10 Things I Learned From An Injured Dog...

Three weeks ago, we rushed our our 6-year-old Havanese, Alfred, the world's cutest canine, to the animal hospital with a leg injury. He had surgery and has been recuperating, surrounded by love and peanut butter. You can read more about it here.

Alfie just had his first vet follow-up, and his is on the track to recovery; his leg sutures were removed, the cone collar has been retired, and now we have 12 weeks of a lot of rest and a little physio.

It's been a stressful two weeks for my fur-ball best friend, and an extremely stressful two weeks for me... and yet I have learned a few things:

1- Doggie drugs are good: they relieve pain and make him tired and groggy and easy to keep still.

2- Peanut butter solves all ills... Alfie can be a fussy eater, yet easily took all his pills and liquid medicine several times a day, each time wrapped up in peanut butter. So yep I am thinking he is going to expect hand-fed peanut butter every morning now. And yep I could do that...

3- Dogs don't listen... ok, that is not exactly new news.

4- Beagles listen sometimes, occasionally, maybe, okay not really... our 10-month old beagle Anderson is sweet and playful and energetic and does not understand that Alfie is injured. He just wants to play, which Alfie can't. So it takes two parents to wrangle these two dogs. But we can all nap and cuddle on the bed together. And yep the beagle is getting mucho peanut butter also.

5- Doggie day care is brilliant.. while both our dogs typically go three days a week, Alfie is now out for several months, and Anderson is up to five days a week. We would take him more if they would open more. We want the puppy as tired as can be.

6- Cone collars are ugly and itchy and evil and absolutely effective... I hated the damn thing as much as Alfredo did, but when it was briefly off he went straight for his stitches.

7- A superficial impractical fashion purchase can be a good thing: years ago I bought Alfie a red leather Coach leash which is too short for him and I didn't use it. Now we use it full time, inside and outside, to keep the injured doggie close and safe and immobilized. Too short is the perfect length now. And it is stylin...

8- Canine Injury Theorem: what the dog wants to lick will be in inverse proportion to what he should be licking...  also known as "keep the Gene Simmons tongue away from the damn Frankenstein leg!"

9- Dogs wanna run, dogs wanna jump...

10- A tunagasm is a welcome temporary escape: Alfred loves tuna --- we pour the tuna-water over his food which he then devours, and the occasional tuna scrap makes him bounce... so much love that when we open any can at all he assumes it is tuna and the tumbling and whimpering and overall tuna-orgasm begins... and even injured and in pain this got him very very happy... "tuna-gasm" happy!

Last night Alfie was having nightmares -- woke me up twice, he slept right through... not sure what they were about, my husband thinks the little prince is scared of the day he won't be carried around anymore!

 

If I Ever Hit On A Straight Guy...

I would want him to be as cool as comedian Mark Normand...

Source

A Blockbuster's Big Gay Problem

The upcoming science fiction film Ender's Game has all the right credentials to be a blockbuster.... acclaimed bestselling novel, big studio support, megastar Harrison Ford and crop of talented young actors, smart interesting storyline, and oh yeah... a nasty homophobic author who is causing a stir and potential backlash and boycott.

Read my post about it here:

Sprocket Ink Ender's Game

Backstreet Boys Love The Gays Back...

I never paid much attention to 90s boy band the Backstreet Boys -- because I am older than their demographic, and because I have a penis -- but the "boys", now men in their 30s and maybe 40s, always had good voices if generic forgettable songs, and now they are on a comeback tour and about to release a new album.

They just released a new song and video, In A World Like This, which sounds like your typical BSB song, cheesy video and all. The guys sing on top of a hilly landscape mixed in with images of  couples finding strength in each other's presence ---- featuring a female couple taking pride in the first same-sex marriage following the overturn of California's Proposition 8.

“The concept of the video is based on the song, which tells a story of how love conquers all and ‘in a world like this’ that we live in, with all the craziness and negative energy that can go around, with real love you can overcome anything,” the Boys' A.J. McLean said on Good Morning America on Friday.

McLean went on to say the group is in support of gay marriage and wanted to include an LGBT-friendly message in the video. 

These Boys are more than talk -- during London Pride this year they performed at the subtly named nightclub G-A-Y.

Click here to view video

All Fired Up: Pat Benatar Live...

There are few live concert acts I would see twice, never mind three times, and now I can add rock icon Pat Benatar to the seen-them-three-times list... that list, by the way, now consists of Benatar and Fleetwood Mac, period.

The multiple Grammy winner, a superstar from her 1979 debut through the 80s, hasn't released an album in years but is still touring, and boy does she still have it... and we saw her rock the house this past weekend here in Edmonton as she performs across Canada and the US this summer.

After opening up with the rocker All Fired Up, we saw Benatar, her musical partner and husband Neil Giraldo, and a small loud band run through the hits from Hit Me With Your Best Shot to Hell Is For Children to Heartbreaker to Invincible to Love Is A Battlefield, as well as lesser known tracks like Let's Stay Together and the sensational So Sincere.

Benatar's tough chick sexpot image made her an instant star, and then she backed it up with her opera-trained voice, mellower songs like We Belong, and a list of acclaimed albums that showed off her range.

Benatar and Giraldo flirted and fake-squabbled as they interacted with the audience, joked about their ages (she is 60, and called him older than dirt), and played the hits, showing her raspy voice is still in its prime. They even mixed in some Johnny Cash to her rock classic Heartbreaker.

My only complaint about the show: At under 90 minutes including encore, this is a short concert... there are lots of more songs from Treat Me Right to We Live For Love to Shadows Of The Night with which Benatar could have rocked the house.

I own every Benatar album, from 1979's In The Heat Of The Night to 2003's Go!... so all I gotta say is bring out some new music already, dammit!

And if Benatar tours in your town, catch her live...

Injured Puppy: Top Ten Rules....

Now that Alfred is in recovery mode for the next eight weeks, we (okay, I) have had to cut back on the spoiling a tad... so here is the new sign posted in our house... and, yes, we are doing pretty well so far:

Alfred Recovery: 
Reminders for all of us 

(... especially Brahm)

1. July 10 to 23 is bed rest: is about Alfred's recovery, not his happiness 
2. Keep immobilized - not to walk, stand on injured leg as can mess with ‘clamp’ sutures in there for 2 weeks by damage or infection
3. Bathroom breaks: put on short leash to keep control, carry downstairs, place on grass so can go with minimal movement, carry back in (if one person doing this, we can scoop later)
4. Alfie needs to be controlled so bed rest like -- In kennel or in arms
5. Keep cone on to prevent Alfred from touching leg or eye (yes he keeps trying)
6. For Alfie to eat, drink support his body and adjust/hold cone so has access
7. No walking no stairs etc
8. Be mindful of Anderson 
9. Kennel time with cone is good thing... that is his bed, this is bed rest time. 
10. Drugs: 4 in morning, 3 at night: incl 2 pills, 1 liquid (morning only), 1 cream to apply

Alfie Emergency, Surgery, Recovery...

As I write this it is Thursday evening, I am watching the cheese-tastic premiere of the new Jane Lynch game show, and it feels like the first hour of calm in my week. The stress is subsiding as I watch over Anderson curled up on our bed and Alfred napping across my chest, which actually makes typing quite challenging. Both are peaceful and well.

Last night was a stressful and exhausting one around here, though in many ways calmer than the previous ones. Alfie came home last night after a stint in the animal hospital.

One Sunday night Alfie took a stumble or tumble outside and destroyed his something ligament (it's a technical term) which essentially serves as a knee. He was limping and in pain, which is bad for him and not so good for his over-protective pet parent who went into super-worry the-world-is-ending mode.

We went to the emergency animal hospital that night, and then our vet the next day, for a combination of examinations, blood tests, X-rays and painkillers for Alfred. Nobody gave stressed out weepy me a damn thing.

This ligament cannot be fixed, as it was pretty much destroyed, so in his surgery on Tuesday the vet opened up Alfie's leg, scraped out what is left of that ligament, and replaced it with a man-made one made of something like a thick fishing wire that is then screwed into his upper and lower leg bones (more technical medical terms); for the next two weeks these are held in place by clamp sutures, with the little dude in a head cone to keep him away from said sutures.

Alfred stayed overnight at the hospital, and was likely fine as was very was heavily drugged. I was a mess.

I picked him up yesterday afternoon, and having his drugged-up rag doll self in my arms was a huge relief. And then came the worry about the cone, the drugs, the care.

The little dude is heading into 8 to 12 weeks of recovery... the next two weeks immobilized in bed rest. Already a certain pooch is not happy about this. He will be in his kennel or in our arms, period. I feed him piece by piece. His grandmother cares for him during the day, taking care of bathroom breaks. He is on four kinds of medication, so good thing the little fur-ball will eat anything if it is wrapped in peanut butter.

Oh and his beagle brother wants to play.

All will be ok. Alfred is home, is safe, has lots of love, and will recover. And now he has to go pee, and I have to go hold him. Parenting is so glamorous...

Alfie relaxing on our bed last night: shaved leg shows scar, yes I briefly removed his head cone as I was supervising. And because for an hour before this he was snuggling on my shoulder.

The Twinkies Are Coming!

They're baaack... and even less good for you!

I wrote about Twinkies on Sprocket Ink yesterday. To read this vital news story, click link below:

Sprocket Twinkies

Fave Cory Booker Quote

Gotta love this guy! Cory Booker... Newark mayor, Senate candidate, folk hero, equality advocate, twitter star, FOO (Friend Of Oprah), champion of the underdog... and seems like just a truly decent guy. 

Politics could use more of those.

Holy Crap, It's Canada Day!

July 1 is Canada Day, the national day of Canada, a federal holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, British North America Act which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.  Originally called Dominion Day, the holiday was renamed in 1982, when the Canada Act was passed. 

To help pass the lazy day when we are off work, here is some Canada trivia...

1- Degrassi is the longest running Canadian TV show; it passed The Beachcombers last year.

2- Winnipeg is the coldest city in Canada. And it is really effing cold. Been there, done that...

3- Basketball was invented by a Canadian.

4- Celine Dion is the bestselling Canadian music act, having sold over 200 million albums. I preferred 80s Canadian pop singer Luba, what the hell happened to her?

5- Justin Beiber is Canadian but currently lives in California. You can keep him.

6- Canada is home to the world's largest pysanky (Ukrainian Easter egg). I've driven past it, is silly big.

7- Canada is the second largest country in the world, and with a relatively small population has one of the lowest population densities.

8- The Blackberry is Canadian. iPhone not. I have both (gadgets, gadgets, gadgets).

9- One word: poutine. Food or not food?

10- When I googled "famous gay Canadians" I got a list of Rufus Wainright, Brian Orser, a former porn star, and a bunch of people I have never heard of...

11- Canada has two national sports: hockey, and, yes, lacrosse.

12- Canada covers six time zones, and I am apparently in none of them, as the TV listings in Alberta are all fucked up and everything shows an hour late. Or two hours early on time shifting.

13- We have two national symbols, the beaver and the maple leaf. There has gotta be a porn title in there somewhere, no?

14- Same-sex marriage has been legal in most Canadian provinces since 2003, and nationally since 2005.

15- Cherry Blossom candy is available only in Canada.

That's all for now folks... Happy Canada Day!