Good news and bad

The bad news is that after 10 days of being just fine, Dionne threw up again last night -- twice.  We think we know why. After all those days of being fine, she made us believe we could let down our guard a bit; we allowed her a few minutes of being out in the backyard off leash yesterday, when Steve was puttering in the garden. She snorfled around in the newly deposited mulch, and as she did so, she must have chewed on (and swallowed) some of it.

Today we gave her no breakfast. For lunch and dinner, she got a ration of plain white rice boiled for a long time with puppy chow (Miss Dionne's new Indigestion Diet), and she's been fine.

Still, we feel discouraged. How can you keep a retriever puppy from ever eating indigestible objects? Never allow her to leave her kennel off-leash? All our retriever pups in the past somehow managed to eat indigestible objects without throwing up (until they grew out of the habit.) I'm beginning to resign myself to seeking professional advice, either from CCI or from our vet.

The GOOD news (I think?!) is that Miss Ella arrived this morning for her three-day stay with us. This is very good news for Dionne (and Ella, we think). Tucker also has been excited, more eager to play than we've seen him in some time.


For us it has already become clear that Ella's presence will crank up our canine work load a bit. Within an hour or two of arriving, she peed on one of our carpets, the first such accident we've seen around her for many weeks.  It reminded us that we don't know her habits, as we now know Dionne's. We need to take both of them out for frequent toileting breaks.


Watching them romp and tussle with and chew on each other already has been amusing (even though I was under a professional deadline, which gave me limited time to sit and enjoy the jolly fun.) They only conked out on the carpet in my office a few minutes ago (after 8 p.m.)

My expectation is that over the next two and a half days, I'll have more time, and that will enable me to enjoy the doggy circus more.  Whether I do or not, I'm certain Dionne will enjoy it.