Sick Day

[Milking it]

H. has been antsy for a while (what with crazy Nuclear War impending), but also because Emily was due for surgery this week.

Which was today. Emily got her spaying done. And the vet removed her FANGS while he was at it, too (for small dogs, teething needs some help, and if they're not out by the time 6 months rolls around, it's handy done under anesthesia).

Her nibs is resting (not letting Mommy out of her sight, EVER) and recovering just fine.

As she's not gone into heat before this, we reduce chances of ovarian (since she has none) and mammary cancer. Despite all the logical reasons, H. still feels like she's done honeybun a cruel and unusual wrongness.

[What? I'm not beautiful any more?]

Expectations

Some things to remember... by M.

From Good Owners, Great Dogs by B. Kilcommons, on raising puppies:

"He comes happily, sits sometimes and downs with guidance. It sounds like you're doing well."

"No pup is going to behave with the consistency or focus of an adult dog."

[Spying on the neighborhood kids]

----

Other things to remember... by H.

Dorko (aka Emily the Puppy) is still a girl, has always been a girl. Yup, April Fool's.

She also jumped on the sofa (common misdemeanor when we're out) and peed on it, late last night after H. had gone to bed and M. was still on his way home from a Ph.D. defense in Twente.

M. just goes, "Hehehe, she's just a puppy. I've been expecting this to happen," soaks the sofa cover in the tub without fuss, cleans up, takes Dorko/Emily out for a proper potty, and goes to bed. Case in point that H. is married to the nicest guy ever.

[Spying on the neighborhood kids, now with lamb chewie snacks]

Emily now has a covered bicycle basket, for trips to the park. Pedal faster, Mommy Chariot!

Big NEWS!

[Silly HuMons!]

There was a reason for all the HUMPING and BARKING! Hormones, H. thought, but not just growing-up hormones.

(confirmed as H. starts making arrangements for spay/neuter surgery in next few weeks)

You guys were right! Emily is a BOY!

CRAP. This calls for a name change. Oh well, we've been calling her/him "Dorko," lately. Maybe that will do.

Vet Visit: Sex Change Operation

WILL NOT BE NECESSARY!

[Rrrufff! I'm a Girl!]

To celebrate the end of Em's gender confusion, Mommy decked her out in her blue shirt. tee hee.

(In Holland, like most western countries, blue means boy and pink means girls. You get little dry biscuits with sprinkles in the respective colors when a baby's born. Beschuit met Muisjes)

Anyway, if your little girl puppy has a little hairy nub that looks like a penis between her hind legs, she's still not a boy. tee hee. (unless is farther up her stomach)

Emily also got her 3rd vac, deworming, general check, a green light to go walking in public areas, and her microchip injection. That hurt a bit. But now any vet or shelter in Western Europe can hold a scanner ring over her neck, and know who she is and where she lives.

(M. wonders when governments will start chipping citizens. H. says offer tax payback and drinkies+fuel rations.)

On that cheery note, H. leaves you with Em's first guard puppy duty against the ebil Monthly Window Washing Guy:

[Who's that guy in our yard? Is he stealing our windows?]

Sex and an Old Coat

Some of our friends (E. and E.) think Emily might be a boy, and are concerned. Mostly, what Mommy and Daddy got were some really interesting images from the internet (not of puppies), when typing in the search words: "puppy," "sex," and "genitalia."

It's not that easy--balls drop at 6 months (tee hee). This page tells you how to check. Nope, still can't tell. We'll ask the vet next week.

Mommy was going to devote this post to queries on Puppy Gender.

But then, she found Emily's old, new coat in her crate, and wheee! We had fun with clothes! (this just shows Mommy is a girl. Ha ha, Judith Butler!)

Daddy bought her the coat when she was 8 weeks (because it was COLD, and she had to go out to potty), and now at 13 weeks, she finally grew into it. But of course she hates it:

Too bad, puppy. Mommy's the boss, ok?

[Aaaak!]

We went outside to try it out.

TV: Oi. Boys Before Flowers (ep 11&12) landed H. in rant-land all morning, frothing from teh sTOopiD. Also because 잔디 reminds her of one of her dumber cousins.

What H. wants to happen (also with 10 episodes less than planned): 잔디&준표 are stupid. Again. Ergo, they die. Skip the Funeral Scene. Flowers grow over Boys. The End.