Oh, Patches.

My first memory of meeting Patches was at a party at a friend's house about 3 years ago. We were sitting on the patio swing out back, taking a moment away from the drunken festivities, and this fuzzy little Ewok wandered over for a visit. He was weird looking, and goofy, and very friendly. We joked about stealing him and taking him home with us. One of our hosts told us we could take him anytime, but we didn't take him seriously. A few months later, Patches needed a home, and was dropped off at our place.

Patches ( and now Maggie) has been with us on so many adventures, it's hard to even count. The little bugger loves camping and bonfires, and even has his own camp chair. We've taken him to parties, to the bar, canoeing, and he was at our wedding. It kills me to leave our dogs anywhere, even when they've stayed with friends when we've been unable to take them for any reason, they are an integral part of my day.

Patches is a dopey, happy lump of a dog. He has become more active since we've moved to BC, and he's learned to play not only with other dogs, but with toys and sticks...finally. It's good to be a Patches, for the most part.

Patches has had more than his fair share of health problems since we've taken him in. Some were preventable ( and now we know!) , and some were not, and some just come along with being a Shit Zu ( bad teeth for example.) On top of all that, he was attacked last winter, and had to have emergency surgery, and mentally hasn't quite been the same since.

He was doing good for awhile, but the past few weeks it's been one thing after the other. It started out with a severe eye infection ( that still hasn't quite cleared up), and then what seemed to be a UTI, and now his stomach and the area around his penis is red and raw, and there are sores appearing. I spent Saturday night consoling him, while he had diarrhea and puked until 7am. Today, his sores seem to be worse, but that's probably because of all the licking and scratching he's been doing. We got him groomed, we've tried different creams, and try to keep him from bothering them too much. Tonight he is sleeping beside me peacefully after I put some zinc cream on. It was like instant relief to him, so it must be itchy-burny.

It makes me feel like a big fucking asshole that I can't afford to even take him to the vet this time. We're at a point where every penny we have has to get us back to Saskatchewan in a couple weeks. Neither of us get paid again until we get home. And he just keeps feeling worse. Ugh.

Some online friends and family have made comments to me over the past few weeks about what they think it may be, and giving advice on websites to check out for information ( THANK YOU!) , and some have bluntly told me to relax, because "it's just a dog". To these people, I want to say "relax, it's just your child that's sick, you can get another one", but that would be rude, so I won't.

The thing is, Patches is my best bud, and I worry about him always.  I am never happier than when I'm just hanging with my husband and my dogs, so every single day, I get to experience pure fucking joy, just hanging out at home. So when Patches is sick, it just kills me a little.

Here's hoping that it's nothing serious, and he doesn't feel worse before we can get some money in the bank, and also, here's to hoping that one day he won't always have to sleep on my pillow and snore in my ear at the volume of five old men who smoked for 40 years. Seriously Patches, I'm trying to concentrate!

Grace in Small Things #65

At almost 5 years old, Patches has finally figured out how to play fetch with a ball...and he LOVES it. He is also being more social with all the other dogs, and he's a happier puppy. Good boy! :)

It's a Girl!

Yet again, I have the feeling that I have let down my mother, and my many mothers-in-law, in choosing to adopt a new fur baby, instead of giving birth to a human one.



However, she's darn cute, and fits right in to our little family. I figure, we now have a boy and a girl, so we're good for awhile. Or at least until our "practicing" to have real human babies pans out.



Her name is Maggie. She's 2 years old, can jump five feet in the air, and loves to hump the shit out of Patches, especially his face. He doesn't seem to mind.

A Post in Which I Show You Pictures of My Dog

My dog has a bit of an attitude problem lately.

If he isn't sleeping on the couch, he's up and about, eating garbage, pooping all over the place, or hiding rotting food in his doggy bed for a special meal at a later date, among other things.

If you yell at him, send him to his kennel, spank his bum, or threaten death upon him, he either turns his head around backwards to ignore you, or barks back. He's really mouthy lately, has an answer for everything. Sometimes, he'll even slap my face, so I've started to threaten the same thing. When I do threaten him, I sound like Stewart's mother from Mad TV.

You'd think that he'd be grateful. We buy him expensive food, take him to the vet when he needs to go, give him treats, take him for car rides and walks, and I have even given up, and let him sleep on my pillow every night. But no, he's still a bad boy. Fucking teenagers, and their know-it-all attitudes.



* No worries though, I do love my Patches with all my heart. He's just bad to the bone, a rebel without a cause....and he knows it. He also knows he's cute as a button, and all will be forgiven, as long as he does something sweet or silly. He's a smart little fucker.

Hi There!

Sorry, I know I've been missing. Smyrish bought me http://abigailroad.ca for my birthday, and it took a few days to get all set up. Thanks to all who noticed the blog was missing, and sent me messages and Twits! It feels nice to be missed!

It's been a busy week so far.

We replaced our two roommates who moved out on the weekend, with a dog named Patches, and an upright piano.

The piano is lovely, and I'm slowly getting back all my piano-playing knowledge. It amazes me how much I have forgotten, considering all the years of lessons I took. Thankfully though, my brain hasn't totally turned to mush, and I figure with a few weeks of practice, I should be back on track, playing Beethoven and the "Cheers" theme song.


Patches had been offered to us to take in a couple times in the past few months, but it just was never the right time for us, or his original owners. He has been a bit of a handful, as he gets used to his new home.

He attached himself to me right away, which was cute at first, but now I think it may be a bit unhealthy. I'm not sure if he wants me to be his mommy, or his girlfriend. However, I learned today, that if I want him to give me some personal space, I should just bring out the camera. I got these two shots, after a half hour of chasing him around the apartment, as well as about 15 pictures of my slippers and the walls.


He's a cute little bugger though, and once he gets used to the place and doesn't bark continuously when we leave him alone, we should all get along famously. It will take time, and training, but we can do it.

And on that note, I'm going to interrupt his snoring and puppy dreams, and get out for a walk before Mother Nature decides to make it cold outside again.