Computerjargon.com

On my way in from the garage last night after work I was greeted by Syd, our shepherd mix (or as I refer to her the $6,000 dog). She was in our fenced backyard doing the dance and yelps that she always does when I come home.

As I walked in a voice said, “Does she forget about him?”

I turned around, “Huh?”

“Does she forget about him? The dog…She’s been outside for awhile.”

The voice came from a woman I did not know. She was at my neighbor’s house.

I said to her that Syd was probably okay and that Syd liked to be outside.

“I dunno about that…”, she responded.

Irked, I went inside. I told my wife of the conversation, changed into some more relaxed attire, and fed the dogs (Which required letting Sydney into the house).

20 minutes later a rap came on our front door. Surprised, I opened it cautiously and was greeted by Crystal’s finest men in blue. They explained to me that they had gotten a report about a rottweiler being outside. We explained the situation: 1. Yes, our long haired dog was outside for quite some time 2. She likes it out there and 3. She’s not a rottweiler. The cop was quite nice and explained that he was just doing his job. He asked to see Sydney and was promptly greeted by her and the other two dogs. With plush toy in mouth, Syd even tried to convince him to play a bit.

Irked even more, I stewed about it all night. Courtney had a good point, though, that people will do what they think is right, even if there is no problem. The unknown lady felt she had to perform a civic duty and shouldn’t be blamed for it. One look at our dogs will tell you that they are properly cared for.

But what I’m worried about is the odd relation it now puts between us and our neighbor. We’ve never had any problems with her. Now I may think twice before helping her shovel her driveway. Or maybe the next time her ladder falls over I won’t help her down off her roof.  We’ve always been kind and courteous to her and I had hoped that if she, or her friend/relative, had a concern that it could be handled better. I now have this feeling that everyone is watching and judging me. Next time I leave my dog outside will someone call the cops on me? Is someone sitting by their window counting the minutes my dog is outside?

In the end, there’s not much I can do about the whole thing. We did nothing wrong. People are going to do what they do…*sigh*

For the second time in 6 months we’ve received a phone call that our pup, Sydney, had to be rushed to emergency vet while we were away. Last time we dropped everything and rushed back home to be with her. This time, though, we were too far away and had to wait it out on a very long plane-ride home.

The first time she fell ill was in September. At the time the doctors thought it was an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Sydney had stopped producing the natural steriod that helps blood clot causing her to vomit and bleed. My parents found her passed out in the yard.

This time, it was no different. She was staying with my parents again when the same thing occured. No bees this time. The same round of treatment and the same round of bills came in. One night in the emergency room, one plasma transfusion, and lots of fluids fixed her right up.

The doctors insist that she must have eaten decon. This time they even suggested she ate an animal that ate decon. Their explanation seemed a little far fetched.

We spent the next day taking her to the regular vet clinic. They explained to us that her separation anxiety probably caused her to start bleeding, which is normal for dogs. But her lower than normal ability to clot causes a very violent reaction. The diagnosis sounded a little more believable.

We still don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s being put through the wringer of tests. The plastic is running out of space and I don’t want to make hard decisions.

Anabelle (2003 - 2005)

Anabelle was a joy of a pup. She was always full of life, love, and friendship. Her eyes were so human-like, you could see straight into her heart. She loved other dogs and the other dogs loved her.

I remember a time I was sitting on the couch enjoying a piece of chocolate. Anabelle got up on the couch and sat next to me. Before my brother could warn me I had a dog nose damn near in my mouth as she lunged for the food. My brother said, “You have to be careful around her.” He was right.

When Drew and Michelle brought Anabelle home she was just a little thing. Her ears were bigger than her entire body. For the first year we would laugh every time she would trip over her own ears.

Anabelle died yesterday in a tragic accident. She finally met a sock she could not eat. She wasn’t nearly 2 years old yet. We will miss you, Anabelle.

Dottie visited the vet’s office this weekend. About two weeks ago after rough-housing with the neighbor dog she began to limp on her back left leg. She’s 7 now, we knew that when we adopted her that she would eventually have hip problems due to her size. I wasn’t really ready to deal with it yet, though. Luckily Courtney was kind enough to join me at the doc’s. I didn’t want to hear any bad news.

After a little poking, and a little more prodding than Dottie liked (she cowered behind me after the prodding part) the doc gave us suggestions for glucosimine supplements and a starter supply of rhimydol for the tough days. After popping a few of them Dottie seemed to liven right up. She can now go back to giving me dirty looks and slobbering on my face while I sleep.

What happens when I get a new camera? That’s right, dog pictures. I purchase a Canon Digital Rebel 300D and I’ve spent the last week chasing the dogs around the house. They seem to be the easiest target for my “artform.” Sydney is a very photogenic dog while Dottie won’t sit still for longer than 3 seconds. I will need to venture out of the house to get some better photos. The dogs are only entertaining for so long.

Who needs kids when you have a pack of dogs. Meet the newest addition to the Motylinski clan, Anabelle, Drew and Michelle’s new puppy. That brings the family dog total to 5, the same number as there are people.

In the following entry I shall replace the phrase dog poop with the word flowers.

I woke and went down into L1R1 Sunday morning like I normally do most mornings. Shortly after I sat down at my computer Dottie, our dane, walked up. This was out of character for Dottie. Usually she’s the last one out of bed. With both Courtney and Sid still sleeping I couldn’t help but wonder what got Dottie up so early. She looked at me, mumbled a bit and was wagging her tail profusely. I put two and two together and let her out. When she came back to the door she and I went back to the bedroom.

I laid down on the bed. Dottie stood by the door, not laying down. She started groaning a bit and continued the crazy tail wagging. Sid woke up and was stirred into a tizzy by Dottie’s anxiety. So I moseyed both dogs outside again, where Dottie dropped some kids off at the pool. She had now done both deeds, we were set for some nappytime.

Back in the bedroom again Dottie would not lay down on her bed. She continued to stand at the foot of our bed moaning and groaning about something. I was all out of guesses to what this dog was trying to tell me until I looked at her bed. A dark spot was on her bed. I investigated and discovered a few flowers on her bed. Dottie has never had any problems with flowers in the house. I cleaned them up and told her to lay down.

No go. This dog was smart. There was no way she was going to lay down where she had just put two flowers. Now I was stuck. Confused, I woke Court for some advice with the situation. Court suggested throwing Dottie’s other bed on top of the flower-soiled one. It was such a good idea that Dottie was finally convinced to lay down on her bed.

So it is true. Dogs don’t sleep where they poop.