There is no time in my life that I feel more complete than when I have all my furry ones around me. I went to bed and laid down, Oreo on the floor beside my bed, Tessa on the floor a few feet past her. I sat in bed propped up with pillows to read a little while before sleep, and Joey jumped up to lay down beside my leg. He stetched out, sighed a happy sigh, and fell asleep purring. After I snuggled down into my blankets (what little I had left), carefully bending my leg into a comfortable position, Joey stetched again and curled up between my stomach and bent leg. So we laid there in the dark, all four of us. And I thought, how perfect is this. How blessed am I.

:: ::

Oreo hurt herself today. It was in the morning, dad was up with the dogs and I was still in bed. I heard a “YIPE!” and the next thing I knew I had a dog on my bed close to my legs, and she was shaking like a leaf. I’ve never seen her so upset. Dad came in close after, hugging her to him and comforting her, asking her what happened. Of course she didn’t answer, but she did bury her head against him and shook for the next five minutes.

The best we can figure is that she pulled a muscle. They weren’t even doing anything interesting, just dad and the “girls” were coming up the stairs. As Oreo went to go up the first step, she yiped and ran, tail-tucked.

After her intial flight up the stairs and onto my bed in fear, she’s now avoiding the stairs and jumping onto the bed or couches. She may still be sore, but she’s the kind of dog who, if something hurts her, will avoid it for a very long time. She limped for the first little while, but now she seems fine… but very subdued. I think she scared herself pretty bad. For a few hours afterwards she was barely walking around the house, tail hanging, eyes sad. Dad would call her and she’d stand rooted to the spot. After a while, though, she started wagging her tail and grabbing a toy. She’s back to trotting around the table in her favorite game.

So dad’s been coddling her all day. He normally treats her like a little princess, but today it’s been that times three. *laughs* Every time he walks by he gets down on his knees and talks to her softly and gives her a hug. He’s been carrying her up and down the stairs. And she of course is getting all she can out of it, sidling up to him with sad brown eyes and giving him little tiny kisses on his chin.

We figure it might take a day or two for her to get over it - dad and I both suffer pinched nerves and pulled muscles frequently, so we definitely know how it is. If she’s not feeling better I’ll take her to the vet, but we seriously doubt that’ll be needed.

Tessa was more of a terror today than normal - nothing bad, just harassing Oreo. She’d lick at Oreo’s mouth, lick lick lick lick, then snuffle at her ear, then bark, then run around her, then bump her. I asked Tess, “Are you trying to cheer her up, or are you just taking this opportunity to annoy the heck out of her?” I figure it’s a little of both - she knew right off that something wasn’t right, so she was acting up a little towards Oreo, and then to top it off Oreo isn’t standing up for herself as much as normal (as in, she isn’t grumbling every time Tessa starts up), so Tessa’s been getting away with more than usual. I’m sure that’ll change soon, though.

Life is always interesting here.