It’s an Update Kinda Day

I realise I’m behind on a few updates, so here goes!

Pacha Post-op

Pacha had her surgery last Wednesday and it went really well. Turns out the two lumps were cysts and not tumours – so yay! Although she was wide awake a running around that same afternoon, she did seem to be in a little bit of pain. She would just stand there and stare even though she was exhausted. I think she didn’t want to move cause it hurt her. At one point I laid her down so she could rest. Once down she didn’t move at all and fell asleep in that exact position... the picture is priceless!

I’m happy to report she was back to her old self the very next day.

Pin Cushion Experiment

Last Sunday I started on my 5 injections per day regiment. So far, so good. It’s a bit of a challenge managing so many injections, but it’s going well. Mr Perfect gives me a hand whenever he can so that helps a lot. For those who know the terminology, I’m on CD3 of stims and go back in tomorrow morning for blood work and ultrasound to see how things are progressing. We’re still looking at a potential egg retrieval on March 15 (in 9 days!), but it all depends on how I respond to the meds.

I guess that’s about it for now – I’ll try my best to keep you posted

Bentley the Fortune Teller

So yesterday I got home a few hours later than usual and Bentley decided he would entertain himself during the long wait with my tarot cards:

I had someone I know from a web forum interpret the spread and this is what she came up with:

A dearly held dream is coming to fruitition. Your strength as a unified couple is imperitive as it will be tested in the coming days. There will be a future challenge that will be overcome despite delays. While you may think it is strictly down to you to acomplish this goal, look to your partner also... he plays a larger role in the success of your endevour than first thought. Don't feel alone... there are many who have travelled on this path. However, don't forget to lean on your partner more heavily in the days to come, he can take it. The outcome is delightful... a happy change and a huge step forward.

She has no idea we are doing IVF. I think I'm going to rent out my puppy for readings lol

Poor little Pacha

My poor little girl needs to have surgery. :-( I found 2 growths on her back which the doctor thinks are likely cysts... but could possibly be tumours. Either way, they need to come out.  She’s going under on February 29. 

She's taking the news very well:

Name That Country

About a month ago, Bentley got nipped while playing with some big dogs. It was pretty ugly looking when it first happened, but after a course of antibiotics and lots of cleaning, the cut is healing nicely. Recently we’ve noticed the wound looks like it’s gonna leave a scar... a scar that oddly looks like a country! We’ve had a debate over exactly which country it might be, so your feedback would be appreciated! Here’s what the scar looks like when you look at it straight on:

Now from some varying angles and potential countries: France?

Australia?

Not a country, but a province: New Brunswick?

USA?

Let me know what you think!

Waiting for Dad

Almost every day, around 5 pm, Pacha sits by the door and waits for Mr Perfect to come home. I wonder if she does this when I'm not home?

Falling Down Blue... or Yellow

Mr. Bentley has had quite an adventure last night. Unfortunately (fortunately?)I wasn’t privy to the ordeal, but Mr. Perfect gave me all the details. It all started after we went to bed. Bentley had gone outside as he always does around 10:00 and we went to bed around 11:00. He started crying not to long after we headed upstairs. He doesn’t cry anymore except in the morning when he has to go. It was odd that he was crying, but Mr. Perfect was watching TV and we figured he could hear it and wanted to be with us. When the crying didn’t stop after the TV was off, Mr. Perfect went downstairs to investigate. I quickly fell asleep as soon as the whining had stopped.

The next morning I headed downstairs around 5:30 to let the dogs out. When I arrived in the kitchen, all the chairs where at the opposite end of the kitchen and everything that was on the kitchen table had been moved. After bringing the dogs back in and heading back to bed, I just had to ask: What the hell happened last night?!

Turns out our dear Bentley had peed in the kitchen. But it wasn’t a little puddle... it stretched from one end of the kitchen to the other! Since our freakin’ house is crooked, it definitely emphasised the spread of the pool. At first, Mr P. (er, Mr. Perfect) couldn’t see the extent of the puddle, but as he made his way through the kitchen he saw it went on and on. Of course, Bentley followed him as he walked right through the puddle. I’m actually surprised I wasn’t awakened by Mr. P’s swearing at this point. Hah! Of course, Mr. P tried to get him to not walk in the puddle, but as he did, Bentley lost his balance on the slippery floor and splat right in the pond! Now, I must add, that Bentley slips and falls every other day and it’s a big ordeal each time because he has lots of trouble getting back up... think Bambi on the ice pond:


It’s actually quite the sad sight. So at this point, not only has he fallen in the pee, he’s flailing about trying to get up, creating a splatter on the walls and on Mr. Perfect. Hah! At this point in the story I’m laughing so hard I can barely breathe! Mr. P helps Bentley straighten up and he immediately runs to his bed, spreading the mess even further. So, around midnight last night, Mr. P. ended up washing the entire first floor... and this morning Bentley got his first bath. :-)

This week’s Méli-Mélo

Bentley the Kleptomaniac
It would appear we have a sneaky kleptomaniac on our hands. Bentley likes to collect things and hide them in his crate. We’re crate training right now so unless we have all our attention on him, in the crate he goes. This way, if we catch him doing something he isn’t suppose to do, we can correct him immediately. He’ll be in the crate for a month or two until he learns the rules of the house. For the most part, we’re pretty good at keeping an eye on him, but once in a while we’ll slack off, i.e., I’m just going to run upstairs to pee, he’ll be fine for a minute or, I forgot something in the basement, I’ll be right back. And that’s when the klepto strikes! His favourite steal is Mr Perfect’s slippers. Other things he’s stolen? A box of Kleenex, a dish towel, plastic cups, one of my slippers and a plastic cover for a juice container. The thing is, he never even attempts these things when we’re around. Silly dog.

Bentley the sleeper
We’ve had our big guy for a little over a week now and going to bed is now under control. He no longer cries when we go to bed – success. He does, however, cry bloody murder from 6 am until we get up. *sigh* So far we’ve been ignoring him and hoping this will eventually stop. He’s such a lazy little bugger too! It amazes me that a dog that can run 45 miles/hour can be so lazy! After our evening walk with the dogs, then are both done for the night. It’s hard to get either one up for the last pee of the night! Hah!

Pacha the little big sister
It would seem to Pacha that Bentley has always been around. It’s like she doesn’t realise that he’s new! They both get along great and Pacha is usually the one who initiates play when we are outside. It’s wonderful to see our little girl playing because it’s not something she does very often. She also seems to like Bentley’s crate. The other day I was getting Bentley ready to go to the vet and Pacha came up when she realised I had taken Bentley’s leach out. She knows they always go for walks together and she got excited for the potential outing. I told her no, only Bentley was going to the vet. If she knew the word vet, I know she would be happy she wasn’t going. I finish getting Bentley ready and turn around looking for Pacha. Where was she? In Bentley’s crate. She was like: “the big guy is going out? Woohoo! I get the big bed!” Tee Hee! Another thing she does which makes me laugh, is she’s always walking under him... like it’s perfectly normal for her to do so. If he’s in her way she won’t walk around him, she’ll just stroll under him. Hah!

Preceptorship – 66% done!
I can’t believe I’m two thirds of the way through my preceptorship! Holy crap! I’m almost a nurse! The preceptorship is going really well and the staff is even trying to convince the nurse manager to hire me... even though there is a hiring freeze. It feels great to be wanted. :-) Pediatrics is really my world.

My future – I signed on the dotted line
It’s official! I have a job in January. I finally signed with Hospital F last week and I was assigned to the pediatric department! I am so happy! Even though my preceptorship is with Hospital E, I’m really happy to have signed with Hospital F. For the time being, I think it’s a better fit for my personality.

I think that’s it for now!

Pictures in spades!

Yesterday we brought home our new puppy... well, he's a bit big for a puppy! We finally got our Greyhound and Hami was the one chosen for us. This morning we decided on his new name: Bentley... I just hope my Grampy of the same name doesn't roll over in his grave! :-S So far his introduction into our home has been absolutely wonderful! It's been BEYOND our expectations, in fact. Pacha is completely in love with him (and vice-vera) and she is reacting like she's known him all her life. Last night they played together in the snow and I've rarely seen Pacha so excited. It was quite hillarious to see Little Miss Pacha trying to catch super speedy Bentley! Hah!

We also had an interesting adventure bringning him home in the pick-up truck! Tee Hee! He's a bit big for the cab and we were all crunched it when he thought it was a great time to fart! Phew! What a stinker!

Here’s our big boy (with Pacha underneath him!!)







Bentley likes Pacha’s bed...



... while Pacha checks out Bentley’s digs



They finally decide the crate is the best place to hang out. :-)



My favourite picture so far!


In other news, we finally got a preview of our engagement pictures. Enjoy!


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In-Home Interview

We had our interview with MGAP last night and it went very well. The evaluator came over with her 2.5 year old Grey named Romero. He’s a beautiful big brindle boy and such a sweetie. I was really happy to see Pacha react quite positively to him. In fact, she even tried to play with him a bit. His owner had him on a leash so he wouldn’t wander around the house, but if it weren’t for the leash I think the dogs would have played together. After they left, Pacha was all excited and hyper, which was awesome to see! We’re really hoping a second dog will teach our lazy pupster how to play. :-)

The meeting lasted about an hour and she was able to answer many of our questions. Romero was funny and clumsy as many Greys are. It’s like they don’t realise they have these long awkward legs. Tee Hee! Anyway, there are currently 5 dogs in foster care and 7 more are coming up from the track this Saturday so there will definitely be a dog for us.

I was also really happy to see that Mr. Perfect was ready to keep Romero if they had let us. Hah! He is definitely on board with getting a second dog and likes the Greyhounds, but I know I’m definitely the bigger Greyhound fan. I sometimes worry, that I might have swayed him. I tell him this all the time and then add... I know, I have issues. To which he nods in agreement. :-)

We may be proud owners of a Greyhound this week!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we’ve applied to adopt a Greyhound through a rescue organisation (Maritime Greyhound Adoption Program). We have our in-home interview this evening and an orientation session this weekend. We might even be taking our new dog home this Saturday! Wow! It’s quite the process and the dogs are actually matched up to our family and particular needs. The president of the organisation is a dog behaviour psychologist and she’s the one who chooses the best dog for each situation. She is currently considering two dogs for us:

Race name: Regal Tumbler
Age: 2 years old in June
Sex: Male
Weight: 78 lbs
This handsome white and black boy with the very cool ears, is very laid back and calm and tested as cat tolerant. Friendly, happy tail wagging, and has a loving personality. Plays well with other dogs and people; energetic but not hyper at all. Likes cuddling, grooming, crate trained, and has good leash walking skills. A really wonderful boy that anyone would be thrilled to have.



Or

Race name: Hami
Age: Turning 3 in November
Sex: Male
Weight: 70 lbs
Beautiful white and dark brindle boy. He is good with cats and small dogs and will probably be great with children too. He is outgoing, very friendly and doesn't mind a busy home. He will fit in most anywhere and make an excellent walking companion.


Hami is a regular rescue, while Tubbler is from a prison training program. The Prison program dogs are trained in basic obedience for 10 weeks by inmates in a Florida State Prison. All the prison trained dogs learn verbal commands and hand signals for sit, stay, down, come and heel. This is such an exciting program and a win/win situation for both the prisoners and the greyhounds. For example it puts greyhounds in a place until they can find homes, it teaches Inmates patience and responsibility, it relieves inmate idleness in prison facilities, and it allows Inmates to give something back to the community, just to name a few. Click on the link Give a Second Chance to check out a video that definitely pulls at the heart strings.

Good Ol' Kijiji

We’ve been checking kijiji regularly for potential dogs to adopt. So far no luck, but some of these ads are freakin’ hilarious! I wonder what's worse: dating profiles or dog ads?

"3 year old beagle spayed and neutered"
Wow! A hermaphrodite beagle!

"Looking for a purebred lapdog"
I’m not familiar with that particular breed

"Looking for a puppy for my son for Christmas. Must be either a Boxer or a Maltese"
Ummmm... you do realise those two dogs are complete opposites, right?

"Looking for small puppy. Must be well behaved. Will return if not."
Sure... dogs don’t require any work so this should definitely work out!

"Pitbull for stud garante 10 puppys unless someting wrong with your dog"
That’s some dog! He can predict how many pups he will produce. Very impressive!

"Puppies for sale. Mom is a maltese and another breed weighs 6 lbs dad is a shi tzu chihuahua max weighs 10 lbs. Asling $650"
Ummm... you do realise you are charging $650 for a mutt... right?

And my favourite:
"Looking to trade one of my Bull Mastif puppies for an SUV."

I get the feeling Kijiji won't be the place we'll find our dog.

Earlier this week we applied for a retired Greyhound race dog from a Greyhound rescue organisation. I can't wait till they contact us. How can you not love this adorable face!

Pacha pulled the veto card on Marshall

We brought Pacha to meet Marshall last night. The meeting went well, but it just wasn’t the vibe we were hoping for. Pacha seemed almost fearful of Marshall and she cowered between my legs. I have never seen her react to another dog that way before. Marshall was definitely more interested in Pacha than she was in him. He tried playing with her and after a while she played back, but he’s such a hefty guy that he ended up playing pretty rough with her.

Mr Perfect was really great with Marshall and he definitely had the dogs respect. I on the other hand, found it a little more challenging. Obviously, my energy wasn’t as assertive as Mr. Perfect’s. Marshall would jump up at me and snap while trying to play. I tried correcting him, but was only partially successful. I’m sure I would get the hang of it fairly quickly, but my concern would be his reaction to kids. I'd also worry about how rough his playing could get with Pacha when we aren't home. So, between Pacha’s reaction and Marshall’s snipping, we decided he wasn’t right for us.

It’s a bit disappointing but I know we made the right decision. He would really be an awesome dog for people not planning to have children or even just school age children.

Mr Perfect’s dog

Since visiting the SPCA last week we’ve been talking about the pros and cons of adding another dog to our family. For some strange reason, Mr. Perfect thought I was against getting a second dog, while I always assumed we would eventually get one. After clearing up this little matter, we agreed that adopting might be worth exploring. I had always thought we would get a second dog after our first kid (since we could see how Pacha reacts to the babe), but is post-partum really the best time to be training a dog? WE realised that this might actually be a good time to introduce a new dog. Mr Perfect would love a Boxer. I, on the other hand have a penchant for Greyhounds. When it comes down to it though, Boxers are a more manageable size than greyhounds.

Over the weekend we set some ground rules: we will not be swayed by a cute face, chemistry and energy has to work with our family, no rash decisions, Pacha’s reaction to a new dog is an essential element in our choice and any dog has to pass my allergy test.

Last night we headed back to the SPCA to see if “Marshall” was still there. When we did our initial sweep of the premise he appeared to be gone. Mr. Perfect was clearly crushed. :-( Then we found out he had already been transferred inside for the night. Yay! We asked to take him out for a walk. We did our best Ceasar Millan imitation and stayed calm and assertive. Marshall seemed to react well to our assertiveness. We waited for him to calm down before heading out for a walk. He wasn’t really that agitated, but you could see by his breathing he was curious/excited. He pulled a little during the first part of the walk, but within 5 minutes (even less) he was calm and walking in a perfect heal position. At the halfway point we made him sit and traded the leach. I had the lead now and I can honestly say it was like walking Pacha – I barely noticed he was there. I corrected him a few times, but that was really only when I noticed he wasn’t perfectly calm... it’s like I stopped his excitement before it escalated and he started pulling. When we gave him back to the SPCA employee, he was noticeably more excited, but you could tell her energy was different too. Where Pacha is calm 100% of the time, Marshall takes his cues from his leader. He’s definitely different than Pacha, but that’s also what we are looking for. I love Pacha more than anything, but she is also one lazy puppy. Hah! It would be nice to have a dog that can play fetch, go for a run and keep up with us on a hike. In that sense, Pacha is like a cat, except that she’s fun. :-P

He also passed the allergy test with flying colours! I rubbed my hands all over his coat and litterly stuck my fingers in my eyeballs! I rubbed my eyes as much as I could and has NO reaction. This is awesome news because I sometimes irritate my eyes just by rubbing them, so this means I'm definitely not allergic to him.

So now we wait for the SPCA to approve our application. We also decided that, since we are going away this weekend, we wouldn’t bring a dog home until Sunday. It’s just not fair to the dog to bring him home for 2 days and then drop him off at a kennel for two days. The SPCA won’t put a dog on hold, so we are leaving it in fates hands – if he’s still there on Sunday, then he’s our dog... if he’s not, we’ll just keep searching. The only problem is, Mr Perfect has already adopted him in his heart. :-)

The lure of a cute face

You know the scenario: you just happen to check out the SPCA website and happen to see a dog from a bred you would like and accidently end up at the SPCA on a rainy day staring on an adorable face the other side of a cage. No. We haven’t adopted another dog, but we sure are tempted. Mr Perfect’s always said he would love a second dog and has a particular soft spot for Boxers. I too would love another dog but sometimes I worry a second pet would create unbalance in our perfectly sweet and calm pupster Pacha. As well, there’s the kid factor. Right now, we’re fairly certain Pacha would adjust easily to a new crying babe, but any other dog is an unknown case. We resisted the urge to bring this beautiful 2-year old Boxer named Marshall for a walk, but then sat in the car debating on what to do. We finally agreed to come back when it’s not raining to bring the guy out for a stroll. We figure it should give us a few days to mull over the idea of a second pup. Either way, we would have to introduce him to Pacha to make sure the chemistry is right. Anyway, here's a picture of the big guy:

Mama Pacha, aka Pacha La Sagouine

Just me annoying my puppy. :-)





I don't know, but I see a certain resemblance to La Sagouine

Happy Belated Halloween!

My Mom bought this for Pacha a few weeks ago. As she says... it's for the kids (insert eye roll here). What can I say, she makes a cute pumpkin. Even Mr. Perfect thought she looked cute... but he still refused to bring her for a walk in her costume. :-)

Poor Little Pupster

Pacha had to visit the vet this morning. She had a nail ripped clean off and was constantly licking it for the last three days. I finally called my vet today to see if I should come in and he said it would probably be best as it wouldn’t heal until she stopped obsessing over it. So now her back paw is all bandaged up and she keeps lifting up in the air and pointing it straight out... it’s actually quite funny to see her. She was a real trouper at the vet and her wiggling to get away was kept to a minimum.



This paw makes for some awkward sitting

Happy Anniversary Pacha!

A year ago today I drove to Halifax to meet my new best friend. I remember it was Canada Day when I went to meet with Pacha’s (then Sofia) former owner. She was so calm and looked so sad. I was convinced I had gotten a chronically depressed pup. Since then, she has blossomed into an adorable little klutz who makes me laugh on a daily basis. For your enjoyment, here is a year of the Pacha:

The first day in her new home


Pacha discovers the belly rub


Pacha vs Blackout the evil neighbourhood cat


Happy Halloween!


Confirmation that she is in fact a dog - as she digs a hole in the mud


Merry Christmas!


Stylin' in her winter coat


Pacha meets her new cousin Jazz


Party Pacha!


Having an afternoon snooze while I study


Pacha meets Dixy


Finally, a picture one year later



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A meeting of the pups

Yesterday, Mr. Perfect and I decided to get our dogs together and head to Fundy Park for the day. It was the first time our dogs met so we weren’t sure how they would react to each other. Things went wonderfully and the dogs had a blast running on the beach. I think Pacha was a bit enamored with Dixy because everywhere Dixy went, Pacha followed… everything Dixy did, Pacha did as well. Here are some pics of the day.




















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