Day 11 and 12 - a very long tribute to my first love!
Ugh. I forgot (well, tried to block, really) how painful it is to break in a new pair of Danskos. My 5 year old beloved pair is on its way out thanks to a hole in the sole...as spartanmd noted, this is just a bad idea in a job where there is a good chance you will encounter bodily fluid. My new pair has arrived and they are lovely, but ouch!! I think it took a good 7-10 days last time to break them in, and that can't come soon enough!
Not much else new to report here, so on with the quizzie :) This turned out much longer than expected, so feel free to skip. This is mostly for me...I had fun remembering the good memories and some tears at the end of the post. It's good to do that once in a while :)
Day 11 -- A photo of you taken recently
Me at Clam Lights this weekend :)
Day 12 -- Whatever tickles your fancy
-I was thinking about doing a post on my current babies (Bailey and Nymphadora), but I think I'll leave that until later in the month. Instead, how about a history lesson? Meet my first girl and first love:
This is Wiener Schnitzel Laverne, commonly known as Schnitzel. She was a gorgeous Golden, daughter of Fantasia VII and Ch. Halltree Niner Tango Charlie. She was born June 4, 1994 (2 days after my birthday!). I had always wanted a puppy, and I know Daddy did too, but we really had to work hard on Mom since she was not raised with any pets and was wary of dogs. We would always go to pet shows and such, but I think what finally got her going was when I brought home our 6th grade quails for a weekend...I really liked those guys :) All throughout 7th grade we researched dogs - read about dog breeds, went to the corner vet to talk about dog breeds and spent a lot of time at dog shows. We got it down to a few different breeds, mostly Goldens and bulldogs (Daddy voted for these). The only bulldog breeder in our area was crap (literally, that's what the house and all its soiled newspapers smelled like). We did lots of research on Golden breeders and found out about a line from the great Meadowpond kennels and Cherie Berger that would have puppies that summer. After a bit more visiting, we got to see Mom (and Dad) and pups, and picked out our girl (known then as "right shoulder" based on her nailpolish mark...our other choice was "back").
The day we brought her home was wonderful! She had so much fun exploring the house and her favorite spot was under the coffee table (it remained a favorite until she outgrew the spot and settled on sleeping in the family room with her head on the kitchen step). She certainly was exuberant! I've never met a dog as hyper and bouncy as she was - she was relatively calm and did great with commands at home, but was jumping off the walls (and people) anytime she saw someone new. "Off" and "no jump" were common words at our house ;) She was supposed to be about 60lb (good for Mom, who wanted a small dog). After lots of training classes (interesting lady who kept telling us she was abnormal and needed drugs on a daily basis to make her calmer) she developed into a lovely 80lb hyper sweetie who licked a lot :)
About 6 mos old (maybe sooner, I don't remember) we noticed she was fishtailing her back end when she walked, and we couldn't walk as far anymore without her stopping and not wanting to go. A bunch of vet stuff later we found out she had really horrible hips, and apparently a lot of dogs coming out of our particular kennel recently were having this issue. The breeder just said "these things happen" and wouldn't talk to us anymore. Funny, that :p Anyway, we made a trip up to MSU (my first time!) for a consult with the surgeon, who recommended an artificial hip. We had to cancel all of our plans to visit the capital though, since at that time they decided to tell us they didn't admit anyone day-of for surgery (that changed significantly when I went to vet school!). We rescheduled and Schnitzel officially became known as the Amazing Bionic Golden Retriever.
Lots of good years followed, all through high school. She was tough to leave to go to college, that's for sure! I'm sure she didn't mind as much as I did though. We did everything by the book to make her "my" dog when we got her, but she wouldn't have it. She loved me and she loved Mom, but she was 100% a Daddy's girl. She could tell his car driving down the road from a block away and would be at the door to meet him. She liked to have people hold her chew toys for her, and he was her preferred holder. I was a close second though ;) She never did calm down, and Aunt Irene always hid in the bathroom when we took her outside so she didn't get jumped on. She shook with both feet but was definitely a lefty. She would be sound asleep but somehow knew when you were going to the fridge to get cheese and would be right behind you. She loved braunschweiger with her pills. At 10:30 every night she would start barking at you until you brought her her blanket, then she'd promptly pull it out of her crate. She had snow nose and good ears. She went through a phase where she was afraid to have her tail brushed. She could balance a treat on her nose but never quite mastered flipping it off. She liked to sleep upside down in front of the air conditioner, but of course wasn't spoiled one bit ;)
The summer after my freshman year in college she started eating less - quite unusual for our chow-hound. More trips to the vet where I worked as a VA (by that time we had a second file started because our first one was so huge) diagnosed lymphoma, my first experience with cancer. We did our best - we went to the oncologist and started chemo. On one of the trips we realized she was blind (I still think it was temporary - here eyes looked red when she got excited and from what I know now she likely had hyphema that blocked her vision). Our beloved girl fought as hard as she could, but she didn't tolerate the chemo well (between nosebleeds, not eating, etc). She crossed Rainbow Bridge on September 4, 2000. Mom called me the day before to let me know the time had come and I came home from school. I got to spend our last night together on the kitchen floor. I'll always be grateful to our wonderful Dr. Karen and staff - they drove to our house to euthanize her there. She knew it was her time - she relaxed when they came in the door.
She was my first love, and I'll always remember the wonderful times we had! She had quite the personality, from being scared of men to running puppy laps around the house to stealing socks and learning how to open the baby gate supposedly keeping her in the kitchen. She's gone through every big event with me since then, too. I took her collar with me to my vet school interview. Daddy made me a wonderful little felt heart with her ID tag sewn in the middle (a big feat for someone who's not crafty with sewing) that I wore in my hat at my last game marching in the SMB, and it's gone across multiple graduation stages, been to every big event and was pinned on the inside of my wedding dress. Daddy wore her puppy collar as a bracelet (she used to be 12.9lb to start) for all these events too - you can see it in a wedding picture or two. Her picture was above my door all during vet school to remind me of why I got up and fought as hard as I did every day to make it through - to make sure others could have the same experience I did. She's the reason I'm interested in oncology and orthopaedics, and why I think all Goldens deserve hugs. She taught me all about dog and puppy care and love :)
She was a good girl, and I miss her! Once I unpack some things I'll make sure to end this post with a much better picture - she took some lovely ones :)
Not much else new to report here, so on with the quizzie :) This turned out much longer than expected, so feel free to skip. This is mostly for me...I had fun remembering the good memories and some tears at the end of the post. It's good to do that once in a while :)
Day 11 -- A photo of you taken recently
Me at Clam Lights this weekend :)
Day 12 -- Whatever tickles your fancy
-I was thinking about doing a post on my current babies (Bailey and Nymphadora), but I think I'll leave that until later in the month. Instead, how about a history lesson? Meet my first girl and first love:
This is Wiener Schnitzel Laverne, commonly known as Schnitzel. She was a gorgeous Golden, daughter of Fantasia VII and Ch. Halltree Niner Tango Charlie. She was born June 4, 1994 (2 days after my birthday!). I had always wanted a puppy, and I know Daddy did too, but we really had to work hard on Mom since she was not raised with any pets and was wary of dogs. We would always go to pet shows and such, but I think what finally got her going was when I brought home our 6th grade quails for a weekend...I really liked those guys :) All throughout 7th grade we researched dogs - read about dog breeds, went to the corner vet to talk about dog breeds and spent a lot of time at dog shows. We got it down to a few different breeds, mostly Goldens and bulldogs (Daddy voted for these). The only bulldog breeder in our area was crap (literally, that's what the house and all its soiled newspapers smelled like). We did lots of research on Golden breeders and found out about a line from the great Meadowpond kennels and Cherie Berger that would have puppies that summer. After a bit more visiting, we got to see Mom (and Dad) and pups, and picked out our girl (known then as "right shoulder" based on her nailpolish mark...our other choice was "back").
The day we brought her home was wonderful! She had so much fun exploring the house and her favorite spot was under the coffee table (it remained a favorite until she outgrew the spot and settled on sleeping in the family room with her head on the kitchen step). She certainly was exuberant! I've never met a dog as hyper and bouncy as she was - she was relatively calm and did great with commands at home, but was jumping off the walls (and people) anytime she saw someone new. "Off" and "no jump" were common words at our house ;) She was supposed to be about 60lb (good for Mom, who wanted a small dog). After lots of training classes (interesting lady who kept telling us she was abnormal and needed drugs on a daily basis to make her calmer) she developed into a lovely 80lb hyper sweetie who licked a lot :)
About 6 mos old (maybe sooner, I don't remember) we noticed she was fishtailing her back end when she walked, and we couldn't walk as far anymore without her stopping and not wanting to go. A bunch of vet stuff later we found out she had really horrible hips, and apparently a lot of dogs coming out of our particular kennel recently were having this issue. The breeder just said "these things happen" and wouldn't talk to us anymore. Funny, that :p Anyway, we made a trip up to MSU (my first time!) for a consult with the surgeon, who recommended an artificial hip. We had to cancel all of our plans to visit the capital though, since at that time they decided to tell us they didn't admit anyone day-of for surgery (that changed significantly when I went to vet school!). We rescheduled and Schnitzel officially became known as the Amazing Bionic Golden Retriever.
Lots of good years followed, all through high school. She was tough to leave to go to college, that's for sure! I'm sure she didn't mind as much as I did though. We did everything by the book to make her "my" dog when we got her, but she wouldn't have it. She loved me and she loved Mom, but she was 100% a Daddy's girl. She could tell his car driving down the road from a block away and would be at the door to meet him. She liked to have people hold her chew toys for her, and he was her preferred holder. I was a close second though ;) She never did calm down, and Aunt Irene always hid in the bathroom when we took her outside so she didn't get jumped on. She shook with both feet but was definitely a lefty. She would be sound asleep but somehow knew when you were going to the fridge to get cheese and would be right behind you. She loved braunschweiger with her pills. At 10:30 every night she would start barking at you until you brought her her blanket, then she'd promptly pull it out of her crate. She had snow nose and good ears. She went through a phase where she was afraid to have her tail brushed. She could balance a treat on her nose but never quite mastered flipping it off. She liked to sleep upside down in front of the air conditioner, but of course wasn't spoiled one bit ;)
The summer after my freshman year in college she started eating less - quite unusual for our chow-hound. More trips to the vet where I worked as a VA (by that time we had a second file started because our first one was so huge) diagnosed lymphoma, my first experience with cancer. We did our best - we went to the oncologist and started chemo. On one of the trips we realized she was blind (I still think it was temporary - here eyes looked red when she got excited and from what I know now she likely had hyphema that blocked her vision). Our beloved girl fought as hard as she could, but she didn't tolerate the chemo well (between nosebleeds, not eating, etc). She crossed Rainbow Bridge on September 4, 2000. Mom called me the day before to let me know the time had come and I came home from school. I got to spend our last night together on the kitchen floor. I'll always be grateful to our wonderful Dr. Karen and staff - they drove to our house to euthanize her there. She knew it was her time - she relaxed when they came in the door.
She was my first love, and I'll always remember the wonderful times we had! She had quite the personality, from being scared of men to running puppy laps around the house to stealing socks and learning how to open the baby gate supposedly keeping her in the kitchen. She's gone through every big event with me since then, too. I took her collar with me to my vet school interview. Daddy made me a wonderful little felt heart with her ID tag sewn in the middle (a big feat for someone who's not crafty with sewing) that I wore in my hat at my last game marching in the SMB, and it's gone across multiple graduation stages, been to every big event and was pinned on the inside of my wedding dress. Daddy wore her puppy collar as a bracelet (she used to be 12.9lb to start) for all these events too - you can see it in a wedding picture or two. Her picture was above my door all during vet school to remind me of why I got up and fought as hard as I did every day to make it through - to make sure others could have the same experience I did. She's the reason I'm interested in oncology and orthopaedics, and why I think all Goldens deserve hugs. She taught me all about dog and puppy care and love :)
She was a good girl, and I miss her! Once I unpack some things I'll make sure to end this post with a much better picture - she took some lovely ones :)