Day 1952

Jeez. Just as Dot is starting to walk again, Dash developed a limp. I noticed that something was wrong on his morning walk. Dozens of things can cause a dog to limp, so I was hoping that he just stepped on a thorn or something. The limp got worse as the day progressed unfortunately, so I began to get worried. I checked to see if he'd torn a cruciate. I felt his spine to see if there were any sensitive areas. I massaged his leg to see if anything made him flinch. Everything seemed normal. I always worry about dogs developing hip dysplasia as they get older. Dalmatians frequently tear cruciate ligaments as they grow older as well. I was expecting the worst, and then while he was sleeping, I noticed that Dash had cut one of his paw pads on the leg he was favoring. A cut or torn paw pad is not something to be taken lightly, but I was very relieved when I saw this cut. I'm almost certain that this is what was causing him to limp. Like many male dogs, Dash scratches the ground with his rear paws after peeing. He does this quite vigorously and he must have encountered a sharp rock or piece of glass. We'll find out how to fix the cut paw tomorrow when Dash has his annual exam. For the time being, I'm having him wear one of Dot's traction socks to keep the cut clean.

I made a breakthrough today in my ongoing effort to understand responsive web design. I've been using my own company site as the guinea pig to test out new ideas. It's been a slow process. I'll break part of the site and have to undo everything so the site works again before I try another idea. If I didn't take these slow painstaking steps, my errors would start to compound and pretty soon it would be impossible to get the site back to it's original state. I must be learning something, because I was finally able to put up a landing page that didn't look like shit. After several hours of tweaks and refinements, I actually got the page to function. By the end of the day, I had a site that passed Google's "mobile friendly" tester.  I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready to do this for clients, but "mobile friendly" is not a word I fear anymore. I can do this.

I wish I had my old mail carrier back. I used to have a fabulous mail carrier, but the post office changed her route and gave our neighborhood to someone else. I am not impressed. I've been waiting for a signature required package and it was supposed to arrive today. I don't like signature required packages because they always arrive when I'm taking a shower or am out in the back yard with the dogs. Today's mail carriers don't try very hard to find you. They leave a form telling you to go pick up your package at the post office. I left a note for the mail carrier saying she should call my cell phone if I didn't answer the door and to be sure to knock, because the doorbell isn't very loud. I needn't have bothered. While I was updating websites this morning, I saw the mail carrier out the office window just throw the package on the ground below the mailbox. She didn't even bother to get a signature. Little things like this drive me nuts.

Dot had one of her best days in a long time. She was strong and confident around the house and when we took our daily walk she didn't want to turn around. It probably helped that the weather was nice and cool today, but it wasn't just the weather. Dot is feeling better these days. Janet and I walked both dogs together this evening since Dash needed to take a short walk because of his inured paw. Dash walked slower than normal because of the sock he was wearing on his rear leg and Dot seemed visably pleased that she could keep up with him. She was even walking faster than Dash at several points. There was this look in her eye that clearly said "I'm back."

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day