Day 3

Day 3 of the Bella occupation and I have learned a few things...
1. Underwear, bras, socks, pants, etc. left on the floor and unattended are subject to random dispersal throughout the house.
2. Any exposed appendages from under the covers are subject to licking, chewing, or pouncing.
3. Cat tails are officially chew toys.
4. Dog tails are officially cat toys.
5. Anything within Bella's reach is, in fact, Bella's.
6. A SpotBot can become your best friend.
7. Come, sit, down, no no, drop that, what are you eating?, and all other commands are subject to being ignored completely.
What have we gotten into?

Two dogs...

These are two dog paintings I did for a current online dog portrait competition...One is my dog , a corgi, Dakota, and the other is a friend's Great Dane. I hope you like them.

If I only had a heart....

Well, we have had an exciting start to our summer. Our big dog, Loki, was playing with our neighbor's dog and collapsed. He took about an hour to get right again and seemed disoriented for some time. Luckily, we had a vet appointment the next day for vaccinations and we discovered his resting heart rate had fallen to 29-32 beats per minute.(It should be 80) After a failed attempt to medicate him for the problem and an ever falling heart rate (it was 18 at one point), the decision to give him a pacemaker was made. He had his surgery last Tuesday and we are happy to report that he is doing just great. He has to remain immobile for 6 weeks as the leads in his heart take hold, only getting out of his kennel to go to the potty. He is being very good natured about his confinement and is enjoying all the extra kisses and attention he is getting. He is going to be back to his old happy self soon.

I want to thank all of our friends that have called and come over to see him. He is a truly an amazing dog and has touched the lives of a lot of people. We are so happy to have him around for a while longer. For now, with all the staples in his neck, he is known as "Frankenpooch".

A well deserved thank you goes to Dr Michelle France and the U of M cardiology department for all they did for us and all the care they gave Loki. You guys are the best and my special thank you to Dr France for the kindness you gave us during this tough time.

I will continue to update his progress.