Feeling Her Oats

Emme is getting more like her real self each day. This morning, she was feeling her oats and decided to play a game of "You'll Never Find Me." After Ken and I took the dogs out first thing this morning, I went back upstairs to brush my teeth and wash my face. Emme, of course, came with me. When I was done, I went back downstairs into the living room and sat on the couch for my regular early morning visit with Emme. Every morning, we sit together quietly on the couch and I tell her what a good girl she is as I am slowly waking up. Then after checking his email, Ken comes into the dining room and sits at the table. We play a couple rounds of "Go Get..." and then the humans get some coffee.

Not this morning. When I went into the living room, Emme was no where to be seen. I called for Emme and then to Ken in his office to see if she had gone in to see him. Not there. I went back upstairs to make sure I hadn't shut Emme in the bathroom or the closet. Not there. I came back downstairs and now the two of us looked for Emme, calling her name all the while. Of course, Emme was no where and she didn't make a sound. This is the important part of "You'll Never Find Me." Emme refuses to respond to our calls. We call "Emme, come" and she remains totally silent. I got down on my hands and knees to check if she was in her hiding place under the dining room cabinet. Not there. Back upstairs to see if she had pushed open the door to the guest room and then could not get back out. Not there. Finally I went into my sewing room, kneeled down on the rug and found Emme tucked under the drawers of my desk, all the way back by the wall absolutely invisible.

Now that she was found, Emme could come out and go downstairs. We took puppy classes so that Emme would learn some important commands like "Come." She knows these commands, but when she plays "You'll Never Fine Me" she has different rules. She hides; I call; she remains silent. I HATE this game but I am glad that she is feeling enough better to play.

Better and Better

Emme seems to get better and better. Her shaved rectangle on the back of her neck is growing more hair and now resembles a front lawn covered with snow. This makes things look much more normal. You can still easily see the incision and the stitches but not the raw, pink skin. This is an improvement.

Today she seems more itchy than the previous days. There is a lot of head shaking and attempts at scratching but she stops when told "No." She is handling taking care of her business without a collar and leash. She goes outside, takes care of business, and comes back to the porch quickly. Maybe I am worrying about nothing.

She is back to her noisy, protect-the-neighborhood-from-marauders self. She loves to be on the porch to keep an eye on things. The problem is, she thinks anything she can see is her business. She doesn't limit herself to her own backyard. The next door neighbors are getting a new roof so there are trucks and workers all over their yard. The fact that it is next door, doesn't deter Emme. She barks and growls to keep the invaders away. Needless to say, it was a long afternoon yesterday. Maybe they will be done this afternoon. Then Emme can lighten up. One can only hope.

Getting Better Each Day

Emme seemed different this morning, a little more animated and spunky. I see her getting better each day. She finishes with the antibiotic and the pain pills this evening. Her shaved spot is growing fine little white hairs, kind of like an old man's cheek, and it doesn't look as raw and angry. She spent a quiet night last night with only one episode of scratching.

Yesterday Ken and I stayed home with her all day. We didn't go to church and didn't attend a concert we had tickets for because I didn't want to leave her at home alone. Today I am more confident in her ability to stay by herself without supervision. We have a crab apple walk through the Secrest Arboretum scheduled on Wednesday and I am sure she will be able to be crated and stay alone for two hours by then. Life is beginning to get back to normal.

Always on a Leash

Today is Emme's third day after cyst removal surgery and she continues to heal. She was more restless last night than she has been. We had to talk to her two or three times during the night to get her to settle down and not scratch. Today she is still uncomfortable periodically and wants to be held frequently but otherwise is doing nicely on the pain medicine.

The biggest change is that she can't wear a collar and leash. I always have Emme on a leash when I take her outside. That way I know where she is and I know that she can't take off to chase a squirrel or a jogger. It just keeps her safe. Ken sometimes takes Emme out to play fetch without a collar and leash, but I never do. If she is outside with me, she has on a collar and leash.

Now, obviously, with a giant incision on the back of her neck, we can't put a collar on her. We have been taking her outside to do her business for the last few days without a problem. I was beginning to grow more comfortable with this until this afternoon. A black poodle was galloping around in our next door neighbor's year and I know they do not have a dog. This dog was obviously from somewhere else in the neighborhood and had gotten off the leash. If Emme had been outside, she would have run to the poodle to play and I am not sure what would have happened next. I don't like this. It will be a week or two before Emme can wear her collar and I think I will worry the entire time. Not that worrying will keep her safe. It is just what I do.

And a Hair Cut, Too

Now we are in day two, post cyst surgery. To add insult to injury, I have had to clip some of Emme's hair to make her more comfortable. Yesterday she was flapping her ears in reaction to the feel of the incision and sutures or in an effort to make herself more comfortable. Each time she flapped her ears, some of the long ear hair caught on the sutures. Then she would move her head, pull on the stitches and cry. So Ken held her and I got out the scissors and cut all the hair that was long enough to get caught. So in addition to having a shaved spot the size of an index card on the back of her neck, Emme's ears look a little wonky. I don't care as long as she is more comfortable.

She seems to be tolerating the pain medication well. She is taking that in addition to an antibiotic. She is not nauseous and she is eating, drinking and eliminating without a problem. I know the pain medication is slowing her down. We say something like "Are you ready to eat?" or "Let's go outside and hurry up" and she seems to have to stop and consider what we are saying before she responds. I know the feeling; pain medicine makes me dumb.

Emme spent most of the day yesterday in one of our arms. She and I watched many shows on the "Sick Channel," HD Theatre. I discovered this channel last spring after my surgery and it was a wonderful diversion. Yesterday Emme and I watched a show on rogue crocodiles and hippopotamuses, the sunrise in a Cambodian village (where the sun rose VERY slowly), a show on souping up some one's SUV to make it "hot" and the beginning of a racing show. A rather eclectic mix but entertaining.

She sat in Ken's arms in front of his computer though a variety of Podcasts and many games of solitaire. By evening, she did begin to spend a little time on the floor or up on the couch or a chair seat by herself. We need to watch her constantly because if she begins to scratch, she will stop if she is told "No." Last night we all went to bed and slept through the night. She seems to have made it through the night with out scratching.

So today, we are taking turns on "Emme watch." She wants to be held sometimes but other times she can be more independent. We are still watching her to prevent her from scratching. We are all going to make it through this.

Obviously the photos I used yesterday and today are pre-surgery. I can't bring myself to take a picture of the incision. When it is over and done with, I don't want to be reminded of it in graphic detail.

A Big Deal

Emme's little bump turned into a big deal. She came home with a shaved rectangle on the back of her neck about four inches wide by five inches long, a 2 1/2 inch incision and seven sutures. The skin around the incision is a raw looking and pink and she is miserable. Until her first pain pill kicked in about six o'clock last night she yipped and cried in pain every time she moved. Now she seems in less pain but she wants to scratch the incision and rub it on the rug or furniture. The only thing that stops her is one of us holding her in our arms. So we did, all night last night. Ken and I spent the night in the living room with one of us holding Emme in our arms in a recliner chair and the other trying to sleep on the couch. We traded positions every two hours so we had some relief, but it was a long night. Right now Ken is holding Emme while I shower, dress and check my email. Then it will be my turn again.

On a positive note, Emme came through yesterday's surgery just fine. The vet said that the bump was a sebaceous cyst and he was able to get all of it out. The incision is larger than we expected because the cyst was larger under the surface of the skin than at the surface. It was about the size of a quarter. The surgery was uneventful. The cyst was removed and Emme's teeth were cleaned while she was under.

The recovery is another matter. Emme is miserable and we are trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. This will mean a lot of holding her until things ease up. We had an appointment in Akron this afternoon that we will cancel to stay with her. Today's focus is just on helping Emme heal.

Last night Emme ate a few pieces of kibble from Ken's fingers and this morning he hand fed her again. She has gone outside to hurry up twice since she came home. So all systems are working.

I hope she never has another cyst. I never want to go through this again.

Three Drinks of Hot Water

Rudy loves to drink hot water from the shower. Emme could care less. Her fun is to help us dry our legs after we get out of the shower. As soon as we step out on the bath mat, Emme begins licking our ankles and calves. She keeps it up until we are dry or we send her out of the bathroom. This is like her duty to help when we take a shower.

Rudy on the other hand loves to drink the hot shower water. As soon as Ken or I step into the shower if the door is unlatched Rudy pushes into the bathroom. Then he pushes his head through the shower curtain at the foot of the bath tub. He waits patiently until we fill our hands with hot shower water and hold them at the edge of the tub. He dips his mouth into our hand and laps up the water. We give him three drinks, our limit. I think he would stay there indefinitely and drink. After three drinks of hot water for Rudy, we go back to our shower and he either curls up on the bath mat or leaves the bathroom in search of other excitement.

Why in the world would Rudy consider three drinks of hot water from the shower a treat?

Just a Little Bump

Last fall we discovered a little bump on the back of Emme's neck. We pointed it out to the vet who said we should just take a "wait and see" position. So we waited and the little bump grew from the size of a lentil to the size of a marble, a pretty good sized marble. Over the weekend, it erupted and seeped some clear liquid and a little blood. We took Emme to the vet yesterday afternoon to have it looked at and they said that we should probably have it removed. It looks like a sebaceous cyst but because it grew so much over the winter, we probably shouldn't just leave it there to continue to grow. It is less of a problem to remove a little bump than a bigger one. So Emme is scheduled for surgery on Thursday. Although she will have general anesthesia, it is only a one day procedure. She will go to the vet's early in the morning and return to us before dinner. Just to be cautious, they will biopsy the cyst to make sure that nothing else is going on. I know that the surgery is not a big deal, but I still will be glad when Thursday has come and gone. Think good thoughts for our pup in the next few days.

It's All Right Now

We picked up Emme and Rudy from the kennel yesterday morning and now everything is all right. It was so strange when Ken and I were home and the dogs were still away. Things were too quiet. The upside is that we slept in until 7:30 with no dogs to wake us up. The down side was we missed Emme and Rudy. I am glad they are home and life is back to normal.

Miss That Puppy

Ken and I have just returned from a week at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, and another visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. While we were gone the dogs have been at "Puppy Sleep Away Camp" which is not open today for pickup. So Ken and I are home, doing some laundry, downloading digital photographs of our trip and putting things away. And missing Emme and Rudy. We will go tomorrow morning early to pick them up. I can hardly wait. The house is too quiet without them.