Eye Infections and Torture Devices

Last night Mom noticed that I had lots of green goop coming from my eyes. When she tried to wipe it away, it came back soon after. Then, she opened my eyes wider and saw that the whites of my eyes were red and bloodshot looking. So she knew she'd have to call my Vet in the morning. Well, last night I didn't sleep much (which meant Mom didn't either). All the sudden, my eyes started bothering me, and I was rubbing them and licking my paw off and on all night long. Mom wasn't too happy with me. I was pretty noisy. When Mom got up in the morning and turned on the light, she realized what I had been doing all night. I could barely open my eyes, they were really red, and one eye was swollen from all the rubbing. And the skin around my eye was about bleeding from all the scratching.



So, Mom was thankful she got me into the Vet right away this morning. Turns out that I must have gotten scratched in the eye on Sunday, when I got hurt at the dog park. And both my eyes got infected. Mom has to put a yucky ointment on my eyes 3 times a day. And the worst part? They're making me wear a torture device on my head! The dreaded cone!

Sure, it's clear, and I can see through it. But I don't know how big it is, and keep running into things like chairs and doorways. Mom keeps apologizing, but I hate this thing. Thankfully, I only have to wear it until my eye stops itching, so I won't keep making the skin around my eye bleed. My Vet said the medicine should help that itchiness soon.
Meanwhile, here are some pics of me looking even more sad and depressed than normal.
The one good thing about all this mess? Mom is staying home with me today, to make sure I don't get stuck on anything with this stupid cone.

A Dilemma

Seems like coming home bloody from the dog park has become a regular occurrence. This time, mom said it was my fault, getting in the face of a small dog who wanted me to leave her alone. Mom says we both have “short man’s syndrome,” where we both think we’re the boss of all the dogs at the park. And while the other dog is somewhat scared of me, I kind of pushed her over the edge, and it got heated. And I got bit, little scratches all over my face.

While we both love going to the park, and having that fun community, Mom is wondering if she should keep taking me to the park when I get hurt so much. I have definitely become more aggressive towards strange dogs when we’re at PetSmart. And Mom is worried about that too.

Is socialization at a park necessary? Or is causing more harm than good?
Mom says she’s going to talk to my Vet.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond

Mom wanted to get some pictures of me laying on my new bed that Grandma bought for me for Christmas. Grandma didn’t think I liked it, since she never saw me use it. But look how soft it is! Of course I love it! Plus, I like to scrunch it up and try to hide my biscuits and pig ears in it.





And, of course, since it’s so close to my toys, all I have to do is reach over and pull a toy onto my bed to chew on.





I also had to have a bath last Saturday, which I’m never happy about. But Mom said I did a lot better this time... I stopped shivering! Yes, I’m gaining confidence that nothing bad will happen to me in there. But I still don’t like being wet, as you can tell. (My tail is down.)



Last night, I was playing around in my crate. I like to pull things out, move my bed around in there, and bury treats. Mom was in bed, when all of the sudden she heard me yelp in pain. She jumped out of bed and ran to the living room, where I came trotting over to her, wagging my tail. She checked me over, but didn’t see any owies. She figures I must have stepped on the ledge of the crate wrong and scared myself.

So, this morning, when it was time for me to go to my crate, (Which I usually do, without Mom even asking.) I hid under the table with my tail between my legs. I was still a little scared to get hurt in there again. But Mom put some treats in there and coaxed me out; and I decided to be brave and went back in my crate all on my own. Mom said she was proud of me.

But, hey, all I do in there during the day is sleep. So it’s kind of hard to get hurt doing that!

... Have I mentioned that I'm accident prone?

Bit, Yet Again

Mom wasn't too happy this afternoon. Yep, I got bit again. There's a pit bull who comes to the dog park who I don't like very much. She has lunged at me a couple times before, so Mom kept an eye on us. I sent warning growls and bared my teeth a couple times at the pit bull, but Mom stepped in and separated us. But one time the dog came over quickly, and Mom didn't get to us in time before a tussle broke out. Thankfully, they had a sort of muzzle on her, but I still got bit on my lip. After Mom calmed down, we left for home right away to clean my owy. Then I crashed the rest of the night. We were at the park almost 2 hours after all!
Like I've said before, I can't go a week without getting hurt!
Grr!

Ouch

Laney and I love going to the dog park to play with other dogs and visit with their owners. But this is the 3rd time Laney has come home a little beat up. After last night’s tangle with a seemingly harmless dog, I thought Laney was just scared because the larger dog barked and lunged at her. Laney cowered, with her tail down, and walked slowly back to me for protection. Since I had missed most of the altercation, except for the other dog barking loudly at Laney, I didn’t coddle Laney. But I was freezing, and we had already been there over an hour. So I decided it was time to go anyway.

It wasn’t till she was in the car seat next to me, closer to my eye level, that I saw the results of what really happened. A short, bloody scrape on Laney’s cheek. Not quite as bad as the photo above, from two weeks ago. But in nearly the same place. And of course, I got a bit angry this time. It would be one thing if she was a large or aggressive dog. Instead, she’s on the smaller side, playful. And while she tries to dominate, she’s never aggressive. And she has about the softest mouth; my old cat bit harder (with sharper teeth) than she does.

I guess I don’t have to worry about the same dogs attacking Laney, as she hides from the larger dogs that give her reason. But it’s frustrating that Laney gets the raw end of the deal here. I hope we don’t have to end up just playing in the small dog area, since everyone migrates to the larger area (small and big dogs alike).

Laney may be a SuperPup, but she sure isn’t indestructible!