Almost Spring

It's over 50F today. Ah, nice. Steve suggested that I take a neighborhood walk with Sid but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead, I threw the leash on him several times so far and walked him around the yard to smell things. I even let him take one out of usual range. This last round outside all I wanted to do was sit on the stairs and have a cig so I did. I took Sid with me. He sat down close to me and when I checked on him his you know what was sticking out. We sat outside for at least ten minutes with him in that position. I guess the spring really is coming.

Voice of Sid: The girl keeps making excuses. Why won't she take me for a damn walk? I mean all winter long it was the weather. And now, it's because - oh, I don't even know. So she took me outside in the yard a couple of times. She probably knew I was going to do this but I had to mark my new territory. I wasn't sure if I could do it but out it came. I felt satisfied. Later I was still so happy that my thing popped out. I felt it in the light breeze but I couldn't make it go back in. The excitement is all over with now. I'm back to vegetating on the couch. Hey, I'm not complaining.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: Yes I knew he'd do it. I took him out in the far yard, the side yard. He kept trying to pull me towards the neighbors, but I stopped him at the border. More our side of the border. There he squatted and produced his masterpiece. It was regular, light in color (good color) and of medium mass. Bravo Sidney!

Too Cold

I've been a bad mom. I haven't taken the wid out for a walk all winter long. Yes, it's been months. I just couldn't tolerate the cold this year (and the last but who's keeping track?) Sid & I have gained weight. We must exercise. And I feel badly. I know he's bored. He needs new scents and new sites. I must provide that to him this coming spring. I'm really looking forward to it. I miss my park, FDR park. When Sid was a puppy, I'd put him on a really long lead and throw balls around for him to fetch. It was the cutest thing to witness and it did a good job of draining away some of his manic energy. Boy, yeah, he was a handful. Still is, but much improved and thank goodness for that.

Voice of Sid: *yawn* Hey, how ya doing? I'm sleepy. Nothing much to do. The girl is always sitting in front of that monitor and ignores me most of the day. Then the guy comes home and does the same thing. I'm lucky if I get 5 minutes of cud sometimes. They usually make up for it the next day and they make it an extra super duper treatment. Lately, the girl's been massaging my butt area. It feels so different, so nice. But for some reason it makes me have to sit down. I'm going stir crazy. I can't wait til it gets warmer out. I miss my park. I miss going to the park with the girl.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: Oh man. The yard is like a mine field of turds. Everywhere. Little ground uncovered. It happent again where he poos, it snows, poos again, it snows and again and again. So when the weather got warmer and all of the snow melted away, the multi-layers' worth of poo was revealed. I was gonna go on poop patrol last week, but the darned rake and picker upper thing was stuck in the ground. Iced. So I couldn't and every day I struggle to find a new spot for Sid and worry that's he's going to step on something.

Playing in the Snow

Steve took a mini vid of Sid playing in the snow in our unshoveled driveway. I thought it turned out cute but he wasn't satisfied with it so it won't be posted. Shucks. So we let him run around our yard without a leash on. He was having so much fun running back and forth between me and Steve. We were at a good distance apart. I loved watching him. I swear, he looks like he's smiling. Anyway, he was playing in the snow the way he did on the beach in Nantucket. He sometimes plays that game in the living room and flips the rug around all this way and that. Sometimes he's a pain in the you know where.

I combed him today. I haven't been keeping up on that. I have been focusing on his ears which are completely better now. He still licks his feet and thing but not nearly as much. We discourage him from doing it every time we catch him. It turns out that the discoloration on the tips of his feet are due to proteins in his saliva. I thought that was interesting. I washed his paws once thinking that they were just dirty or urine stained. Anyway, enough from me. Here's the wid.

Voice of Sid: *big goofy smile* I had so much fun last week playing in the snow. I played my favorite game. I swear I can play it for hours and I didn't care that it was cold. I ran back and forth between the girl and the guy and I was going at top speed. I was faster than a bullet. *proud look* Next time it snows I hope they let me do it again. I was good and I didn't run away so maybe they will let me. *paws crossed*

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: He made two in a row the other day. The second one was right near the house. It was in the triangle where we've previously had a lovely vegetable garden filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, celery and flat leaf parsley. Anyway, his second one was really little. One little piece sat sideways and the other longer piece leaned up against it standing erect. It was artistic looking. The next day I thought he was going for a second one again but all he did was sniff the artsy one and take a little nibble off the top. I was so surprised. He usually only eats it when it's fresh. I guess it smelled unusually pleasant.

Doctor's Orders

Sid's scratching has minimized and he seems more comfortable now. He still licks his feet but not as bad. I give him benadryl (generic) three times a day. I wrap it in fat free cheese singles. He eats them without a problem. My cats used to eat all around the pill and leave it completely intact. It was clever of them to do that. Anyway, I also have to clean Sid's ears with Epiotic solution every 3 days. And give him tresaderm twice a day. All that stuff is supposed to take care of everything. Oh, and can you believe that Sid's gained so much weight? Five pounds or so. I've been cutting back on his dry food intake. I've also been making an effort not to give him too many table scraps. The vet really prefers us not to give him human food like Steve says. She says they don't need it; they don't need variety. So Sid misses out on a lot of things now. But last night I gave him some chicken. Not too much and there was hardly any fat in it. So that's what's been going on in Sidney's world.

Voice of Sid: *snarl* They put me on a diet. It sucks. I used to get treats all the time. The girl always saved the last bite for me. I usually sit and stare at her eating for a few minutes then I go about my business cause I know I'll be getting some. I make it look like I'm bored and couldn't care less about it but the whole time, I slowly sniff the air and imagine what I'm going to be tasting. Some things are familiar and somethings aren't. I love trying new foods. It makes the day more fun. And the girl keeps putting stuff in my ear. God, I hate that. I wish she'd just leave me alone but I have to admit that my ears do feel better. Aaaah. I can relax.

*Please do not read if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: Sid's been ingesting my long hairs again. Yesterday, his turd was dangling down by his feet attached by my hair. I was worried that I'd have to pull it out of his butt but it finally broke free. This morning however, it didn't fall too far from his anus. And I made an effort to stop him, but in the end, he ate his nugget. Eeewe. *dry heave* Now he's making a lot of noise eating his ass.

At the Vet

Steve decided to work from home today so that we could take Sid to the vet. His recurring yeast infection has returned. Now it's in both ears and he's been trying to eat his feet. The vet we saw today is the same one that Sid knew as a puppy. As a matter of fact, Sid attended puppy kindergarten there. Gosh, was that the cutest thing ever or what. Watching six little babies playing around with each other for ten minutes. Taking a potty break. Then coming back in for the real work. Ya know. Sit, down, off...etc...The very same vet used to be a little mean to us when we went there in his earlier years. I felt like she hated us and thought we were the worst parents in the world. But today, she said he was a very good boy. Then as I was leaving, the receptionist whispered to me that the vet said he's a very nice dog. Yes, the same mean vet was saying sweet things to the staff about him. I was so happy. So proud.

Voice of Sid: They took me to the place I went to kindergarten. They're so nice there. I love coming back every year for my check ups. They did the usual. Weighing me and would you believe I gained a whopping five pounds? I need to stop stealing food. *pause* Nah! The nice lady looked at my hurting ears and spoke sweetly to me. Then they held me still again while she stuck a giant Q-tip in my ass. It didn't bother me. Did I like it? Hmmmm. I peed a little while they were doing all this stuff to me. I felt a little embarrassed. But it always happens and everybody says it's okay.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: As soon as he got back from the vet, he took one. I knew he would. Yes, the car ride. Does it to him every time. No matter how short the ride. We're just five minutes from the vet.

McDonald's

We had a few errands to run and decided to take Sid, the wid. First we stopped off at our local little market for cigarettes then we headed off to McDonald's. I gave Sid his first taste of an egg mcmuffin with a piece of hashbrown. Then we had to go to the hardware store within the same large parking lot. We had to leave the first parking space we chose because there was a little dog sitting in the driver's seat of the car next to us. Sid would've flipped. Then I thought we were in the clear, but as I was waiting for Steve to return from the store, I noticed that Sid was quite enamored of the sea gulls all over the place. I've seen them there before. I don't know why they gather there. When we got home, I took Sid down the driveway so that he could take care of business and that he did. Then I took him in and fed him his breakfast. I washed out his food bowl while he sat and waited patiently behind me. His thing was popping out as he watched me prepare his food. Yes folks, he had a woody. He didn't move. He just sat and watched. By the time, I got the plain yogurt out to add to his food, he couldn't stand it any longer and walked towards the counter. I fed him right away.

Voice of Sid: Oh boy! I got to go on a car ride with my humans. They can be so good sometimes. We stopped off at a lot of different places and I saw some interesting things. There was this little dog in the car next to us. I wanted to eat it. Then I saw the sea gulls, I wanted to eat them too but I was trapped in the back seat. The girl gave me a piece of her food like she almost always does. There was egg and cheese and potato stuff on an...what did she call it? Oh yeah, english muffin. It was Mmm mmm good. I wish she gave me a bigger piece. It was McDelicious. When we got home, oh man - car rides always do it to me. I was pinching my ass and breathing heavily the whole time. When I got home, I pulled the girl fast down to my landing strip and I *eh hem* took care of business. Then when she was getting ready to feed me, I got happy. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow then she fed me quickly.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: I could not believe it. This is a first. Sid is usually very careful about the location of his pile in relation to locations of other nearby piles. He usually leaves ample space between the piles but today, he made a pile right on top of another pile. And I was all, well I'll be...He quickly stepped over and around it. I don't think he got any on his foot but he was awfully close. I don't think he even saw it. I'm going to blame mother nature for this. I haven't had a chance to do poop patrol cause the snow keeps covering them up. As the snow melts, more will be revealed.

A Sidney Christmas

Christmas was great this year and I really mean it. I never had much luck with the holidays but this year made up for a decade. There was just five of us for Christmas dinner. The same five we had for Thanksgiving. And of course, Sidney. Our meal consisted of lasagne, baked ham, green beans and Greek dishes that Steve's mom made. Well, to make a long story short, the wid was very, very, very bad. It was before we reheated the spanakopita (spinach pie). I let it sit on the table cause the stove top was full and the oven was not yet available to warm the lasagne and the spanakopita. I went upstairs. I forgot for what but I heard Steve yelling. When I came downstairs to see what the commotion was, I realized that Sid had eaten the spanakopita and some of the baklava. Steve was furious. I wasn't. I almost snicker sometimes when he's bad, I'm not sure why. I love him when he's being naughty too.

Voice of Sid: *rolling laughter; holding belly* Wooo! Guys, I had the best christmas dinner ever. All day long I was getting yummy treats. Things I'd never tasted before like the spinach pie I stole off the table when no one was looking. I'd been policing the situation for hours and when the girl went upstairs I knew my chances for getting at the pie had doubled. I got the hollering of my life when the guy found out. I ran all the way into the living room and hid behind our guests. Guy was so mad. *snicker*. But I got some pie :) *lick lips* The guy wanted to throw me out of the house but the girl wouldn't let him. She put the leash on me and brought me to the spare bedroom. They left me there for hours. It was dark in there and not much to do so I caught some Zzzzz's. It was a good, refreshing nap. If that's all the punishment I get then I'm gonna do this again! Yeah!! :P

Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: It was a first for me yesterday. I'll just say it. Sid shit a mini monument. It's base got lodged in the snow and so his log was standing upright. It was so funny. It was like the tribute one. Most of his piles have been composed of dark nuggets. Not too bad.