Questions & Answers

I picked up Keen's ashes today. Having him home, albeit in this form, is both sad and comforting.

Because it means, it really is over.

The necropsy - which lasted 2 weeks - was unable to find a cause of death. My friends have been kind, refusing to speculate until the pathologists' work was complete. Countless things have been ruled out, all of which are good news. No trauma, no disease, no infection, no tumor, no deformities. The sole unusual finding had no identifiable cause, and didn't kill him. Detailed toxicology was Negative. Brain and heart perfectly Normal.

But the cause of death remains: unknown.

And unknowable. An uncomfortable state. The lack of a "smoking gun" is indescribably frustrating. My heart still screams for someone or something to blame; my mind is resigned to the fact that there isn't one. I was reminded, sometimes medicine just is more art than science. While I am left with unanswered questions, the answers we did get are good news for Keen's littermates, for his parents, for his half-siblings.

And that will have to be enough.

So we move forward. This little box of his ashes, with his collar and tags buckled around it, joins others on my bookshelf. Next to friends he never met on this side of the Bridge. Tommy, Tosca, Mac... and now Keen. His binder retired to a lower shelf... Rituals, these actions. I do find some cold comfort in them.

Sleep softly, sweet boy. Chase them bunnies in the stars.

Keen at 8 mos., at a fun run. Oh, the things he won't get to do...

Face Lift

Not me, silly. The Blog.


Turns our there are nearly 2,500 reads from 12 countries. Wow - and yikes! Guess I need to thank you all for stopping by, hope it's good enough you come back.


So, a cleaner look, lighter background, and I'll try the new editor.


As for content... I do like to write. Guess I have extra incentive now.


We'll see how it goes.  

Birthday Boy

While time may move forward, not everything changes.

Py turned 6 yesterday (Friday). This makes him eligible to run in Veterans for lure coursing and most other running games, and while I shudder to think of him as "older" he clearly has no idea he should be slowing down.

Just like last year, we spent a couple of days this week at Sandia National Labs, helping support their science outreach program to New Mexico's 4th graders. We had a wonderful time, and it is both a privilege to have been asked back, and a tremendous pleasure to be a small part of this wonderful week.

I tried to get different photos for you for this year. Some things are very much the same: wear your lab coat and goggles, and don't touch anything, don't wander off.

Signs with similarly stern language are posted everywhere.

I tried to get better pictures of the "Glow" station - rocks that become luminous under black lighting... let's just say the lack of detail isn't the photographer's fault, it's the camera, shall we?

Regular light

Black light

Moving on...

Anthony went with me this year (we had our annual sushi-fest with Miela afterward) and I asked him to take some photos of the kids "solving the crime" of dognapping, as I've never been in the room with the kids as they finish sorting through their evidence and "force" a confession from the thief. Mr. Py and I are tucked in a office down the hall, out of sight. As the kids' get louder and louder, Mr. Py becomes impatient to head into the big room to his kids.

The evidence against each suspect is weighed.

Everyone agrees: the Lab's Director did it!

The "guilty party," Carol, then enters the room with Mr. Py and begs for forgiveness (her cat made her do it). The kids cheer that the dog has arrived, and I slip in behind the Lab's staff to enjoy the celebration. Carol was having a little problem with Py - he was pulling away from her. She turned to me and asked what to do. I said, let go of the leash. She blinked, I nodded, so she did. Py promptly wandered into the crowd of 30 kids and was mobbed.

Mr. Py thanks his rescuers and enjoys their attentions.

The Lab has its own newsletter, and this was the day they sent a staff photographer. If an on-line version is available I will add it. I have no doubt he got much better photographs than I did.

After a group photo, the kids enjoyed their sack lunches and discuss careers in science (the purpose of the event, after all!). The Lab staff made "science cream" (mmm, strawberry this year) and the kids sang Happy Birthday. They laughed as Mr. Py ate his from a small plastic spoon and did some tricks. Then each kid then petted or hugged Mr. Py as they went out the door and back to their bus for school.

Back at home, Py dreams sweet dreams of next year... I swear, he's smiling.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Py

Time may wait for no man, but we will have to wait 'til next year for another birthday.

Sometimes you're the windshield...

...sometimes you're the bug.

This past weekend, Ren was the bug. What he hit was a fence.

Full tilt, by eyewitness report, bouncing up and over "like a pole vaulter", landing hard on his side. And, incredibly, got up and kept going after the rabbit.

Here's a picture from earlier in the day (thanks Barb). You can see there's pretty high cover in this area; now imagine a lot of tumbleweed blown up against the fence, obscuring it.

I blame the rabbit.

Minor injuries (cactus, slipped pads, abrasions, strains) are fairly common, and can put a dog out of commission for a weekend or a month. Serious injuries in the open field are, thankfully, few and far between, but when they happen they tend to be significant.

Ren was incredibly lucky he hit the wires and not a post, but he's out for a while. Probably the rest of the season at least.

So here are some photos, I suggest those with queasy stomachs skip them.

The bruising across his chest and down the front legs is spectacular. (Shown here on the operating table, upside down, head to the right.) There are two punctures and several abrasions; no stitches were required.

The three-point tear on his left hind leg needed a lot more work. Shown here after shaving, trimming, and prepped for sutures. (head top of photo, tail bottom)

Same leg post-suturing, with drain installed. Both are scheduled for removal on Friday.

Ren resting at home in an x-pen. The cast-like bandage is to restrict the flexing of his stifle and hock so the stitches don't pull out. Fingers crossed.

His appetite is great and while it's clear he's incredibly sore, I expect him to make a full recovery.