There's Only Room For One In This Sick Bay

This week has been a tough one for me.  What I'd hoped was just a touch of respiratory flu proved to be a tough case of bronchitis that kept me home from work all week.  I spent quite a bit of time curled up in bed, which Nurse Bunny heartily approves of.  However, in the interest of getting a good night's sleep, I also tried to get myself up and out of bed for part of the day. 

If you're a regular reader of the blog, then you know that I'm not the only one recovering here at our house.  Last week Blueberry broke her toe and is now sporting a rather large splint.  In the beginning of her convalescence, I was feeling pretty bad for her.  However, since she's learned to get around in her splint and the pain has dulled, she's been getting around quite well.

Apparently, she thinks that she has a claim on the couch right now.  I disagree and feel that I need the couch just as much, if not more, than she does.  It's not that I'm not willing to share.  As a matter of fact, two dogs AND a person can fit on our couch.   Provided the dogs and human are cooperative, that is.

I have noticed that Blueberry has been a lot clingier lately.  I attribute it to her not being able to go with us as much as she and we would like.  I also think that she's finally reached a point in her life where maybe she likes more physical comfort than she did when she was younger.  She's always preferred to have her own space to sleep, sometimes even sleeping in the living room while the rest of us are asleep in the bedroom.  I don't blame her -- I like to have my own space to sleep, too.  Still, it seems like she's taken it to new heights this week.

A lot of times, if Blue wants to be on the couch with me, she'll climb up and then stretch out so that none of the other dogs can find space up there.  I can't imagine how I ever found that this was cute.  You may be shaking your head and saying something to yourself about how sweet that is that she wants her time with me and how crazy I am to say that it's anything different.  Well, here's where the problem begins.  Blueberry doesn't think that she should have to share the couch.
I come out in the morning and ask her to move over.  She give me a look from the corner of her eye and then feigns sleep.  A second request from  me results in a snort, which she attempts to disguise as a sneeze.  Finally, she moves over infintessimally and I wedge myself into the corner, muttering about how she's lucky I'm sick and she's injured.  This results in a huff from Her Royal Hineyness followed by her standing up, stretching herself halfway on the floor and half on the couch before she hobbles off, ka thunk, ka thunk, ka thunk, tapping the floor extra hard with her splint as she stalks off to the crate to sulk.  I'm not sure if dogs feel guilt, but they certainly know how to use it against us.

She doesn't stay in the crate for long, though.  Oh no!  Soon, she's back, sniffing me and letting me know I'm forgiven for disturbing her before she will hop back up on the other end of the couch.  The next thing I know, she's stretched out on two cushions, her head leaning against my foot or leg.  I continue to read, or perhaps I'm looking at something on the computer, or watching a little television.  Soon, I begin to notice something.  Darned if this couch isn't shrinking!  Soon, Blueberry is so close to me that I've lost feeling in the entire lower half of my body.  I try to push her over, but I might as well be trying to control the flow of lava.   I get up and limp to the kitchen to rattle the treat jar.  Three dogs appear for treats while Blueberry sits up on the sofa, her ears perked in anticipation of the treat I'll bring back to her.  That didn't go as planned. 

I look at Bunny.  She's laying on the dog bed on the floor, avoiding what she imagines will be another Clash of the Titans.  No doubt she feels that if we take each other out, the couch will be all hers.  Morgan finds a reason to go on patrol.  Lilac yawns and closes her eyes, not willing to interrupt her nap for our silliness.  Finally, I sigh and realize the inevitable.  I am just going back to bed.  At least it's big enough for several of us to share if we all decide to head in there.  I'll fight the Battle of the Couch later.  Sleeping in bed with Bunny and Morgan suddenly seems like a much better idea, anyway.  I guess this way, we're all winners!

We're participating in this Saturday's Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you'd like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

Bring On The Bubble Wrap

It's funny how sometimes you resolve to do something and then it comes back to bite you in the rear, or the toe as the case may be.  Tuesday I was talking about trying to find the happy balance for Blueberry between being active and not overdoing things.  We got a nice helping of snow Tuesday and it was my last day of break before going back to work, so we decided to take the girls to the dog park.  It's an activity that Blueberry enjoys, as do Morgan and Bunny, and she can go at her own pace there.

We arrived and Blueberry took off with Bunny.  I could tell that the snow and cool weather were a perfect mix for them.  Mr. Taleteller and Morgan soon joined us and Morgan was off to try to catch up with them.  They did several huge circuits around the dog park and it was awestriking to watch them do what they were born to do.  Blueberry was really enjoying herself and giving it all she had.  She and Morgan seem committed to helping Bunny get in shape for that big race.

The park has a section for small dogs and so the larger dog section is actually a large L shape.  Blue is particularly interested in hanging out in the back section and stalking squirrels.  As Bunny and Morgan came back around and kept up their antics, I didn't think much about the fact that Blueberry wasn't with them.  After a few minutes, though, I decided to walk around and check on her, to make sure I knew where she was and what she was doing.  When I walked around the corner, I saw her, holding her paw up and looking a bit relieved to see me.

I walked over to her and brushed the snow off her foot, figuring that the cold was getting to her.  Still, she held the foot up.  I tried coercing her into walking forward a bit.  She kept the brakes on.  Her back legs were trembling from the strain and cold and I pulled her over to lean against me.  Then I called my husband.  I could carry Bunny or even Morgan, but Blueberry is a big girl.  He huffed, but picked her up to carry her to the van to warm up.  There are a few perks to getting old.  Bunny and Morgan circled around to see what was going on and offer moral support. 

After Bunny and Morgan had run out of steam, we collected them and headed back for the van.  When I opened the door, I was surprised to see her still holding her foot up, but the van doesn't offer a lot of room to do exams, so we loaded up and headed home.  Morgan and Bunny were escorted out of the van and I turned to have a closer look at Blueberry's foot.  She wasn't having any part of being examined and when I looked down at her, without any snow on her paw, I realized that the toe was sticking out at an awkward angle.  Mr. Taleteller carried her into the house and I gave him the news.  He was not too happy.  To his credit, he did not say "I'm so glad I gave up half a day of work for this" or "You know Morgan and I are going to miss our first obedience class tonight."

It's not uncommon for Greyhounds to dislocate toes.  I was pretty sure that's what had happened.  I gave a sigh and made the call to the vet's office.  Mr. Taleteller dutifully carried Her Royal Blueness back out to the van.  We set of to have the toe examined and x-rayed.  I felt awful for her in the lobby while we waited as she tried to pretend that not being able to see her would make it all go away.

I wasn't quite sure if they'd actually be able to do anything for her, but I am glad we went.  It turns out that she broke her P3, which would be her third phalanx bone in her toe.  It's not shattered, just broken in two, possibly three pieces.  She has a splint and a nice IV bag to wear over it to keep it dry.  She won't be visiting the dog park, or hiking, or much of anything for the next six weeks.  I'm ready to go with Morgan's idea of bubble wrap suits. 

So, I guess we'll start easing Blueberry back in to easy hikes in the Spring and see how it goes.  I'm not too worried about her getting too crazy because she's pretty mellow and laid back, but I do want to come up with some ideas to keep her from getting too bored while she's on the mend.  My question is for everybody out there who's ever experienced an injury that required rest or who just happens to have any creative ideas.  What do you do with a dog who wants to be somewhat active, but is on restricted activity?  I know she's going to need some special time just for her or she's going to get depressed seeing Bunny and Morgan getting to go out and do things while she can't.  Any and all ideas will be appreciated.

This is framed in my vet's office.  It's a note he wrote to his mom when he was a boy.  His mom gave it back to him when he grew up.  Every time I see it, I have to smile!  I guess it's a good thing that we don't get everything that we wish for.