Today is Riley's human Aunt Baddy's birthday!  She's 28...whew, I feel better now that I got that out!

First, some pictures from yesterday.  We had our therapy visit at the nursing home yesterday.  I dressed Riley up and we went in and spread good cheer.  Riley even met a Shih Tzu there that she was actually a little unsure about.  They sniffed nose to nose and Riley sort of backed off and the Shih Tzu came following her.  Anyway, it was all good.

Riley just loves all the toys she has by West Paw Design.  They're sort of rubbery feeling but hold up forever (so far Riley's had her two toys for like 9 or 10 months), plus you get a one time replacement guarantee.  Since Riley is getting ready for dinner, this post will be short.

Behold, I give you Riley's Bumi toy.  I call it her "S" so I'll say "bring your S in here...where's your S?"  It gives us the giggles each time.


And here's a video of her shaking the life out of it:

This is what Riley does if Chloe doesn't want to play with her...she just stands and does her "yipping."  Not quite as deep as a bark, not quite as high pitched as a yelp, but high pitched enough to make your nerves tingle.

Sorry this is kind of a long post, but I wanted to be sure to get all my vacation pictures in here.  It was Riley's Aunt "Baddy's Birthday Extravaganza Shopping Trip to Richmond."  Riley stayed home with her Grandpa and did well sleeping with him and Chloe in the bed.

Riley and I are co-hosting the Thankful Fur Three Thursday Blog Hop!  Riley went a little wacko this morning and ran around like a wild dingo playing with Chloe.  Her nail bled some but it has stopped.  Anyway, check out the blog hop!


 Welcome to Thankful FUR 3 Thursday Blog Hop! Why did I create this Thursday blog hop, you ask? Simply put, my three kiddos (Henry, Buster, and Daisy) want to meet three or more friends on their favorite day of the week and I thought their idea was pawsome!

This pet friendly blog hop is for every two-legged and four-legged blogger who wants to meet new and old friends alike. If you are not a fan of blog hops and do not wish to add your link below, we invite you to simply have fun, leave a comment (or not), and meet new bloggers who might strike your fancy.

Here are the guidelines of the Thankful Fur 3 Thursday Blog Hop:

1. We love your pawticipation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we are giving today's Google Friend Connect followers, RSS reader subscribers, and e-mail subscribers a chance to be featured in next Thursday's blog post by doing the following:

a) Become a Google Friend Connect follower or an e-mail subscriber or subscribe in a RSS reader and let us know what type of follower you are. 

b) Leave a comment letting me know that you want to me to post a write-up for next Thursday's Blog Hop. When you comment please let me know what type of follower you are along with your blog address.

2. To join in the Thankful Fur 3 Thursday, include your link in our list and follow The Teacher's Pets, Zona, and Riley the Cattle Dog Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love.

3. When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Thankful FUR 3 Thursday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers for pawticipating, and it’s a win-win situation.

4. Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog too! Just click “GET THE CODE HERE…” at the bottom of the list.

Okay, so I was all excited about the bandage lasting so long and then it ended up being ME that took it off early!  It had gotten wet and was really dirty, so I took it off last night seeing as it was raining today.  The nail still gives me the willies, but it doesn't seem to be hurting her.  We haven't had any bleeding, so that's good.  I'm just warning you that I put a picture of the nail at the bottom of this post.

Since we have a therapy visit on the 29th, I picked up Riley a Halloween T-shirt from Target for $4.99.  It was cheap enough, and I figured what the heck, it might make some people smile.  I tried it on her tonight:

Riley still (unbelievably) has her pink bandage on her paw!  I can't believe it has lasted this long.  We're supposed to keep it on optimally until tomorrow night, but the vet said it could come off after a day as long as it wasn't bleeding.  I'm going to make her leave it on until tomorrow night though because I don't want another crime scene here...blood all over the floors and furniture...  :)

I can tell Riley feels a lot better today.  She kept dropping a ball at my feet and she played with Chloe for a few minutes this morning.  She also played outside today shaking her rope toy, so her bandage is dirty...really dirty.  She's started trying to lick it a little bit today but if I tell her "leave it" she stops.

I decided to wait to call the surgeon until her toe is a little bit better.  One thing at a time.  I'll be gone out of town Friday and Saturday for my sister's annual overnight birthday trip to Richmond, and my mom will be with us, so Riley will be staying home with her Grandpa and Chloe.

Riley had quite a fun day today (sarcasm...).  I took her to the vet this afternoon (of course, she wasn't limping or anything when I took her).  They sedated her to cut the rest of her nail off and decided to do new X-rays of her hips and left knee while she was already sedated.  She's still quite out of it right now but is home resting.  She has a cute little pink bandage on her foot that she already tore off once at the vet.  She hasn't been bothering it since we've been home though.  I have to call the surgeon tomorrow to see if they want to do anything about her hips or knee.  I can see no one's getting Christmas presents this year...!  No crate rest for now at least.  Here are some pictures:

Riley will definitely be going to the vet tomorrow.  She pulled the rest of her nail off with her teeth herself...good thing too, because it was beginning to give me the willies!  So I think she's good on the nail front but she has been limping around on both of her hips--usually it's just her left hip she limps a little on but today it's been her right hip mainly.  And her limp usually isn't this severe.  It may be surgery time.  I sure hope not, for her sake mainly.

Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated after the vet visit tomorrow.  I'm foreseeing--gasp--crate rest in the near future.  Shoot us both now!

Riley has been surprisingly (and pathetically) chilled out the last few days.  Despite taking Tramadol for her broken nail, her left hip seemed to be really bothering her yesterday.  She was limping worse than usual and was actually sort of hopping along walking last night.  I haven't been giving her her Rimadyl since she's been on the Tramadol so maybe I should.  Who knows.  We won't know until Monday when I call the vet but I have seen on another blog that other dogs have been taking both.  I want to get the dosages right with the vet though.

Apparently one of the side effects of the Tramadol is lethargy.  She's just so pathetic though.  She wants to be near me and hasn't played with Chloe nearly as much as she usually wants to.  She did a little bit this morning but gave up after about a minute.  Her nail is coming apart bit by bit, so I think I'm going to have to get the rest of it cut off on Monday.  Ouch.  I don't know if I'm saying ouch more for her or for my wallet!  Here are some pictures I've taken (fuzzy again from my iPod):

We had a GREAT therapy visit today at the nursing home!  Riley was so good.  She heeled nicely and was so happy to get "sugars" from all of the residents.  Her favorite resident was not there...I don't know if she was in the hospital or went home or...yes, died.  I'll have to ask about her next time.  I didn't ask this time because I was afraid of what the answer would be!

A guy that works at the nursing home was painting some trim and offered to paint Riley too!  He said it was water based and would wash off...  She brushed up against paint when she was a puppy and had a white side and tail for a while.  I should've let her get painted today but I'm no fun!

It looks like the side of Riley's nail came off sometime last night or this morning.  No blood this time, thankfully.  But she's been licking it a lot.  Hopefully her antibiotic will keep it from getting infected.  They didn't tell me that she couldn't lick it, so I guess it's okay that she's licking it.  Who knows.

I'm actually off to the vet right now to get Riley's new health form filled out for her Therapy Dogs International renewal so maybe I'll ask.

I guess the pain pills Riley's on for her nail makes her a little tired.  Or else she's just been ultra calm yesterday and today...nah, it's gotta be the pills!  She injured her nail a little bit again this afternoon when she decided it was time to wake up and play with Chloe.  I guess her pill had worn off by then.  No blood this time, just a yelp and refusing to put her paw down for a few minutes.  I have a sneaky suspicion that the nail's gonna have to get cut off in the end because she's just too energetic to let it heal up!  It's almost time for her PM pain pill and antibiotics, so hopefully she'll just take it easy the rest of the evening.

We have a therapy visit tomorrow at the nursing home so I'm hoping she doesn't injure it any more so we don't have to cancel our visit!!

And they're not even bloody pictures!!  It's the left most nail.

Remember that broken nail from yesterday?  Well, it got worse this morning when Riley jumped from one couch to another.  Our house looked like a crime scene with blood everywhere.  So instead of going to the vet at 1 PM for our scheduled nail trim and anal gland appointment, we had to bump up our appointment and go at 10:15 this morning.  At first they thought they were going to have to cut the nail off above the break and would have to sedate her for that.  Then after the vet got a good look at it, he said it could just grow out.  Riley's on antibiotics and pain pills for it.  I tried to get a good picture of it, but I couldn't...  It's her left most nail.



Well, you can't see it very well, but it has like 3 different cracks in it going about halfway up her nail.  I also learned how to express Riley's anal glands today.  The vet said that some dogs may need it done more often than others and that you can usually tell if they need to be done by feeling of the glands to see if they're full, and if you smell a really foul odor, and if your dog is scooting their butt along the ground a lot.  Some dogs may never need it done and others need it done every month or so.  Riley's weren't very full today because about 2 months ago they were packed to the max when they expressed them.

Apparently there are two ways you can do this...externally and internally.  Internally is more effective, so that's what they showed me how to do.  I had to stick my gloved finger in her butt.  I wouldn't say Riley was happy about it but she tolerated it.  Anyway, it STINKS to high heaven!!