Thursday, September 17, 2009

Quick Dog Update


For those who've asked after Homer and JJ, I'm pleased to report that all is well.

JJ (the idiot) ate about a quarter-pound of kapok pillow stuffing a month ago. Kapok is not the benign fluff they fill dog-toys with. Four thousand dollars and a foot of small intestine later, though, the hound is fine, and the house once more resounds to the thunder of racing dachshunds and the crash of what my son describes as "puppy-Sumo."

(That's JJ standing on my lap, and Homer wallowing on the floor, in our living room in Santa Fe.)

27 comments:

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  2. Oops! I made a typo in the last one...

    Just when you thought the house was puppy proof..

    Glad to know your puppy is fine even if your pocket book is lighter.

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  3. I'm so glad JJ is fine. Silly dogs! Someone once asked me though, "why would you spend XX amount of dollars on a dog? It's just a dog!" I tried to explain that the unconditional love my dog gave me was worth more than rubies.

    They didn't get it.

    I'm so glad you do.

    :)

    And they're cuties!

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  4. Jeez, but dogs are idiots. Mine is still wolfing down thongs and socks. At five, he should be past this kind of behavior.

    Off to bag a squirrel. No kidding. They're taunting me from the roof. Yes, Fall has Officially Arrived.

    My word verification is "whinial" which I think I shall adopt.

    Pam

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  5. I have no idea how much richer (money-wise, not happiness-wise) we would be if we didn't have our pups...

    When our lab-mix, Sebastian, was six months old he swallowed a sewing needle with 2 feet of thread attached. It was just the beginning of the long list of things he has gone on to ingest :)

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  6. Silly dogs!
    I'm really glad they're okay though.

    It's amazing how much they can cost you financially.

    When my yorkie was a puppy, she breathed in a piece of weed. 2,500 later she could breathe properly.

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  7. Glad he is okay! That's a lot of fluff and dough.

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  8. My dog, who is pushing 12 years old, ate A LOT of grass once as a puppy. She was completely clogged, although it didn't cost anything but a visit to the vet and some nasty business in the back yard :( I still would have paid anything to keep her healthy. Glad your dogs are doing fine.

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  9. Those little stinkers get into things we'd never imagine. Glad to hear all is well. My little stinker is being watched after getting into the trash. We think it's put away and she figures a way to get to it. I think she was a junkyard dog in another life.

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  10. My mini dachshund is eating the Labradors poopsicles in the yard (I'm Canadian poop freezes) ....no wonder he's getting fat!

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  11. Oh no, clogged intestines are no joke, I'm glad he made it through ok!

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  12. As a vet tech, I frequently saw pets that required surgery after ingesting all types of miscellanea. And it was never an inexpensive fix. But it never ceased to amaze me how devoted owners are to their pets. I often heard ""I don't know how I'm going to pay for this, but I'll figure it out somehow." Here's hoping you never have to deal with this again and you get to enjoy your hounds for many years to come.

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  13. Oh dear, I didn't know little JJ had been ill. So glad he seems to have come out of this alright, loss of intestines notwithstanding.

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  14. I'm thinking I'd call my dog an idiot after all that too. Although I can't imagine how scary it all was. If Rollo gets involved with some Kapok, we will know where you got that inspiration from.

    The word verification is showing below and its "novel". Pretty funny!

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  16. Isn't it amazing how much we love our dogs? $4,000... WOWZA. I have a 6 month old Schnauzer that I would do almost anything for. Im happy all is good on the dog front.

    PS. Great photo!

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  17. As a fan who keeps bringing JJ and Homer toys (BEA and Fergus) I freaked out thinking I might have caused JJ's surgery. So glad to see he is okay and that it was the kapok pillow, not the stuffed squirrel! Phew.
    Wonder if Claire will find herself resectioning a canine bowel in the next book? (Not Rollo!!)
    Hope that the boys don't miss you too much on the book tour, they must know its the price a muse has to pay for an author's success! Melanie

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  18. Dear Melanie--

    Homer and JJ (and I) thank you for the toys! [g]

    The stuffing dog-toys are stuffed with is generally pretty digestible, because a lot of dogs _do_ eat it. Pillows aren't normally made with edibility in mind, though.

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  19. K i know this segment is for your dogs, but i am Sooo excited about today! I am going to liberate your next novel from the bookstore at 9 am sharp. :) And will be indisposable to husband and son for at least 2 days.

    CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BOOK RELEASE!!!

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  20. Oh my I am glad he is ok!Hopefully he has learned his lesson :)

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  21. Gotta love Dacshunds! They get into everything!!, says the voice of experience. My two have had their fair share of visits to the vet. :) Yet, I wouldn't change it for the world. Dogs rock..

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  22. I also have two long-haired daschounds named Cinnamon Elizabeth and Nutmeg Belle. So far, they've eaten mouse poison and bags of that silicone stuff that is absorbs moisture. Two emergency vet trips later, all is fine and the vet taught me how to make little pups throw-up quickly. Heh.

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  23. Lady C--

    In case I ever need to know, how _do_ you make pups throw up quickly?

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  24. Diana- You get a plastic syringe and 2 or 3 teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide (call your vet to make sure of the amount depending on the weight of your dog) and squirt it in their mouth so they swallow it. They throw up about 30 seconds to a minute later. It really does work. :}

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  26. Diana - glad the pooches are fine... and a BIG thanks for always making me chuckle with your quick wit and shares... congratulations on the new book - I cannot wait to fork out my cash and get my grabby hands on it!!! Yay! You rock! (I've emailed you before and used to live in BC, I met you in White Rock for a book signing - you are a treasure!) Cheers, Sally (exclamation mark girl)

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  27. Happy to know the dogs are ok. In Echo you thank all your dogs...do you really have that many dogs?

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