Friday, March 31, 2006

Found some more pictures of TinyMonsters (my recently deceased dog)

Here's a picture of TinyMonsters, saying "hello" to his best friend Pudge (my aunt's pug).

Pudge misses Tiny...she walked across the street to my house the other night, ran up to me to say "hi", and then was looking around as if she was wondering where I was hiding Tiny, and when he was going to come leaping out to see her. I told Pudge to watch out for his ghost...he might just be lurking nearby.

the picture was probably taken in 2001.

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Here's a picture of me and Tiny in the driveway of my old house...looks like I must have just woken Tiny up from a nap or something with that big yawning stretch he's doing...

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Look what I found!

I've been making copies of some picture cd's that my dad has, and while I was doing that, I found a bunch of pictures of projects that I crocheted years back...some that I didnt remember making until I saw them. Here are a few of them.


I think this might be the first American flag afghan I ever crocheted. There's no pattern, I just did it by sight. I think I used puff stitches for the body of the afghan. I'm pretty sure I gave this afghan to my cousin Candy. (her mom Janice is the one holding up the afghan)

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This is probably the first scrap afghan I ever made. I made this for my uncle Frank.

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Here I am, working on an afghan I gave my grandmother for Christmas in 2000

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Here is my Grandma O'Neil, sitting with the Christmas afghan that I made for her. (the purple, white and black afghan folded on the back of her chair is another giant rectangle granny that I made for my aunt MaryLynne)

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and this is a giant rectangle granny that I crocheted for my cousin Sarah. She's hiding behind the afghan

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And this is my cousin Scotty (Sarah's brother), holding up the afghan I made for him. His dad, my uncle Frank is the person seated behind him.

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Sunday, March 19, 2006

Wow...I can still draw!

Surprised that I'm still able to draw and have the drawing actually look like what I'm trying to draw. This is supposed to be a sketch of TinyMonsters that I did from a photograph. I know I screwed up a bit on his back legs in the drawing, but I think this is pretty good. It's the first time I've tried to sketch anything in years...I've been concentrating on my crochet skills more than my drawing skills.

Here's the sketch of TinyMonsters, the original photograph is below


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Danged allergies!!

Well, we'd attempted to adopt a Yorkie Terrier puppy this weekend.

Found a beautiful yorkie puppy in Plattsmouth, NE. Brought him home on a trial basis.

Good thing it was a trial, because I started to have an allergic reaction to the little guy by the next morning. Spent the day trying to deny that I was having an allergic reaction.

We ended up taking the little guy back to the breeder's house last night. He was really a good dog...if I hadnt been going mad from hives and starting to sniffle and sneeze I would have kept him.

He was a lot different than Tiny was when he was a baby...this little puppy was actually almost well behaved. All puppies are maniacal little terrors, and this guy wasnt any different, except for the fact that he seemed to want to please us. He'd go into his crate without complaining, and he'd actually stay in there quietly while I was eating last night.

Tiny was the Puppy From Hell, but he turned out to be the best dog in the world. I really hope whoever gets to adopt that little puppy realizes the good potential that little guy has...he could end up being just as good a dog as TinyMonsters was.

I wish I hadnt had that allergic reaction to him

I hadnt eaten anything all day yesterday, mostly because I didnt (and still dont) feel good, and partially because I wasnt sure if the hives was related to the dog or a food allergy. So I went without eating, and the hives started getting worse and I was getting sniffly and sneezy and my eyes were watering.

Since we took him back I've been getting better, not so sniffly or sneezy...but my eyes are still feeling the pain and I still have a few hives lingering around.

The whole allergy thing kind of makes me wonder if this explains my unexplained hives that I've been having on and off for the past year. I hope I wasnt developing an allergy to dogs...I *might* (but probably wont) get another one someday.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Thought this was interesting

Was talking to my dad tonight about TinyMonsters. My dad just found out that Tiny's older brother (same parents, but from the litter before Tiny's) died under similar circumstances.

He's not sure if it's the exact same as Tiny, but the circumstances sounded very similar. Tiny's older brother, Frankie was the only pup in his mother's first litter...Tiny's litter had 9 puppies in it, and the litter after that had 10.

I'd be really curious to find out if any of the other dogs from Tiny's litter or even from his bloodline has had kidney problems.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Explanation as to what happened to Tiny.

I talked to Tiny's vet. He said Tiny died from kidney failure and possibly an embolism. If there was an embolism, it probably blocked blood flow to his kidneys, causing them to shut down.

As for what started it all off. Tiny had been drinking tons of water for about the past month. We had Tiny at the vet about 3 weeks ago for his yearly checkup and vaccinations. They had checked his BUN and creatinine levels (BUN = Blood, Urea, Nitrogen) That's done by testing his blood and urine. At the time, there was absolutely no sign that anything was wrong. So he was given a clean bill of health.

Fast forward to sunday March 12th. Tiny slept in my room, and I thought it was strange that he was so restless saturday night/sunday morning. He also was not sleeping on his dog beds like he usually did. I had noticed that he'd developed a cough a couple of days before, but thought that was because he had jumped at a car while on his leash, and thought he might have choked himself a little.

We had a thunderstorm and hail sunday morning, something Tiny was seriously afraid of was thunder, he was really stressed...very clingy.

I went out with some friends to go to a car show and for dinner. I got home at around 11pm. My dad told me that Tiny had gone out front to go potty...after he was done he just lay down on the grass and would not move. My dad thought he was dead. So he used his cellphone to call my aunt Janice who lives across the street.

Tiny really loved Janice and her pug Pudge...Janice came over with Pudge and as soon as he saw Janice he got up and seemed to act alright. Janice went back to her house to get him some treats, and Tiny dragged my dad across the street. That was apparently Tiny's last true burst of energy.

Janice gave him a bunch of treats, which is something that I had not been letting Tiny have the past few months because I thought there was something in them that he was allergic to. So, I'm really really happy that Janice spoiled my dog a little bit that night.

I checked Tiny when I got home, and he was very shaky. I took him outside and he did his business but could barely stand up.

Around 5am monday morning, Tiny woke me up with his "I need you" cry. He was very thirsty. So I gave him some water...when he was done drinking, he laid down on the carpet. I could tell there was something seriously wrong so I called the vet. They were closed. I left a message.

I sat down on the floor and petted Tiny, and held his foot. I noticed that if I touched his stomach near his kidneys he would cough or start to choke like he couldnt breathe.

I started to panic a bit. I called the Doggy ER and asked if they thought he could wait to see his regular vet or if I should bring him to the ER. They said they were about to close and were discharging all their animals, but that I could bring Tiny in and they would try to see him. I decided to wait for his regular vet.

About 730, I got a hold of someone at the vets. They said I could bring him in at 930...I said ok, great...and then I loaded Tiny up into the car and set out an hour early.

I really started to worry when Tiny could barely climb into the car. I had to lift his bottom half into the car. I knew something was seriously wrong when I didnt have the drooling, yodeling, yapping and occasionally growling dog I normally got when taking a drive with Tiny.

I got to the vets office, and Tiny would not get out of the car. I got Dr. Ramm, Tiny's vet, to come help me out. Dr. Ramm had to pull Tiny to get him out. As soon as he was on the ground, I could see that Dr. Ramm was concerned. We had to help Tiny in the building, and I had to walk in front of Tiny and coax him into the exam room.

About 30 seconds into the exam, Dr. Ramm had barely touched him and he said that Tiny was in serious condition and that he was keeping him. Tiny laid down on the floor and started to cough. Dr. Ramm, another vet and a vet tech got a dog sling and put Tiny on it and carried him to the x-ray room.

Stuff gets technical there. They did x-rays, put him on an IV of Ringers Lactate, got an EKG (his heart rate was 260 beats per minute!! normal for a dog is 80bpm) They gave him medicine for his heart rate, took his blood pressure (that was all over the place) They carried him into a crate so he could lay down and rest and they put a catheter in to monitor his urine output.

Dr. Ramm thought Tiny had something called Addison's Disease (an adrenal dysfunction) and decided to treat him with a steroid to see if that would help. His bloodwork came back and there was nothing that strange on the BUN and Creatnine tests...the creatnine was slightly elevated, but not much. All his other bloodwork was normal.

Dr Ramm said he would continue to treat Tiny for the tachycardia (fast heartrate) and give him the fluids for dehydration and the steroids...he told me to go home for a bit and he would call me to tell me how Tiny was.

Later that afternoon, I talked to the vet...he told me that Tiny had not had any urine output thru the catheter, even though he had had FOUR units of fluids, and did not seem to be reacting to the steroid.

I'm pretty sure Dr. Ramm dumbed stuff down for me, because when I asked him to explain things to my dad (a nurse) he explained things in medical terms to my dad. I've taken a year of medical terminology for a certificate I've been working on in school. So I knew the definitions of most of what he told my dad. I might not have completly understood what it all meant, but I knew enough that he was telling my dad that Tiny was going to die.

I'm so grateful to Dr. Ramm for being such a good vet for Tiny. Tiny really loved going to see Dr. Ramm. The vet techs in his office were so nice and always good to Tiny...even when they were wrestling him to the floor during previous visits for vaccinations and nail clippings. So, I'm glad that the last person Tiny saw before he died was Dr. Ramm.

I got a phone call at 7am tuesday morning. It was Dr. Ramm calling to tell me that Tiny had died during the night. He explained that he thought it was not Addison's Disease, but that it was probably kidney failure, which he thought might have been caused by an embolism or something similar.

We're having Tiny cremated by Rainbow Bridge and should be receiving his ashes in a little wooden box with a metal nameplate with his name and birth and death dates engraved on it.

Tiny was only 9yrs old...old for a large dog, but I really thought we'd have him a bit longer (his dad Teddy lived to be 13 or 14yrs old)

I'm still in shock at just how fast things happened. If someone had told me saturday that my dog would be dead by tuesday, I'd have thought they were nuts.

TinyMonsters was a good dog...even tho he chewed on my bed, clothes, and important paperwork. He loved to sit outside in the front yard, watching his imaginary sheep and scaring the joggers running past.

He had lots of doggy friends, his best friend being my aunt Janice's pug Pudge. He loved walking with Pudge, Janice and me thru the neighborhood.

His main goal in life, other than driving me banannas was to someday catch the UPS truck. What he planned to do with it if he caught it I'll never know. (maybe he was expecting a delivery?)

His favorite thing to do was eat, sleep, chew on my bed, and sleep.

He thought everyone who came to visit us was there to see him, not the humans.

If someone was cooking in the kitchen, Tiny was constantly trying to trip you so that he could have what you were having.

If Tiny's a ghost and wants to haunt someone, I hope he's down the street at the neighbor's house, haunting the jerk who dumped 30 pounds of dog crap in our yard and Janice's yard last week. (30 pounds per yard)

We're planning on getting another dog in a month or so...a Yorkie Terrier (I hope) I just need to find a reputable breeder.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Bad bad bad bad BAD day.

My dog, TinyMonsters, is at the vet's right now. They're still not sure what's wrong with him...it could be an adrenal disorder called Addison's Disease, which is treatable, but they're not sure if that's it yet.

It could be pulmonary or cardiac in nature too...again they're not sure.

When I took Tiny to the vet this morning, Tiny was in shock and seriously close to dying...even I could see that. He could still die tonight. Hope he doesnt.

I'll post an update the next time we hear from the vet's office.

Tiny and me last summer in the front yard.

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Perfect specimin of an aloof Bouvier

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Saturday, March 04, 2006

Not a bad first attempt at mixing two different hobbies

I like to do some basic sewing, and I LOVE to crochet...so I decided to try to mix the two. I think it came out ok. It's a very basic crocheted purse that I lined with fabric.

I've never sewn anything onto something that I've crocheted, so I wasnt sure how it would turn out, but here it is.


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I used my Husqvarna Viking sewing machine to sew the liner to the bag. Took me a bit of time to figure out how to do that, and I made one mistake (forgot to change to white thread) but I think it turned out pretty good. The fabric is some that I bought when I used to work in a WalMart fabric department...I've probably got about 10yds of that particular print sitting in my fabric stash. It's made by VIP which is part of Cranston Prints. It's 100% cotton. The crochet cotton is also 100% cotton and I bought that at WalMart a couple of weeks ago. It's called Peaches & Cream and comes on a big cardboard cone.



Here's a look inside the bag

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And another view


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