Day 3167

It's always something. Dash got stung by a bee today. We were taking our morning walk when all of the sudden he yelped and immediately began limping. I suspected an insect bite, but it could have also been a sprain. When old dogs rear legs begin to go, it puts a lot of extra strain on their front legs. Either way, this was not good. Let me tell you, it was not easy getting a dog back home with only one good leg.

I was hoping that when we finally got Dash home, he would relax so I could examine him better. Unfortunately, this is not Dash's style. He tends to panic when things go wrong. He was agitated and we noticed that the leg was starting to swell so we loaded him in the car and headed for the emergency clinic. On the way, Dash finally started to calm down. By the time we arrived, he was semi-normal again.

The admittance nurse said that Dash wasn't having an allergic reaction and didn't appear to have sprained anything. He wasn't limping anymore either. Faced with a choice of waiting in the lobby for several hours until we could see a vet and then getting a $75 bill for a few Benadryl tablets, we decided to just turn around and go home. Dash has been stung by bees before. He completely freaks out for about thirty minutes and by the time a vet is able to look at him, he is all better.

I gave Dash some Benadryl when he returned home and he quickly went to sleep. By the time he woke up, he was back to his old self. Notice that I didn't say "back to normal." Dash will never be back to normal. We all ate our breakfast late enough to be called brunch and then resumed our regular Sunday routine. I kind of suspected a bee sting the moment it happened, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If Dash had seriously injured his front leg, it would all be over.

I think I'm going to have to stop using the arm bicycle at the gym. My wrist started hurting again and this appeared to be the cause. It makes sense. Twenty minutes on the arm bicycle can put a lot of strain on your wrists. Too bad. I like this machine. It's a great upper body workout and seems to be better than the treadmill for elevating your heart rate.

Elevating your heart rate during exercise can be good for cardiovascular fitness. At other times, it's not so good. I noticed on my Fitbit that my heart rate went way up right after Dash got stung by the bee. This was stress. I wasn't sure how I was going to get him home again. I wasn't sure what had happened either. Luckily, everything ended well today, but it definitely wasn't a relaxing day.

I'm sure the bees have moved by now, but I'm a superstitious person and I won't want to take the same route on our walk tomorrow. This might be problematic, because Dash is set in his ways and always wants to take the same route. I wish the city would hurry up and mow the field behind our house. The grass in the park is getting high again and it's hard to tell what Dash and I are walking through.

I guess I'll have to wear the brace on my wrist again tonight. I should have known better than to use the arm bike. It's pretty clear that Dash and I are both set in our ways. We'll try not to injure ourselves tomorrow.

Cammy s today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2429

Dash got stung by a bee this evening. At least I think he got stung by a bee. We were taking our evening walk and all of a sudden he started limping on his right front leg. We were about three blocks from home, and he refused to put any weight on the leg the rest of the way home. He growled at me when I tried to examine the leg too. It was time for a trip to the emergency vet. Since I didn't have an appointment, Dash and I had to wait a long time in the lobby. During the hour or so we were waiting, Dash started to calm down and by the time the vet got around to seeing us, he seemed well on his way back to normal.

Basically we still don't know what is going on. It definitely could have been a bee sting, but there was no obvious redness or swelling. The vet said there were lots of things that could cause this sort of sudden lameness. It could be a soft tissue injury. It could be arthritis. Although unlikely, it could even be an early sign of bone cancer. I decided to wait to do anything further. We'll give him a Benadryl tonight and see how he feels in the morning. If he needs x-rays, we can do them during his next re-check at the cancer center. Dash probably does have arthritis. His rear legs are starting to get stiff and I wouldn't be surprised if he develops hip dysplasia as he grows older. It's always something with these dogs.

The last thing I expected today was a trip to the emergency vet, but I really shouldn't have been surprised. Nothing else went right today either. I wasted a huge amount of time trying to get AT&T tech support to show me how to enable port forwarding on my router. I knew how to do this on the old router that broke, but this new one doesn't seem to allow port forwarding. There ought to be a special place in hell for companies who outsource all their customer support. It takes forever to resolve the simplest of problems when you're talking with someone who doesn't speak English well. About one time out of ten, I manage to get a technician who actually knows something about technology. The rest of the time I end up talking with people who are just reading from a script. I don't think the guy I talked with today even knew what a router was. My conversation was definitely a wasted effort.

I had some website updates this morning, but they didn't keep me busy all day. I actually spent more time cleaning up after Dot, than I did modifying the websites. It was good to have something to do though. Days filled with writing and coding chores are definitely more satisfying than days where there is nothing to do but clean up poop.

I was going to get my safety inspection done today, but Land Rover said that I needed to make an appointment. Evidently they only do safety inspections in Friday's now. I made an appointment for Friday and then went up on the roof to check on last week's repairs. Our current dry spell has allowed the patches to cure nicely. From the looks of things now, I think the roof is going to be OK this Winter.

I hope that Dash is back to normal tomorrow morning. If he is still limping, I'll see if I can get him over to his regular vet for some x-rays. It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. All I need to do now is see if I can take Dot's harness off without waking her up. I don't want to wake Dash up either. Everyone seems so calm now.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1378

We got off to a late start this morning, but it didn't really matter since the temperature has cooled down quite a bit. You never know what is going to happen with the dogs. Dash started limping today on the way home. At first I thought he had stepped on a thorn or a burr, but I could find nothing when I examined his paw. Since he was limping on his left front paw, I knew he hadn't torn his anterior cruciate ligament. Something was really bothering him though. We would walk about ten steps and the stop for a while to rest. It took forever to get home again. I thought about trying to carry him home, but he's too heavy to carry very far. Since Dot was with me too, carrying Dash was pretty much out of the question. Eventually we made it home and I gave Dash a Benadryl and called the vet. After a two hour nap, Dash got up and started walking normally again. I still don't know what was wrong. Maybe he got stung by a bee.

On the way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped by the dealership and got some rubber mats for the new car. Hopefully, this will make it a little easier to clean up the mountains of dog hair. Dog hair was never much of a problem when Dot and Dash rode in the Defender, since they always rode in the large dog crate I kept in the back. While I was getting the rubber mats, I discovered that I'm supposed to put nitrogen in my tires instead of air and that there is a special button that will lower the car two inches closer to the ground to make it easier to load packages, or large dogs.

So many people I know tell me how much they enjoy things like running, cycling, zumba, and weight lifting. I have yet to discover the allure of these sweaty activities. I think I have been successful at incorporating a regular exercise regime into my weekly activities. I just don't enjoy it. I'm still waiting for the endorphins to kick in and I suspect they never will. So far, going to the gym seems a lot like mowing the grass indoors. Don't get me wrong. I thing the exercise is good for my health and I'm going to stick with it. It's just no substitute for photography or playing the guitar.

Other than Dash's unexplained limping, it was a fairly normal day. I went to the bank and the grocery store. I got some website work finished that I should have done over the weekend. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a busy day, so I guess I can postpone painting the ceiling a little longer. Every time I look up, I realize that the Sheetrock repairs I made a month or so ago won't be complete until I re-paint the ceiling. Since painting is right up there with exercise on my list of things I could do without, finishing this little chore could take a while.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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