Here’s the thing, Melvin can screw-up and I take one look at him and think ‘it’s OK my love, you’re adorable, I forgive you’.  Jake screws-up and I take one look at his nodding, bobbley head looking up at me and I think ‘good God, you’re hysterical!’ and immediately, he is forgiven also.

Those two really know how to work it. 

My relationship with each dog is very different. The love is the same but they are each, obviously, at different train stations on the track of my life.  I’ll label my connection with Jake as, complex.  We are still figuring it all out.  He makes me laugh as often as he makes me add something to the list of things we need to work on.

Melvin, well he just makes me sigh.  He is comfort.  He is love. He’s has had an impact on my life that words have a hard time conveying

Not all mornings go smoothly.  It seems some mornings the dogs think I have infinite time to walk them (if only) when in reality I have allotted plenty of time for them to exercise and ‘to go’.  Still, for whatever reason, there are days we return home without finishing that last part.  Even after 30-40 minutes.  So then we go into the backyard, where I plead with one or both of them to GO. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, GO OUTSIDE AND NOT INSIDE!  Verbally I do this, pleading, like a crazy person.

It’s on those mornings, I understand the phrase ‘it’s five o’clock somewhere’.  Thus today, I’m posting photos of them looking adorable, to remind myself how much I love them.

I have the most wonderful mom.  She is the reason I love deeply, the reason I not only notice the underdog, but champion that puppy.  She taught me to love unconditionally, no matter how hard it seemed, that it was the only way. She is beautiful, funny, smart, outgoing and love personified.  She is my best friend.

My mother comes from Bulgarian decent.  She’s got skin that can tan easily and in the winter, she still has this great darker color.  I did not get this genetic factor from her.  In fact, I may have the whitest skin (with red undertones) that you have ever seen.  Growing up, no one thought she was my mother.  My friends all thought she was Hawaiian and that I was adopted.  Add to that, she’s always looked young.  All my teachers thought she was my sister and would ask to see ID when she came for parent/teacher conferences.  All of the adoption and sister theories annoyed the hell out of me, until the day came that someone said “you look just like your mother”, and I thought, wow.  That means I’m beautiful.

Happy Mother’s day to all!  Mothers of the two-legged, mothers to the four-legged, mothers to the tri-legged!  It doesn’t matter the number of legs, all that matters is that you are love. And loved.

I am pretty sure that this week is the first time I have ever missed a Wordless Wednesday. However, I guess by not posting, it still remains wordless.

This week has been insanely busy.  I have barely seen the boys, in fact the dog walker has fed them dinner more this week than I have. Boo!  (the dog walker herself is of course awesome!).  I mean, you know it’s a busy week when our bajillionth order of Sirius Republic collars comes, sits in the mailbox for days, and then on the counter for more days until I am finally able to get them on the boys!  Too. Busy. Indeed!

Here are my little hipsters, post rave, and their new collars…

I don’t know why he’s in my bed and I’m on the floor but I’m too beat to care.

Where you been woman?

I have taken the Myers Briggs test several times and every time I’ve come out 50% Introvert and 50% Extrovert.  My theory is that if given enough time every day to be introverted, I can extrovert with the best of them.  If you know me well, you know that sometimes I just gots to go and have me some alone time.  It’s not you, it’s most definitely me.

I’ve come to realize that Jake is the same way.  Although with Jake, he’ll take his private time, right in front of you.

In addition to having his jacked-up tooth pulled, Jake got his nostrils widened last week.  Those things were TIGHT and when he’d breathe, he’d wheeze.  Since having the procedure he does seem to breathe easier (his snoring is still crazy loud) but one other benefit has surfaced, he can now smell.  He has spent the last few days sniffing every surface of the house and the outdoors.  I liken it to someone who was blind and can now see.  Mostly, he has spent a tremendous amount of time with his nose up Melvin’s butt.  Ahhhhhh, welcome to the world of being a dog Jake!

This weekend was full of crying (Jake, not me), throw-up (Jake again) and wonky legs that didn’t work right (to be fair, that was probably all of us).

Jake had some issues with the anesthesia during the procedure (blood pressure kept dropping) and I didn’t get to pick him up until late Friday night. He was high as a flippen kite when I finally got to see him and if you think his eyes are hysterical on a normal day, you should see those things hyped on anesthesia and pain meds.  To add insult to injury, his hind legs were unaware they were even attached to his body. I would have taken video but carrying him made video chronicling difficult.

Friday was a long, rough night.  Pee leaked out of him, pretty constantly, so I was up all night changing out what was underneath him. (Dog ownership is so extremely sexy sometimes). Even if that hadn’t been the case we would have been up, he wept like a baby monkey all night.  He couldn’t get comfortable so either could I — we have to take care of our babies!  He refused to eat or drink so he couldn’t have meds. Ugh, ugh and one more UGH.

Saturday morning, it got worse.  His back legs were still wonky and he was having a hard time peeing (the correct way).  Then the projectile vomiting started.  We were of course at the vet the moment they opened and as per usual, the entire staff was awesome.  He got some x-rays (all clear), a shot to help with the nausea and they assured me the pee issue would correct itself (it has!).  A few hours later and we were on our way back home.  It got better from there and Saturday night there was sleep.  Wooohooooo, sleep is AWESOME!  Sign me up for some sweet, sweet sleep!

Melvin was the perfect big brother this weekend. I had to put Melvin second, something he has NEVER had to experience.  Melvin could have easily opted to poop in my bed to communicate how he felt about me doting on Jake, but  instead he just sat and waited patiently.  And I rewarded him with extra walks and special frozen Kongs made just for him.  I love him for every reason, this weekend for being easy.

Some photos of the patient and his awesome big brother…

Are we going to the zoo?

Day two at the vet. Boo.

Subcutaneous fluids, otherwise known and Jake’s lovely lady hump.

Finally, he’s sleeping.

This whole ‘poor Jake’ is getting old real quick.

No, seriously, I’m getting sick of this.

Ah yes, that look of disgust means we are getting back to normal.

Jake goes in for a teeth cleaning and tooth pull tomorrow.  Apparently dogs generally do well with having teeth pulled as their teeth do not have deep roots like us humans do.  Of course, whatever the recovery, we’ll be sure to pamper him a crazy amount.

While I have appreciation for anesthesia (who in the world would want to be awake for a surgery) It scares the be-geezus out of me.  I tend to worry more about being put under anesthesia than I do the procedure at hand.  My first question is always “is he/she awake” and then I will follow-up with how it went.  When I’ve had surgeries, I ask the anesthesiologist 25 questions about where they went to school, what place in class they graduated and how many procedures they do a year.  And yes, there are right and wrong answers and yes, I have asked to see diplomas.

We’ll keep you posted!  Admittedly, I’m a bit too excited about seeing Jake in a cone collar.  I just think it will look so adorable around his ginormous head and it’s really gonna accentuate those eyes!  Sorta like his turtleneck sweater, only much, much more.

The most wonderful thing happened this weekend.  I got to meet some wonderfully, awesome women.  Women that I admire not only for their kick-ass writing and photography skills, but mostly because they love and save dogs.  Each one of them does what I so desperately want to do one day, they foster pit bulls.

E from Our Waldo Bungie came to town and to say this chick is delightful is to say the sun is bright.  She is funny, caring, bubbly and to see her interact with Jake and Melvin, you just know she’s ‘one of us’.  E tells it like it is, and that happens to be one of my favorite qualities in a person.  She traveled all the way from KC to visit and never got to see a single Washington, DC structure up close.  That just means she has to come back for part-two!

Kate with a Camera lives ten miles away and we had yet to meet!  Guess what Kate, I’m probably gonna drop in unannounced regularly cause you’re awesome! Kate is warm and gentle and funny.  Not only did I get to meet Kate, I got to meet Moe(!) — he’s MUCH bigger than you’d expect and he is full of wiggles and dog giggles and I most definitely want to steal him.  I also met Heidi, who is full on LOVELY   The most ethereal dog I have ever laid eyes on.  She literally glows.  And Melanie, she is the perfect balance of sass and gorgeousness and I’m pretty sure she knows she rules that roost!  And even though he wasn’t there to meet, you can feel Nemo’s presence.  He’s all around, and I loved that part.

Then I got to meet J from Peace, Love & Fostering!  And J brought Johnnie (could this weekend get any better?)!  J (the human) is awesome and energetic and her passion for rescue and pit bulls is palpable.  Johnnie is all kinds of lovely and the interaction between the two of them is a beautiful thing to watch.

We also got to have dinner with K from The Crowded Couch!  It was so cool to meet her, this woman has fostered over 20 dogs(!), most (if not all of them) were Pit Bulls and she is wonderfully knowledgeable and super funny.

It was a seriously kick-ass weekend, full of laughter and dogs and more laughter.  And yet, I didn’t take a single photo!  Suffice it to say I have the moments burned into my brain — and let me tell you, they are some kind of awesome!

Although I much rather have been traipsing around DC with E from Our Waldo Bungie, my migraine brain had other plans and the boys and I spent most of Sunday in bed.

I have the best dogs, they slept and got along smashingly which made my day much easier!

Yesterday a site I follow on FB (not sure which one as I apparently have short-term memory issues but I think it was Pet’s Health Network) posed a question along the lines of: Would you considering putting your pet down if you couldn’t afford needed medical care?  I believe they were talking about something such as surgery, something necessary.

Of course in my head I screamed a resounding “NO!”.  The truth is, if I couldn’t afford something the dogs needed to save their life, I’m pretty sure I’d try to harvest my own kidney and attempt to sell it on the black market in order to pay for what they need.

This question was posed on a day when both dogs were at the vet.  Melvin had grown a black spot on his belly (benign), had a red ear (yeast), anal glands (full, sorry gross I know) and in need a of a medical bath for his allergies.  Jake, whose list managed to exceed Melvin’s, needed his cracked tooth looked at (being pulled next week), a lump on his leg checked (benign), checked for UTI (negative), a lip papilloma looked at (contagious), a check of his damaged nail (healing nicely), a consult on his red stomach (bacterial infection), a bath and a discussion about his breathing issues (nasal widening to occur next week when they take the tooth out).  Both dogs had been to the vet just a month before (for fear you think I’d ever let these things go on without attention!).

That vet visit cost $800.  Now, granted pet care in the DC area is likely higher than other areas (and I’m not sure if it’s lower than other places) but I was a tad shocked, especially since nothing ‘remarkable’ happened such as the question posed by the FB page that I can’t recall. Driving home I felt so blessed that I have a good job, that I have been able to put money aside for rainy days (those puddle makers are named Melvin and Jake) and that if worse came to worst, my family would help.  Those knuckleheads are my kids, I want them to be around for as long as possible.

At the end of the day, insurance for dogs needs to be more readily available.  Neither of my dogs even qualify — I knew Melvin was a crap shoot to even apply for but I thought we were in the clear for Jake.  He got rejected because he tested positive for Ehrlichia, something that may never even affect him. Also, we need to be able to claim our pets on our tax return.  I just wanted to throw that one out since I find it crazy that we can’t.

I’m done rambling, happy Thursday!

Rolling to the vet (Jake’s safely contained in the big red box!).