Conner

It's been an emotional roller coaster of a week. It's a really long story but to be short Conner wasn't feeling well last Friday night, so we took him into the vet on Saturday am. I didn't think he was really that sick, and was shocked to hear his results. He had a nerve pinched in his back and it was cause by a disease called IDD (Intervertebral Disk Disease). It's where the vertebraes start growing together and eventually lead to rear paralysis. The vet didn't know how long it would take. Could be months, could be years. For now Conner was on strict bed rest and pain killers. After 2 week he should be feeling better but will have to live a limited active lifestyle (ummm do you know my dog??) As you can imagine, Justin and I were devastated. You know in your head that your dog won't be around forever, but Conner's only 8. I figured he had a few more good years in him.

We got through the weekend and Conner didn't appear to be feeling much better. Most the times when he'd start to walk, his nerve would pinch and he'd freeze in place while his whole body started to shake. I felt so bad for him. Come Monday morning Justin is telling a co-worker about the situation. The co-workers knows of a great animal chiropractor and next thing I know we're bringing in Conner. Who knew they had such and thing and only my family would figure that out. We should be deemed poster children for Eastern Medicine.

I was hopeful but still skeptical. I'd love to say after the appointment Conner was frolicking but that wasn't quite the case. However he did seem to be feeling better. He was walking much better last night and there was even some tail wagging. The chiro adjusted him in 8 places and seemed to think with regular maintenance he will be ok. It's amazing to me the different prognosis the 2 different doctors have given us. I have a million unanswered questions but for now I'm hopeful that Conner will be ok and be able to live a normal dog lifestyle. We go back again next week and hope for more good news. Send good doggy thoughts our way!

Birthday Wishes

Happy 7th Birthday to my peanut!!

It was meant to be

I was reading my baby name book this morning on the way to work (on my new nook!). The book is categorized into chapters by the meaning of the names. I was reading the chapters on animal meanings. As I was reading through the boys names I thought to myself, wouldn't it be funny if Conner meant dog. I pushed the button for the next page and at the top was...

Connor (Irish) "dog lover" Conner, Conor, Konner, Konnor.

How funny is that???

Conner shares his love

Sorry to whoever ate that corner of the cake...

You know you pay your vet too much when...

the reminder checkup card has a picture of YOUR dog on it. Super cute but wow really?

Xmas Outfit

Conner came home from daycare last week with a new Xmas accessory. So cute! Merry Christmas!!

Squeaky

My new favorite commercial. I'm not sure whether it's my memory of Conner running away every time we called him or my soft spot for shorthairs but either way it hits close to home.

Doggie Fears

Conner has been known to have a few irrational fears. Including but not limited to balloons, big exercise balls, tongs, and thunder (maybe that last one is legit). Over the weekend we discovered a new one: Bacon. Yes that is right. Bacon. The delicious meat that most dogs would go crazy for. In our house you cook it up and he is no where to be found. At first we thought it was the noise of the bacon sizzling in the pan but tonight Justin made it in the microwave and once again Conner was gone. I found him here:



Hiding in his kennel in the garage refusing to come out. And note how far his poor little tail is tucked.


I was finally able to lure him out with a treat. Can anyone figure out why he's so scared of bacon? Lets just say that maybe a few times while cooking it the smoke alarm has gone off and apparently he associates the smell with that. Oops! Better watch my cooking.

The Kids

Who can resist cute animals?

Zoey saying "Hello!"


Conner helping finish off a grasshopper. He looks a little guilty...

The life of a dog

Every morning when I get out of the shower this is what I see:




Conner, do you really have it so rough that you need to sleep on Mom's pillow? I thought dogs were supposed to like the floor. :P

In the spirit of Christmas...

Conner must've been a good boy this year! He got his first Xmas card in the mail last week from his daycare. It even included 2 pet emergency stickers to put on our window! So nice. And last night one of the neighbor boys, Eli, came over and gave him his first Xmas present. Eli has been in love/fascinated with Conner ever since he was born. Before he could walk, he would sit and watch Conner's every move. As soon as he become mobile he tried to chase and keep up with Conner or help throw his ball. So it was no surprise last night whenever we tried to ask him a question he'd only squeal out The Puppy!! or Conner!!! And what did Conner get? Tennis balls of course for Eli to throw when the weather is nice again. I'm not sure which of them was more excited. Thanks Eli!!

Follow up: This morning we get a text that said Eli woke up and wanted to go to Conner's house to play. awww come on over, Conner will be waiting!

Conner showing off this unwrapping skills.


Merry Christmas to everyone!! Hope you have a wonderful couple of days!

Happy Halloween!

Conner got his Halloween bandanna from his day care lady, Tory. So thoughtful!! He actually doesn't mind wearing it either. We gotta wish everyone an early Happy Halloween as Justin and I will be in New York City on Friday. We're heading out Thursday and returning on Monday. Not sure if there will be any time for blogging while I'm there so if not look for a long one when I return!

More Conner

I had some requests for pictures of the doggie sunday so here it is! Just a tip to anyone who gets an ice cream cone at Lake Harriet - get it in a dish!! We each got a cone with a single scoop and it was the biggest scoop I have ever seen. We had to do some marathon licking just to keep it from dripping all over so I couldn't get a picture of how big they really were. So good though!

Conner's doggie harness for the convertible.


Justin scrambling to eat his cone.


My cone after I got it under control. It was about double that size to begin with.


Doggie Sunday


Conner enjoying it.


All in all I think Conner had a good bday. His daycare lady even gave him a box of treats as a present. awww.

5 years of Conner

Happy Birthday to my little boy!! Yes that's right, Conner turns 5 today. Now I know this might sound crazy but Justin and I have a tradition of taking Conner to Lake Harriet on his birthday. They have a "doggy" sunday at the pavilion which is made up of ice cream and topped with milk bones. Conner loves it. So tonight we will be headed that way. Anyone is welcome to join for the celebration. We won't make you wear a hat. ;)

Trip down memory lane. Conner over the past 5 years...

Meeting his sister.


Just a little guy


After the first surgery.


Big nose.


All cuddled up.

Conner Update

Thanks for everyone's concerns and questions about Conner! He's doing better today. We took him into the vet yesterday and they said he was running a fever. They gave him antibiotics, some pain meds and sent him on home. He was mostly his self yesterday just not quite as crazy and could hardly keep his eyes open last night. He did get spoiled yesterday afternoon and spent it with Dad at the office. Lucky dog!

Have a great 4th everyone!!!

The Million Dollar Dog

As most of you know Conner is a wonderful dog, but tends to be a little accident prone. It's not enough that we've replaced both of his back knees, treated him for eating a pack of sugarless "toxic" gum, and had countless other trips to the vet. I think we might be their favorite family. Tonight we are home and discussing what we should have for dinner when I notice Conner doing something really weird with his mouth. It looked liked he had something stuck in his gums, so Justin tries to check it out. If dogs can scream, then that's what I heard from Conner as Justin pressed on his cheek. After fussing a bit we got his mouth open and see that his top left canine tooth (that's the long one) has punctured the inside of his cheek (jowls??) and is stuck inside of it! It didn't go all the way through to the outside thank god, but it looked very painful. If you looked at him from the top, it looked like he had chew in his left cheek. We immediately call the vet and of course they are booked for the night, so we try one close by and they of course were closed. I'm near tears at this point, Conner won't stop playing with his mouth and all he really wants to do is cuddle with his mom. We're about to go to the EP emergency room when Justin takes one more look and it able to pull the tooth out of his cheek. *whew* The day is saved. We still have to take him into the vet tomorrow, make sure there's no infection and see if he needs antibiotics. At least he's not in much pain anymore. He's been recovering all night.