I Am One Proud Mommy!

Bailey swam last night!!!!! He did such an excellent job and I am so, so proud of him.

I spent most of the day Saturday finishing up getting the yard ready for the pool, laying out the pool, blowing up the top ring, and filling it with water. It was a comedy of errors or mishaps at least, but the thing is finally up! Sunday I added a little more air to the top ring (after replacing the manual pump with an electric one), finished filling the pool with water, and last night, I put Bailey in! I thought the ground where I placed the pool was level, but it turns out that it actually isn't. But that worked to our advantage. I was able to put him in in the "shallow end" and then walk him around to the ladder, where I quickly climbed in with him to reassure him. He had on his life jacket that our vet gave us, and he had those legs kicking! I used the handle on the life jacket to guide him around in circles. Anytime he got near the ladder or the spot where I had put him into the pool (where he could actually touch the bottom with his back legs down and front legs up), he splashed like mad trying to get out but only ended up splashing water all in his face. He did not love that. He only seemed to panic slightly two times. Otherwise, he did fine.

I kept him in for several minutes (I had heard that the hydrotherapy places only let them swim for 4 minutes their first time in, so I kept it short.) and then realized I had no good way to get him out. Getting him in required lifting him over the side of the pool and I barely got him in, but at least he floated. I knew I couldn't just drop him out to the ground. So my wonderful mom brought the picnic table benches over and I set him out onto those and then he jumped down from there. Unfortunately, Mom suffered the brunt of his shaking off the water. Next came the spastic, "I'm wet! I'm wet! I AM WET" running all over the yard, but it was more good exercise for him. :o) When I was setting him out of the pool, I noticed his left leg was really weak but they say this tends to happen when they first start hydrotherapy.

So, I am one relieved mommy to have that first dip behind us and to know that it really went much better than I expected. I had no real problems getting him in or out, and no big fuss from him when I was putting him in. Whew! What a relief!

Of course, the next time I try to put him in the pool, he will know what's coming. We'll see how that goes over...

(By the way, I have NO pictures of any of it, because I was more concerned with surviving what I thought would be a major ordeal. Maybe next time I'll be able to get some pics!)

Dogs Are Not Disposable

Used tissues are disposable. Some contact lenses are disposable. Dogs are NOT disposable.

I brought Bailey home when he was only 6 weeks old. He was the first to leave his litter, and he cried all the way home. I tried to reassure him, calling his name, and then realized that he did not know his name yet. The first time I fed him, he reached for the bowl with his back legs stretched out behind him, expecting some other puppy to crawl under him to get the food, I guess. Later, I was sitting in the floor with my back against the sofa, and he crawled behind me and fell asleep. That was February 2, 1996 - 11 years, 4 months and 2 days ago. That was his first day as my baby.

And he's still my baby. He required a lot of care as a puppy, and he needs care now. But he is alive, happy, active, loving, playful, faithful, protective, adorable, and he is not disposable. I will do everything I can to keep him alive, happy, and active, even when it gets tough. I will not give up him on. I will not replace him with a younger, healthier dog just because that would make life easier.

Anyone who could doesn't know what love is...

Love is patient, love is kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. I Cor. 13:4,7-8

Strangling the Kroger Cashier

Friday night, I went to Walmart and Kroger to buy all the ingredients to make Bailey's food, and I had to buy a lot of everything because I wanted to cook enough to last a week. I had already been to Walmart and gotten the produce that I could there, but I could not find spinach or tofu. I went to Kroger, gathered up my 3 boxes of tofu, 6 bunches of spinach, and some 10mL syringes that are so impossible to find, and headed to the checkout. The young girl who was ringing up my purchases said something about all the spinach. When she got to the tofu, she said, "Can I ask what you're making?" I told her I was making dog food and, to appease her curiosity, I told her a little bit about Bailey's condition. She asked me his age and what kind of dog he is. I told her he is 11 and a black lab/German shepherd mix. She asked me if he was registered... I should have ended the conversation there, because obviously she's an idiot! But I replied that no, he is not registered because he is a mix. Then she looked at me and said, "You're doing all of this for a . . . mutt?" This is when the strangling came in, at least in my mind. I replied, "It doesn't matter if he is a purebred or not, he is my baby!" Then she went on to tell me about her mom's dog's thyroid problem and the potted meat he has to eat (WHAT?!?!) and I tuned her out as best I could.

Her dog-owning license is permanently revoked! If only I had the power to do that . . . .