Saturday, June 11, 2011

Give me a break !

Yesterday I took Sooki and Buffy to Hartlen Point.  They chased each other along the shore.  Ate stinky chunks of seaweed and rolled on even stinkier unidentified rotting, detrius.  


They were having a lot of fun.

From this point at Hartlen you can see Tom's love
note on the rock and Devil's Island in the distance

Buffy and Sooki found a bit of a path in the boggy underbrush and disappeared up it.  I meandered along the rocky shore, searching for sea glass, smooth small stones and interesting shells.

Suddenly there was a bark -- then another -- then a flurry of barks rising in tone and occasionally a pause, a "YIPE!" sorta bark then another flurry of barks.

I called them -- of course they did not come.

I couldn't get to where they were as it was too wet and overgrown.

My calls became louder and more insistent.

And then I spied it in a small grove of stunted evergreens -- a full-sized porcupine galloping up a tree !

Damn.  Damn.  DAMN !

  

Double damn !



Later that same evening, Kaitlyn, two of her friends and I attempted to wrap in a blanket, pin down and pull quills from two dogs that fought us every inch of the way.

We managed to get out the external quills (by 1:30 am!) but there were still a couple of quills stuck under tongues or between lip and gum.

The next morning I threw myself on the mercy of our veterinarian.


The vet examined the dogs and gave me an estimate for the quill removal which would involve the use of an easily reversed anesthetic.

When I picked the dogs up a few hours later, the bill had been revised down by over $100 as the vet knew I was short of funds !    Wow.  They'd given me a break -- how often does that happen ?

Walking home poor Sooki was woosey.  While Buffy walked ahead, Sooki dragged behind, occasionally sleepily weaving into the cub.  Finally I stopped to let her have a rest in the shade on a neighbour's lawn. Her legs folded under her and she was immediately asleep.


I'm not so sure the anesthetic had been fully reversed.

While Buffy is clearly feeling better as she's harassing Wendy with a ball and trying to get her to play, Sooki has gone downstairs to sleep with Kait for the night.

Here's hoping she's back to her normal self tomorrow.

7 comments:

  1. OMG! You'd think your dogs would learn. But then I say that about my "beloved spouse". Thank goodness you have a very understanding vet. Hope they both get better soon.
    ITC-1

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  2. Oh no, not again! Poor doggies. Silly daft doggies. Poor you. Poor bank account. Nice vet! Can't wait to get over there, it looks lovely in the summer. Apart from the dog-noses! xxxxx

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  3. I'm not sure why dogs never learn to avoid porcupines when they can become so terrified of a vacuum cleaner. Hope the pups are feeling better!

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  4. Oh, poor pups.. bad luck Sybs... hope that is the last time ever..
    xo j.

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  5. ITC-1 -- I am surprised to hear that your spouse chases porcupines.

    Lynne -- Daft buggers is right !

    Farmhousestories - Buffy see the vacuum as a sparring partner and must be made to sit when I'm vacuuming. Luckily that rarely happens. I'm a slob.

    Julie -- I keep changing the location of places I take them off leash and the choices are fewer.

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  6. Poor thing. We've always had a dog...one for 12 years and one for 13 but after the last one we decided to opt out of getting another one. It's much easier when you want to go away for a few days. I sometimes miss the company but I do not miss the run ins with skunks or porcupines.

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  7. Marisa, I certainly would not miss the vet bills. ;-)

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