Inside It's So Delightful

Well, it is still snowing here in Seattle. I am starting to get worried, because even Curly Mommy is starting to get bored. OK, so she's been working working working to try to get everyone's "contracts" (whatever those are) out in time. People are very demanding of my Curly Mommy! Anyway, she's been working really hard, and when she takes a break, she can't go outside and play because of the cold cold weather and the snow. So, instead, she's started a new hobby. You see, my Curly Mommy has become (drum roll, please!) CRAFTY.

You can see that she is taking liberties and using yours truly as a model. The Moms often tell me that I should "get a j-o-b," whatever that means...but now Curly Mommy is using me as a model for her craft. Isn't that work? Isn't that a j-o-b? I think so. Posing makes me tired!



I was so sleepy after modeling for a while that I had to take a nap. Again, I have to give a shout out to Grandma Sandy for making this great and cozy afghan for me. I can sleep on it and be warm without even wearing a sweater. You know I hate wearing sweaters (even though I admit they are needed when it's cold).


Because of the snow, even the kitties are getting stir-crazy. Ok, I admit - they never go outside anyway. They are indoor kitties, as the Moms say this is safer for them. Because Claire needs an outlet for her creativity, she is trying to find a hobby. She can't be crafty like Curly Mommy, so I made a suggestion to Claire...



She should learn how to blog!

Still Snowing!

Today I looked outside, and this is what I saw...

It was scary! My brother AG is having a hard time going outside, if you know what I mean. The snow is almost over his head! I, thankfully, can use a training pad inside and so do not have to get my paws icy and my fur snowy. Thank goodness!

Hmm. Some might say that was "too much information," but I'm only sharing my Ultra Violet point of view, and I'm all about honesty.

Other views from my house? Well, how about these?
I'm beginning to wonder if this much snow is a good thing. I think so, because I'm hoping the Moms will be home with AG and me again tomorrow! My toes are crossed!

I learned today that sometimes humans have to take a shovel and work really hard to get the snow out of the way of the walkways and where the cars need to drive. No, silly - the Moms did not do this. A teenage boy showed up and rang our doorbell today, with a snow shovel in hand, and asked if they wanted to pay him to shovel the driveway and sidewalk! Glasses Mommy said "hell to the yeah!" and Curly Mommy said, "Ok, we'll pay $20!" I think the kid liked that amount, cause he did a super job. He was out there for almost an hour, I swear, scraping and scraping! It was so noisy that of course AG and I (terriers, both) had to let ourselves be known during the whole shoveling process. Bark bark bark bark bark bark bark multiplied about a million times. Or however many times two small but fiesty terriers can bark in an hour when there's a stranger outside the front of their house walking back and forth, back and forth.


All that barking made us tired. Proof you say? I (being the pup of two lawyers) offer the following as Exhibits A and B:

The small cute one is me, wearing the dreaded sweater but I must say super warm all curled up in the argyle, and on top of the fabulously soft and warm afghan that my Grandma Sandy recently made just for me! OK, she made it for the moms, but they are sharing it with me.

Then, there's AG. My, he looks gigantic in this photo! Maybe he really is a big dog like he keeps saying!

Must be the lighting, or the angle. Because although Curly Mommy does call him "sparkplug" sometimes, Auggie is just about the handsomest Yorkshire in town. Who am I kidding? He's THE handsomest dog in town!

Hey - that wasn't me Violet blogging that last sentence! It was The AugDog, aka AG, who heisted my laptop! Darn him!

Winter Wonderland

I know; it's been a while. I have been very busy healing up my legs, though, and so I have not been at my computer as often as I would like. But something happened this week that I just had to share. I have never seen it before, but it is cold and sharp and, well, wonderful. In a word: snow!

This is what it looked like when the Moms took AG and I for a walk this afternoon. The Moms skipped work - they called it a "snow day" - but they were working on their computers ALL DAY except around 1:00 Curly Mom said, "Hey, let's go outside!" Glasses Mom said, "OK! Let's get the jackets!" I thought they meant jackets for them, but then they took out a couple of small jackets and I realized they meant jackets for us! This is AG in his jacket, wrapping his leash around a tree. He can be very, very silly. When I mention going for a "walk," I should be clear: AG and the Mommies walked...I got carried, by Curly Mommy. The Moms said that I am still healing, that I am smaller and more delicate than AG, and that I might get cold faster. I don't know how fast AG got cold, but I was cold right away! I shivered and shivered, even though I had a big fleecy coat on. We didn't stay out long, because the moms wanted us to be warm.

When we got in, they dried off AG's fur, and made us put sweaters on. It was a little embarrassing. I don't like wearing a sweater, but the Moms said it's for the best. And I find that as much as I hate to admit it, they are usually right.

Later on, AG needed to go outside to use the facilities. I really, really wanted to go too! I ran to the door, pushed the hanging bell with my nose, and even barked! Glasses Mommy gave in (she always does!) and I ran outside super fast. The snow was super crunchy, and the air very still. I heard rustling in the bushes by the fence, and stood very still to try to find out what was there.

I never did figure it out.

Almost right away, I felt cold down to my bones. As I walked through the snow, I tried not to put my feet down, but then I couldn't go anywhere! I didn't know what to do, so Glasses Mommy came and picked me up. She had a warm towel with her and she wrapped me up in it to get me warm.



The Moms took me inside, and dried me off. They put me on the heating pad (a square that's bigger than me and always soft and warm!) and then Glasses Mom put my sweater back on me. Darn it!

The only thing that made it better is that AG had to wear his sweater, too. He was a better sport about it, though. That was a first!

Vacation!

How excited was I when the moms said we were going on vacation? And that my brother AG was going to stay with our nice dog nanny, so it would just be me and the moms on the road?!

We drove for a while, then had to wait for a big boat to come. It was called a ferry. It was a short boat ride, and we had to ride in the middle of the boat so I didn't get to hang my head out the window in the ocean wind. When the moms cracked open a window a little bit, though, my nose was going a million miles an hour! The salt and the sea, yum!

When we arrived at a place called an "Inn," I was a little worried. I mean, I know the moms packed my blanket and my otter, but would there be anyplace for me to sleep? Or were we going back home at night? I didn't understand at first, but once they opened the door to our room, I quickly found my spot.

Soon enough, the moms found their spots, too - out on the balcony, overlooking the big ocean (they called it "Puget Sound") and drinking the red stuff - the good stuff. They appeared to enjoy themselves.
The next day, we went walking around a town called Langley. There was a music festival going on, which meant there were men with guitars and fiddles roaming around and playing jingly-jangly songs. I liked it. I got to meet a tall, dark, and handsome man of my own while walking in the sunshine.







He was very sweet, and I didn't even catch his name. Oh, well.


Finally, all that walking and sitting in my carrying bag (those moms, they snuck me in everywhere in that bag! Even a diner, where I sat in the bag on the floor by Glasses Mommy's feet! No one even knew I was there) got to be too much. I was sleepy, and it was time to head home.

It was back to the boat dock for us...to look at the water and wait for the ferry to come and carry us home.

Toga Party? Must Be Feeling Better!

Ok, I know, it's been a while. AG, Harriet, Claire and I have been passing the "dog days of summer" by lazing around the house. Why they call them "dog days" I don't know... I think it might be a bad thing?

Anyway, here's the basics: I, Violey, am feeling much better. My right leg is still a little wonky and I have to be checked again very soon, but I am not crying or whining and so my moms are pretty sure I am not feeling any pain. My fur is growing back but s-l-o-w-l-y so that I am covered with a very, very short chick fur in the back still. Auggie's war wound is totally healed though, it's like a miracle! The moms say he may have a bald spot on his side forever, though. I am going to try not to make fun of him for it, because I'm nice like that.

One good thing about me being a baldy in the back, and AG being a baldy on the side, was that in late August, it got really really hot here in Seattle for a couple of days. AG and I were roaming around the house, circling and circling...the moms called it "pacing." We were also trying to sweat through our feet and by panting, but it didn't work very well!



So, they noticed that we couldn't sit still and that we were just not very happy. They decided that if AG and I wore "togas" we would feel better. I, personally, was not convinced. I had no idea what this "toga" was...and I wasn't very excited about it. But then...Curly mommy told us to get up on Glasses mommy, so we did even though Glasses mommy was hotter than me and Auggie together! Then Curly mommy came to us with wet, cool towels and draped them under our bellies. We tried to resist! First it was kind of shocking, the cool cloth on our bare spots underneath and all. But then, we fell under the spell of coolness and we were pretty much out! Auggie resisted more than me; he tried really hard to stay awake.



Not me though...it was sleepyville all the way for me.



We stayed like that for a really, really long time. More than an hour, til the towels dried up!



Auggie was happy for the rest of the evening. He is really furry you see, so when he gets hot he is unhappy.

Our kitties were unhappy with the heat, too. Harriet has found a dark, cool spot to hide. A couple of days she went in there and hardly came out all day. I saw her coming out to take a snack break, though, and snapped this photo:



She is hilarious!

When she isn't there, she hangs out on a chair with Claire. Even in the heat, they were thick as thieves. They pretend they don't like each other, but really they do. Maybe even LOVE, I think.

In the Dog House

AG and I are both seriously, deeply, in the doghouse. No, not because we were bad. But because I am having a little relapse, and Auggie just had to have a little "procedure" of his own...

I already told you I had to go back to the vet. When I went, the nice doctor confirmed Curly Mommy's fears: my right leg isn't healing correctly. My patella is still "palpating" (which I think means slipping) and it is "lax" (which I think means it isn't bending right). Curly Mommy noticed that I was walking funny, and that I stick my right leg out when I sit down, rather than bending it. Curly Mommy said she could hear that when I walked I was sliding my right leg across the floor, rather than picking it up. She is a supersonic mom! Glasses Mommy admits that she thought Curly Mommy was "overreacting." In fact, she'd told the vet that it was Curly Mommy, not her, who "thinks Violet is limping." Bad Glasses Mommy! Good thing I have two - when one falls down on the job, the other one saves the day!

Curly Mommy took me to the vet for the day, so the doctor could see me when she had time. The vet techs there LOVE me. Excuse me for being immodest, but I have to say myself that it's totally true! Usually, pups who get dropped off for a "when there's time" appointment would be put back in the kennel with the other chumps. Not me! I wasn't in a cage all day! I went from tech to tech, from loving arms to loving arms. Yes! The nice people at EBAH carried me around all day! My delicate paws hardly had to touch the floor. Which, it turns out, is good...because I'm back on super-restriction. Confined to my bed. It's kind of sad, because I thought I was doing so well.

My surgeon is on vacation til next week, so in the meantime, it's bed rest and more pain and anti-inflammation medication for me. I hope I don't need any more surgery! I'm kind of scared!

I'm not the only one who had to visit the vet, though. My brother AG felt he wasn't getting enough attention - he was sad and feeling neglected and, frankly, jealous of all the lavish care the mommies have been giving me - and so he made himself a little round growth on his side. It's true, I think. I do. He made it happen just so the mommies would need to take more care of him, too. But that's just one pup's opinion, I admit.

Glasses Mommy took AG to the vet, and our doctor said she thought his growth was "benign" (which I think is good) but that it had gotten bigger since the first time she saw it. (You must know that of course the mommies took AG to the vet the first time about this almost the instant they noticed a little bump on his side). The doctor also said that it could come off, and be sent to a laboratory in Colorado for examination. The doctor said that if the mommies were really worried about it, she could do that for AG. Glasses Mommy didn't even call Curly Mommy to consult - she just said yes, take it off. The doctor said that's what she figured they'd want, so she was already having the techs set up the sterile area to remove it! My mommies are nothing if not predictably over-protective.

AG wore a bandage for a night, because his boo boo was kind of gross. But now he's showing it loud and proud. I personally think seeing the staples in his side is kinda gross, but you know what AG says back to me? "I'm a survivor, I'm here, get used to it!"

This morning we are both settling back into the home routine, with our restriction of having to just lay around here and there. I do that really, really well. In fact, earlier this morning I took a wee siesta on Glasses Mommy and was caught in the act. It is so easy to relax when in the arms and on the lap of a mommy!



AG is being good, too, for the most part. He really wants to go for a w-a-l-k (which for some reason is always spelled, rather than said, by the mommies) but he can't wear his harness with his boo boo. So, he's in for the day. Secretly, though, I think he's still hopeful...

Zoom Zoom!

Eat my dust, people! I haven't been blogging because I'm moving so fast now with my bionic legs. See this photo? It's ME, moving so fast that I am just a big ole blur. Zoom, zoom!

I've been terribly busy doing the following: playing with my Piggy (pictured below) and my Otter; chewing on my rope toys; pulling dirty underwear from the laundry basket and bringing it into the living room (don't tell the mommies!); and rolling on my back in the tall tall backyard grass. Yay!



See the shirt that Piggy is wearing? I have to thank GRACE, a super cute redheaded princess from West Seattle, for that outfit. It was too small for me, but it fits Piggy just fine! Anyway, this photo is mainly to display my fine selection of toys, which keep me busy most of the time. Here, Piggy is watching my back, while I chew on Otter, kick my rope toy, and keep my ping pong ball racetrack and my little chirping butterfly (OK, those last two are actually cat toys that my feline sisters, Harriet (featured in the "About Me" photo, to the right) and Claire (she's an Egyptian goddess - more on that later) gave me) close by. I have to go back to the vet on Friday, though - I think maybe I've been playing too much!


One complaint: while I've been convalescing, my mommies have gone out to have fun! I know...how dare they? Last weekend, they went to see their pals K and M in a far away place called Tacoma for something called a "barbeque." I hear that's something tasty! Anyway, my main problem with that visit is that I heard the mommies talking about "Blue and Max" before they left - I thought these were humans who would be at K and M's house. However, when the mommies returned home, Curly Mommy took her sweatshirt jacket off and my brother Auggie was immediately on the sniff...he was so intent that I knew something was up. He stole the sweatshirt off the chair, pulled it into the entryway, and sniffed it up and down! His nose was working triple time!

Turns out...Blue and Max are dogs! And my mommies visited them while I stayed home with my bare legs all alone! Can you believe that? I am appalled, and I haven't yet decided if I will forgive them. In the meantime, I blog because I can!

(P.S. Confidential to my favorite people at EBAH: really, I have been laying around not doing much of anything. I have NOT been running around, contrary to my dream sequence exaggerating above. I promise!)

Casts off!

Well my casts came off last Saturday, and I’m very happy, albeit feeling a bit naked. My back end is a bit cold so I’ve worn this sweater given the Seattle summer weather (it’s in the 60’s today). I have to wear this crazy collar around the house because I don’t know my limitations yet- the mommies keep telling me I can’t jump on the furniture or step down stairs outside so the collar ensures I don’t forget and go for it. I still have to be extra careful, like yesterday morning I was digging in a blanket and screamed out in pain and mommies couldn’t figure out why, so off I went again in the car to the vet who checked me out and gave me a clean bill of health.

But I have had some great fun lately. The fabulous folks at Curly Mommy’s work sent me a really cool basket with toys and natural cookies in them! And the daughter of someone who works with Glasses Mommy drew me a beautiful get-well picture and gave me toys like this ball that I couldn’t keep my hands off of:

Thank you everyone, for being so concerned and supportive. It helps my whole family feel better. Even my sister, who was keeping my back end warm until pictures started being taken…

Violey Emerges!

This is me yesterday. I had to wear this funny collar for a couple of days, because my legs are itchy and I can't help but scratch them. Even though I was wearing the collar, I heard Glasses Mommy tell the vet on the phone that I'd "turned a corner" and was doing much better. I don't know what that means, exactly...but I think it's a good thing.

I know I haven't written since the weekend - basically, things were really, really hard all last week and over the weekend. Curly Mommy stayed home with me alone Monday and Tuesday, and she had it the hardest. I was only sleeping for about 4 hours at a time, and so that's when she would sleep. She took great care of me, though, hand-feeding me and giving me my medicine.

I went back to the vet on Monday because I was crying and flinching so much. The vet upped my medications, and kept me for the rest of the day "under observation" which sounds really scary but really just meant they could watch me. I acted like I felt better so they would let me go home. I was so happy when Glasses Mommy showed up to pick me up at the end of the day.

I could show my real self - the one who cried and didn't feel so good - back at home to my mommies. I know the doctors think they're a little nuts because I pretended to feel better while at the vet. I didn't want to stay there! Thankfully, my mommies' workplaces have been very understanding and flexible and have let them, at various times, "work from home." I have found that working from home means that they balance me on their laps while they look at their computers and type furiously fast, or while they talk on the phone all loud and insistent. But then they stop every 45 minutes or so to take me outside, or give me medicine, or feed me.

Eating has been a challenge. After being a good eater right after my surgery, suddenly over the weekend and even as late as Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I refused to eat unless hand-fed by one of my mommies. I also wouldn't eat my dog food. I found that if I refused to eat dog food, I would get better and better treats! First, scrambled eggs. Yum! Then, when I refused to eat eggs (after all, how many meals in a row can I be expected to eat the same thin?) I got baby food that comes in a jar. Sweet potato and chicken! Chicken and rice! I never knew anything like this existed, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Yesterday I got baby food mixed with my dog food. Today I figured I should start eating regular food, so I obliged and actually ate a mixture that was more dog food and less baby food. I thought I'd give my mommies a thrill.

Then, I gave them another thrill by, you guessed it, not only using the facilities somewhat regularly, but also...by standing up and walking! They were, I think, horrified the first couple times they saw me crab walk across the room. They kept picking me up and trying to keep me still. But, eventually, they had to set me down on the floor and when they'd look away I'd crab walk a little bit for practice. Eventually, I progressed to this...

They are so proud! Now, I am trying to walk everywhere and they have to try to keep me confined. I whine and cry; I just want to be free! A couple of times I faked them out by pretending to be sleeping in my dog bed so they would leave the room. Then, I got up and tried to run out of the living room and across the kitchen! Once I did get all the way to the back door before they saw me. I know, I know. They are trying to keep me still for my own good. But it's boring being kept in my dog bed.

So, they play with me while I am lying down. I love playing with this red ball.

I hear I have to go back to the vet tomorrow...I am a little bit scared, but I have to wonder:
Do you think I'll get my bandages off soon?

Another Stressful Day

My mommies got more sleep last night, but Curly Mommy was up with me at 5. They are both pretty stressed out, not knowing if I am feeling better or not. They were a little bit grumpy today - and usually my mommies are in a pretty good mood. I am sad that taking care of me is so stressful. I am also tired, and grumpy, and every once in a while I growl when my legs give me a twinge.

These big green legs of mine are floppy and sore. When will my regular legs come back?

A complicated day, indeed

So I was very glad my mommies took me back to the vet today. I cried the whole way there, that plus sleep deprivation for all of us made us all pretty misty-eyed at the vet. I felt so much better after peeing though, I perked up quite a bit. That, and mommies told the vet I kept nipping at my naked butt for no reason so the vet figured out I was trying to get at some pain in my legs and she increased my Buprenorpine- now I can have .15ml to .2ml three times a day, instead of .1ml two times a day. When we all got home we had smiles on our faces, and I caught a much needed nap with my brother.


At dinner time I was being very finicky and wouldn't eat until my glasses-wearing mommy put me on her lap and hand-fed me. I liked it a lot, I may insist on this more often.

Today my curly-haired mom got a call from New York that her beloved grandma “Mema” passed away suddenly. She was 90 years old and she was a woman who really followed the beat of her own drum. She always asked about us fuzzy kids (her "great-grandchildren”) when mom talked to her every weekend. She was a really great lady and she will be sorely missed…


Meds-.1ml to . 2 ml Buprenorphine up to 3x day, .23ml Metacam for 13 days