Back to the Beach

We went back to the beach today for the first time since the "toe incident" last week. Abby was more than ready to go back after four days sans-beach! The first day went OK, because we were busy - she had to go to her oncologist appointment and then we went to visit our friend Mazli, plus we had our little Arby's picnic at the park, so all that tired her out. Day Two was OK as well - she was a little tired from the pain meds and content enough with just a wee walk in the neighborhood and a photo shoot (she always enjoys a bit of modeling):

"How cute am I?"

Is this what they mean by "get a long little doggy"?

Chilling & watching mama make dinner

But, by day three she'd had enough laying around! She took her frustrations out on Barney, starting with turning him into a tripawd:

Day Four she turned him into a uni-pawd with a purple colostomy bag. (That little bag actually holds the remains of his music-box-innards. Luckily we no longer have to hear that song!)

So today I pretty much had to take her back to the beach or there's no telling what she might have chewed next. Here is a very short video to show that she was feeling fine. (Ignore my high squeaky voice... In fact, you might want to turn the volume down so it doesn't pierce your ear drum...)

It was pretty quiet at first, as you can see from the mostly empty beach in the video, but we did run into some of her friends later and she had a good time playing. She did stumble once on some of the softer, deeper sand, so I think her toe might still hurt a wee bit, but she is not about to let it slow her down. I wish she would be a little more careful with herself, but that is not part of her plan.

One last little thing - remember Lylee, the Tripawd Warrior Princess with her pink cape who I mentioned in my last post? Well, we found out last night that she is the lucky latest stop on the continuing Kill Barney Tour. Check out the link for some cute pics of her and her Monkeybutt siblings with the box o' Barney. [If you missed it, I explained Monkeybutts here.]

Thanks for reading and for the well wishes for Abby!

I Love You, You Love Me...

Probably any of you out there with children of a certain age will recognize today's blog title as the first line of Barney's insipid number one hit (which is pretty lame for many reasons, but mainly because he ripped off the music from This Old Man. Come on, Barney! Write your own music, you loser!).

Having no children (at least of the non-furry variety) I never really knew the Barney song. But I know it intimately now. We got Abby her very own used Barney through Amazon and I would have ordered a different one if I'd realized they were sending us one that sings the whole of the I Love You song! Actually, I should say "sang" the I Love You song, because luckily Abby has already chewed on him enough that his music box is now just deadweight in his stomach.

Sadly, he's not as stinky.

"Mmmm. Barney tail."

She gave him the exact same tooth surgery as the last Barney. (Still not safe, Barney.)

"Could I have that back, please?" (Abby was impatient with my photo-shooting.)

He actually came with an extra "Beanie" Barney that they threw in for free. (Guess there's not a lot of demand for Barney, so they can give him away... Those people probably bought that Beanie Barney back in the heyday of both Barney and Beanies, which according to wikipedia was ~1993 for both, thinking "Man, this is going to be worth something someday!") Anyway, the extra Barney is good for when she totally mangles the first one!

Whoohoo! Two-for-one Barneys!

Ever since she got Spirit Jerry's Barney in the mail--which was actually addressed to her--she now thinks that any package that arrives is hers. Mike got some sunglasses in the mail the other day, and she was all over it while he was opening the box:

"Is that for me??"

"I thought so!"

"I don't know who sent this, but it's awesome!"

I guess since she likes to chew the boxes, all the packages really are for her.


Anyway, back to Barney. If you are dying to know the whole Barney song, it goes like this (remember, to the tune of This Old Man): "I love you; you love me. We're a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?"

Here is what Barney looks after just a few days of living with Abby.

I can see into your brain, Barney. And there ain't much there.

He no longer asks her if she loves him too. I think he has his answer.

Thanks for reading.

Oh, P.S. My sis and I felted some corgis today. Thought I'd show off how cute they came out!
 
P.P.S. I can now say where we sent the original Barney on to... He went to Chili Dawg in Illinois. You can read about Chili's adventures with Barney here (in Chili's words; quite amusing) and here (in Chili's mom's words). The second blog has some good pics of what all comes along in the box with Barney!

Adios Barney... And a Funny Incident

Today we said goodbye to Barney. Before we could mail him on his way, I had to fix him up. Here he is after I tended to his wounds:

I thought he might appreciate the Tylenol PM--hopefully keep him knocked out for the long ride to his next stop (which has to remain a secret for now as per the official Kill Barney Tour rules... Yes, there are actual rules for this thing, and I am nothing if not a rule follower.)

I wanted to also take a picture of him with his mementos from the zoo that we added to his box of treasures. While I was preoccupied with the camera, you can just see a little fuzzy head sneak up into the picture and make one last attempt at him.

Abby certainly did try to live up to the name of the Kill Barney Tour. She definitely had the spirit of the thing, but, poor her, her mom wouldn't let her really kill him.

I also thought I'd tell you about a stupid/funny thing that I did yesterday.

Abby does so well on three legs that (unless I hear her hopping along) I sometimes forget that she is missing that leg. Sometimes I'll come around the corner and see her standing there and just go, "Oh man." You sort of forget, for like half a second. Well, yesterday when we got back from the beach, we went to the front yard to rinse the sand off her feet like we always do. I was on her "good side" hosing her feet off, and I did the back two and then the front - and then I hosed the space where her other leg ought to have been. Yeah. Felt a little stupid about that. I've heard of phantom limb pain, but never phantom limb washing. It's been almost 10 months, so you'd think I'd really get it by now! But I guess that is just a testament to our fuzzy little girl, who sure doesn't act like she is missing anything!

Gosh. Don't know what I'll blog about in the future, now that Barney's gone. Hopefully I'll think of something! Thanks for reading.

Abby: Bringing the Hurt on Barney

Abby finally got her chance to kill barney. It took us a week to get him fully lulled into a false sense of security. There was the spa day, the trip to the zoo, and then Abby and I took him to her favorite spot - Fiesta Island. I confess I was worried about taking him there, lest some OTHER dog grab him and run off and get the joy of killing him (tragedy!) but it was a fairly quiet day there and I mostly kept him hidden in my backpack (which he didn't seem to mind, but remember - he's a total moron.)

He played lifeguard

First, he enjoyed the view

Personally, I think Abby makes a cuter lifeguard, but Barney wanted to give it a go. (He said he wanted to pretend he was David Hasselhoff in Bay Watch. He made us call him "The Hoff" the rest of the day. Moron.)


Then the time finally came to sit Barney down and clue him in:

Admittedly, she was a little slow to get into it. But after a few more nibbles on him, she really started to develop a taste for him. She chewed:

His nose...

His side

The spots on his back

His hand

His hiney (she's actually chewing his tag off here...)

His tail

His stinky feet

 She got so into chewing him that I decided to video a bit more:

And then it was time to save Barney so that some other Tripawd could try to kill him.

"I'm not done with that!"

"Hey, where you going with that thing??"

 I documented his wounds.

Small hole in left butt cheek

Big hole in mouth, small hole in left big toe

I now have to sew him up good and get him looking presentable to go off to the next Tripawd home. Abby is very sad to see him go... but we ordered her her very own used Barney from Amazon yesterday. She can't wait for it to get here so she can kill it!

Why the Dino?? (& Abby Stuff)

Thought I would take a short break from the actual events of this stop on the Kill Barney Tour (KBT) to 'splain a little bit more about Barney and what the KBT is all about. I explained it a bit a while ago, but folks may have missed that, and also I didn't explain what I think Barney means to the Tripawds community.

The very same Barney that we are now hosting once belonged to Jerry, who is now known on the Tripawds site as Spirit Jerry since he's no longer with us in the flesh. Jerry was the Original Tripawd--the dog that inspired his pawrents to start the Tripawds site. Jerry has been gone since 2008, but his spirit lives on in the Tripawds community, which has been a really amazing place to go for support and answers during all of this. Everyone on there is very nice and very helpful - and some of them are damn funny.

Which brings us back to the KBT. If I'm counting stops correctly on the KBT map, we are the 25th house to host Barney. Barney travels with a journal and everyone who has hosted him writes about their tripawd pooch and a little bit about Barney's visit. Here is what one woman wrote, which I think sums up nicely why we are all spending time doing silly things with a stinky purple dinosaur:

"I cannot begin to express my gratitude over this Barney. I believe he carries strength from all the tripawd and quad-pawds he's visited. He has been a great source of comfort to us during his visit."

Here's what I'm planning to write in his journal:

"It’s been an honor to host Barney. The Tripawds family has been so great and supportive and it’s nice to have something tangible we can all share that brings a good laugh along with it. Barney is a great symbol for sharing our strengths, our hopes and even a laugh in the face of tough times."

So hopefully that explains why a grown woman is playing with a stuffed dino. It's nice to bring a little silliness to the sucky roller coaster ride that is canine osteosarcoma. I mean, really, how can you not look at something like this and at least crack a smile?

In other news (many of you will already know this from Facebook)... remember this drawing I did of Abby?

Well, the Tripawds folks are putting it on T-shirts and gifts and such, and you can customize the items with your own caption. I ordered a bunch of stuff today, most of it with the caption: Tri to relax. Can't wait to get it!

He's Heeeeere!

...which she immediately started to destroy

Last time I posted it was the day before Abby's 2nd birthday. Before we get to the Big News, here's a quick run down of her extended birthday celebrations in photos:

On her bday, she got a new toy...

The next day, she got ANOTHER new toy - this one from her Aunt Terry...

...and she did not want to give it up!

The *next* day, she got a new bone.

Have to be creative when chewing these!

 

THEN... she got a box full of goodies...

...including Barney!

Yes! The Kill Barney Tour has arrived in San Diego! A shout out to the Oaktown Pack for sending Barney our way, and especially to Codie Rae (who is a star tripawd and seen in a real live music video. She is kinda a Big Deal and is Abby's idol.) You may recall I blogged back in June about how we were Begging for Barney, [and if you don't recall, you may want to check that post out because it explains all this Barney stuff...) and now he's here!

Barney has been to see a lot of Tripawds and he's getting a bit...odiferous. Abby gave him a very thorough sniffing.

She sniffed him ALL over.

And then she started to eat him.

 Now, it is the KILL Barney Tour, but I have plans for him first... so I had to get him away from her:

 Then I had to put him up where she couldn't get him:

He travels with a box full of goodies - some memorabilia from all the places he's been, plus a diary that journals his travels. There is also a stamp pad to add your tripawd's paw print into the journal. Haven't done that yet.... Should be interesting. Anyway, the stuff he travels with is getting pretty stinky too, so here is Abby looking for Barney - in vain - amongst his accoutrement:

Here's the thing... I don't think we should just leap right in and kill him. I think we should lull him into a false sense of security. And THEN kill him. Remember that scene in Marathon Man when Dustin Hoffman THINKS he's being rescued by William Devane... but then William Devane just drives him right back to Laurence Olivier for more torture?? Well, think of me as William Devane, Abby as Sir Laurence, and Barney of course will be playing the Dustin Hoffman roll. Is it safe, Barney? Oh yes... he thinks it is!

Here he is having a recovery nap after the Oaktown Pack had their way with him.

Here he is unwinding with a nice massage

And the ultimate in relaxation: a nice long steam shower

He's resting comfortably in the other room right now. Next: we continue to lull him into relaxing and completely letting his guard down with a trip to the zoo. (Heehee. He thinks he's just here to unwind in San Diego; see the sites! Little does he suspect...)

Whaddya think, Barney, is it safe?

Another Ampuversary & Begging for Barney

Today is Abby's 8 month ampuversary! Whoo-hoo! Normally, she gets a Flying Dutchman from In-N-Out to celebrate, but: (a) she just had one a couple of weeks ago to celebrate her daddy's return from his biz trip to Asia (commemorated in the photo here), and (b) yesterday she ate a bird. Yes, an entire bird. Luckily it was a small bird, but she ate it all - beak, feet, feathers, the whole shebang. (And it's the shebang that I'm worried about...) Not sure if she killed it or found it dead... She was rummaging around in one of our bushes and came out with it. We figured she'd have some tummy issues (to put it mildly) last night or today, but so far she seems fine. Anyway, we are kind of waiting to make sure her stomach is OK before loading her up with a Dutchman. In the meantime, she'll at least get a Frosty Paw.

Don't you want to kill him too?

I think Abby ate the bird because she is sharpening her skills in the hopes of participating in the Kill Barney Tour. (I heard once that birds are related to dinosaurs; I assume she heard the same thing.) I only just recently found out about the Tour on the Tripawds site, even though it has apparently been going on since January of 2010. Barney used to be one of Jerry's toys that he loved to hate. (Jerry is the original tri-pawwed pooch who's pack started the Tripawds site. In fact, you may have seen Jerry and not even realize it if you've ever seen the PBS Nature series episode on "Why We Love Cats & Dogs.") Anyway, since the tour began about 18 months ago, Barney has been to 22 different places. He's well-traveled, that Barney. You can even check out the Kill Barney Tour Map and see where all he's been. He's never been to San Diego, so I think it's about time he visits!

So, Abby and I entered our plea on the I Want Barney blog on the Tripawds site. You can read the specifics of what we said here if you are so inclined, but basically Abby offered to show him a good time, let him sink into a false sense of security... and then kill him. I, on the other hand, offered to sew him up so he can go on to the next tripawd who wants to rip apart that insipid little dinosaur. I think we have a shot, but there might be one or two other tripawds who have called dibs ahead of us. If we get Barney, I'll certainly be blogging about it here!

In doing a little research for this post, I found that there is an entire "Anti-Barney Humor" page on Wikipedia. I also learned there that the folks who are behind Barney can't come after you if you use his image in parody. They tried to go after the San Diego Chicken for his attacks of Barney (gotta love YouTube - you can view one such attack here) but lost. 

Finally, I posted a couple of videos of Abby on YouTube, including this one of her playing with her friend, Lola, at Fiesta Island. We went to F.I. today but I didn't bring my camera along. Too bad, because Enzo was there (the little cutie from my previous post) so Abby had a great time wrestling with him. Enzo and Lola are pretty much the only dogs Abby likes to wrestle with anymore, so she was happy to see him today. They are so cute together. Hopefully next time I'll have my video camera!

Thanks for reading everyone. These 8 months have flown by!