Hancock Insisted He Wasn't Broken...

But we got him fixed anyway.  I think the poor little guy knew what was up because he was drooling at the vet's office

Hancock was awake and ready to come home by the afternoon.  He's got some rimadyl to take for the pain, so he was feeling alright.  Still getting used to his cone of shame, though!  The main problem is Hancock likes to pee on trees almost exclusively and the cone throws him off.   In Hancock's mind you need to sniff the tree and then turn and hop up to it to pee on it in one seamless motion or else you're not allowed to pee on it.  Of course, the cone gets caught on the tree, so what ends up happening is he goes up to a tree, sniffs it, flings his head around and then walks away looking dejected.  I know what you're thinking, "but Carolyn, just take his cone off!  You're sooooo mean!".  First of all, I'm not mean!  It's to prevent a yucky infection from licking the incision site!  Secondly, that doesn't work.  I tried taking the cone off and all he does is try to lick himself.  So basically potty breaks for Hancock just take a heck of a lot longer than they used to.

Dash is trying to make Hancock feel better by making out with him.  Seriously, they go nose to nose and just lick each other for a little while.  It's adorable. 

 
Hancock is already trying to play with toys again, which is a good sign.  It must be frustrating for him, though, because he'll drop a toy and if it falls under the cone or rolls into a corner he can't get it, so he just cries until you help him.

The good news about all of this is that Hancock was finally listed for adoption yesterday since he is now fully vetted!  Woohoo!  He already met some potential adopters at our super favoritest pet store last weekend, so I'm sure he'll be giving kisses to his forever family in no time!

Champagne Got Adopted (again!)

I've been holding my breath about posting this for fear of jinxing it!  But the trial week is almost up and I haven't heard anything, so I'm going to allow myself to feel like it's going to stick this time.  Last Saturday Champagne got adopted by a young couple.  They're both teachers and home for the summer while she settles in (awesome!) and are runners, so she'll be getting plenty of attention and exercise in her new home.  She also has some kitty cat siblings.  We tested her with our cats after she was returned and determined that it would be safe for her to have feline friends.  So Champagne joins George and Elaine and has been renamed Cosmoa (her new parents are fans of Seinfeld, can you tell?).

Woohoo!

Picture Post!

Dash and Hancock are settling in together and getting the hang of wrestling and running around in the yard.  It takes them a few minutes to get started, but it's absolutely hilarious once they get into their element!

Warning, these next three pictures are not for the faint of heart!  It's Hancock doing his very best Mr. Giggles impression:

Don't worry!  They're just playing (in case you couldn't tell by how relaxed Dash looks in the face of what appears to be imminent doom!)

A few gratuitous shots or our new baby:

We also took Dash to the vet today to get him caught up on all kind of fun stuff like vaccines and bloodwork.  Happy to report he's healthy as a horse (because I guess horses are really healthy?).  Plus we got him a microchip (fancy!).  He was such a good boy; didn't fuss about anything and everyone kept talking about how pretty he is (and they're right!).

New Addition to the Family!

We finally adopted a dog of our very own!  It's so weird to think that this dog will live with us forever.  No searching for a forever family for him, because that family is us!  I haven't quite wrapped my head around the concept yet, but I'm getting there.

This morning we went to go meet Dash at his foster family's house.  They had him for about 3 weeks.  Before that he spent some time living on a farm, but he liked to chase the cows on neighboring farms (he wasn't supposed to!) and the neighbors didn't like that.  His owners felt it would be safer for him to live elsewhere, so that's how he got into rescue.

Dash is a 9 month old Australian Shepherd and weighs about 55 pounds.  You can tell that he's still growing into his body, so he'll probably end up a little bigger by the time he's fully grown.  He has an amazingly soft and fluffy coat.  He's incredibly sweet and very well behaved for a dog his age.  He loves other dogs and knows that cats are friends, not snacks (hurray!).

We're as of yet undecided about keeping his given name (Dashielle, Dash for short).  More updates as we all settle in together, but here are some pictures of our newest baby!

Look Ma, no tail!

Hangin' with Hancock (yes, we still have Hancock)

Champagne is Back

Two years and two dozen or so dogs later, we have our very first return.  Champagne's family brought her back to us Wednesday evening.  Apparently their cat hid under the bed once and she became obsessed with looking for it under the bed (I think this went on for about a day).  Even though she was fine around the cat any other time she saw her and never actually tried to hurt her, they decided it just wasn't going to work.

And that's okay totally sucks.  Granted, the rescue has a one week trial period for every adoption for just such a reason; so that if people decide it isn't the right fit they'll bring the dog back to us instead of re-homing it on their own or developing behavior problems until they're out of control.  But I really liked these people and thought they could give Champagne the type of home she needed, but I guess not.  I'm not mad.  I'm just sad for Champagne.  And I'm not going to lie; it's kind of a blow to my ego.  I always try so hard to get my dogs into the very best homes for them and settle for nothing less than a great match.  I am not afraid to turn people down if I don't think it's good for the dog.  I was really proud of my success rate, darn it!

Back to the drawing board we go.  At least Champagne's kennel cough is sounding much better and I'm not worried I'm going to find one of her organs coughed up in her crate every morning or when I get home from work.

Plus, now she comes with lots of swag.  The family that adopted her insisted that she keep her toys.  So whoever adopts her now gets a new member of the family plus 3 stuffed animals, a Kong and a tennis ball.  Good deal, right?

Swab the Other Cheek

Look what came in the mail!

This arrived just a few short days after signing up to be a bone marrow donor (read about it here!).  Inside there's information about joining the Bone Marrow Registry along with the tissue-typing kit.  Which is a fancy name for some big ole q-tips to swab the inside of your cheeks.

You use one of four cotton tipped applicators to swab each corner of the inside of your mouth (top and bottom of the left and right sides) for ten seconds.

Apply a sticker to each of the swabs and put it in the packet.

Then use the postage paid envelope to mail it back.

And we're done!  It only took us about five minutes to complete from start to finish - how easy is that?!

It will take about five to six weeks for them to process our samples and get us into the registry so they can start checking if we're matches for anyone.  A few weeks, months or even years from now we could be contacted if we are potential matches for a patient needing a marrow transplant.

Now I know what you're thinking: "Sure, signing up is super easy, but what if I'm chosen as a donor?"  Good news!  Bone marrow donation is a relatively simple outpatient procedure.  First a follow up sample is checked to confirm the match.  This sample is either another cheek swab or a simple blood sample.  If the match looks good you continue on with the process.  The gist of it is that you either get general or local anesthesia and a surgeon will make one to four very small incisions near your pelvic bone and then use a hollow needle to draw out some marrow.  You usually get to go home by the end of the day and should be feeling back to normal within a few days or weeks.  The most common side effects include lower back pain, fatigue and stiffness while walking.   It's a small price to pay for potentially saving a life, in my opinion.  And for the sake of full disclosure, I am super not a fan of needles and the like (oh the stories my mom can tell of taking me to the doctor as a child); so if I can buck up and sign up so can you!

So go check out http://www.marrow.org/ and see if joining the registry is for you and tell me about your experience!

Champagne's Room with a View

This afternoon we took Champagne to her new forever home in downtown Chicago.  Along with loving new parents and a feline friend, she has a great view of Lake Michigan from her living room (Thomas was disappointed he wasn't going to live there as well!).  Her new parents saw right past her illness (she's battling kennel cough, as I mentioned here) and fell in love.  Champagne's new mom said that she looks like she is straight out of Central Casting!

Champagne started to settle in right away and was immediately drawn to the huge new bed that her parents got her, along with a cool stuffed toy that looks like a chicken...or maybe it was a duck.  Anyway, it was clear that she was home.  We're sure they're going to have lots of fun going to walks along the beach and visiting a vacation home in Michigan (Champagne loves car rides!).

I took these right before we dropped her off.  She looks super happy, almost like she knows she's going to be with her forever family!

Congratulations, Champagne!