrations, and I know my mom was really looking forward to us coming up to her house for Christmas. I was going to buy the dogs some new toys (since Curly Joe hoards them), too. I guess I'll just have to tell them Santa caught an updraft and won't be able to stop by until the weekend.
Pictures? Okay!
My car is under there. Somewhere.
It's like he fell asleep mid-scratch.
I have a ton more, but snow is snow. I spent 26 years buried under the stuff every winter, and when I moved out to Portland, I thumbed my nose at the thought of buying a snow shovel. Boy do I wish I had a snow shovel right now. Portland doesn't have very many plows (it hasn't snowed like this since the 60's), and they don't use salt for environmental reasons. They put down some sort of de-icing chemical, the purpose of which seems to be to make the roads five times slicker than actual ice, so when it does snow, the whole city shuts down. Growing up in Chicago, in all the years I was in school, we never once got a snow day. When we started attending the local community college, my sister and I went to class when it was 80 below (with the wind chill). We went home for lunch between classes, got stuck in the driveway, a neighbor dug us out and we went back for the rest of our classes. We had to scrape ice off the inside of my car before we left. There was a giant hole in the driver's side floor, over which I put a piece of wood, but slush splashed up into the car anyway. Never once owned a pair of snow chains. Since they refuse to salt the roads in Portland, if you don't have chains or an SUV, you're pretty much screwed until the bad weather passes.
Normally I wouldn't mind, but when I have to miss work or when one of the animals gets sick and I can't get him or her to the vet, well. I take issue with that. Global warming, people. It's not going to get any better. Salt the fecking roads. One week a year isn't going to do much damage.
For all that I bitch about the snow, at least Curly Joe is having a blast. I don't have to work until Saturday, which means I get to spend lots of quality time with my dogs. There's a six pack of Svengoolie (courtesy of my friend, Adoresixtyfour) waiting for me up at my mom's, and it's KILLING me that I can't go up and get it. And, you know, see my ma. Needless to say, old Sven would have been lovely to have around this week. Sven, the dogs, a lapful of cats, a bottle of IBC root beer and a roaring pellet fire. I guess I'll have to stick with hockey, something I haven't been able to watch since I started working the night shift. The Winter Classic is coming up in a little over a week; at least I have that to look forward to. I was born in Michigan (45 minutes south of Detroit) but grew up in Chicago. Though I am a Red Wings fan, I'm still a little conflicted as to who I should be rooting for.
At any rate, Curly Joe hopes you all have a merry Christmas and a kick ass new year. So do I. Thank you to everyone who has supported Curly Joe and to everyone who reads this. Here's to hoping I'll be updating this blog for many years to come.
He was born in the south but may as well have been born in the Midwest because Curly Joe is currently enjoying the hell out of all this snow.
I took this a little before 6:00 this morning.
December 15th - it was his first encounter with snow. He had such an adverse reaction to the rainy season starting up, I assumed he would hate snow. Boy, was I wrong. He ran around in it like it was caffeinated or something. Here he is enjoying a new hobby: apple pouncing.
Yes, he did run into me. Full speed.
Another one from this morning. That's me! The bush next to us is covered in ice.
Size comparison. This is Curly Joe in September:
Three months later (same dog bed). I think he has doubled in size:
And video! This was before the snow froze over.
As you can see, the boy is doing quite well. My sister is teaching him how to speak; he's pretty damn smart. When I let him out now, he hops around the snow into the spots that he's already created so that he won't have to crash through anymore ice.
One of these days, I'll get him to puppy classes, though he's probably too old now. It's hard finding the time for it; I get off work at 4:30 a.m. and go to bed at 7:00. I need to get on the ball because he WILL be a therapy dog. I have decreed it.
Curly, Tank and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. It's a little bittersweet this year, as it is the first Christmas we've had in 14 years that didn't include at least one of the original Chicago dogs. (Tank doesn't really count because he's from New York.) Still, I'm glad that Tank has a friend to share presents with and that he won't be alone. It has been wonderful to see their friendship progress over the last four months. For myself, I never thought I'd be happy getting another dog after all of this, but I think that it helps that I see so much of Luke, Meathead, Lady and Bernie in Curly Joe. I know it sounds like I'm projecting, but it really is strange how he seems to have a little bit of each of them in his personality, voice and mannerisms. Hell, he even sounds like Chester when he smacks his lips.
With him around, it seems easier to keep the old dogs and their memory closer to the surface.
Curly Joe's first Christmas is rapidly approaching. Personally, I'm a bit of a grinch about Christmas. After our dad died, my sister took it upon herself to decorate the house for the holidays. We haven't had any sort of Christmas (with a tree and presents) in seven or eight years, but this year my sister is determined to go all out: dig the tree out of storage, string up some lights and ornaments, put some twinkle lights out front. Me, I just want to get a leg lamp and stick it in the front window. My south-facing bedroom window faces the road, and I think it would be hysterical to put a leg lamp there. None of our asshole neighbors would get it, but we would. I actually got my sister a mini leg lamp a few years ago, but the cats spend a lot of time curled under it for warmth, so the stocking has gotten a bit ... furry.
But I digress. Oh, hey. Curly Joe finally (just now) chewed through his fire hose and pulled out the squeaker. Garbage time!
Curly continues to do well. He raided the garbage quite a few times last week, so I've been worried he'll have a flare up or something, but he seems to be okay. He's still on L/D, Hepato Support and the 3V supplements. Every now and then, he'll eat around the Hepato Support capsule (I just stick it on top of his food) and I'll have to yank open his gob and cram it down his throat.
Saturday, Sis and I took Curly Joe on an outing. I can't say what we did because it's a surprise for LaShea and Chad, but Curly had a great time and met a lot of nice people, including Dr. Brown. She is the doctor I met last year (through my regular vet) who did acupuncture for Lady and Meathead. It was good to see her again, as she was on maternity leave for a while, and we didn't have a reason to see her after Meathead died in July. She introduced us to a massage therapist (whose name I've forgotten), and we chatted for a bit. Everyone had to stop and say hello to Curly, which is pretty much par for the course with this guy. He's irresistable. When it came time for Curly to [do that thing that's a secret], he wasn't happy about it at all. Afterwards, we went back over and continued talking with Dr. Brown. She said a lot of nice things about me and my sister and how we have the island of misfit toys except for animals. And also the fountain of youth because our animals live so long. "Curly Joe, even if he doesn't get his liver fixed, will probably live to be 15 and they'll go, "Well, he's starting to get a little bit of a limp.'" Oh, I hope.
Sis mentioned how I wanted to get Curly Joe trained for pet therapy, and the massage therapist said that he would be perfect for it and I should definitely look into it for him. That made me so happy. For one thing, now I know I'm not biased; there really is something about Curly Joe that draws people to him. I mean, all dogs are wonderful, but Curly Joe is special somehow. At home, he's hyper, obnoxious, jumping all over Tank, but when we're out in public, he's all quiet and submissive. I dunno what that's about, but I'm going to roll with it.
At any rate, here are some recent pictures and video of Curly Joe:
On our way to [the thing]. Afterwards, I stopped at Petco to replace the leash Curly ate last week.
Curly Speak is funny.
Yesterday, Curly Joe was frolicking around the office with a toy in his mouth. He was play growling at Tank, teasing him with the toy. This went on so long, we tuned them out. Tank, who had been silent the entire time, got fed up and went, "ARF!" and Curly Joe dropped the toy and went, "Damn." I keep telling Tank to kick his ass. I hope someday he'll take my advise and put that little dog in place.
