11 Days to Go

Sadie's surgery is in 11 days.  I am beyond nervous about the whole thing and feeling a bit guilty about putting her through what she's getting ready to go through.  It's hard when she is not in obvious pain to know that she is getting ready to be in pain without understanding why.  I do see evidence of her getting a bit worse.  I thought the recent "bathroom accidents" in the house were because I was sick and not paying attention.  I realized that she doesn't seem to feel that she needs to go to the bathroom until the LAST SECOND.  This is new.  Now, I have to go in the yard and give her the bathroom command or she will not go (until she's inside and realizes that she needs to go RIGHT THEN).  The other day, she was out in the yard for 4 hours playing with Sonny, came inside, went upstairs with the girls and peed all over the playroom.  This is happening more and more and I know she is beginning to have less feeling in her rear.  She has to use her front legs more to pull her back legs up on the couch or bed.  At least we don't have much longer to wait.  Then we have the recovery.  Luckily, she is fine in the crate.  She doesn't love it when we are here but she doesn't go nutty when we are gone.  She has in every other enclosure we have tried.  The trick will be keeping her calm for 4-6 weeks while she heals.  I need to go buy lots of rugs and find an X-pen to borrow so she can have some time out of her crate.  Any other suggestions are welcome!  I'm sure Sadie will be fine through it all (much better than I will be).   She is such a sweet girl and does whatever we ask of her.  Plus she has lots of people pulling for her!  Our whole family appreciates all of her "friends" we have met during this journey :o)

Chessies in the Surf 2010

I grew up at the beach so as soon as I cross a bridge going over salt water, my blood pressure drops about 20 points.  Thursday, September 30 we went to Rodanthe, NC on the Outer Banks of NC between Manteo and Cape Hatteras.  Every year, some of our Chesapeake Bay Retriever Rescue friends meet here and stay at the KOA Campground in the little cabins.  The cabins have a queen sized bed, a set of bunk beds, a little wooden table attached to the wall, electricity (yes Lord), a ceiling fan,  a fabulous porch with a porch swing and most importantly, they allow dogs in the cabins.  I have been many years though only once since the younger 2-leggeds were born.  We brought the girls and Sonny dog 2 years ago when they were 1, 2 and 3.  They all had colds and it was a miserable trip.  I won't go into details but let's just say it wasn't pretty.   We may consider taking them back in 10 years or so.  Maybe.  It was so nice riding in a car for 4+ hours without hearing, "When are we going to be there?", "She touched me!", "She won't give me that ___!" and "I need to pee!"  Plus, Tim and I got to have complete conversations.  MANY complete conversations.  Several times he said, "You didn't tell me about ...blah, blah, blah!"  I realized that a) I thought I told him b) I may have told him but was drowned out by one of the 3 very persistent voices of the 2-leggeds and c) I probably didn't tell him because we never get to finish a conversation.  We also got to eat a real meals (with adult conversation) without having to get up 15 times to get somebody something or having someone decide they like YOUR food better than the chicken nuggets that they ordered.   We slept ALL NIGHT for 3 nights without a little person climbing into our bed because they were sick, scared or just awake.  When I woke up one morning and the clock said 7:30, I almost fainted.  I only woke up for about one second each night when the dogs barked at something.  The dogs had a wonderful time playing in the ocean and sound with their 4-legged friends.  Sadie amazed everyone with her speed and endurance (along with her extremely gentle personality).  Sonny did his best to keep up with the young ones but by day 4, he was showing his age.  The 2-leggeds had a great time talking about all the other Chessies in the Surf trips and we realized that Mary Kearns' Kimo is the only one left from the first trip.  That was sort of a sad moment when it struck me how short we really have our 4-legged children.  We do love getting to know all the new ones though!   I have already looked at next year's calendar to see when 2011 Chessies in the Surf will be held. We talked about it being the same as this year, the very last week in September which would be Sun 9/25- Sun 10/2.  More people come the last weekend and we plan on  taking Sonny and Sadie Thurs-Sun again.   It will be 11 months after Sadie's surgery so the rest of the dogs better get in shape if they want to even touch a ball :o)  I really hope more people will come next year even though we had a nice turnout this year.  I will do a better job of reminding people far enough in advance so they can make plans to come.  All dog lovers welcome!  

Check out the link below to see a short clip of Sadie on the beach.  We wanted her to have a wonderful time before her spinal surgery on November 2.  As you can see, she did!

Sadie at the OBX

I missed the girls but I know that trips like these without them will make me a better mother and wife (and keep me out of the mental institution).  Now, I get to unpack and do laundry.  Fun times!