October 13, 2012

White Dog came rushing back into the bedroom where we were doing our morning triage/cuddling ritual with the White Dog Army. Since Quinn's wound (recovered) that we had to sugar bandage each day, we have taken a few moments with each of the White Ones individually to hold them and stretch them out on the bed for a "checkup."

Usually, Nuka goes first, cradled like a baby in my arms while Steve cleans her and makes sure that there are no signs of returning infection from her recent vaginitis. We put lotion on a few dry patches of skin and rock her in our arms.

Oso is next. He lies against my thigh on the bed as Steve treats his hot spots with soothing balm and I wrap my hands around his cold little feet. OAWD has the coldest feet I have ever encountered on a pup. Steve checks ear cleanliness (Oso is a magnet for ear dirt) and we snuggle until he asks to get down.

Puff does not like being held but tolerates the bed treatment mostly because she is curious about what White Dog does up there all of the time. Her stay is brief, allowing us to check ears, listen to her lungs, and do a quick gentle massage.

Finally, it is Quinn's turn. He has come to enjoy stretching out on the bed and being fussed over. He rests his head on my arms and we cuddle as Steve washes down his nearly completely healed leg, brushes his belly and back side, and checks teeth and ears. With my other hand I use accupressure techniques along his spine to loosen up the muscles that get so tight and make his walking labored.

This is what we were doing when Steve let out a yelp and stood up quickly. He pressed both palms into his back; the look on his face clearly screamed "PAIN!" He twisted in the wrong way and put something out of whack in his lower back. Swiveled hips and bending over made it clear it was not something that was going to "pop back into place."

I helped Quinn down to join the rest of the White Dog Army swarming around Steve and ordered him to lie on his stomach on the bed. The muscles were a knot. White Dog joined me to give a second opinion. The heat massager came out of the drawer and worked Steve's back muscles for 20 minutes as the WDA pressed close and worried. Then we applied a coating of tiger balm before pulling down his shirt and adding a sweatshirt to keep the muscles warm.

On the way out to his inversion table, Steve stopped to take aspirin, and when he came in he was at least walking upright. The White Dogs have already set up a schedule so that somepup is with him constantly. All are insistent that the plans be changed so that Steve can just spend the day on "light duty," at least until we see how things work out. It is always something, as they say.

As a side note, Michael has at last relaunched his Blog site and posted some photos that he has taken. We would sure appreciate it if you could stop by at www.mainstreamconnection.blogspot.com (or click on our sidebar) and leave a word or two of encouragement as he attempts to explore our world with more independence. Have a great weekend.