Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
MACH 3: THE RESOLUTION OF DRU'S BROKEN TOE SAGA
We passes a milestone today; at mach 3. Dru was released to run with full no-holds-barred sprinting. About 4 weeks ago we had our last vet visit with regards to the broken toe. The x-rays showed that the bones had healed quite well. However, since she had been in bandages for 8 weeks there was a significant loss of strength in the foot. When she took a step the foot just splayed out like she was stepping in mud, only she was on concrete. Hmmmm. In addition, the vet wanted to be sure the bones were a bit stronger before any full sprinting occurred.
The result - we've been doing physical therapy over the past 4 weeks in the form of walking. We started with a 5 minute walk then gradually increased to 30 minutes over the past month. She (and I) was bored out of her mind, but it worked. The strength returned and now the foot looks like the uninjured one. You can hardly tell the toe was even broken.
We have also had to trim her nails down to a manageable length so they wouldn't interfere with running. They were pretty long as she would not let me get near them with the clippers. Period. The vet taught me how to use a Dremel to grind the nails down. She was quite complacent when he was doing it. At home, not so much, though I mimicked every thing he did. I touched the noisy, rough, spinning beast from hell to her apparently nerve-laden nail and she popped up off her bed like the little button in the turkey that tells you when it's done. A sudden, surprising movement which, of course, was accompanied by a greyhound scream of death. So we worked out an agreement. If she lets me touch the nail with the Dremel she gets a snackie. Next, it was holding it to the nail for a 2 count. Snackie. Then, 4 seconds. Snackie. We are now up to about 8 seconds of contact and 3 empty bags of snackies.
Once we hit the 4 week release date to let her actually run, I thought we would start a little slow. We went to the dog park very early Friday and Saturday so we would have the place to ourselves. We were in a small area so the girls couldn't get up too much speed on the sprints. Dru started out quite cautiously then worked up to a faster clip. All was fine, with Dru. I, on the other hand, was having little mini panic attacks every time she went faster than a walk. Did it break? Is she limping? Did she just step on it wrong? No. No. No. Breathe.
This morning we went to our weekly playdate. The one with big open spaces and many other very fast moving greyhounds. We arrived early to give her a chance to sprint the field alone. She did. She was gone in 0.1 seconds of being released from her lead and a tiny speck on the horizon within 2. An impressive celebration of freedom.
She reverted back to being overly cautious when the other dogs started to join us, (an impressive memory, that.) but she wasn't as bad as before the toe was broken. We left a bit early to be sure she didn't push it too far. I've spent the remainder of the day watching her carefully and on the few occasions she has actually risen from her bed and walked around the house today (can we say, a little out of shape?) there has been no limping. Here's to a full recovery!
Dru this morning at playdate.
The result - we've been doing physical therapy over the past 4 weeks in the form of walking. We started with a 5 minute walk then gradually increased to 30 minutes over the past month. She (and I) was bored out of her mind, but it worked. The strength returned and now the foot looks like the uninjured one. You can hardly tell the toe was even broken.
We have also had to trim her nails down to a manageable length so they wouldn't interfere with running. They were pretty long as she would not let me get near them with the clippers. Period. The vet taught me how to use a Dremel to grind the nails down. She was quite complacent when he was doing it. At home, not so much, though I mimicked every thing he did. I touched the noisy, rough, spinning beast from hell to her apparently nerve-laden nail and she popped up off her bed like the little button in the turkey that tells you when it's done. A sudden, surprising movement which, of course, was accompanied by a greyhound scream of death. So we worked out an agreement. If she lets me touch the nail with the Dremel she gets a snackie. Next, it was holding it to the nail for a 2 count. Snackie. Then, 4 seconds. Snackie. We are now up to about 8 seconds of contact and 3 empty bags of snackies.
Once we hit the 4 week release date to let her actually run, I thought we would start a little slow. We went to the dog park very early Friday and Saturday so we would have the place to ourselves. We were in a small area so the girls couldn't get up too much speed on the sprints. Dru started out quite cautiously then worked up to a faster clip. All was fine, with Dru. I, on the other hand, was having little mini panic attacks every time she went faster than a walk. Did it break? Is she limping? Did she just step on it wrong? No. No. No. Breathe.
This morning we went to our weekly playdate. The one with big open spaces and many other very fast moving greyhounds. We arrived early to give her a chance to sprint the field alone. She did. She was gone in 0.1 seconds of being released from her lead and a tiny speck on the horizon within 2. An impressive celebration of freedom.
She reverted back to being overly cautious when the other dogs started to join us, (an impressive memory, that.) but she wasn't as bad as before the toe was broken. We left a bit early to be sure she didn't push it too far. I've spent the remainder of the day watching her carefully and on the few occasions she has actually risen from her bed and walked around the house today (can we say, a little out of shape?) there has been no limping. Here's to a full recovery!
Dru this morning at playdate. Saturday, May 28, 2011
SATURDAY PET BLOG HOP
Hi all and welcome to another wonderful Saturday Pet Blog Hop. Thanks for stopping by. All is well in Greylandia; the girls are off the injured reserve list (more on that later), we have a 3 day weekend and last weekend I finally managed to take what I think is one of the best photos yet (see above). Enjoy your visit and your long weekend.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
Another not-a-greyhound from the Seize the Leash training. Handsome and cute nonetheless.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
Usually when I take a blurry photo, and that is often, I immediately delete it. This one, however, stuck with me. I'm not sure if it is because the this is how I imagine them when they run - just a blur, or the tongue flapping, the curve of the spine, the spit flying or the joy that is apparent even though you can't see the details. Maybe it is that it looks a little like impressionist art. I don't know, I can't figure it out.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
NOT A GREYHOUND
I spent some time with my friends over at Seize the Leash yesterday. The result...many, many not-a-greyhound photos. :-)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
NOT A GREYHOUND
I had a chance to meet Devo the Whippet today. What a cute lover boy who does quite a nice sit (though not a huge fan of the camera, he was giving me a bit of the stink eye when I was pointing it at him.). I would love for him to show my girls it is possible to hold a sit for more than 5 seconds without screaming out in agony. Mine are such drama queens.
Friday, May 20, 2011
PHOTO FOR THE DAY
"Stay right where you are. I know, based on experience, you are just going to take my squeaks from me and throw it so I will run after it again. All for the sake of taking a picture. Not gonna' happen."
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
CONSPIRACY THEORY
My blog has a case of the mysterious disappearing comments. I know there were comments on Thursday's post (which were all quite amusing, thanks for making me laugh.). Friday I viewed my blog and all the comments were gone. Poof. An impressive feat of slight of hand. I have no idea where they went. I hadn't been on the site, so for once it could not have been operator error. I acknowledge it is not as significant a mystery as say the Great Pyramids or how the girls can dig a 4 foot trench in the back yard in under 2 minutes, however, it is still quite baffling.
So Jovi is on the case and trying to puzzle out where the comments have disappeared to. Though he's a bit of a conspiracy nut, so his suggestions are trending along the lines of it being the work of The Secret Order of the Fraternal Pet Blogging Comment Disruptive Action Initiative (SOFPBCDAI for short) or Marvin and Mahalo were embarrassed by their blatant display of sighthound fail being posted for all the interwebs to see and somehow hacked the account. He would like to know if anyone else having similar issues? Maybe you found random comments about dogs not being very good sighthounds in your comment section. If so, those belong here, give them back.
We are participating in the Saturday Pet Blog Hop against Jovi's recommendation. He feels the blog hop is a conspiracy to form a large supportive pet blogging community and recommends you hop at your own risk. We tried to tell him he was in fact correct in his theory and were met with disbelief that someone actually agreed with him. Then he wondered why we were agreeing with him; lulling him into a false sense of compliance to relocate the squeaks? Maybe trying to get close so we could give him a bath? The ramble went on and on. Told you, little bit of a nut.
So Jovi is on the case and trying to puzzle out where the comments have disappeared to. Though he's a bit of a conspiracy nut, so his suggestions are trending along the lines of it being the work of The Secret Order of the Fraternal Pet Blogging Comment Disruptive Action Initiative (SOFPBCDAI for short) or Marvin and Mahalo were embarrassed by their blatant display of sighthound fail being posted for all the interwebs to see and somehow hacked the account. He would like to know if anyone else having similar issues? Maybe you found random comments about dogs not being very good sighthounds in your comment section. If so, those belong here, give them back.
We are participating in the Saturday Pet Blog Hop against Jovi's recommendation. He feels the blog hop is a conspiracy to form a large supportive pet blogging community and recommends you hop at your own risk. We tried to tell him he was in fact correct in his theory and were met with disbelief that someone actually agreed with him. Then he wondered why we were agreeing with him; lulling him into a false sense of compliance to relocate the squeaks? Maybe trying to get close so we could give him a bath? The ramble went on and on. Told you, little bit of a nut.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
PICTURE STORIES
Picture stories:
Marvin "It's mine!"
Mahalo "Nope, I'm gonna get it."
(Please note green squeaks above their noses, camouflaged slightly in the trees.)
Marvin "It's here. I know it is."
Mahalo "I know, I just saw it."
(Please note green squeaks bouncing away unaccosted to the left of the boys.)
Marvin: "I know you have it. Give it back."
Marvin: "Wait. You don't have it?"
Marvin "It's mine!"
Mahalo "Nope, I'm gonna get it."
(Please note green squeaks above their noses, camouflaged slightly in the trees.)
Marvin "It's here. I know it is."
Mahalo "I know, I just saw it."
(Please note green squeaks bouncing away unaccosted to the left of the boys.)
Marvin: "I know you have it. Give it back."
Mahalo: "I know you're hiding it. Where is it?"
Marvin: "Wait. You don't have it?"
Mahalo: "I thought you had it. Hold on. Look again. It was just here."
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
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