Hi everyone!
So a week ago today, I had Juliette spayed. The operation went very well, but naturally, I was pretty worried and anxious. Luckily, I was able to bring her home that afternoon, but I was just nervous about her over-exerting herself.
The first night was pretty easy and she wasn't over doing it at all, mainly because she was still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. I opted to forgo getting her the "Elizabethan Collar" or E-Collar -- basically the cone thing. (If you've seen the movie "Up" you know it as the Cone of Shame.) My theory was that Juliette has someone around her 24 hours a day. I am the world's lightest sleeper. I wake up if she changes position in bed, or if she starts dreaming in her sleep and changes breathing. We didn't have any issues and she basically learned that if she so much as sniffed her incisions we'd all say "NO" in surround sound, so she stopped.
On Monday, she had a little excess drainage from the wound, so I took her into the vet who put her on antibiotics as a precaution and also forced me to take the E-Collar, which I knew she didn't need. Since then, the wound has calmed down and Juliette has also not gone after the wound. It's healing very nicely, and so is she! The most difficult part of the process has been that we can't play with her the way she wants to play, and she doesn't understand why.
The upside for her is that she's gotten to try a couple new things as a result of the surgery and us trying to find other ways to entertain her. For example, on the first night afterwards, I went to Wal-Mart and bought her Frosty Paws Ice Cream by Purina. It comes in an original flavor and also a peanut butter flavor (which I couldn't find). But she loves it! I thought it'd be a nice treat and in the first 24 hours, she wasn't eating much, and the vet actually thought it was a great idea as something soothing and appealing, but soft for her try in the first few hours. Also, she has a pain medication that she gets once a day by syringe but she actually really loves it -- it's formulated to taste good for dogs, and she's so patient about it, she will literally open her mouth for me to squirt the medicine in. And, to make the process of her taking an antibiotic a little more easy, she, like all our dogs before us, has discovered the joy of peanut butter between a couple little crackers.
Now, Juliette is doing great. She gets her stitches out on Monday, but she's been feeling much better for days. She is still sleeping mostly on the floor, but we've gotten all our extra comforters out and made beds for her so she can be comfortable. But two nights ago, I was sound asleep when I woke up with one paw on either side of my head. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but she had bounded up on the bed to save me from a spider dropping on my face, which I caught and squished.
Now, she has become our little spider hunter. We have a very big back yard, and as it is, spiders tend to gravitate towards our house. But with all the rain, they're really showing up. I swear, it can be dark and soundless in my room, and she can be out like a light, but she'll jump up and fixate on it. However, she is making it very easy for us to find and catch them. Luckily, with Memorial Day coming up, my dad and brother will be doing a lot of gardening and I'll be doing some cleaning, so that will minimize the problem. It is very funny though -- she gets very excited when my dad squishes them and lets out a happy bark. Now we joke that she and my dad are going hunting together!
I'll be posting pictures of miss Juliette eating her softy paws ice cream soon! :)
Until then, lots of love from both of us!
--Heather & Juliette
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Once Upon a Mattress, Home Alone, The Easter Beagle, and a Golden Retrieval Mission.
Hi everyone!
So first of all, it's been a really long time since I updated! My life has gotten so busy over the past several weeks. Not long after my last entry, I was formally offered an intern position working in marketing, promotions, and graphic design for 97.1 The Ticket (WXYT 1270 AM) and WWJ Newsradio 950. I do most of my work with the Ticket, though they also partner with WWJ frequently, and one of my bosses works between both offices so I dabble a little in things at WWJ, too! They are both part of the CBS Radio family, so I'll be getting to do work with WYCD (Young Country), 98.7 AMP (Pop Music/Top 40), and Oldies 104.3 WOMC. With the start of baseball season, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as well as several major business events, most nights, I don't even get on Facebook for more than two or three minutes.
Anyhow, I guess I'll do my best to start where I left off ...
Near the end of March, Juliette started teething big time. It was definitely a tough time for her -- she did NOT like losing teeth. But, through that, she discovered how much she loves ice cubes, and we also found some great toys for her to help with teething, as well as an amazing gluten-free and all-natural chewy that is sold in bulk at Cost-Co that my dad found for her. Since then, she has lost all her teeth. Her back teeth are still working their way in and they are SO big still for her mouth (which isn't fully grown), so they still bug her sometimes, but for the most part, she's doing really well. She rarely even play bites anymore, but most she'll do is nibble on someone's toe a little (which I think she does mostly 'cause it tickles me and I laugh) or suck on a finger. She chews on me a little harder sometimes, but never with anyone else.
A big accomplishment in the month of April was that Juliette has made the transition from sleeping in the crate to sleeping with me in my bed! This was a very exciting achievement for her and she loves sleeping in the bed now. It will definitely be nice when I have a bigger bed, but for now, we make it work. I can also trust her to sleep out of the crate at night anywhere else in my room if she likes -- she likes to sleep on the floor if it's warmer, since the air conditioning vent is right under this mini-couch in my room and it's like a jet-stream of cool air.
In the middle of April, my parents went away on vacation to Traverse City and Petoskey, so it was just me and Juliette for about six days. I was really nervous because I've never had the house alone that much by myself, and I've never not had a parent around with me while I'm taking care of her for any real length of time. But I think it made us closer, and also prepared us for the future!
Part of that future is that me and one of my best friends, Katelyn, who I've known for like twelve years and who I danced with, will be getting an apartment with me in the fall in Ypsilanti so I can be closer to EMU to finish my degree. The apartment is beautiful -- two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a patio, and very pet friendly (they have little pet stations all over the complex). We are incredibly excited!
Also around the middle-to-end of April, Juliette graduated from her puppy class. I have a picture -- but only one -- that I need to scan in. They have little graduation caps and everything! She starts her intermediate level class with our same trainer in June. Our trainer also had one extra session with me to make-up for one where I'd been sick, and since Juliette had all the commands mastered that she needed for the class, he started teaching me some tricks for her. She can now spin, and she can also roll over (but she doesn't really like to do it much yet on command). Also during this time, he worked with she and I on agility training and Juliette just LOVED it. I'm definitely going to be looking in to outlets for her to work on agility more as she gets older. She took to it very well. She wasn't at all intimidated by running through the tubes (many dogs are, according to our trainer), and she was good at jumping over things and through hoops.
For Easter, Juliette got a special visit from the Easter Beagle. (If you've ever watched the Charlie Brown/Peanuts Easter special, you know what I'm talking about -- and if you haven't, watch it, because it's a holiday classic!) The Easter Beagle (me), got her a brand new Kong. Her first little one is one she still loves, but it's more a ball to chase now, so I upgraded her to the bigger puppy Kong and got her new treats to fill it!
During the last weekend of April, a friend of mine, Brandi, who I worked with at a Girl Scout Camp, threw a party for her now-one-year-old Dalmatian named Oreo and Oreo's sister, Tinkerbell. Juliette was invited and she had a blast. There are a ton of pics on my Facebook of it! I also met with the lady of a dog-centered Meet Up group that Brandi takes Oreo to called Troy Dogs Live. Once Juliette gets her rabies vaccine and is spayed and healed, she will be joining the group with me, so she's going to have lots of puppy friends!
This past week, Juliette and I made the trip up to CMU to bring my brother Kyle and a last load of stuff home for the summer. It was her longest car ride (besides when I brought her home, which I'm not sure she remembers) ever and she did so well! She was such a good girl that she got some vanilla ice cream on the way home!
Lastly, this Friday, Juliette will be getting spayed, micro-chipped, and then given a rabies vaccination. I'm preparing to inflate one of our air mattresses so she can still sleep with me without her having to try and jump up in bed and potentially rip her stitches.
Other than that everything is going so well! We just love this little girl dog, and she truly is a little Jewel which is a nickname she's taken on.
All is well in Juliette-land! :)
More soon, I hope!
So first of all, it's been a really long time since I updated! My life has gotten so busy over the past several weeks. Not long after my last entry, I was formally offered an intern position working in marketing, promotions, and graphic design for 97.1 The Ticket (WXYT 1270 AM) and WWJ Newsradio 950. I do most of my work with the Ticket, though they also partner with WWJ frequently, and one of my bosses works between both offices so I dabble a little in things at WWJ, too! They are both part of the CBS Radio family, so I'll be getting to do work with WYCD (Young Country), 98.7 AMP (Pop Music/Top 40), and Oldies 104.3 WOMC. With the start of baseball season, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as well as several major business events, most nights, I don't even get on Facebook for more than two or three minutes.
Anyhow, I guess I'll do my best to start where I left off ...
Near the end of March, Juliette started teething big time. It was definitely a tough time for her -- she did NOT like losing teeth. But, through that, she discovered how much she loves ice cubes, and we also found some great toys for her to help with teething, as well as an amazing gluten-free and all-natural chewy that is sold in bulk at Cost-Co that my dad found for her. Since then, she has lost all her teeth. Her back teeth are still working their way in and they are SO big still for her mouth (which isn't fully grown), so they still bug her sometimes, but for the most part, she's doing really well. She rarely even play bites anymore, but most she'll do is nibble on someone's toe a little (which I think she does mostly 'cause it tickles me and I laugh) or suck on a finger. She chews on me a little harder sometimes, but never with anyone else.
A big accomplishment in the month of April was that Juliette has made the transition from sleeping in the crate to sleeping with me in my bed! This was a very exciting achievement for her and she loves sleeping in the bed now. It will definitely be nice when I have a bigger bed, but for now, we make it work. I can also trust her to sleep out of the crate at night anywhere else in my room if she likes -- she likes to sleep on the floor if it's warmer, since the air conditioning vent is right under this mini-couch in my room and it's like a jet-stream of cool air.
In the middle of April, my parents went away on vacation to Traverse City and Petoskey, so it was just me and Juliette for about six days. I was really nervous because I've never had the house alone that much by myself, and I've never not had a parent around with me while I'm taking care of her for any real length of time. But I think it made us closer, and also prepared us for the future!
Part of that future is that me and one of my best friends, Katelyn, who I've known for like twelve years and who I danced with, will be getting an apartment with me in the fall in Ypsilanti so I can be closer to EMU to finish my degree. The apartment is beautiful -- two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a patio, and very pet friendly (they have little pet stations all over the complex). We are incredibly excited!
Also around the middle-to-end of April, Juliette graduated from her puppy class. I have a picture -- but only one -- that I need to scan in. They have little graduation caps and everything! She starts her intermediate level class with our same trainer in June. Our trainer also had one extra session with me to make-up for one where I'd been sick, and since Juliette had all the commands mastered that she needed for the class, he started teaching me some tricks for her. She can now spin, and she can also roll over (but she doesn't really like to do it much yet on command). Also during this time, he worked with she and I on agility training and Juliette just LOVED it. I'm definitely going to be looking in to outlets for her to work on agility more as she gets older. She took to it very well. She wasn't at all intimidated by running through the tubes (many dogs are, according to our trainer), and she was good at jumping over things and through hoops.
For Easter, Juliette got a special visit from the Easter Beagle. (If you've ever watched the Charlie Brown/Peanuts Easter special, you know what I'm talking about -- and if you haven't, watch it, because it's a holiday classic!) The Easter Beagle (me), got her a brand new Kong. Her first little one is one she still loves, but it's more a ball to chase now, so I upgraded her to the bigger puppy Kong and got her new treats to fill it!
During the last weekend of April, a friend of mine, Brandi, who I worked with at a Girl Scout Camp, threw a party for her now-one-year-old Dalmatian named Oreo and Oreo's sister, Tinkerbell. Juliette was invited and she had a blast. There are a ton of pics on my Facebook of it! I also met with the lady of a dog-centered Meet Up group that Brandi takes Oreo to called Troy Dogs Live. Once Juliette gets her rabies vaccine and is spayed and healed, she will be joining the group with me, so she's going to have lots of puppy friends!
This past week, Juliette and I made the trip up to CMU to bring my brother Kyle and a last load of stuff home for the summer. It was her longest car ride (besides when I brought her home, which I'm not sure she remembers) ever and she did so well! She was such a good girl that she got some vanilla ice cream on the way home!
Lastly, this Friday, Juliette will be getting spayed, micro-chipped, and then given a rabies vaccination. I'm preparing to inflate one of our air mattresses so she can still sleep with me without her having to try and jump up in bed and potentially rip her stitches.
Other than that everything is going so well! We just love this little girl dog, and she truly is a little Jewel which is a nickname she's taken on.
All is well in Juliette-land! :)
More soon, I hope!
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