Day 1688

Janet took Dash to dog training class tonight, while I stayed home with Dot. Our instructor initially thought Dot had made an amazing recovery as he watched Dash sail over some high hurdles. "That's pretty good for an old, sick dog," he told Janet. Hey, it's an honest mistake. They both have spots. Maybe he got the dogs mixed up because Dash behaves better with Janet. She told me that he made it through the entire class without any of his typical annoying barking.

For her part, Dot had a very good day as well. We made it through the night without any accidents. She didn't even leak on the waterproof baby crib liners strewn around the house for her to sleep on during the day. We're all learning our new routines. I take her out every three hours to pee, and once again during the middle of the night. Dot is off pain medication now and her vet says that we can begin transitioning her back to her regular diet. You can tell that Dot is happy to slowly be returning to normal. She is holding her head up high for the first time in weeks, and her tail is starting to wag again. Dot doesn't understand the concept of baby steps. My big concern now is to keep her from overdoing things while her body continues to heal.

As Dot gets off the critical list and continues her recovery, my own life is returning to normal as well. I spent a busy day revising and adding pictures to one website while finalizing the design of another. I still can't leave the house, but that really isn't a serious problem, since I seldom leave the house anyway. It is usually boredom, not necessity that causes me to get in the car and go somewhere. I certainly haven't been bored this year, but I think I would prefer boredom to dealing with a constant barrage of major medical emergencies. This has been a rough year. It would be nice if life would stay in balance, but it seldom does. I'm still hoping for healthy dogs and a little variety in my workload.

Can you believe that tomorrow is the last day of July? This year has literally flown by. I'm grateful that so far this has been one of the coolest Summers on record. To be approaching August with only one or two days of triple digit temperatures is almost unheard of in Texas. There have been quite a few mornings where the temperature was in the low 70's while I walked Dash around sunrise. Most of the wildflowers are gone by now, but I did happen to see a few Lanceleaf Coreopsis flowers still blooming this morning. It will be nice when I can walk both dogs again. This is usually my most relaxing time of the day.

We'll waterproof the bed again tonight, but hopefully Dot's incontinence is nearing an end as well. She certainly had a good day today. Tomorrow, I'll continue taking things one day at a time. It's been working so far.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day