Showing posts with label Button. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Button. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2017

BUTTON 2003 - 2017

Do you remember my dog Button?
(this was taken after she recovered from the incident in 2010)

The little Shih-Tzu who jumped up and bit Blue as he tried to get a drink of water, 6 1/2 years ago? And how he grabbed her with his mouth for just a second
but her eyes popped out halfway and I had to call Doc and he put them back into her head?
One eye had to sewn shut for a while because it wouldn't stay in.
That eye never regained sight and eventually she lost vision in the other one too.
But she continued to try to bite everyone.
If someone came up while she was drinking or eating, she'd leap up at them.
If she walked up to a doggie bed and start to crawl in, she'd attack whatever little dog was already there.
If some dog brushed against her in passing she'd jump turn and be biting in the air.
Her aggressiveness just had gotten worse with her blindness.
Luckily most of the dogs just got out of her way when they saw her coming.
Well... except for my Ping, my toy poodle who was always ready to fight back.
But with me feeding her separately and kenneling her by herself when I left the house,
it's been manageable for the last 6 1/2 years.

Last night I was upstairs on the computer.
Blue was with me and a few of the other dogs when I heard a loud commotion in the living room.
I ran halfway down the stairs and looking through the banister,
the dogs just were frozen like guilty kids but it all appeared to be ok.
I went back upstairs and finished what I was working on and then came downstairs.
It had been about a half hour.
I got Button's eye drops out because her eyes don't really stay moist.
I picked her up to administer them when to my shock her "good" eye, not the bulging one, but the kinda normal one was almost out of her head.
Without going into more detail I'll just say there was blood and also a puncture wound on the side of her head by her ear.
(I'm calmly telling you this now but that wasn't the case last night.)
I took photos and messaged Doc about everything along with the pics.
I told him I thought it was time to let her go.
Unfortunately he could not meet me at the clinic but advised ice for 5 minutes every hour until the morning.
I did that and went through my stash of old pet medication.
Ironically I found pain meds for Button from her last dental procedure.
I gave her double the dose.
In the morning she was her usual spunky self, except for the gruesome eyeball.

I'm not really sure who let her have it.
I sort of suspect Nora as she was very nervous and hiding under the kitchen table but I can't be sure.
I suppose it could have been Jimmy, as he busily chewed on his bone in the middle of the room.
That would be just like him, to act like he had no part in it.

So, I took her into work and I told Doc that if felt like I was murdering her,
that I suppose I could have her eye removed.
He examined it and looked so sad.
He's never been one to easily put anyone down but he rubbed her head and said no,
it was time to let her go.
That removing her eye wouldn't change how she was.
So he let her go onto the next world, level, whatever you believe and
I cried even though I felt it was for the best.
She was 13, almost 14... next month.
I had her for 8 years.
The breeder was done with her when she hit five years of age and brought her to the clinic
and I took her home.
She was the prettiest little dog I had ever seen.
Black on top and white on the bottom and as cute as a Button, so I changed her name to Button.
I suppose she acted the way she did because of her first five years of life.
Anyway... that's what happened to Button.
Sorry to share this but I need to get this out of my head.
Not as a tribute but just to tell her story.

I really hoped to have this New Year be different from last
but once again we haven't made it through a month without losing someone.
Of course this span of time has been on the horizon.
It's to be expected when you have a house full of senior citizens.
Still...............

I've decided to take a blogging break for a little while.
Just to get well.
Physically and Mentally.
Thanks for always being there for me!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Sunday, March 23, 2014

NO MORE DOGS! or CATS.

Thank god this week is over.
Of course it's just the beginning.
But Spring Break always hits hard at the kennel.
I had dogs and cats everywhere.
Friday morning as I was trying to get dogs outside and back in and feed and medicated,
several owners showed up to pick up their dogs early.
One of the receptionists offered to run the dogs up front for me.
She was racing back and forth and I was loading her up with their food and supplies 
and then another receptionist starting paging me.
She had more dogs coming in.
So the receptionist ran back more dogs and it was a mad house.
She finally stopped and looked at me and said
"I have no idea how you are able to do this every day!"
"Neither do I" I replied.

At the end of the day, my kennel worker showed up to take over.
She stated how tired she was of doing "all of this".
She does it four times a week
for 4 hours intervals.
I told her that I was tired too
and that I do it all week for 9 hours shifts.
But I reminded her that at least we worked with animals
and didn't have to deal with people.
She agreed, it was a better situation.
I left out what I was thinking,
That I'm 35 years older than her, so I didn't really want to hear how tired she was.

Yep, I hate to say this but it is REALLY getting to me.
Maybe it's the stressful situation happening here at home right now
that makes me so tired of it all.

I feel like my home has turned in a old dog nursing home.
I mean, I knew this day was coming but
I don't know...
Anyway, the other night as Ruby stood all wobbly at the water bowl,
she fell over
so I stood her back up.
and over she went again,
so I set her back up
and down she went.
I lift her up again and
finally she had her footing.

Later that night, after everyone had been out for their final nightly potty.
Claude just stood at the bottom of the three steps.
Staring at them and then at me.

It was like he needed a running start
and he just couldn't do it.
As I started to go get him, he walked away and circled around
and with great effort, hurled himself up the steps.

The next morning I let everyone outside and then when they were finished, I called them back inside.
Button was pacing back and forth along the fence.
She's totally blind now but usually knows her way around.
But she was confused out there and although I called out to her
she just turned around and listened, not sure where to go.
I went out and picked her up.
I reassured her and her tail was wagging like crazy.

And then there's Rosie.
Older than dirt.

Just two random snaggleteeth left on bottom of her mouth.
She's doing fine
but very quirky.
She has to walk against the walls
or along the furniture to go room from room.
She even squirms under the china hutch to get to the laundry room
rather than walk across the floor, out in the open.
Maybe she's not so dingy after all.
Maybe it's self-preservation.
After all, packs of dogs are known to take out the weakest link.
Although I would never leave her alone with the bigger dogs
where that could be a threat.
but she is very old.

So, I'm tired.
Which is why I recently turned down a Maltese dog.
I love Maltese's.
My first "little" dog, my first small rescue was a 10 yr old Maltese.
and this one is only 9 months old and deaf.
He's a boy dog. So there would be the potential of a leg lifting hassles.
Not all male dogs do that but some do.
But I don't have the energy
I'm trying to share info with them about deaf dog rescue.

So, no more animals are coming home with me.
Which reminds me
I need to do a post about my newest cat
that I got a couple of months ago.