We took Teddy to visit the OSU vet hospital last Thursday because he was having an issue with his incision. It turned out to be a type of staph infection, which should be cleared up with some antibiotics. They also removed all but 4 of his staples, leaving them in where the infected area is. He was also outfitted with a nifty little stretchy net "shirt" which securely holds gauze pads in place over the seeping infection. Not only does it look adorable (my opinion), it works much better than the cast-off t-shirts of Art's that we were using, as they caught the seepage, but they also probably distributed oozing staph all over the house. So, good call on the stretch fabric! His new duds also show off his new svelte post-mass shape.

We also learned what kind of cancer caused that giant mass. It was not hemangiosarcoma, which was predicted to be the problem because it is so commonly found on the spleen, in dogs of a certain age, and in Golden Retrievers. It turned out to be myxosarcoma, which is apparently very unusual to find on the spleen. We won't know how this diagnosis applies to Teddy's case until we meet with the oncology department on Tuesday, but you just know I had to look it up online. From what I can gather, it seems like this puts Teddy in a better position than having hemangiosarcoma. Now it's more like, "we got it out, and we'll consider some follow up treatment," as opposed to "get your affairs in order and enjoy the next 90 days." So, we are cautiously optimistic, and we are looking forward to learning more on Tuesday. One thing is for certain:  You can never trust cancer.

I suppose our goal remains the same: to make each day really special, and to make him feel loved all the time. That's always our goal, with or without cancer!

We feel fortunate that it doesn't seem as devastating as it could be. Unfortunately, we know of someone who recently received the other kind of news about his cancer. It is hard to celebrate our cancer "victory" (I'm not sure that is the correct term) while he struggles on. He is a child from our church community, and he has been fighting his battle for years (and he's only 6 or 7 years old.) Despite the non-stop efforts of he and his family, his news was of the devastating variety, and it is heartbreaking. 

I know that Teddy would change places with him if such a thing were possible. 

Teddy's home! He had his surgery yesterday and was able to come home this evening. He seems to be feeling good, and I know he has to be feeling better given that he is now several pounds lighter following removal of that nasty mass, and his spleen. When he arrived at the OSU vet hospital, he weighed 86.6 pounds, and tonight he weighs his normal 72 to 73 pounds. (So we truly were NOT feeding him milkshakes and Oreos.) He is tired and looking forward to some chicken that is cooling on the kitchen counter (as is Maggie.)

As I write this, he is sprawled out on the floor behind me, and I can hear him gently snoring. What a sweet sound... 

Check him out when he got home, with his "power band" legwarmers (holding bandages where his IVs were) and his OSU bandanna, a complimentary parting gift from the fine folks at the vet hospital:

We will hear pathology results sometime in the following week, so we'll keep hoping and praying. For now, we are grateful to have him home with us again, and we are grateful that he is much more comfortable. Thank you Ohio State! I have said this before, when Sophie was being treated there, but we are so  lucky to have a top veterinary hospital practically in our back yard. Go Bucks!

We received some difficult news about our sweet Teddy this weekend: He has large mass in his abdomen, probably on his spleen, and it has to come out tomorrow (Monday). We took him to the vet on Saturday, asked for an x-ray, and there it was. We then had to take him immediately to The Ohio State University, which is just across town, but seemed so far away given the seven inches of snow that was still falling at the time of transport. Teddy remains at OSU in intensive care until tomorrow morning. We thought they would operate immediately, but the vets at OSU thought he was stable enough to await a full surgical team on Monday. We had to leave him in their care until then because the mass could rupture, and then all bets would be off if he were at home. It could be cancerous, or not, and we won't know until it is biopsied. So, it has been a stressful weekend, and tomorrow will be a difficult day of waiting and hoping. So, if you are so inclined, think of our good boy, Teddy, and say a little prayer for him, and us, that God might smile on us all tomorrow. Let us hope that a really good dog gets to come home to the people who love him.

We love you Teddy!

Or, Happy Hallowiener ...

OK, I admit it...it's more like Unhappy Hallowiener.

So, how did we celebrate? Well, celebratory bandannas must be worn, of course. Then, Saturday morning started with a car ride, which resulted in an egg McMuffin (without Canadian bacon--we all go meat-free on the McMuff), which Teddy generously shared with Maggie. Then there was lots of nap time and yard play, until dinner, which involved lots of special tastes in the dinner bowl, followed by a special dessert....followed by the usual rawhide chew....followed by the usual evening walk...(so this is what Art was talking about....)

On Sunday afternoon, upon Teddy's request, we took a pile of soft, washable rugs to the Franklin County Dog Shelter so the shelter dogs can have something soft to sleep on. Teddy likes to give on his birthday, and he has always had a soft spot for shelter dogs since he so easily could have become one. He also remembers Sophie so fondly, and she came to us from a shelter. While we were there, we saw our friend Nancy, who was dutifully walking a series of shelter dogs. She's an impressive dog lover--totally putting that love into action. Thanks for that, Nancy.

Before we left the shelter, we stopped by the Friends of the Shelter store in the lobby and bought a toy for Teddy's birthday (of course), and a "Shop for a Cause" pass for Macy's. If you are local (Columbus) and you need/want to shop at Macy's on Aug. 23rd (that's this Saturday), you should stop by the shelter and pick up one of these passes. For a $5 donation, all of which goes to Friends of the Shelter, you get a pass that gives you 25% off all regular, sale and clearance priced items (except electrics, watches, furniture, mattresses, and rugs--those are 10% off) all day, and it even includes designer brands that are not usually included in Macy's coupons. Whether you use the shopping pass or not, you're still giving $5 to Friends of the Shelter. I'm not sure whether I'll use the pass or not, but it's almost fall, and I do start thinking about boots this time of year...

So, I hope you had a nice birthday, Teddy! I can't believe my Little Yellow Puppy, who grew into my Big Yellow Dog, is now 10 years old! Love you love you love you!

I know! And things have been really busy. Since the last post, there was Thanksgiving, and an open house. Congrats to Charlie C. on winning the drawing for a free mini portrait, and to Nancy K. for winning a pair of paw print earrings. Whaaat? Free stuff? Yeah. If you like that idea, be sure to get added to my mailing list so if I have an open house next year, you can come and enter the drawing for stuff. Then after that it was my birthday, and then it was Christmas, and then we had a nice celebration for my dad's birthday in January. 85! And there were lots of portraits to be done in between. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some photos to show you what's been going on....

Have you seen my tennis ball? The yellow one...I feel like stripping the rest of the fuzz off of it, then biting it 'til it busts almost in half. I started the process a few days ago and lost interest, but today's the day I'm gonna finish it off. I'm just in that kind of mood...

"The yellow tennis ball? I just saw Maggie with that..."

Maggie has it? That's funny!! What would Maggie do with a tennis ball? Tennis balls are retriever things...it's in our blood, the whole retrieving thing...carrying stuff with our soft mouths. Tearing the fuzz off is my own twist on the habit, but definitely still a 'triever thing. Maggie's a dachshund, and a mini one at that. She would probably need a mini tennis ball to even get it in her mouth, but she would probably just look at it, anyway.

OH MY GIANT POODLE! Maggie has my tennis ball! And what is she doing to it?? She's pulling the fuzz off of it, then nibbling the rubber part into tiny bits! Not fair! She doesn't RESPECT THE BALL...Where's the tradition in a dachshund destroying a tennis ball??

It's painful to watch, yet I cannot look away.....

Finally! ...but now there's only a half left, and what's left is all spitty and wet, and not in a good way...

Never mind. I'm over it...

"Teddy...I scraped up your tennis ball. You're not going to l like it. Sorry, buddy. I'll get you a new one at the store. Here...have a piece of cheese...better?"

I'm okay. Cheese makes everything better, but could you keep Maggie away from my sock monkey?

Teddy loves to be outside, regardless of the weather. I often wonder if our neighbors think it's sad we make our dog stay outside in cold, windy, snowy weather, but we don't make him go out at all (except for necessary business). Much of the time we would prefer he stay in because it's a lot of work sometimes to dry his paws/underside/legs. He seems to forget that he has four paws. He sits patiently while we dry the first three, then he's done. So we're left wrestling with the fourth paw while he's wanting to walk away. That's why you should always go for the dirtiest paw first...Here he is basking in winter's chill:

He finally decided to come back in, leaving a warm little silhouette on the deck. You would have never, ever caught Sophie doing that!

Teddy's looking swell in his new collar. Handsome boy!

I've been using much of my time making room for and setting up some new tools and equipment for jewelry making, including a laser printer (for transferring designs to a special kind of paper which is then transferred to metal to act as a resist for etching), a roll mill (for rolling metal and making designs in it by pressing a metal plate into the silver or copper), and a light box, which will hopefully help me take some better (at least acceptable) photos of the jewelry I make. Lots of things need some general organization, too, including my jewelry desk and the drawing table I use for pastels. Organizing isn't my strong point, but I'm distracted when it isn't done, so it's a must....at least I have to try. For a while. 

We had a good Christmas. Especially Teddy. Here's the evidence:

I hope you had a good holiday, too. 

We missed being able to indulge Sophie this Christmas, and we always miss her sweet presence (and her willingness to wear a Santa hat.) By the way, not all of Teddy's gifts were from us. My brother and his wife gave Teddy some of them. Unfortunately, they were the ones that took the harshest treatment. But Teddy thoroughly enjoyed them, and the orange octopus has been re-stuffed (which will only be temporary, I'm sure.) Anyway, we wanted to do something in remembrance of Sophie, since this was the first Christmas without her. So, we donated a bed to the Richland County Dog Shelter in Mansfield, where we found her and adopted her just over eight years ago. I wondered how it would work, as there was a link on the shelter's website, and the bed ships there directly from the manufacturer. It turned out that it worked really well, and I received the nicest acknowledgment message from the shelter the very next day. I'd like to share it with you, just in case it may motivate you to send a bed to a shelter you know about. Here's the email I received:


Dear Dana,

We received word from Kuranda that you and your husband are donating a Kuranda bed in memory of your precious Sophie who you had adopted from the shelter 8 years ago. Please accept our heartfelt sympathies for your sweet Sophie. She is lucky to have had your love and care for those 8 wonderful years and I am sure you feel the same way about Sophie.

That is quite touching that you want to reach out to another dog at the shelter and make their stay a little bit more bearable with a comfortable bed while they wait for that special someone to adopt them. Thank you for being so considerate and so generous. The dogs truly do love these Kuranda beds and they are very well made and durable.

Whenever you are ready to start looking for another family member, please let us know if we can help you in any way.

Thank you again for wanting to help our shelter. That is such a wonderful tribute to Sophie and we appreciate your kindness more than you know.

Susan Kochheiser
for all the dogs at Richland County Dog Shelter




I really appreciated that, and I did respond to her. Just in case you ever want to donate a bed, check the website of the shelter you have in mind, as it probably has a link to Kuranda on it. If it doesn't, just visit www.kuranda.com and go from there. I hope that makes my little Sophie smile. We wanted to do something in her memory that had a lasting impact, so I hope that very soon a dog at the Richland County Dog Shelter is a little more comfortable thanks to Sophie.