Oh Crap!

Gretchen says not to worry. Some days are like this, but I’m still a bit upset. Everything started out normally. It always does, doesn’t it? Captain and I went for a walk through Volunteer Park early this morning where Gretchen posed us in front of one of her favorite spots…the resevoir.

Then Captain ate his breakfast. I passed.  I wasn’t hungry yet and so I didn’t force myself.  We rested as we are always required to do after eating, and then set out to pick up Ollie. He was happy to see us. He is always happy and we headed up over the hill to the park to play some fetch. That’s always fun and very much a normal part of our normal work.

Ollie tried to get Captain to play wrestling with him, but Captain was more interested in playing fetch…and so was I…for awhile…

And then I decided to play with Ollie…or should I say, he decided to play with me!

And then Luke showed up. I’ve met him before and he’s as focused on his orange and blue ball as I am…as Captain is…

We all had a great time…even Ollie, even Captain…even Luke!

We were all very exercised and as we walked back up the hill and through the wooded park, our tongues hung low in contentment and exhaustion.  At Ollie’s house we had some water fresh from the hose…best kind…and then headed down the street to pick up Gemma.

It all sounds normal, doesn’t it?  It was normal when Gretchen left Captain and me in the car while she went to retrieve Gemma. Gemma gets really excited when she sees us and Gretchen decided our meeting should take place outside the house, not inside. Gemma roared out the door, down the steps, and toward the car. She knew I was there, but she didn’t know that Captain was there. She also didn’t know that Captain looks a lot like me, so when he jumped out of the back of the car first, Gemma greeted him like she greets me.

She threw herself at him…awhole body slam down.

Captain is a gentle fellow and he, kind of like me, isn’t fond of dogs forcing themselves into his personal space. In human terms, his bubble was violated and Captain let Gemma know. Now when dogs say, “Back off!” they often say it loudly. There is more noise than anything else, so when Gretchen and all of us headed down the road, it took a moment for her to notice that Gemma was bleeding.

Yikes. This is not normal.

Ears, Gretchen tells me, have lots of blood veins right on the surface. When scraped or torn or as in this case, nipped, they bleed like crazy. Gretchen grabbed a towel from her backpack, gently grabbed Gemma’s ear and held tight trying to stop the flow of blood. After about 5 minutes, the compression seemed to have worked, but then Gemma shook her head. Oh my. Blood went every where again.

Gemma doesn’t live too far from us, so we headed over to our house to find hydrogen peroxide, sterile gauze and a wet towel (to clean up Gemma and also Gretchen..she was covered in blood). But it just wouldn’t stop bleeding.

That’s when Gretchen called the vet and that’s when I hid under the desk.

I hate the vet.

Gretchen piled Gemma and Captain…who were friends now (go figure)…into the car and headed to the dreaded hospital. I stayed home.

This is where we must give a Woof Out to Four Paws Animal Hospital because the doctor gave up her lunch to see little Ms. Gemma…the bloody girl.  Captain, if you can believe it, waited for Gemma in the clinic as well. I think he felt bad that his harsh words had turned into an injury.

In the end, Gemma got stitches. Her parents were incredibly gracious stating that “…these things happen…” but I’m still overwhelmed. These things happen?  Really?  Not to me. Not to us, usually. This is when our normal day went a little haywire.

And this is why we have no photographs of Gemma. We contemplated taking a photograph of Gretchen’s bloody shirt and shoes, of the bathtub where she tried to clean Gemma up and the hallway of the vet’s office splattered like a crime scene, but we decided to forgo the gore and just tell the tale…or is that tell the ear?

No matter. Once Gemma was in the safe hands of the doctor, Gretchen raced back to pick up me and then raced to  pick up Teabiscuit, fearing we’d be late. We were not and thankfully, a contrite Captain was on his best behavior with Teabiscuit…and she truly appreciated it!

Then we walked by one of our least favorite signs and Gretchen quietly posed us in front of it.  I ask you…in front of your beautiful house would you rather have an occasional pile of doo or this permanent signage? I think I’d choose the poo…

I sure hope tomorrow goes back to normal!

Until then,

Rubin