Feeling better

I'm happy to announce that I'm ten thousand times better!!!!  No surgery!!!!

But, ummm... I'm a little embarrassed to report that the "foreign body" causing the partial blockage was in fact one of my, umm...

((((earmuffs))))

panti-liners.

I blame Mother Nature.

Super Sick -- Blockage?

I was super sick on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'm out of the woods now, but it was pretty scary for a little bit. 

 I woke my mom and dad up at about 5am on Tuesday by screaming at the backdoor to be let out.  My belly didn't feel well.  And then, I threw up seven times in five hours.  Weird yellow stuff.  By 10am, my mom was scared, so she called the vet, and they said to come in right away.  It was an emergency.  We couldn't wait until my dad got home from work at 5pm -- we had to go NOW! 

My mom called my dad to let him know what was going on, and he told his boss that he had to take a long lunch and came home to take my mom and me to the vet's office.  I threw up again in the car.  And then again in the waiting room at the vet's office.  I was really, really sick.

The doctor did a quick exam.  I weighed only 36.4 lbs (I'm usually 38.5), so that's not good.  I was really dehydrated.  My belly is obviously unhappy.  And what's that... she feels a weird mass in my belly?  She wants to do an Xray????  Oh, please mom!  Not an Xray!  They are cold!

The next thing I know, the vet is pulling me out "the door."  You know -- the bad one.  The good door is the one that you get to walk through when you leave the vet's office with your mom and dad.  The bad door is the gateway to thermometers, Xrays, MRIs, surgeries, saline solutions, stitches, and eek... shots.  I don't mind going through the "bad door" when I'm with my usual vet or vet tech because they always have the most delicious treats, but because this was an emergency, this was a different vet.  I don't know her, and she doesn't have the delicious treats.  But to be honest, no amount of treats is going to make it less scary.  I didn't feel good, and I wanted to stay with my mom and dad!

The Xrays themselves weren't that bad, though.

 The initial Xray did not immediately show any blockages, but looked suspicious.  The doctor asked my mom what sort of string I may have eaten.  String?  I don't remember eating string?  Apparently, my intestines bunched up in an odd pattern which spelled trouble.  The vet wanted to do a barium treatment with progressive Xrays every 2 hours to chart its progress through the intestines.  This meant that I would have to eat a barium "milkshake" (a chalky liquid) that adheres to the intestines, revealing potential problem areas such as tumors, ulcers, and polyps.  If there was a blockage, it would light up like the fourth of July.

My mom agreed, so they did the barium films.  The first few looked normal(ish).  But, then...

The vet told my mom and dad that the films (especially the 7pm film) showed a large "foreign body."  Not a full blockage, but still might be a problem.

The vet's best guess is that it is some kind of fabric, but the barium seemed to have helped to move it through my intestines.  As of 7pm, the "item" had reached my colon, so it looks like we're almost out of the woods.  The vet discharged me Tuesday night at 7:30pm with a bunch of drugs, and I had to return to the vet's office for another Xray on Wednesday morning to make sure that the situation is "progressing."

I was so happy to see my mom and dad when they came to pick me up last night from the vet's office.  I had definitely gained weight/volume from all of the saline and barium that they had pumped into me.  The initial excitement burned out fast though, and I was back to feeling sick within a few hours of being home.  No throwing-up sick, but just "ick-I've-been-through-hell-and-feel-awful" sick. 

When it was time to go to bed, I refused to go to upstairs.  I curled up in my donut bed in the living room and wouldn't budge.  My mom spent the night on the couch so that she could stay right next to me and hold my paw. I think she was afraid to leave me alone.

Chapter Two: Pawprints and Memories

We parked the car, got all of our stuff together, and headed to the beach.  I was really excited.  I hadn't been to a real beach since our trip to North Carolina two years ago. 

My mom said that Assateague Island has 37 miles of pristine beaches.

As we were walking towards the beach...

Ew.  Really?  Those horses have no etiquette.

Hello???  Horses?  Are you coming back to clean that up?  If a puppy left a pile like that in Baltimore City, we would be fined a ka-jillion dollars.

My mom wasn't lying about the beach, though...

 It was big, and wide, and beautiful, and wonderful!

And it was teeming with all sorts of wildlife,

Like this little froggy that I rolled on,

and birdies.

Here, birdie, birdie, birdie...

Hunting birdies is hard when you're still attached to a walking leash.

So... dad, when are you going to let me off this leash?  What?  What do you mean "not a chance"?!?  I know it is against the rules for me to be off-leash here, but don't you always break the rules?  Why do I have to stay on a leash when the horses get to roam free?  Can anyone say "species discrimination"?  So unfair!

According to my mom, she said that I had to stay on the leash for my own safety.  The wild horses might hurt me if I ran up to them, so it was best to keep me under lock and key.  Besides, we can still have fun even if I'm tethered.

I had lots of fun racing through the waves with my mom, and then my dad had an idea.

My dad suggested that we should go swimming.  I love swimming -- anywhere, anytime.  You want to swim?  I'm your girl!  But that morning, I just wasn't so sure.  It had been a few years since I swam in the ocean, so the waves were kind-of scary.  Plus, the water was really cold.  So, I decided that no, I most decidedly was not going in the water.  But, as soon as my dad ran into the water, I immediately changed my mind.  I started screaming, flailing, and spinning.  And, before my mom knew it, I flew so fast that I ripped the leash out of my mom's hands (it was looped around her arm), spun her around, and leaped "frog-like" through the waves until I got to my dad.

Then, almost as suddenly as I jumped in, I realized that I had left my mom on the shore (plus it was really, really cold), so I raced back out of the ocean and ran smack into my mom.

"cold, cold, cold"

 My mom was a little freaked out about my off-leash tryst because about a half-football field away from us were:

Five wild horses chilling out on the beach!

Sorry, Mom, I didn't mean to scare you, but I promise that they wouldn't eat me.  Once my mom calmed down and realized that, no, the horses are not interested in eating me, I took advantage of the opportunity and took some pictures with the ponies.

 Dad, make sure to get my good side!

See, Mom, the horses aren't scary at all!

All in all, it was a great day.

Making pawprints in the sand, making memories...

Isn't that what life is all about?


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Some believe that the horses arrived on Assateague's shores when a Spanish galleon ship (with a cargo of horses) sank offshore.  Others believe the horses arrived by early colonial settlers that allowed them to graze there." - Assateague Island National Seashore

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chapter One: This Way to Assateague Island

On Friday night, my mom and dad realized that for the first time in years, they didn't have any work plans for the weekend.  So, they decided to take an impromptu day trip on Saturday. 

I wanted to know where this "trip" would take us, but my mom said, "We can't tell you.  It would ruin the surprise!"

I'm so excited!  But I'm a little nervous about the "surprise" part. The last time there was a "surprise" trip, we ended up getting lost, and our 1 hour trip turned into a 3 hour trip. 

I was trying to read the road signs to figure out where we were headed.

Berlin?  Are we going to Germany?

 Nope.  I was wrong.  We were going to Assateague Island!

This is a picture of the marshes as we were driving onto the island.  Such a pretty place full of birdies.  Anywhere that has wildlife gets an A+ in my book!

Further along the road, we came across this sign:

 Haha... I think someone forgot their Starbucks on the morning that they made that sign.  Horses aren't wildlife! 

Whoa, whoa, whoa...

Did I really see what I thought I saw?

I can't believe that I just saw wild horses hanging out on the side of the road!?!

There were more horses in the parking lot!  Wow!  Ok, maybe the sign was a "little bit" right.

I'm having a really weird case of deja vu.  Here I was dreaming of wild horses, and then we visit a place with wild horses.  Mom, are you sure we're in the right place?

Apparently, about 300 wild ponies wander the beaches, inland pine forest, and salt marshes of Assateague Island National Seashore.  The land and water boundaries of Assateague Island total over 48,000 acres in Maryland and Virginia. 

Just Call me "Aunt" Laila

I am an AUNT!!!!

  
My brother Rocky's girlfriend Daisy gave birth to seven beautiful and very healthy puppies on Saturday!  Four girls and three boys.  Just in time for Fathers' Day. 

Welcome to the world, little ones!

Milk bar.

Post-milk nap with mom.

It's hard work being a puppy.

 "Miss Purple."  Cute, isn't she?

I'm not biased or anything, but I think my nieces and nephew are adorable.

Congratulations to Willorunn Vizslas on their beautiful litter!

Conestoga Vizsla Club's "Fun Day" Recap!

This past Sunday was the Conestoga Vizsla Club's 2010 Annual Fun Day! My mom has wanted to attend the event for the last two years, but something always came up, so this was the first year that we went!

We missed the morning hunt seminar, but we watched the agility seminar and demonstration, tried out the agility course, did a lure course, went to a conformation seminar, ate a BBQ lunch, and played with lots of crazy redheads.

AGILITY COURSE

I've never seen an agility course before, but it was really fun! During the demonstration, my mom told me to look through the fence while they were doing the demonstration so that I could see what they were doing. As soon as I saw the demo dog doing some jumps and going through tunnels, I was hooked. I got really excited, popped my head up over the fence so that I could see better, started pawing at the fence so that I could get in, and then started my "let me go, let me go, let me go!" trembles. Once we were allowed inside, I was so excited to try everything out!
I had no idea what I was doing, but I had fun!

LURE COURSE

I loved the lure course also. I wish that my mom had gotten my run on video because it was awesome! They had a pulley system hooked up which ran a rope around a field pulling a plastic bag. I know, a plastic bag, how silly is that? I heard about how funny it was to watch, so my mom and dad decided to come down to see what all of the laughs were about. I was a bit curious about all of the fuss as well, seeing that it was just a piece of trash being pulled on a string.

But then I got down to the lure course field, and something happened inside of me, I don't know what it is, but it happened, and I just... fell in love with that plastic bag. I know, I know. I can hear how crazy it is as I'm writing it right now, but it is true! I know I said it earlier, but I really wish my mom had gotten my run on video. She said that it was amazing to see how fast I ran -- that after I reached the distance that I normally would have caught the chuck-it ball, I had a kick-back, threw it into high gear, and seemed to fly around the corner and through the rest of the course. I ran even faster the second time. The man running the course only let each dog run the course twice -- something about it being too much stress on our bones or muscles or something...
But I would have run it twenty times if they had let me! Now if only I could convince my dad to secretly build a private lure course for me at the super-secret dog park down the street...

SOCIAL GATHERINGS

There was a large fenced-in area where we could run around and be our typical redheaded selves, which was fun. I saw old friends and met a *lot* of new ones!
At one point, there were over a dozen of us romping around the enclosure, but of course, my mom didn't think to get out her camera. Silly mom. She was too busy chatting with the other Vizsla moms and dads. Thanks for making it such a special day, guys!

FAMILY REUNIONS

My brother Rocky came to the Fun Day with his mom Rachel. I hadn't seen Rocky in months and months, so it was nice to have a chance to spend some quality time together.
"Let's get ready to rumble..."

Of course, my mom wanted to get a "brother-sister" picture of the two of us.
So embarrassing... I hope none of my friends are watching.
Wait a minute... is Miss Rachel holding dehydrated Tuna? Yum! Take your time, Mom! Take as many pictures as you want! Just keep those treats coming!

I also officially met my 15 week old cousin Season and her wonderful mom Susan. Season is one of Brisztow Jones's puppies from Tivoliz's Kissable litter.
In addition to being a natural at agility (she loved the tunnels!), Season lived up to the theme of her litter by demonstrating just how very kissable she is. What a sweetheart!

WHAT A GREAT DAY!

It was a "fun day", but I was so exhausted that by 3:00pm, I was almost begging my mom to go home.
And if you are asking yourself if I fell asleep like this,

yes I did...

for the entire hour-long car ride.

(don't worry, I was wearing my doggie seat belt)

Halloween pictures

Time to carve pumpkins!The first thing to do was to get all of the guts out of the pumpkin.

I let my dad do that job.

*sniff* *sniff*

Gross!
My dad carved a crazy-scary jack-o-lantern, but I helped my mom carve a kitty popping out of a pumpkin. Some of the little kids got scared when they saw my dad's pumpkin, but they all loved MY pumpkin.

Trick-or-Treat, 2009!

Caught-zza

My dad: "Laila! What is this mess?"

Me: "I don't know, dad. It looks like sawdust. Yummy, yummy sawdust."

My dad: "sawdust with Italian seasoning?"

(Uh, oh . . . I think he found me out)

My dad: "And, why is half of the pizza missing?"

(Busted!!)

Me: "It wasn't me! I swear! I've been framed! It could have been anyone.

"I mean, look at mom! She looks really guilty.

"No? Not her??

"Well, umm . . . maybe a squirrel broke in the house . . . ?!?!"