I’m starting to think Melvin is working this ‘not feeling well’ to secure real estate on the big bed. I almost expect to walk into the bathroom and see him running the thermometer under hot water or to catch him practicing his sad face in the mirror.
Melvin is feeling better. He’s still slow and not easy to motivate but I can tell he is perking back up. No more seizures and his stomach seems to be tolerating food better, although he continues to have the shoestring drool that indicates he’s still nauseous. We are now just waiting for a plan to get in and see an internal medicine specialist and a neurologist.
In the meantime, I’m flashing back to the six hours we spent at the ER on Saturday. Here are some favorites…
Emaciated or not, I LOVE THIS FACE!
Melvin had a rough weekend. He was unable to keep food down and then he had a mild seizure. His face started to spasm and then one of his hind legs started thrashing about (which alarmed him so he jumped up but the leg had a mind of its own and kept flailing about). After a trip to the emergency vet, we have ruled a lot out but are still not sure what it is. Most things point to neurological. Melvin has always had mild tremors in his legs however the tremors have been increasing, and with the weekend mini-seizure it is clear that we need to see a specialist.
Don’t these things always seem to happen on holiday weekends? I mean we could have had him in to see a neurologist by now and know, or have some clue about what is going on. But here we are, staring at one another with no idea at all. And poor Melvin, he is allergic to protein and grains so he cannot have boiled chicken and rice. He has to go without food. He. Is. Not. Happy.
I am not happy either. I want him well, always.
Here is my patient, passed out on top of me.
And here he is doing what he did all weekend, sleeping.
I’m in the closet cause it’s a three-day weekend which usually means She has plans that include the black rolling box. That black rolling box is ginormous cause she always packs way too much just the right amount and needs a big bag to fit forty outfits for 3-days. I am certain I can fit in it. Thus, I will lay here until it shows up then I will jump inside it and go with Her. I have no clue how She will get it down the steps but I’m willing to risk injury (hers and mine) for this.
Happy Memorial Day weekend! Wish me luck…
I am home for a few days (working but still home) and have decided to make the best of this time with Melvin and do some training. My number one goal right now is to curb his urge to bolt to the window at every noise.
Let me make it clear how intensely he wants to get to the window. He can be asleep, eating or five rooms away and if he hears even the slightest hint of a noise out front, it is up and 60 mph in a nano-second. Be dammed the island stools, outta his way all area rugs, screw you foyer table. He wants to see and bark and so see and bark he shall do. It must stop. I’m not even that bothered that he barks. I believe in freedom of speech. I’m much more concerned with the intensity that arrises in him the moment he hears a noise.
I have considered several different techniques. Time-outs do not work so well for him, or maybe I should say I’d have to train him on that before using it as a tool. I can put him behind a door and open the door one second later and he bounds out as if he’s been in captivity for a year. He focuses too much on the joy of release to care why they hell he is in there.
Today’s lesson: We are locked in the office de-sensitizing him to all that goes on out front. Learn to watch and then eventually ignore.
When Melvin get’s excited (which 95% of the time is when a person is coming over to say hello) he is overcome with (and always gives in to) extremely strong urges to put things in his mouth. He does not opt for anything in particular, whatever is close by will do. Shoes, kongs, magazines, pillows, sofa cushions. Most items he does not chew or swallow but some he does, mostly if they are small or able to dissolve quickly in his ginormous, drool filled mouth. If the visitor pets Melvin for a moment then stops to say hello to me, Melvin will take this opportunity to find something new to put in his mouth, very much in a ‘Don’t look at her, look at me, I’m eating BLANK, I’m hi-larious!’.
This weekend we ran into one of his dog walkers on our walk. Melvin was beside himself. How could this even be happening, two people who walk him in the same place at the same time? What the… He ate leaves and cigarette butts and more leaves and more butts.
$10 bucks says he develops a smoker’s cough.
Yo, it’s Melvin. My mom has been down (literally) this week with a my-grain. Everyone seems to hate the my-grain but I love it. I call it my-gain cause she lays in bed with me all day!
Anyway, here’s a photo of me with my new pillow, bolster and a new sultry look I’m trying out.
There are four things in life that make Melvin wiggle with delight (he and I share three of them)…
One and two seem pretty self-explanatory. Three, well I don’t fully understand it although my theory is that he can smell testosterone. If you hide a man within a 1,000 woman flash-mob, Melvin will weave in and out of the ladies (stopping only for food or me) and locate the one dude in the whole place. And then he will wiggle with delight to the beat of the song.
As for open car doors, I have lost count how many automobiles (that are not ours) Melvin has jumped into. It happens in a flash, we are walking down the sidewalk, unbeknownst to me a car door opens and Melvin b-lines into the car. He is still on leash and I am still holding the leash but he uses all six feet of it to make his way into some stranger’s car. Most of the time it is met with giggles and laughter. A few times there have been screams and the F-bomb has been thrown our way. He will jump in back seats, front seats and once tried to jump into an open trunk. The owner of the open trunk declared that Melvin looked like Al Gore and said he would tell the story that way, that Al Gore tried to jump into his trunk.
I received the loveliest Mother’s Day gift. A one-of-a-kind, professional artist’s portrait of my boy.
At first, when I was unwrapping it, I thought it would be a photo of a yellow lab.
I mean, who would go to such great lengths to have a portrait of Melvin done for me? Am I dying? And then as I peeled down the paper, I saw his eyes, his pink nose, the face I love so much. The detail was breathtaking, the artist (Shannon Boyd) is genius!
I love everything about this gift. Every. Single. Thing. Thank you Annie & Bobby (although I’m thinking mostly Annie on this one)!!! And thank you Shannon!!! I smile every time I look at it!
I love my mom. I admire, respect and seek out time with my mom. She is funny, strong, happy, and smart and I’m giddy just being around her. The world lights up when she is near. I have pretty much always felt this way. When someone tells me stories of how they don’t get along or are not close to their mom, I feel tremendous sadness for them and in the same moment count my every blessing.
We have as many differences as we have similarities. My mom does not share my love of animals (I’m still not sure where that gene of mine came from) and that has always been ok. She loves Melvin, mostly I think because I love Melvin. We had dogs growing up, she and my dad wanted us to experience all that our hearts desired, but she often does not fully comprehend the bond a person can feel with their pet. While I might think she is crazy to not get it, I’m sure she thinks I’m crazy to have a blog about my dog.
Melvin’s well-being and happiness are paramount to me. I love him unconditionally. Without doubt, I am a wonderful dog mom because of my mother. She taught me to love, to be patient, to let joy run amuck. So mom, Melvin says thank you. And he’s pretty excited that we are heading over to your house right now. He has grand plans to drool, shed and eat up the forbidden chocolate in the dining room. And you will say, as the title of this blog reflects, ‘Oh Melvin!’.
This is odd, it’s one of those five days (yes I can count) that She has usually left by now. I thought it was weird when we were still lounging in our respective beds after the sky got bright. Then she drank her coffee, downstairs. She usually drinks that while using the noisy fan that blows her hair all around. The big yellow thing has driven down the street several times today and She is usually gone by then. But here She is, still in her pajamas.
She. Is. Staying. Home!
I heard Her telling someone on the eyephone that she was in need of a mental holiday, I just assumed she would get the black rolling box out and disappear for a few days. Man I hate that black rolling box. But it seems, She is not going anywhere. And…She just got my backpack out of that bucket that says ‘dog stuff’. I seriously love that bucket. Remain calm. Don’t let her know you notice. Whatever you do, don’t excited pee.
Happy Weekend everyone! We are off to rejuvenate and relax!
One thing I have always felt pretty strongly about is that the dog stuff needs to be functional yet still decorative. I don’t want people to say ‘oh, look, a dog bed’. I want them to say ‘Holy crap! How friggen awesomely adorable is that! He sleeps there!?’. Yep, I aim high.
So I am in the process of creating a new space for Melvin. I’ve brought the Molly Mutt covered bed back out and have ordered their bolster (has not arrived yet so more on that in a few days). I purchased a non-dog themed photo as a backdrop/headboard. And then… I saw it and knew I had to have it.
A pillow, for Melvin, that says ‘stud’.
Fluffy-pillow-girlfriend is on her way out the door (or at least out of the bedroom) once the bolster arrives. He tends to kick her out of bed every night and she’s claiming abuse.
This is an every night occurrence. Eventually he makes it to his bed but not after at least three attempts. (Lighting quality indicates I was not planning on taking this video!).
I read once that stars wear the same outfit over and over again so that tabloids have a harder time selling photos of them (The concept being, is this photo from today or from last year?). Ok fine, I can’t read but I heard Her telling that to someone. That is why 99.9% of the time I give the same expression for all photos: To foil the tabloids.
With ‘my’ man.
With my girlfriend, the fluffy pillow.
Laying sideways, in both directions.
Modeling sweaters.
And coats.
On various blankets and chairs.
Through the window.
Just sitting doing nothing (why does it look like I’m wearing a fur stole in this photo?).
And in the car.
You can never be too sure.
I love to write. Not so much the grammar side of writing, for me it’s more about the words themselves over the perfect sentence structure. While this blog has given me plenty of reason to spend many a moment in my happy place, the blog world in general has given me so much opportunity for learning and enjoyment.
The first blog I read that inspired me to start my own was Love and Leash. I found myself tuning in every day (and a year and half later I still do) to check in on Chick, their latest foster and now The Dude. It’s the perfect mixture of words, photos and sentiment. That blog makes me strive to be a better dog owner.
From there I found Our Waldo Bungie. More wonderful words, photos and dog/foster stories (and sweaters!). I have connected (via email) with many bloggers, however E, the writer of this blog, was my very first blog contact/friend. Beyond just reading each others blogs, we reach out for help, advice and support. It’s quite the perk.
Then there is Two Pitties in City. I’m so in love with the sweet faces and personalities of these two dogs. I found this blog after their last foster was adopted so my love of it centers on stories and photos of their current dogs, fashion (the dogs of course) and decorating.
Through the blog community I’ve mourned when one blogger had to put their foster down. Knowing they did all they could and reading through their emotional struggle was hard. I felt a similar, deep sadness about Knox (and his family), a dog I never met but was so very sad to see gone. He was struck with illness far too early in his short, sweet life. Grief didn’t care that we’d never met. The blog world has also given me (much more) opportunity to cheer, as foster after foster has gone to their forever home. And new ones have rolled in for placement. Real people, stories and emotion. Sign. Me. Up.
Many other awesome blogs can be found on the Oh Melvin home page on the right side of the screen. And if you haven’t already, please like us on Facebook.
I am going to pretend confirm that this post is about Kongs and not about the new Sirius Republic bow tie (a purchase I blame on Two Pitties in the City).
I love Kongs and so does Melvin. Thus, this post is all about Kongs.
I know it’s supposed to go on the other side of his neck but that did not make for the best photo op.
I’ve become obsessed with the Nostalgio app. Although I’m not very good at it…yet.
