Well this isn't good ... not good at all!

I knew something was up last night ... and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good. I can just smell these things. Everything was hunky dory until around 10:00 when Meme took me out for a walk. As usual, when we got back I got my favorite treat of the day, a stick of rawhide that is just the best thing to chew in the whole world and I have one every night. Meme throws it up on the bed, then I get ready and she lifts me up as I jump and I enjoy my treat.

Well last night, after my "bone", Meme came in with my food bowl and a nightcap dinner! Well, call me gleeful! I chowed down, but at the same time I thought something is definitely not quite right.

Still, we slept as usual through the night and everything seemed okay when we went out this morning. You may not know it, but when we return from our walk I always get a big chunky treat and then my breakfast.

Not this morning. Nothing, zero, zilch. I ran in the house and waited for Meme to throw it. Nothing. I went to my placemat ... no water, no food. Something was definitely up and it couldn't be good. I waited there for the longest time and Meme was talking nice to me and all so I knew she wasn't mad.

SO WHERE WAS MY FOOD????!!!! I don't know how to explain this, but in the end it's all about food really. I love the hugs, the kisses and the wonderful walks, but life is really all about the food. And on this awful morning, there is none.

It gets worse. Meme got ready earlier than usual and next thing you know I hear "let's go for a ride in the car!". This can be either good or bad, there's no way of knowing. But this morning, with no food, I knew it had to be bad. I started to shake as Meme put on my leash. I was scared.

And rightfully so!!! Sure enough .... guess where we end up? THE VET!!!!! This place is very deceptive. It's fun too arrive. Tons of great smells in the parking area, grass with all kinds of good stuff. Even in the waiting room, it's really nice with so much to investigate. And this morning the most amazing, biggest, most beautiful white poodle I've ever seen in all my life. What a pair we made!!! Still, even with all the good stuff, it always means trouble and this morning was no exception ... only it was worse than usual.

Have you guessed what's up yet? Well, turns out I'm having my teeth cleaned today!!!! So then, I ask, what's with the rawhide to keep my teeth clean? And what's with the tartar control treats that really aren't the best but I take what I can get? I thought that let me off the hook for this teeth cleaning stuff.

But it turns out I smiled once too often and Meme and Poppy noticed my yellow teeth. So here I am at the Vet's for the whole darned day. They took me in early so they could test my blood to make sure I'm up for this invasive procedure. What I say is, if I have to be in perfect shape to have anesthesia, then maybe we should forget the whole thing. And besides, if they have to put me to sleep, it has to be pretty awful, right???


But they must have decided I'm up for it because Meme is gone, I'm still in a crate and I'm waiting and I'm miserable. They'll put me to sleep and since I'll be "out", Meme decided to stick some sort of ID chip in me. There's just no end to the humiliation. So free no more! No matter where I go they'll be able to tell where I came from.


How silly is that? Like I'm going anywhere? And believe you me, first thing I get out I'm getting some glue and plastering myself to their sides. Even though they are putting me through this horrendous day, I still know how lucky I am to live in my beautiful house with all my beds, my treats and two people who love me. I appreciate it all the more lying in this ugly crate in the back of the Vet's office.

I'm thinking is there any way I can be an even better Bichon so I don't have to come here again? Because I have to tell you .... I'm not a happy dog right now, not by a long shot.

(Evening Update: Bad, bad news. It was worse than I thought! I had to have 3 front teeth extracted and I overheard Meme telling Poppy my rawhide stick days are over. What a bummer! I guess every dog has her day and this sure wasn't mine).

I think my next report will be a lot happier.

'til next time!
Molly









Copyright HBS 2008

It's 4th of July Weekend!!!

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America"

The Preamble to the Contitution of the United States of America

It's the 4th of July ... Independence Day. Even if we didn't know that, we sure found out last night didn't we? Wow! With all the booming and the cracking and the snapping, you had to be glad there was a celebration going on, right?

This nation is 232 years old. Meme was trying to explain to me how this country was born, how it all began. Of course for me it only began about 7 years ago, but when she starts talking I really do try to listen (which is more than Poppy does ;) ).

From what she told me, I'm pretty amazed at all that has been accomplished in a really short amount of time when you think about it.

Did you know that dinosaurs roamed the earth something like 65 million years ago? And humans appeared something like 100,000 years ago? Meme heard that somewhere the other day and she's still shaking her head. She had the dinosaurs and the people mixed up or something. History really isn't her thing. Anyway ..... I can't even think about that many years.

At our house, we just love our country no matter what. Some people say you shouldn't love your country right or wrong, but we just do. We feel so fortunate to have been born here. It's just dumb luck that we were ... we didn't do anything special. We could just as easily have been born in a place where we might not be able to find food ... or shelter, where we wouldn't be free to write what we want like I do here, or say what we really feel, or vote for the people we think can best run our towns, our cities, our states and our country.

Men who were alive long before Meme was born (and certainly waaaaaay before I was born) fought long and hard for liberty. And they have fought to keep it. They've even fought to help others achieve it. These men and women who defend our country have to love it more than they do themselves. They put their lives on the line, ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice, in order to fight for liberty, for freedom, for independence.

No one should ever make the mistake of misreading our disagreements with each other in this country. We fought for the right to disagree. We are and must forever be "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all".

In honor of this great country's Birthday, here is Meme's favorite patriotic song, America the Beautiful:

(If you really want a very special experience today, click here: America The Beautiful )

O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
Forpurple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!

O beautiful, for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
'Til all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!

O beautiful, for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!

'Til next time ...
Molly