Photos

During the summer at camp, we try to upload 50-100 photos each day. Parents are able to see what their campers are doing and follow along with their camp adventure for the week. Parents appreciate it and I think it is a good service. However, there are a few headaches that come with the photos.

We get complaint calls about the following issues- 

• when we don't upload often enough
• when there aren't enough photos or a parent doesn't see their child in enough photos
• when a child doesn't appear happy in a photo

Whenever a parent calls to complain about the photos, I always think, "seriously? Is this really a big deal?" I think of the photos as a fun extra, but not that important. 

And then the dog daycare started posting photos on facebook and I immediately understood every camp photo complaint I've ever gotten. 

The daycare she attends has three different sites. Despite attending 3 days a week, they never took pictures at her location on a day she was there. After weeks of no photos, I asked if there was a schedule and they told me that it was just sort of random. So I was patient. But weeks later, they were posting photos several times a week but never her site when she was there. So I made a comment on facebook about how much it would make my day to see her. 

At camp, sometimes parents think we are bigger than we are because pretty much every comment (phone, email or facebook) gets back to me, so if someone complains about the photos, I make sure that we follow that kid around for a few hours until we get some good shots of him or her smiling. I assume dog day care is smaller than I realize and that someone finally said, "make sure we get some pictures of that fat dog before her crazy mother complains again!" (For the record, I was very nice both times I asked). The next day, there were three pictures of Olivia on facebook, and I was happy to be able to sit in my office at work and see my baby at "school".

Except that she didn't look like she was having fun. As I debated whether or not I should call the day care to ask how her day was going, I had an "ah ha" moment while flashes of parent calls about our camp photos came rushing back to me. I finally understand what it must be like to look through photo after photo, hoping to see your baby, only to see her not looking like she is having fun. 

In all fairness to the day care, Olivia almost always looks slightly disgusted or like she is judging something or someone, so I'm not sure why expected anything different. I decided not to call and just to be satisfied that there is a picture of her. She is excited whenever I tell her she is going to "school" and I am confident that they are taking good care of her. She comes home at the end of the day tired and happy. I would love to see some action shots of her running around, playing with other dogs and looking enthusiastic, but for now I'm satisfied that she was featured and I will save that request for another time. And from now on, I won't be so judgmental when the parents call about their campers...

I kiss my bulldog(s) on the lips

Well, he finally gave in. It took multiple suggestions (perhaps some begging), but he finally decided to give me the jewelry I wanted most in the world-

"I kiss my bulldog on the lips". Is this the most wonderful bracelet you've ever seen? I have a fabulous bracelet that my brother gave me a few years ago that says "bulldog mom" and I love that one too, but this one is just about the most fabulous thing I've ever seen.

Check out the tiny detailed bulldog charm at the end of it.

Nate tries not to allow me to be a crazy dog lady, but sometimes he gives in and let's me be ridiculous.

I love him for that and so I try not to kiss my bulldogs on the lips before I kiss him on the lips (for the record, sometimes it doesn't work out in that order, but don't tell him).

Crabby Dog

Olivia didn't go to daycare today and despite a trip to the park, she had a lot of energy . Nate and I were trying to have a nice quiet night and enjoy some after dinner Scrabble, but there was a screeching bulldog flinging her body around the room.

Eventually Olivia threw enough of a fit that I let her share the chair with me. This is her looking disgusted by us. I think she was silently thinking she could come up with better words if we let her play.

Cute dog. Really, very cute...

Still Recovering

Griffin is still recovering from pneumonia and will be done with antibiotics on Wednesday. He isn't coughing anymore and he seems to be feeling much better. Actually he seems to be bored and I feel terrible that I have to leave him home every time I take Olivia to the park. But I'm not taking any chances with him, so he can't go to the park yet and he can't go to daycare. If the vet clears him, we can go back to normal, but until then, he'll just have to be bored.

Olivia goes to daycare 2-3 times per week, and I can't imagine how guilty I would feel leaving Griffin alone all day. So Griffin has been coming with me to my office. Olivia came to the office every day for the first year of her life but this is new for Grif. He's actually doing really well though. He has some chewy things to keep him busy, a bed, and a water dish. He really likes under my desk best, so that's where he's been most of today.

For the most part, he sleeps or chews on stuff and is pretty calm. He enjoys greeting the mailman, my co-workers and other people who work in the building. And he comes with me every time I make a copy or go to the bathroom (yes, a 70 pound bulldog CAN fit under a bathroom stall door). I'm very hopeful he can go back to daycare soon, but this isn't a bad alternative.

Snuggling

Nothing actually happens in this video, but they were being so cute, I just had to video them. Griffin often cries, even if we are in the same room, within arms reach of each other. Before I started taping, he was crying and then Olivia went over to comfort him.

Griffin is recovering from pneumonia. He hasn't been going to the park or to daycare but overall, he's doing better each day.

Emergency Vet

Griffin is my special needs dog. He was very sick when I got him (see Griffin's Health, 2010). Before palate surgery in 2010, he suffered from one respiratory infection after another. It would start with a little cough and within a day or two, he would be hacking, gasping for air and barely able to walk a few steps. We went to the vet over and over and he was on antibiotics for months. It's been almost 3 years without an infection, so I wasn't overly concerned when he starting coughing on Friday.

But Sunday Nate woke me up and with a concerned look on his face told me that Grif wasn't breathing well and that he'd vomited. Griffin didn't want to eat, was coughing a lot more and was definitely not feeling well. He drank some water and I was planning to watch him all day and then take him to the vet  on Monday morning. But when he went outside and vomited all the water he had just finished drinking, I got worried and decided to take him to the emergency vet. 

The vet examined him and then presented me with an estimate of $1300-$2500 for treatment. In addition to chest scans and some blood tests, she expected he would have to be admitted for 24-48 hours. I was pretty sure that after an IV to get him rehydrated and some antibiotics, he'd bounce back quickly, so I admitted him.

The tests confirmed he had pneumonia and so Griffin spent most of yesterday and overnight in a special  oxygenated kennel (it looked a little like a plastic box with a tube that pumped air into it). He received several nebulizer treatments, had an IV put in to deliver antibiotics, anti nausea medication and whatever they use to keep you hydrated. He spent the night but was able to come home this morning at 8am. 

He will be on antibiotics for 3 weeks and for the next 48 hours, he needs to eat small amounts of food every 2 hours, do something called coupage every 4 hours (using a cupped hand, I alternate pounding on his chest to try to break up the junk in his lungs) and he can't get excited or move around too much. 

Griffin is snoring loudly on the couch as I type this and he is noticeably healthier than he was yesterday. I am not thrilled that I had to spend $1500, but I am very happy he is feeling better.

A few years ago, one of the vet techs made a comment that sometimes special needs animals find their way to the people who will take care of them. I didn't have any idea Grif would need so much care but I am confident that if he had stayed with his first owner, he wouldn't be alive today. When I think back to the random, semi-sketchy first time I met him, I can't believe I took him home in the first place. He'd just had a bath and promptly rolled in the dirt. He was a mud-covered, wiggly puppy with a bulging swollen eye. He was a mess and it should have been obvious that he was going to require a lot of care.

When I think back to that meeting (and the subsequent vet appointments, surgeries, medications and such), I sometimes wonder how I ever ended up with him. But there is no dog as sweet, lovable and with such a kind soul as Grif, and I think it is that goodness that blinded me to the mud and made me decide to adopt a dog without knowledge of his medical history. I think somehow, some way, he found me because he needed someone who would not just love him, but who would be able to provide a nearly obsessive level of care for him.

Doggie Daycare

When I first got Olivia 4 years ago, she came to work with me every day for months. In the Spring, it got so busy and I had so many out of office meetings, that she couldn't come with me, so I signed her up for dog daycare. When I took her for her evaluation day (which is really only 4 hours), I dropped her off and before I was out the door, broke down in tears- like, sobbing, hysterical, crazy dog woman tears. The very nice staff handed me a kleenex, patted me on the shoulder and guided me out the door with comforting reassurances that she would be ok. I have done that with many parents at camp and yet, there I was, a crying mess.

Olivia liked daycare and went for a few months until we left for camp. I liked that she got out of the house, burned off energy playing with other dogs and didn't have to sit alone all day. 

Recently, I have been feeling like Griffin and Olivia are bored. I walk them or take them to the park most mornings before I leave for work and we go to the park every afternoon. But they still seem to have too much energy and they seem bored. So I decided it was time to go back to daycare. 

A few days ago, I took them both in for their evaluation. Like last time, they would be there for a few hours so the staff could observe them. I didn't cry when I dropped them off and I was feeling great about it, until an hour after I dropped them off and the daycare phone number popped up on my cell phone.

I answered hesitantly, knowing that it probably wasn't good news.

They said that Griffin had been crying (that hoarse, old man wail that he does- click here if you need a reminder). He didn't want to be away from Olivia, but when other dogs were around, he guarded Olivia. So since they were just sitting in a private room, there was no point to having them at daycare.

I picked them up and we agreed to try again in a few days.

A few days later, we went back for another evaluation. This time, I brought Griffin inside without Olivia and then once he was settled in, I brought Olivia in and she was in a different play area. That seemed to work out a little better. Olivia played and seemed to enjoy herself. Griffin didn't play with the other dogs, but he didn't cry either, so I guess we're making progress.