(For non-Torontonians, the Big Carrot is our local health/organic grocery store on the Danforth. They carry all sorts of crunchy snacks that Jon loves, including pepper potato chips. Yum! —L)
I had a great weekend. I like to play some Wii. On Sunday I went for a walk. I like to get a snack at the big caret. I love to get some pappered chips. The pappered chips look really good. I watched the weather channel. Tonight I’m going to cuddle photon.
Jon
(Jon loves pointing out to bald men that they have no hair. This is not something that we encourage. —L)
David Barker has no hair because David Barker is balled. I like to play some Wii with David Barker. Jonathan was having a turn on the Wii fitnis test. When Jonathan was done the Wii fitnis test it was Daddy’s turn. I like to do power throws. I like to check out the weather on the Wii. Tonight I’m going to watch Between the Lions one.
Jon
Photon and Laura with our course completion certificate.
Tonight we finished our second obedience training course at Who’s Walking Who with a round of doggy games: relay races (dog has to come and then sit on command before a teammate can go); musical mats (dog heels with owner; when music is turned off, dog has to get to a mat and lie down for a set length of time.) Peter and Jon came to this class to watch and cheer us on and fun times were had by all.
We’ll definitely be taking an intermediate course in the fall because it’s fun and can lead to other interesting dog activities such as agility or rally obedience. I don’t think I’ll be going into canine freestyle (aka dancing with dogs); champion dogs in this sport are jaw-droppingly talented, but there is something inherently cheesy about doing dance routines to songs from Grease, or dressing up like Russian Cossacks. I like to think my dog has some dignity!
Photon and her Dad, Max
We dropped in on Stoverly Aussies on the May long weekend, just to say hi and introduce Photon, who had left them just newly rechristened from the puppy name Mango.
If she remembered her birthplace, she didn’t show it. And she and her Mom kinda sniffed and then couldn’t be bothered to socialize. She checked out one of her mom’s new puppies (scroll down on the link), but they weren’t in any way interesting—and this is a dog that find blowing leaves, bits of turf, and all squirming small mammals intensely interesting! There must be some intense scent instincts there.
She met her dad, who was a bit more social, and so we established that she’s a hair tinier than him (she’s much smaller than Mom), and that’s pretty much as big as she’s getting. A wonderful size. Thanks for the visit, Sue!
Two more days until she can go out for runs!!
Photon just came back safe and sound from an overnight stay at the vet’s for her spay, with a dainty little scar and a huge shaved patch on her belly. (Sister Cobalt’s spay is today.) Now we can breathe a sigh of relief; she was suddenly getting humped by a few more dogs than we were entirely comfortable with. (I realize humping is usually more a dominance thing than a breeding thing, especially now that she’s not a little puppy any more, but we were getting a little nervous that her hormones were starting to kick in. Especially since early heat isn’t unheard of, hey Teagan?)
Surprisingly, she came back not a cone-head. She doesn’t seem to be licking the wound too much, so hopefully we won’t need one. However, we have to keep her on a short leash for five days. No runs in the park with the other doggies. No vigorous exercise (and what other kind is there for a dog?) A tired puppy’s a happy puppy, remember? She’s going to be a wound-up terror around the house for the next few days.
Along with Photon’s regular obedience commands we’re now and then trying to teach her tricks. Currently we’re training her to Roll Over, and it’s coming—slowly, but she’s getting the idea. Maybe someday she’ll be like this dog, though! 🙂
Well, actually, it’s not blue any more, but it was up until yesterday! I finally had my tooth implant put in yesterday after countless oral surgeon/dentist appointments (well, five) and countless x-rays (well, again five) since January. Peter insisted I use this title to pique the interest of all our geeky friends. (I was going to go with the title “One tooth, Two tooth, White tooth, Blue tooth”, but it doesn’t quite work grammatically or chronologically, and anyway I digress…)
For those wondering what’s involved in a tooth implant, here’s a précis of what I went through (the squeamish can skip the rest of this post):
Mid-December: Dying baby tooth pulled.
Early January: At oral surgeon’s get panoramic x-ray taken to check out bone density. Local anesthetic given (nitrous oxide or general anesthesia available at added cost), then hole is drilled into jawbone by two progressively larger drill bits. There was absolutely no pain; the only sensation I had was a vibration as if someone was holding a drill in their hand and the back of their hand was against my head somewhere. The oral surgeon warned me that I might feel “pressure”, but I literally felt nothing in my mouth. Implant (which looks like a bolt with no head) screwed into jaw. Temporary metallic blue cap screwed onto implant and two stitches put in gums. There was so little pain (getting my tooth pulled was far, far worse) during or afterward it was almost disappointing! I was put on antibiotics and an antibiotic mouthwash which was so horrid (I lost my sense of taste) I quit using it after a few days.
A week later: Check up at oral surgeon to see if there were any problems. Nope.
Late April: Three-month check up. Oral surgeon gives cap a tap to see if implant “took”. Apparently they can usually tell how well an implant worked by the sound the tapping makes (high and bright-sounding: good; dull and mushy-sounding: bad). X-ray taken to check on bone healing. Thumbs up on all counts; next stop is my regular dentist.
Mid-May: Fitting for crown. Temporary cap is screwed off; abutment (post for crown) is screwed on. X-rays taken to make sure abutment is screwed down all the way to the implant; dentist had to do this twice because the first time wasn’t quite right. Moulds taken of both top and bottom teeth to get sent off to the denturist to get a crown made. Abutment taken off (also goes to the denturist); cap back on.
End of May: Cap off, abutment on. Another x-ray to check that seating is good. Crown put on post. Bite alignment adjusted and crown filed down as needed. Tiny bits of surrounding teeth filed a bit because they had shifted even since two weeks ago, underlining importance of getting a missing tooth replaced. Crown glued into place. Ta dahh! Because the bone is not maximally strong yet, I’m told not to chew anything hard on that side for another month. I guess that nut brittle just has to wait!