Day 1929

I woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. So much for sleeping in on Saturday. There was little point in sleeping in anyway, since I had a ton of errands to run in the morning before Janet had to leave to run her own ton of errands in the afternoon. Dash had to go to the vet this morning for a minor checkup. Sometimes I feel like he is getting shortchanged since we are spending so much time caring for Dot. I do what I can though. Dash got a nice long walk this morning before I had to take Dot's special hammock out of the car so I could put the seats back down and make a flat area in the back for Dash to ride. Transporting the dogs was easier with the Defender, since there were only two seats anyway and the back was always flat. Now, the car is back the way it used to be, but I will have to reinstall the hammock before Dot's next physical therapy session. It's a good thing Dash is fairly healthy now.

With Dash's vet visit completed, I went to the bank, mailed some letters, got gas for the car, and did my grocery shopping. Since it was a nice day, I had planned to wash the car and mow the grass, but I ran out of time. Janet had her own errands to run, so after lunch, I took over watching Dot and spent the rest of the day around the house. Oh, well. I didn't really want to mow the grass anyway.

There was still plenty to do inside. I spend quite a while adding 30 new dogs and cats to an animal rescue website and when I was finished with that, I wrote another article. There's still one more article to write before I get caught up again, so maybe I'll do that one tomorrow. I could have vacuumed all the messy rugs that are scattered around the house to keep Dot from slipping, but the dogs were both sleeping peacefully and the noise of the vacuum cleaner would have started a whole new round of barking. When I'm alone with the dogs, I keep the house very quiet. No TV. No radio. And no music. Dot is still supposed to be getting a lot of bed rest and Dash sleeps on the bed when everything is quiet anyway, so this enforced solitude works pretty well as long as I have work to do on the computer.

Dot celebrated another small milestone today. She has been eager for a walk for quite some time, so we finally decided to take her on a short walk halfway up our street and back. Dot was so happy to get out of the yard. Neighbors must have wondered what we were doing, because Dot had a leash on both the front and the back. The front leash guided her forward and the rear leash, attached to her harness, was there to prevent her from slipping. It was a bit difficult to keep Dot walking slow, but she actually did quite well. She made the entire short journey using her own legs. I didn't have to hold her up at all. There were a couple of times when I could sense she was starting to slip, but for the most part, her feet moved naturally and normally. Considering how paralyzed Dot's legs were when we started this journey, I continue to be amazed at her progress. I'm not sure that we'll ever be able to let Dot walk off leash again, since there are so many temptations in our neighborhood for naturally active Dalmatians. All Dot has to do is slip or fall the wrong way while she was chasing after a cat and she could instantly undo months of hard work.

It looks like the lawn mower battery survived the Winter. Amazingly, it recharged properly this morning, so I'm all set to mow again whenever I can't think of anything better to do. Mowing the yard seems to get harder and harder with each passing year. If I mow the grass tomorrow, I probably won't even think about going to the gym.

Doc is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day