Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas Visit!

Ron's parents visited for the Christmas holiday. They spent a few days with us, and Honey got seriously spoiled. Before their arrival, Ron and I spent a few days wrapping up the last of the decorations, wrapping presents, cleaning the house, filling up the fridge, and trying to keep Honey from panicking, since there was an awful lot more commotion than usual.

They came in Saturday night, and Honey recognized them from the start. She's usually pretty welcoming of the few friends that visit, but she went out of her way to make sure Ron's parents knew she was truly happy to see them. I was wrapping up her bath when they came in, and Honey could barely contain herself in her excitement about their arrival. She was a little damp when she went over to say hello.

Honey was thoroughly spoiled the entire weekend. She got lots of hugs, kisses, and petting. She got so much attention, that she slept like a log every time she had a chance to finally rest.

When Christmas day arrived, Honey got a few presents. She got a new bed and a coat for going on walks from me, some really tasty treats and a new toy from Ron's parents, and more attention than any dog ought to receive on a single day.

To say the least, Honey really enjoyed the holiday . . . which is kind of good since she's only a doggie, and each day is the same.

Christmas Spirit in Full Swing! House Is Decorated!

After much toil, the house is decorated. It looks completely decked out with Christmas cheer, and Honey approves.

I have heard of dogs getting into the decorations, or trying to play with them. Honey just likes to watch things, smell them a little, and then just walks away from all the action.

Pictures of the house shall be posted later. It looks good.

The Boxes Are Out! The Decorations Are Coming Up!

Well, Christmas is just around the corner, and it looks like the boxes are out. Honey has spent the entire evening smelling all the boxes and getting a little nervous over it. However, it can be confidently said that Operation Decoration is well on its way. For the next 10 or so days, we will be decorating the house, making sure that it looks like the Christmas wonderland it is meant to be. Honey, of course, will have to put up with not having a bit of space or peace to herself, but I am sure she'll like the end results.

Giving Medicines to a Dog

Honey takes daily supplements to keep her coat lustrous and curtail her shedding and another one to keep her joints lubricated. Once a month, she a pill that protects her against heartworm. To Honey, these pills are just treats, so she takes them eagerly.

Now that we're treating her eye allergies, there's a gel that needs to be put right on the open eye twice a day, and a Benadryl pill that needs to be swallowed twice a day also. But since neither one of them is a treat, she does not approach her ministrations with the same enthusiasm.

The eye medication is fairly easy. I ask her to lay down, open her eye, and squeeze the gel on the eye. I let her lay down for a bit so the gel will spread to her eye, and we're pretty much done. The Benadryl pill . . . that's a completely different story. She has to sit down, and then, time to lean her head all the way back, open her mouth, and drop the pill as far down her throat as possible. Then, the fun begins. I gotta keep her mouth closed so she will swallow the pill, and then I gotta feed her treats right away so that the pill will stay down.

As hard as this might sound, it is a walk in the park compared to trying to give medicines to a cat . . . that is an ordeal.

Allergies and the Vet

Honey's right eye waters whenever there are the right kind of allergens in the air. It happens for a bit, and then her eye is normal again.

For the past couple of weeks, her eye has been more sensitive to light than usual, and has been watering non stop. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that her eyelids were swollen and that the hair around her eyelid was thinning, due to scratching. I called the vet and set up the appointment, as I feared that she might have scratched her cornea or worse yet, had an eye infection.

Ron was home the day of the appointment, and so we both took her to the veterinary office. As usual, she was shaking so hard that she was vibrating when we got into the office, and she kept wanting to get off the examination table when the nurse was doing her work. By the time the doctor arrived, Honey was more nervous than ever. I think having Ron there made her feel even more nervous, her canine thoughts being, "Both of them are here! It must be serious."

The vet arrived to check on her eye, and being the gentle dog Honey is, she let the doc check the eye out. The vet wanted to check and make sure Honey had not scratched her cornea, so she left the room to get some stuff to check the cornea. When she returned, armed with a couple of containers in hand, Honey buried her face between my arm and side. The doctor said, "Now, that's a bright dog."

The examination was pretty neat. The doc put a clear fluid in her eye, turned off the lights, and then shone a blue light to her eye. The fluid was now optical green, and the doc didn't find a single scratch in her eye, as the fluid would have pooled and thickened on any scratch.

Bottom line: For the next week or so, she is getting steroids in her eye twice a day, and she needs to swallow an adult Benadryl pill twice a day. Her eye is looking better, and she can see from both eyes again.