December 3, 2022
The yuletide season brought blissful visions to me of joyously decorating for the holidays while Gracie calmly sat by the warm glow of the fireplace.
You can probably guess where this update is headed.
IF you have a puppy (any dog less than 2 years old), AND unless that puppy is either locked out of the house or sedated for the entire holiday season, I have a few pieces of advice.
1) Forget having a fire in the fireplace.
2) Place all storage boxes holding holiday decorations off the floor.
3) DO NOT place ANY favorite decorations within reach of puppy.
4) Untangle lights before allowing puppy into the room.
4) Hang ALL decorations high – too high for puppy to reach even if said puppy might climb on furniture or jump. (This may mean suspending all ornamentation at or near ceiling level.) Many thanks to Michael for handling this tedious work. I tend to get dizzy at such heights.
5) BE MINDFUL of puppy’s location at all times.
7) Remember to apologize to neighbors for noisy puppy barking incessantly at silly singing Santa.
(Singing Santa kindly gifted by Marc the comedian).
December 7, 2022
Gracie had an emergency trip to the vet late this afternoon. She had eaten a plastic bag!
The bag she ate was an empty snack bag that previously had treats in it. It fell out of my pocket at the dog park. Gracie spotted it, made a beeline for it and grabbed it. Then she raced around with it as other dogs chased her. Then she sat down, looked directly at me, and swallowed it.
I called the vet when we got home, and they said to bring her right in. They had to induce vomiting. She threw up pretty quickly and, luckily for me, they showed me the evidence. 🙄
Gracie came home with instructions – a little water in a few hours and no food for her tonight. Fingers crossed there’s no more vomiting!
After that, as I finally sat down and began to sink into the couch, I heard Gracie crunching on something. It didn’t sound like one of her toy bones. So, I immediately checked and found her with a small round red glass ornament. (I had had a bowl on a side table with these ornaments in it. I thought the bowl was safe where I had it, but clearly not. I moved the bowl to a table on higher ground.) Fortunately, Gracie hadn’t swallowed any part of the ornament.
Good grief! What a day!
I was relaying these incidents to Mom on the phone when I heard the glass ornaments rattling. I looked and found Gracie up on her hind legs with her front paws on the table where I moved the bowl, stretching her nose into the ornaments. Ackkk!!!
As I moved the bowl AGAIN, I noticed papers ripped up on the floor. Gracie had found the invoice from our vet visit and had chewed it up. I had to hang up with Mom so I could gather all of the slobbered shreds and attempt to piece them together because I need to submit the invoice to Gracie’s pet insurance. Now I’m missing a few pieces. I think she swallowed these.
And the vet said no food for tonight. Sigh.
How about that for irony? She ate part of the invoice for the vet bill for vomiting up the plastic bag she ate!!!
December 11, 2022
Gracie, thankfully, had a healthy, routine week following her emergency vet trip earlier to regurgitate the plastic bag she swallowed. She’s now feeling fine. No more foreign objects consumed (at least that I’m aware of).
Gracie enjoyed some lively hours frolicking with her friends in Teegarden dog park the latter part of the week She spent one afternoon gleefully cavorting with three corgis (pictures below).
December 12. 2022
Well, I’m afraid I spoke too soon! If it’s not one end of the digestive system, it’s the other!! My Gracie had the “runs” last night. So, that meant each time she had the “urge” during the night, she growled and CHEWED ON MY DRESSER (now her clever way of letting me know she must GO). I would get up, get dressed, bundle up in a heavy coat, grab her leash and a flashlight, and venture out with her into the cold. This pattern repeated itself about a half dozen times throughout the night until – I swore – there could be nothing left in her incessant, golden-noodle intestinal tract.
I didn’t feed Gracie breakfast since I had to be away at work this morning. And I drove to work, exhausted. And managed to get into a fender-bender as I attempted to park on a crowded street.
When I came home, I found that well, yes, there actually WAS something still lingering in my doggie’s digestive system – and it ended up on my living room rug.
I think maybe some days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed.
December 15, 2022
Gracie is ONE today!
December 18, 2022
On Gracie’s actual first birthday, Thursday, there wasn’t much partying going on to commemorate the occasion. The weather was miserable that day, I had to work in the morning, and my afternoon was filled with multiple errands to run. But when Philip, Nancy, Michael, and Tina came to my house yesterday for a holiday gathering, Gracie received a fully festive celebration.
Gracie loved being the center of attention. For a long time during the day, we threw toys in the stairwell for her, while Gracie flew down to retrieve them and raced back up to our applause. We howled with laughter like children until we ALL were pooped. And as if she needed them, Gracie received MORE new toys. Her burgeoning collection now includes a stuffed green Gumby, an ugly-Christmas-sweater-plastic-squeaky-bone (strictly for her enjoyment during Christmas season only, as directed by Michael), and an Outward Hound Hide A Squirrel Plush Dog Toy Puzzle. The Squirrel Plush Dog Toy immediately became a new favorite (pictured with Gracie in photo below along with ugly-Christmas-sweater-plastic-squeaky-bone).
I found Squirrel Plush Dog Toy in my bed this morning at 7:30am.
December 20, 2022
Many thanks to Tina for providing more great memories from Gracie’s birthday party on Saturday! I’ll send these pictures and videos in Gracie updates over the next few days!
Michael carefully capped Gracie in a happy birthday bandana. Here’s a link to a video of it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UVyT5oX5EKlaUpGfzeLFitNG6EiRQqzB/view?usp=share_link
Additional pictures of Gracie donning her birthday bandana:
December 21, 2022
This morning Gracie ran into the kitchen with the Outward Hound Hide A Squirrel Plush Dog Toy Puzzle on her head. (I couldn’t see her face.) It was VERY FUNNY!
Here’s a video from Saturday of Gracie with her new Squirrel Plush Dog Toy:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WzKL5MqdVkGMpNDJgxceRR-y8912ksyr/view?usp=share_link
December 23, 2022
A few videos of Gracie delighting in “chase and retrieve” down and up the stairwell during her birthday party on Saturday…
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C8wDKaPLYT31Jhl9Ba0RZO-GozAE9XHb/view?usp=share_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KYwwkaIhvne3TIhtELDuoR0M-z5nuMus/view?usp=share_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L8Evf5Cn03VYKFiqDBLX7nu0plg8ZjiG/view?usp=share_link
December 25, 2022
Merry Christmas!
December 28, 2022
While I was in central PA over the Christmas holiday, Gracie savored her stay at the Royal Pet Resort. The area temperatures were BITTERLY cold, reaching as low as 25 below zero. Gracie loves the cold, though, and the arctic weather didn’t deter her from enjoying her outdoor playtime in the snow. According to the staff at Royal, Gracie refused to comply when it was time to go inside – despite having icicles dangling from her muzzle and whiskers!
Back at home, resting, after her days at the spa…
December 31, 2022
Gracie received 3 new frisbees for Christmas and we take one along to Teegarden Park every day. Gracie’s recent favorite game is to engage one or more other dogs in a fast frisbee chase. She runs like the wind and cuts like a jackrabbit. A few days ago, she led a feverish race with 3 dogs in hot pursuit – a lab, a pit mix and a greyhound!
She LOVES those frisbees and they get ravaged pretty quickly. So far, one has been lost (it’s hiding somewhere in the park) and one has giant holes in it. Holes and cracks are no problem. If they don’t fly well, she doesn’t seem to care. It’s all about the chase!
Raising Gracie 