ruby_tuesday tender_square my parents have officially joined e_o_i’s parents in the new puppy club (see "shiloh"). on tuesday, they drove out to a kennel in orangeville and picked up their new bundle of floof, a german shepherd princess who comes from the same bloodline of our previous beloved pets. betty and wilma were two sisters we adopted from a litter when i was eighteen and they were with us for many years. my parents tearfully put them both down in their home, after feeding them bits of roast beef, petting them as they fell asleep for the last time side by side. they came into the world together and left it together. i didn’t think my parents would ever own another german shepherd again, they were devastated. for a while, my mom talked of getting a smaller breed, but then she got accustomed to a house where every surface wasn’t permeated by dog hair. my younger sister’s dog, lebowski, so often spends time at their place that it has felt like they were pup (grand)parents again. but then my dad got diagnosed with alzheimer’s and now my mom doesn’t feel as safe in their home as she once did. they can’t spend their retirement travelling as they hoped to because my father needs familiar surroundings and routines. mom suggested a dog as a way of giving them purpose each day, but also wants to train it in becoming a therapy animal for my dad when things get tougher. they had been tossing around a few names. lupa, essentially “she-wolf” in italian. then, many variations of the name grace in other languages (for my grandmother). for a while my mom debated stella, just so she could yell the name like stanley kowalski. but then breeder called them early to come pick a dog from a recent litter and they realized their new family member would arrive tuesday. and so they named her ruby. 220427 ... kerry ruby is a great name. i know a ruby; she's wriggly and smoochy and trips over her own paws. i hope your parents are happy with their new bundle of floof! 220427 ... tender_square thanks kerry! it's going to be a month before i get to meet her and i know she's already going to be so big by then. p.s. i love the way you write about your beloved louie. "trick_knee" was the cutest blathe ever. hope his injured paw heals quickly. 220428 ... e_o_i Seconding that Ruby is a pretty name! A jewel and a colour and a programming language. I hope your parents enjoy the puppy! 220429 ... tender_square ruby ingested something she can't pass; it's lodged in her stomach. the vet tried to massage the spot that the x-ray found, and prescribed a bunch of pills and a liquid that had to be ingested over the next few hours to see if it would pass. ruby couldn't keep anything down earlier, so there was nothing in her system, and she didn't drink water. mom slept on the couch all night so she could hear if ruby cried and was having an accident. this morning, ruby has to go in for surgery. 230215 ... e_o_i Uyyy, that sounds stressful! I hope they fix whatever's stuck and that Ruby has a quick recovery. (On the shelf my dad keeps a row of small stones that Shiloh's either thrown up or pooped out. It's a little mystifying why he ever thought rocks would be edible.) 230215 ... tender_square still no surgery. the vet has been keeping ruby under observation, giving her injections of some kind of medication that is allowing the blockage to move through her body. last night she ate food and kept it down. she continues to eat today. so far, she hasn't gone to the bathroom; the blockage hasn't moved to the large intestine yet. now the vet is 70% sure he may not have to operate. if she vomits her food, though, he will. here's hoping little (big) rubinator pulls through. (and thanks for the thoughts, red fam.) 230216 ... tender_square ruby's back home sans surgery; she didn't end up needing it, thankfully. after a lot of careful observation from the vet, she was able to keep and pass food through her system and got a clean bill of health. we're all so relieved. 230217 ... e_o_i That is a relief! I'm glad she's doing OK. I've had similar scares with the family-adjacent pup, although I'm not the primary carer-person. 230217 what's it to you? who go blather from