Spring

Time for Sandy’s “Annual Wellness Exam.” She is so well that it took three of us --- Linda, the vet, Diane, the vet assistant and me to hold her still so Linda could cut Sandy’s toenails. “It was a lot easier when she was unconscious,” said Linda.

My parents went to Italy and sent Sandy a postcard from Pompeii. It’s a picture of the floor in The Tragic Poet’s House. It shows a dog on a chain and says “Cave Canem”. They signed the card “The Grand People.”

There’s a new walking trail not far from where we live. It’s two trails, mostly side by side. One is paved and the other is dirt and gravel. That one is closer to the water. The trails are about 1 km long. I saw them being constructed and landscaped, and waited for the “No Dogs Allowed” signs to go up. I was surprised when dog poop bag dispensers went up instead. Yes, the dogs are supposed to be on leash. But so far this is the only place where Eric and I can walk with Sandy.

So far it’s just been me and Sandy, though. Spring is on the way, but it’s been rainy, cold, and windy, and not great for pushing a wheelchair a couple of miles, so Eric’s stayed home. Sandy and I walked the trail yesterday. We had a pretty good time despite the fact that I wouldn’t let her go for a swim or even roll in anything. Afterwards I went to work out and Sandy was going to stay in the car and have a nap unless there was something to bark at.

The woman at the fitness place saw Sandy’s nose pressed against the car’s back window and told me to bring Sandy in; she could stay while I worked out. Once Sandy got over the dog in the big mirror along the back wall, everything was good. I don’t know what she thought I was doing. (This is just a circuit place, not a real gym.) I told her it was like dog agility but for people. Now I think she wants to try dog agility.

I know Spring is on the way because Sandy is really, really shedding. I brushed her the other day outside on the deck. We left the dog hair for birds to build nests. Now it’s like dog tv out there: Sandy watches as they pick up some hair and continue construction.

There is a product called Pet Therapy Instant Clean, which is a spray-on/wipe-off shampoo-in-a-mist for use between baths. It works pretty well on Sandy because she will let me spray this stuff on her in the first place. She won’t let me give her a real bath. As soon as she sees the cotton balls and the dog shampoo, she curls up in her crate and tries to look clean. But she has no problem with this stuff even though the directions contain this line: …Allow animal to stand for 3 to 5 minutes… There’s some solid advice.