Lament of the cone head: Part II

So ya, I missed the last three weeks. I figure I will post this one early this week...yes, that will make you forget about the last couple weeks. I had a good reason though. The day after my last post, N got sick...and then she got J sick. I guess they got the flu and they were sick for a week. I had my paws full trying to be a supportive puppy while they were sleeping or trying to hack up a lung. N got better around the 24th and J got better around the 26th. It then took them the  next week or so to get back into the swing of things. Apparently typing up my blog entries was last on the list of things.

Anyways, back to the title of this entry. Yes, I am still in the cone. The infection that I had on my lip has cleared up but it is still inflamed and so darn itchy. I had been going to the vet every week for like three weeks. So they took me to another vet last week. It was great! It was way on the other side of the city...almost in the next little city where the airport is. We had to take the big bus to get there. It was fun cus we went up top and I could look out the window. Once at the vet, there was another dog that came in that was so BIG that it's head is as big as me. He was barking and because he was sooo big, his bark was really loud and scary, but he was happy not menacing. I didn't really care too much, I wanted to go see the receptionists but J would not let me.

So to the lament. Once I saw the vet, he said that my puffiness and itchiness is likely due to allergies. So now to figure out whether it is food or some sort of environmental allergy, they are testing the food side. Apparently this means that I get a new food...but only that food. I like the new food but now it means that I don't get any more peanut butter or banana or cheese or anything else, not even the pumpkin that I used to get on my food. And we all know how much we love peanut butter and banana. So now I am a sad little cone head. AND I have to be on this strict diet for six weeks! At the moment, one week down, five to go. I also am still in the cone so that I can't scratch my face and end up cutting it again. I hope that this gets sorted out soon. If it clears up with the food then we know that it was a food allergy and then J and N will be able to introduce other foods one at a time to see it they did caused the allergy...I may be able to get my pumpkin back. If it isn't a food allergy, then I get everything back but then I guess I will have to in for more tests. I will get out of this cone eventually!

So that is all for now. Eat some banana and peanut butter for me!

Will you be my Valentine?

Happy Valentine's Day. 

Yeah I know I am a little late with this week's post. Or I can say that I am not late and I was just waiting until today so that I could post on Valentine's. Yes, that is what I will go with. Although I am not too sure what it is all about. I hear there is a lot of chocolate that is consumed on this day. That doesn't make any sense. I don't see why people would want to willingly eat poison...what? Oh N just informed me that chocolate is not poisonous to humans and that I should equate it with my love of peanut butter or bananas. Well in that case I guess I understand. I would certainly like to get a big box of bananas or jar of peanut butter from somebody I liked....J!

I guess the other excuse I could use is that I have been coalescing. On Monday J and N took me to the vet to see what is up with my itchy chin/lips. It turns out I have lip fold dermatitis and have been given antibiotics to help get rid of it. It seems to be working but man is it still itchy and of course I am still stuck in this stupid cone. I guess it is for the best though. This morning I managed to get it off using the covers as weight and then went to town on the offending itches...It felt really good but I ended up cutting the right side of my lip with my claws from how vigorously I was scratching. Poor J blames himself for it happening since he had left me alone for like 2 minutes to go to the bathroom.

Hopefully this medication clears it all up soon. I miss curling around N's head properly and I know that she misses it too...curling with the cone is so cumbersome and dangerous!

So to all those out there with a Valentine, enjoy your time with them, and to those still looking, I can be your valentine in the meantime. I like peanut butter and banana cookies...just saying!

Lament of the cone head

It seems I have been sentenced to spend time in my cone. Last week after my hair cut, J and N noticed that I have some scabs on my chin from when I scratch it. Apparently my toe nails are sharp. They tell me that the itching means that it is healing but it is sooooo itchy I just want to scratch it but every time I try I am thwarted by this cone. I have been getting N back for it though. They leave the cone on even when we go to bed and I still make sure that I claim my spot on N's pillow regardless of the cone. Although I must admit it is not the same. I am looking forward to when I can snuggle up with her properly again. They tell me that it should be soon since the scabs seem to be healing. All I can say is I can't wait.

Now I must go have a nap because although I have been getting N back for being in the cone, neither one of us has been sleeping well so I must go take a nap. Ta!

Bubbles, Little Red Dots, and Horses

Chasing things is fun. I like it when I can get N or J to chase me around. Sometimes I have to get their attention by stealing a sock or something , which always works. I must say that N has some really soft fuzzy socks...they would be awesome to chew on but she never lets me. Ah well.

I am always on the look out for new things to chase. I have heard of dogs chasing cars and such but that seems silly. They go so much faster than I could ever go. I have found a couple interesting things in the past couple of days that I would like to chase and one thing I would definitely not want to chase. So first the totally not want to chase category. On Monday, J and N took me to get my hair cut. We went to a new place that is a 20 minute bus ride away. I enjoyed the bus ride there because we rode up top and I could see everything out the window. When we got to the place, we had to walk up a muddy driveway so J carried me...and that is when I saw it. It was a very large animal of some sort. It was as tall as N and probably just as long as her...if she was lying down of course. And it was all hairy and scraggly looking...and then it moved. So I growled at it! When J and N saw what I was growling at the both laughed and said that it was okay, it was just a horse. Just a horse! I would totally be trampled by that thing I tried to chase it. So definitely not going to chase horses any time soon.

Now on the the things I found that I could chase. One is very fragile and the other very elusive. On the weekend, J and N were doing dishes and there was a bubble floating though the air from the dish soap. It caught my eye as it was lazily trying to settle down on the ground, constantly fighting a battle between gravity and random uplifting drafts. As I watched it, I decided to try to get closer to see if I could catch it. Standing on my hind legs, I waited until it got close then lunged...to have it pop in my face. So bubbles, something I would like to chase, but very fragile.

The last thing that I have found to possibly chase is this elusive little red dot. It showed up for the first time this morning as I was lounging on the doubled up duvet cover. Comfiest place in the house in my opinion. Anyway, I was just lounging when this little red dot showed up on the bed. At first it moved around in a semi circle in front of me. I just watched it as it went back and forth, keeping its distance from me. Then it disappeared. Shortly afterwards, it showed up again right in front of me and then slowly backed away off the edge of the bed and then slowly came towards me. It did this a couple times, always stopping just out of reach until the last time when it came all the way up to me and jumped on my nose. That scared me a little and I tried to snap at it, but it got away. Funny thing was when it was on my nose, I could see it, but I could not feel anything . I will have to keep my eye out for this elusive little red dot to see if I can possibly chase it next time it shows up. 'Til then, I think I will go rest up for the chase. I think the doubled up duvet is still where I left it. TTFN!

Schedules

Gah! Yesterday was Wednesday and I forgot to write a new post. This scheduling and keeping a pupolution is HARD! Gets in the way of my sleeping and eating and puppy burn time. Maybe nobody will notice if I distract them with a cute picture...

It is a little blurry I know but I was just so excited about my sweater that I got at Christmas. Don't I look styling. I think I am very distinguished. I need to be to keep up with the Doctors. Perhaps I can get some leather patches for the elbows. I hear that is a mark of distinction or something.

Anyway, I think I have successfully distracted you from my tardiness of this post and will now return to my regular schedule. Next on the docket: Nap time!

Disheartened

One of the frustrating things I have come to learn about being an astronomer is apparently the job hunt. As I talked about last year (er...in 2012...oh dear where has the time gone!), I think that applying for a job should just require peanut butter banana cookies, and whoever has the best cookies wins. But I guess it isn't that easy because ones person's tastes for peanut butter cookies may not be the same as another person's. Maybe one likes lots of peanut butter and although you offer quite a bit of peanut butter it is just not quite enough. Where was I going with this. All this talk of peanut butter is making me hungry.

Ah yes. It can be a little frustrating and disheartening I have found when N or J were/are applying for jobs and they don't get even an interview. It makes them doubt their abilities which they shouldn't. They are great astronomers. Of course that could just be my puppy bias but I say they are great. They may not be as "good" as some, but I say that sometimes it is a matter of circumstance. N getting her job certainly was.

I am writing about this because last week J got another rejection letter (first one for this year's set of applications) and it is making him doubt his ability to find a job with his particular skill set. The people who do what he does exactly either are not hiring or don't have the money to fund a post doc right now and those who are doing different things but for which J's skill set would certainly be an asset generally don't seem to give him a chance. So one can see how it can be very frustrating. It doesn't help when they see other people getting interview (sometimes several). It causes them to think "what makes this person so special". It is generally due to again circumstance or being in an entirely different field, but either way it can feed a rampant imposter or inferiority complex.

My expert puppy advice to all those out there looking for a job is to just put one paw forward, stay positive, and show them your cutest puppy face. Oh wait, that is advice for a puppy. Well the first two points still apply. And if they still don't give you a chance, let me know and I will send some peanut butter cookies...assuming I don't eat them all first!

House all to myself...sorta

So N and J have gone back to work this week. That means I have the house all to myself..well sorta. When they go out, I have to go in my crate.... Chew on baseboards when you are a puppy and knock one plant off the side table that one time and they never let you forget about it...Oh wait, I guess I also chewed on the remote and the wii remote...Ok maybe it is warranted.

I had gotten used to them being at home these past  couple of weeks though. So much so that yesterday I tried to see I could get them to stay home by taking a really long time going down the stairs on the way to my crate. I even stopped in the middle and just waited...it didn't work. Oh well.

My crate isn't too bad though. I definitely like my big one much better than the one that I came over in on the plane (shudder). Plus when they are out I can sing as loud as I want, and sleep and gnaw on my paws with nobody to complain. And they have really comfy pillows in there and some of my favourite toys.

I do like it when the come home though. We have a great routine. They come in the door and usually wake me up but that is ok. Who can sleep when your best friends come back anyway! Anyway, one of them lets me out and I always run to the other one. I then go back and rescue one of the toys who had kept me company all day. I have a few favorites that I try to rescue first. Leggs, Pinky, Moose (or so N and J call them). The choices have expanded though since Christmas and I must say that sometimes it get kind crowded in there, especially N has done a "Great Toy Round-up". Anyway, I go rescue a toy and then run upstairs with it, inviting J to follow so that I can pounce on him and lick him. Sometimes N comes up too and I give her a cursory lick, but really I like to pounce on J because he lets me lick him more.

So to all those puppies out there who are also crated when your best friends are out of the house, my advice to you is make it your own, come up with a ritual that you enjoy and know that they will always come back. And for those who are not crated, let us know how it is on the outside ;)

New Year's Pupolutions

Happy New Year! (or in puppy language: Woof woof woof wooooof!).

So the holiday season is coming to a close, or so N and J tell me. I can't really tell since all of the decorations are still up and they have been up for over a month. It makes sense though since J really really really (did I say really) likes Christmas and would have the tree up the day after Remembrance Day if he could and N insists on having the stuff up until after Ukrainian Christmas which she can never remember if it is the 6th or 7th of January. Either way we still have another week of the stuff up.

Santa was very good to me this year. I got 5 new toys and a styling cable knit sweater for those deary UK days and a bag of yoghurt treats. They are soooo good. They have like yoghurt and cream cheese and fruit flavors inside  of a crunchy morsel....mmmmm. What... oh sorry I drooled off there for a moment...and apparently on the keyboard.

Anyway, I will be sad to see it taken down since the tree is really pretty and the mantel will look emptier once the Christmas cards we got from overseas are taken down. It is a bit weird living overseas now. When ever we talk to J and N's family back home they are always starting the day while we are nearing the end. Take last night for example. We rang in the new year 8 hours before J's parents. Theoretically we could have had our new year, phoned them to wish them a happy new year, had a good 8 hours of sleep before they rang in the new year and call them again once they did. We did most of that except for the last part...8 hours of sleep psh...we need our beauty sleep so it was more like 10!

Speaking of new years, I guess it is time for my pupolutions. They are just like the human resolutions but for puppies (of course). I resolve to finally figure out how to use the silly keyboard and supply weekly updates or musings. I also resolve to shed a couple pounds. Like all of us I put on a couple over the holidays...too many treats. I also resolve to give N more head space on her pillow at night...ah who am I kidding. I know I won't do that one. It is just so easy to wrap around her head plus half the time she isn't using most of the pillow anyway. No need for that comfyness to go to waste.

Anyway. I must go bug J to see if he will give me my food early...although I guess that kinda goes against the shedding weight pupolution...Ack these things are so hard. Can't I just be cute, I can do cute.

Snowy