Real life does its intruding thing, again

So, on Sunday I took just my boy down to the park, leaving the other beagle and our young brittany at home. And he hadn't had a walk in the morning, because I'd been working, so he was terribly enthused and went into happy hyperzoom mode as soon as we got out of the car, and - then he was lying on the ground screaming in pain.

Turns out there was a nail sticking out of a post at just beagle-shoulder height, and he had an inch-deep hole in his side, and our vet closes early on a Sunday (it was only 4 pm!) so I had to take him to the emergency clinic, and yes, that was as expensive as it sounds.

So now Oliver has seven stitches in his shoulder, though he seems to have forgotten it hurts at all and doesn't understand why he has to stay inside and keep warm and rest and not, eg, go rolling around in the mud outside with the puppy.

(Yes, his lip regularly gets stuck like that, mostly when he's trying to look serious.)

I have told him that when it heals he will have a terribly manly scar, just like Major in Footrot Flats. As his personality when it comes to pretending to be terribly manly (just so long as no one bigger than him comes along) is very similar to the Dog's, I think he should be pleased. Here is the Dog standing up to Major in an Oliver-like manner:


And here is the Dog's snapshot of Major's scar.

So Oliver will look manly like that, just as soon as the painkillers wear off and he stops falling over every time he tries to lift his leg.

Anyway. He's doing alright so far, which leaves me free to contemplate other things, such as the fact that he just cost me $1030. So much for savings. Looks like going international to do my postgrad courses may be off the cards after all, so it's back to replanning my future. Again.

In other dog-related news, we just heard that Annie, one of our two old terriers who still live with our parents, has died - probably also on Sunday. It isn't really a surprise, but it would have been nice if it could have happened when my parents weren't on holiday in Europe.

So, all up, between panicking over dogs, nursing dogs and mourning dogs, not been a terribly productive week here.