The saga continues

We've been trying to get in touch with the owners of Homie, the dog that attacked Carter. We knew that he lived in a particular building, but there are six units in the building, and we didn't know the owner's name. After Jake made several unsuccessful tries of talking to people in the building, he left notes in every mailbox this afternoon. We were not expecting a response, but, to our surprise, the phone rang, and it was Homie's owner. We asked if Homie has had his shots, and she said yes, and offered us the records. Jake went to pick them up so we could copy them to take to the vet. All seemed fine, until, after scanning the copy they gave us, I noticed that while Homie had indeed had a rabies shot, it expired in January of 2009. Jake went back and said, uh, hey, his shots are out of date. Her response; "oh, the shot is good until January of 2009!" To which Jake, somewhat awkwardly had to point out, "uh, that was five months ago."

To her credit, Homie's owner was apologetic, and has asked for a copy of Carter's bill. Once the paperwork at the vet goes through, Animal Control will get her info, and there will no doubt be a fine of some sort, as the dog isn't licensed (he can't be if his shots aren't up to date) and he attacked while not on a leash.

Meanwhile, Carter seems to be doing OK. We have to keep him in his Elizabethan collar, which Lucy, with great distress, keeps calling "HAT!" "HAT!" She seemed very upset, and actually put on her own hat, perhaps in solidarity with the dog, or, perhaps to make fun of him.

back from the vet

Carter is back from the vet, wearing his full-on Elizabethan collar (photos to follow, maybe, though it's so pathetic, it seems exploitative to photograph him). He's drugged up a bit with antiobiotics and painkillers. He had some x-rays, but it seems like there's no serious damage. We'll be watching him closely for the next few days to make sure he's OK.

To follow up on the comment rant, we are also VERY frustrated by the non-leash dog walkers, who claim their dogs are well behaved, when really, they aren't. The dog that attacked Carter today has run at him before, and the owner has done nothing to restrain him. It's very scary, and could have been much worse, too.

Now we have to go find and talk to the owner about whether the dog has had shots (we're guessing he hasn't). It's a very frustrating situation.

Owies

A dog attacked Carter today. Our fuzzy buddy is doing OK. We're still trying to get the details about the attacker, a neighborhood dog that has gone after him before. The owner did not have the dog (who goes by the name "Homey") on a leash, so there are some issues here. We've called Animal Control, and Carter is at the vet right now. He has some bite punctures on his back legs and underside. He's getting x-rays right now. He's been a sweet trooper through it. Updates as we get more info.

Haircut.

Here I am, in all my shaggy, majestic glory:


I guess you all knew this was coming, if you've seen any of the recent updates on Flickr. Clearly, I had become a very fuzzy beast. Here I am, then:
And here I am, now:
I have been shorn. Sigh.

That kid, Lucy, is still hanging around me a lot. Now she knows my name. She yells at me and wants to hug me all the time. Here she is getting awfully close -- actually, she just put that ball there.

Smile! I'm a dog!

My visit to the dentist was a success, if you call being drugged and having stuff stuck in your mouth a success. At least they didn't take out any of my beautiful chompers.

I'm home now, a bit groggy, but mostly myself. Let's face it, I'm not the most energetic pooch out there. I like to relax.

But Bridget and Jake said something about brushing my teeth in a few days. I think this is ridiculous. I doubt I will put up with such things. There better be treats, man, lots of treats.

In fact, I have a pretty good idea of what kind of treats I would like. Can I please please please please please have one of these? Or maybe three?

These are the rats that live at my Aunt Paula's house. Last time I stayed with Aunt Paula, she let me sleep in the same room with them because I was so obsessed. I am a focused dog. Focused. RATS!

Hi There.

It's been a while.

All's well here. Tomorrow morning, I go to the dentist. I'm not thrilled about this. I just hope I don't come back sounding like this kid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs

Oh, if you're wondering about my twin here, that's just a painting of me. By a real painter. Yup. An oil painting. A portrait. Of me. I rule.

Totally. Gross.

It was bound to happen at someday. I'm almost surprised that it took her this long. To our knowledge, up until today -- for the first 13.75 months of her life -- Lucy ate food intended for humans. Today, all that changed.

Lucy ate dog food today.

She was playing contentedly in the dining room, eating Cheerios out of her snack-trap. When I saw her chewing, I assumed she was eating Cheerios. Then I looked at the "Cheerio" in her hand, and realized

THAT'S NOT A CHEERIO!

It was a piece of kibble. As was the "cheerio" in her mouth.

Totally. Gross.

Turns out, the snack trap was empty (perhaps Carter ate the rest of them?) and Lucy moved on to the nearest source of snackage, which happened to be the remaining kibble in Carter's bowl.

She has not shown any ill effects so far. No barking, no lifting her leg.

[FYI, for those not in the know, the "snack trap" is this supposedly handy cup with a lid that kids can put their hands through to take out a snack. It's supposed to prevent the snacks from spilling out everywhere. Lucy, however, seems to have perfected a snack-trap technique that evades the product's supposed spill-prevention mechanism, and she regularly dumps the snack trap contents everywhere.]

Here, you can see her demonstrating her technique, triumphantly.