n-judah love song

it's a dog's life

Hello, internet. I've been trying to think of how to say and deal with this, so I'll just come out with it.

I am moving to Boston. Stella is not. Instead, Stella will be living with two of our favorite people, Jay and Jen.

Boston is not much of a dog-friendly town. San Francisco, you can bring your dog into the bar, the record store, the bookstore, hell, there's dog bowls out everywhere you go. Boston basically has a big sign on it that says NO DOGS ALLOWED. Stella has wicked arthritis from her surgery. Boston is cold, in case you haven't been following along. I talked with her vet, and he  spoke plain crazy truth: "you want to take a large, arthritic, barky animal to a city like that?"

Right. She would be miserable. I would be miserable. And yet...

I've spent nearly every day of two years with Stella since I rescued her from Animal Control. I know what face she makes when she's SO HAPPY to be walking, how she carries herself when she's about to explode off to chase another dog. She's my girl, even when she gives me that look of "lady, don't you even try to pet me right now" and saunters off to see what else more interesting could be going on.

There were also times that her behavior has been so bad that I have wanted to give her to the nearest homeless person and run away. When she had her surgery and would simply pee on my bed or wherever she was laying, when she chewed up everything in my room, when she required lifting up and down stairs for three weeks and couldn't run and play for months...well, I tell you, I nigh about cracked.  I felt sorry for myself for having to take care of an injured dog, and then felt even worse that she was the sick one, and what was I doing with this self-pity-party. If it hadn't been for all yall, I don't know what I would have done.

If I look too closely at my motives for not taking Stella with me, I see some demons mirrored back plain as day. I see selfishness for not being able to continue a responsibility to this animal who I promised to take care of for the rest of her life. I see incredible guilt for placing my happiness above her happiness. I see irresponsiblity. I see it all, and I know it's not productive to get down on myself this way, but I do. And yet it doesn't stop me from making the choice that I think is best for both of us.

I see all that and more: she is my best friend, and while my human best friends understand my motives, she doesn't, and she will forget for the most part, like dogs do. I mean, cmon, she forgets that I've left the house for five minutes and greets me like it's been five years. I know her new people are delighted and wonderful and ready to have a dog. I know when I see her napping under Jay's desk that she is happy and will continue to be so. I know I can hang out with her again. We'll all still be at Six Apart. I know all these things.

And still, my heart is still breaking into a zillion pieces, thinking that soon she won't be on the other side of the door, waiting and wagging. My little girl.

necessity is the mother

So a few weeks ago, when the neighbor dog got sprayed by a skunk, I said out loud “well, our dogs ate everything, but at least they missed THAT.”

And oh, how the universe LOL’ed.

Stella wakes up early, and the good part about having a backyard is I can let her out and go back to bed. This morning, around 5, she came back in from sniffing things and my eyes started to sting. I buried my head in the pillows and tried to convince myself I was having a particularly lucid dream.

I have no idea what to do with a dog who smells of skunk at 5am. I washed her as best I could with dish soap.

When I woke up a little more, I scoured the internet for ideas. I had none of the ingredients listed here – peroxide or tomato juice or lemon juice or whathaveyou. I did, however, have Febreze.

Yeah, I used a half a bottle of Febreze to soap up the damn skunky dog. Do you have a better idea?

updates

In case you're wondering what Stella has been up to while I'm gone, she has apparently started her own blog. Yes, I know it's not on TypePad. Kids! What can ya do?

Much gratitude and wet paws go to Jay and Yen for taking care of Her Highness while I've been away.

conehead

  Conehead 
  Originally uploaded by miz_ginevra.

Stella went back to the vet with an itchy butt rash (unrelated to her surgery). It's almost worth the $200 I spent today to see her walking around, bumping the cone into walls and finding herself unable to get through small spaces.

pug, it may be

Warning - objects on blog are just as cute as they appear. Presenting Shelby, the office pug, as Yoda.

injured reserve

  injured reserve 
  Originally uploaded by miz_ginevra.

To the surprise of exactly no one, Stella is not very good at staying still and letting her leg heal.

Up at 1 am. Up at 3 am. Up at 5 am. Parents of newborns will have no sympathy - except for that to take her out, I have to brave both the neighbor's tough-ass cat and the raccoons.

After two days of constant whining, chewing and peeing I asked the vet for something to knock her out. (I think my exact words were "please, save me, I would really like to leave my house") Now she's stumbling around all drunk-like, and her eyes are even redder than normal. It hurts me terribly to see her so miserable, but if she doesn't stay still, she runs the risk of ruining the surgery, wasting time and pain. Poor stoned girl.

Maybe she'll start watching cartoons with me.

a quick update

The vet just called and said that Stella is in recovery from her surgery, and is on a continuous morphine drip through the night, but should be just fine. The first two weeks of her recovery are probably bound to be the hardest - she's not supposed to use stairs, and nothing but trips to the bathroom for the outside world. There's also going to be a long period of time where she can't be off-leash, but she's been really good about it so far, and I've got high hopes.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Stella fund. The amazing generosity of people - even those she has barked at/left hair on/rooted through their garbage astounds me. Thanks also to all my friends for being there to listen to me and my drama-queen self, who let me get all teary, and who sent me music. All yall rock.

six apart dogs

  six apart dogs 
  Originally uploaded by miz_ginevra.

Friday is dog day - Stella, Pista, Major, and Shelby in the background totally uninterested in these fools.

doggone

Stella has torn her anterior cruciate ligament - that's right, her ACL. Like she's a damn Olympic runner. Apparently, it's really common. The problem with this is that the surgery not only involves $1900 that I don't have, but will keep Stella on leash for a good two or three months. If you have ever met my dog, you know she loveslovesLOVES to run. In fact, she's doing pretty well for a dog with three useful legs. She's hopping after pigeons and rolling in the grass like nothing's wrong. Tell me you'd do that with a torn ligament.

Maybe I'll just have the vet prescribe some valium. For me. I think I'm defintely going to be more freaked out about this than she is.

If you want, (and I know you're all so tired of giving, my feelings won't be hurt if you can't) you can donate to her DropCash fund.

ridiculously cute.

the new puppy at work. Stella's gonna have to work hard to keep up with the cute power goin' on with Major, the baby Boston.

dogblog

This might be my favorite photoblog ever. This guy goes around SF and takes photos of dogs tied to things, and inserts often-witty commentary.

I am now posting about both dogs and blogs, and am therefore a giant dork.

sleeping in dust, playing in water

We went camping at Glory Hole Recreation Area this weekend. I don't recommend the site itself if you don't have a boat, especially after the marina workers told us it was a.) illegal to swim off the boat launches b.) almost impossible to swim anywhere else c.) where there was swimming, there were FISH HOOKS in the ground.

However, the areas surrounding are beautiful. Take a look at the photos I put together from Steve and Cindy's camera. The first day we went to a reservoir on the Stanislaus that was breathtaking, the second to an underground cavern with a swimming hole through the middle. Incredible.

However, the dog seems to be quite ill, and keeps trying to pee but can't. Any ideas what to do with a dog with a bladder infection?

DogFriendly.com's City Guide: San Francisco,

DogFriendly.com's City Guide: San Francisco, California

For all the places to take a beastie.

Stella and Yen and I went to Fort Funston yesterday. It was windy, as SF beaches are wont to be. However, it is truly doggie heaven, with all shapes and sizes of dogs running about. Stella has good recall - at least when there are snacks involved. She made lots of dog friends and we were nearly blown away by the 4:00 wind coming in off the ocean.

When she sleeps, her ears go out to the side. Like a reindeer.

Yes, I am in love with my dog. Shuturrrp.