Sunday's Child

Ramping Up

Andie's new ramp for the sofa arrived today! It's made of compressed foam, so to ship it, they squish it into a wodge and shrink wrap it in plastic and wrap the whole thing in clear packing tape and then slap a FedEx label on it. A steak knife is required to bust it out of the plastic wrapper.

Since we already have a ramp in the bedroom, Andie is a pro and knows exactly how to use it. I only have it turned sideways for now, while we work on using it every time - for both up AND down.

I'm pretty thrilled with the red toille cover. I got to pick the fabric and Scamp Ramp's seamstress made the cover custom for us. I guess if we have to have a ramp in the living room, it's nice that it matches my decor!

Tough Love

This weekend, Andie and I spent some quality time at the emergency vet. Dachshunds are genetically predisposed to Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD), and Andie is now one of the 20% of doxies that get it. She had a relatively minor flare, which is really the best case scenario if she is going to have back problems. She passed all her neurological exams and does not require surgery, so for now that means meds every 12 hours and a minimum of one month of crate rest while her back heals.

The first day, crate rest was a piece of cake. The vet dosed her up with an NSAID, a pain killer, and a muscle relaxer. The combination made her sleepy. Now she's feeling much better, so she's been complaining about the living conditions to me. She alternates between licking the crate gate (maybe thinking it will rust through over time?) and pouting with her head tucked into the back corner, buried in her blanket. Poor baby. Living in a tough love household is rough.

Find the dachshund

Welcome to a game I play multiple times every day.  Andie is asleep under one of these blanket lumps.  Is it A, B or C?

My Snuggie

I hope that whoever invented the Snuggie makes a million dollars.  Sure, the commercial is completely lame, but it's a great idea, and it solves a problem I have - the simultaneous need to be warm and have my hands free for reading a book on the sofa.  I went to Target this weekend and bought one of my very own (they come in maroon!) with the idea that it would be MINE and mine alone.  Andie has assumed control of all the other blankets in the house. 

I should probably just give up the notion that I'm in charge in this household.

Andie vs. The Toyota Squeaky Toy Commercial

Dear Toyota Marketing Department:

First, let me say I think you make some fine automobiles.  In particular, a certain 2000 Solara has served me very well over the years.

Now, on to business.  For my part, I need to let you know that I find the Prius commercials with the pitching, heaving, flipping, flying, costumed people forming the landscape to be extremely creepy.  Sure, the music is catchy, and the overall effect is slightly hypnotic, but ew.  You just keep an eye on those folks, okay?  I wouldn't be surprised if they joined forces with the disgruntled non-fruit member of the Fruit of the Loom guys (you know, the one that looks like he's wearing a bowl of corn flakes) and had some kind of uprising one day.

Second, I need to make an appeal on behalf of my dog.  The new commercial where the people are driving around looking for their runaway dog, squeezing squeaky toys out the window, is causing some discord in my household.  At first I thought we were alone in feeling this way.  Then I found a few other sympathizers posting videos on YouTube.  My dog is smarter than this yorkie - she knows toys don't come from behind the television.  They come from me.  Last night, when the offending commercial played during prime time, she got out of bed to come give me an accusing look.  Dogs know when they have suffered an iniquity, and believe me, she is keeping track.  It's like owing back taxes to the IRS.  I'm afraid the next trip to PetsMart might bankrupt me.

Please, if you can't pull the commercial, (we understand, you're in business to make money) could you at least mail us one of those toys?  The one the woman is holding is the more appealing one.  

 

Kind regards,

Jill and Andie

Sheesh!

I have a ten pound roommate that needs to be reminded who pays the bills around here.  Exhibit A:

When confronted about this situation, Andie had no comment.

Completely unrepentant:

Be thankful your monitor is not scratch & sniff

Andie is going to Conroe next week while I'm on vacation, so I took her to PetsMart this afternoon to have her nails trimmed.  She likes to put her best paw forward when she's a house guest, after all.  The groomers there are fantastic - the guy that held her while they did her nails let her lick his chin the whole time.  PetsMart has changed its grooming packages up, and now you can only get a nail trim as part of the "Nails and Ears Package" which includes the nail trim, ear washing, cologne spray and a useless bandana.  As soon as they handed her back to me, my eyes started watering.  The cologne spray is sort of herbal - maybe a combination of lavender and rosemary?  Jeez, it's terrible.  The whole PetsMart experience freaks Andie out, so I don't want to compound things by giving her a bath, but sleeping arrangements tonight are going to be a challenge!  As soon as we got in the car, she shook off a huge cloud of fur and I happened to have my mouth open.  Some guy in the parking lot gave me a really strange look as I was going "ppppbbbttt  ppppbbbttt" to try and get the fur off my tongue.

Oh, the DPS office - that's 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back.  There isn't enough anti-bac in all the world to take care of the situation they have going on in there.  I feel administratively violated in every possible way.  My new license is in the mail.

The Pizza Man Cometh

One of Andie's favorite activities is barking at the pizza delivery guy.  All I have to do is put the front door key in the lock and say, "pizza man", and she goes into high alert mode.  Here she is, at the ready:

When the pizza gets here, she'll bark and growl like a German Shepherd and beat me to the door.  She's all talk and no action though - all she wants to do is sniff the guy's ankle, from safely inside the house.

Good Report

Andie spent the day at the vet today, in for her six-month checkup.  Before you start feeling sorry for her, you should know she had the staff wrapped around her little paw before they even took her to the back room.  When I handed her to the check-in nurse, I told her the same thing I tell her every morning when I leave: "Be a good girl.  I'll be back."  She looked right at me and let out the most pathetic whine, and the nurse went, "Awwwww!"

She got a good report, and since she only got the kennel cough vaccine this time, we will hopefully have a drama free (no allergic reactions) weekend.  There's something about a dachshund that attracts people like a magnet.  On the way out of the PetsMart, I had to stop four times to let people pet her.

Still Life With Dachshund

In case anyone has any doubts that Andie lives the good life, I took pictures today to prove it.  Behold, this is how the bed looks in the morning when I leave for work.  Here's Andie and her angelic halo:

Now, to be completely fair, the green blanket and the white blanket are hers.  Check out what the bedclothes look like this evening.  She even brought a toy up there!  Clearly there has been a lot of cavorting.  The tan lump at the top is MY PILLOW!  I get no respect around here!