AuburnChick's Adventures

I am an idiot.  Pure and simple.

As I sit here typing this, Molly is laying beside me, trying to sleep off the sedative she was given this evening.

Yeah, she and Aubie got into another fight.  And I was partially to blame.

We’ve kept them separated for the last week and a half.  Things have been going fairly well, except for the circus of putting dogs away before getting out the other ones to potty or visit in the living room.

The dogs have really been missing each other.  Or at least I thought they were.

They’ve spent many moments whining in front of the other’s doors or sadly watching each other play outside, the desire to play evident on their faces.

This afternoon, I watched Molly put her front paws on the kitchen window sill as she spied Aubie and Pele frolicking outside.

I decided to get her leash and take her out to play with them.

Well, as she went through the doggie door on the porch, I turned loose of the leash.

You should have seen the joyful reunion.  However, things quickly got tense, and soon they were at it again.

It took three of us to separate them.  By then, Molly was dripping blood and limping heavily again.

Rats.  This was to be her last day on antibiotics.

I put her in the tub to clean her up and get a better idea of where she was hurt.

It was bad this time.  Much worse than the last time.

She has several deep puncture wounds on her right cheek.  Her left leg is a mess.  The kids’ anxiety level rose as we realized that we couldn’t stop the blood flowing from her leg.  We dried her off quickly and hauled her to our vet.

I dreaded the drive, wondering what they were going to think of me.

I got there with ten minutes to spare before the office closed; however, I was informed that the vet had already left for the day, and I would be charged an after-hours’ fee for him to return.  The receptionist was kind enough to offer up the name of another vet who was still open.  I called them to let them know I was on my way.

The vet’s office is located in the back of PetSmart.  Molly and I had to pick our way around several jaw-dropped customers.

Embarrassing but necessary.

I found myself sheepishly trying to explain the presence of the staples on Molly’s ear and leg.

Ugh.

Please don’t call Doggie HRS, I wanted to shout.  I really do love my babies.  They were so sad, that I tried to make them happy.

Wrong move.  I would have never allowed my non-fur-babies to play with others who had beat them up several times before.

Bad choice on my part, and Molly had to pay the price.

I left her with the vet and returned two hours later to find her nearly completely asleep and in no hurry to wake up.

To get her to the car, we had to load her on one of those big carts that are used to tote large bags of dog food.  Her eyes were open, but she had no control of her tongue, so it hung down beside her.  We had covered her with a towel to keep her warm.

She looked pathetic.  I kept my eyes down as we walked back through the store to the exit.

Ugh.

We gingerly placed Molly in the back of my car (thank goodness for SUVs), and I drove home slowly.  I don’t think it mattered much.  She was barely conscious.

Mr. AuburnChick moved her from the car to the bed, her tongue still hanging out.  She resembled one of the coyotes in the movie The Lion King.  She kept trying to lift her head to wake herself up, but she just couldn’t.

It’s been about three hours, and she has regained mobility, but she is hurting…a lot.

She’s not exactly thrilled with me, and I can’t blame her.  Perhaps she thinks it was my fault she’s got a foggy brain.  After all, I was the last person she saw before being taken to the back of the vet’s office.

She has been wagging her tail for Rooster and Soccer Chick.

So, where does that leave us?

I don’t really know.

The first thing I’m focused on is nursing her back to health.  For good this time.

The kids and I have acknowledged that we need to give serious consideration to finding her a new home.  It’s not fair to make her live half of the day in a room.  It’s not fair to risk putting her through what’s happened today.

Soccer Chick and I were in tears as we discussed our options.  We are going to pray for God to show us what He would have us to do, regardless of what that might entail.  I have not discounted a miracle.  God loves all of his creatures.  However, true love is doing what’s best for the other party.

Off to find some kleenex…oy, what a week…

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: dogs, Pets | 2 Comments »

What fun!  I was perusing the blogs I’m subscribed to in Bloglines, and I discovered that Kelly had tagged me on her blog.

What I’m supposed to do is find the 4th picture folder on my computer.  I’m to put the 4th picture from that folder on my blog and tell 4 facts about it.

Fittingly, my 4th folder is named “Pets.”  Here’s the picture:

Aubie and Pele

1. This was taken after picking up the dogs from the boarding facility.
2. We had taken a trip to Virginia Beach for the U.S. Club Nationals (a soccer tournament).
3. The dogs had been boarded for almost a week, hence the tired looks on their faces.
4. The boarding place bathed my dogs (for a nice little fee, of course) and put those bandannas on my babies.

So now it’s my turn to tag 4 people.

Cuteknitter, Heather, Deb, and Paula … You’re It!

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: dogs, Pets | 3 Comments »

I just got back from a 20-minute car ride.

What kind of trip did I make this time, you might be wondering.

Oh, the around-the-block kind of trip.

To round up two pups who consider it their mission to escape from my home…on a daily basis.

No kidding.

As you might remember, I recently had blinds installed in my windows.  It sure would help if I used them in the afternoons.  They are a lot more decorative than prison bars too.

Who are the escapees, you might be wondering.

My not-so-loveable (at the moment) Pele and Molly.

Pele

Molly

Don’t let their quiet demeanors fool you.  All they are doing is plotting.  They are saving up their energy for the perfect moment.  The moment they spy Rockin’ Rooster playing outside.

His sighting is the signal to run.

Pele runs to the laundry room door…the one that leads to the garage, and turns the handle.

Out he goes with Molly hot on his heels.

Because I am saving electricity by hanging clothes to dry in my garage, the garage door is wide open…the perfect avenue to freedom, and the dogs know it.

As I run out the door, grabbing my car keys on the way, all I can see is a streak of white.  Molly is headed down the street on her newest adventure.

We’ve figured out that retrieval is fairly quick when we offer them a ride in the family car.

Not tonight.

I drove slowly down the street, windows down in order to track them by the sound of their tags jingling with every step.

I spy Rooster, hot on their heels but never quite close enough.

Tonight Pele decided to tease me.  He stopped running and approached my car.  Relieved, I got out and gently approached him.  Just as I was about to grab his collar, he took off.

Typical male.

The dogs rounded the corner and headed around the circle that the neighborhood is built around.

Great.

I don’t know how Rooster managed, but he kept pace.  Down each street we went with brief pauses along the way.  Both dogs gave us obligatory glances before heading deeper into no-man’s land.  People stared at us, but nobody offered to help.  I suspect they were trying hard not to laugh.

I did laugh, for a short bit.  At one point it was comical.  Then I got frightened that I would wind up watching one of the pups get hit by a car.

Not so funny.

Part of my neighborhood backs up to our high school.  I could see the lights of the baseball field and hear the crack of the bat.  The sound of tags jingling met my ears…coming from the dirction of the baseball field.

Oh no.

I parked the car and headed in that direction.  Then I saw it.

Rockin’ Rooster had Molly by the collar.

He had run her down, in his bare feet.  Pele followed alongside, tail hanging down.

Just another day in the AuburnChick house.

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: dogs, Pets | 2 Comments »