Lulu's Bad Day

Poor Lulu. 

The morning started off a little on the rough side. She knew she was in for it when I started combing out all her hair tangles (which she hates with a passion) only to dump her in the kitchen sink for a bath. I toweled her off and she had her usual "spaz-attack" where she runs around the house for almost an hour at full speed rubbing her ears around against the carpet. She hates having water in her ears! 

While Lulu was running around, I decided to give Buster (we are also sitting my parents' dog) a bath being that he is the smelliest dog alive. I had just gotten him wet in the bathtub when I heard some thumping against the wall and Lulu screaming her head off. I quickly shut off the water, letting Buster escape the tub tracking water EVERYWHERE. I raced out to see what happened and found Lulu hiding under my bed still whimpering. 

From the sound of the thumping, whatever she did happened in the guest room. It looked like she jumped on the guest bed to rub her ears against the sheets (ew) and fell off the bed. Somehow, some way, in that process she hurt herself badly! I thought maybe she would get over it, but after an hour of yet more screaming every time she tried to walk, I called the vet. 

Of course my vet said they were booked, but they gave me the number of another one. I called the second vet and they said I could drop her off for about 3-4 hours and one of the vets could maybe look at her in between surgeries. Excuse me? Drop my baby off? Hell no!

So I searched the yellow pages and found a vet in West Seattle. They were definitely more expensive than my usual vet, but I didn't care. I took Lulu there and miraculously she started walking around making friends with everyone. I was actually a little pissed- wasn't she in severe pain? She made me look like an overprotective crazy dog lady!

Well, then the vet touched her tail and she started squealing all over again. He couldn't tell if it was dislocated or broken so they did an x-ray. Turns out Lulu broke her tail!  

She is very depressed about all this as you can tell. I am also very depressed about all this because if her bone doesn't heal in 3-4 weeks, we will have to AMPUTATE HER TAIL! They vet is semi-optimistic that she will heal because she is still young and the break did not go all the way through the bone. It was more like a nasty crack than a complete break.

So now, Lulu's tail has to be in a splint for 3-4 weeks and we have to take her in once a week for them to re-splint it. She's also hopped up on pain meds. I feel so so bad! 

I will keep you updated on the tail situation when I know more... Keep your fingers crossed for the tail to stay! Be PRO TAIL!

Lulu

Lulu is officially 1-year-old as of last month! We got her almost a year ago from a breeder in SW Washington. After about 3 months of begging Lowell for a Cavalier he finally couldn't take me emailing pictures of puppies to him at work anymore. He caved! Look how little she used to be? I chose the name Lulu after that cartoon character "Little Lulu" from the 1950s, and also because I liked the name Luna-it's a Harry Potter thing... (Okay, maybe I also really liked athletic clothing store Lulu Lemon too.)

Powpow looked enormous in comparison to her when she was just a little puppy. To this day, he outweighs her by 3 lbs. Lulu only weighs about 10 lbs and is very small for her breed. She perfers to be called "petite" rather than a "runt" :-) I think she takes after my grandma who is only 4'10" and shrinking! Or maybe after her auntie Emi? 

Lowell loves Lulu even though she is a mama's girl through and through. He's been training her to hate the Oregon Ducks even though rooting for the Huskies came naturally to Lulu. Go Dawgs!

She is the such a sweet puppy! She enjoys belly-rubs, begging for cheese, and chasing pine cones. She dislikes pooping in the rain, being brushed, and going to the dog park. Lulu prefers to have playdates with her favorite dog friends Hawk, Sammy, Buster, Mia, Teddy, Harley, Willis and Tilly rather than play at the dog park.

Lulu and Hawk

Lulu and Buster

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

When I started my search for a dog, I knew the right thing to do was to get a rescue dog from a shelter. I've heard rescue dogs can turn out to be really amazing pets, but I also know that rescue dogs are also sometimes given up due to behavior or health problems. What if the rescue dog was part terrier and tried to kill our cat? Or ended up needing vigorous exercise at least twice a day? The thing about a rescue dog is that you are getting a mixed bag that may include some traits that would not fit with your lifestyle, your cat, or your small yard. With a pure bred you know what you are getting on a general level. Yes, all dogs have different personalities, but you know for instance that a lab will need exercise and that beagle will bark. So I decided to fork over the big bucks, risk hereditary health problems, be a spoiled brat, and get a pure bred dog. Before I post a blog about about our dog Lulu, I must say a little bit about the best breed of dog in the world: the cavalier king charles spaniel! 

I have to start by saying that I love spaniels in general having grown up with cocker spaniels. I love their silky hair, droopy ears, big eyes and loving personalities. There are actually over 20 different popular breeds of spaniels around today. According to Wikipedia, spaniels most likely originated from Spain (hence the name) and were bread to hunt birds and fowl. (This birding instinct is still strong in Lulu.)

The cavalier king charles spaniel was bred down over time to become the perfect lap dog. The breed was actually popularized in the 16th century by the royal family and was given the name "King Charles" because the kids in the household of Charles I were said to have a dog that resembled a Blenheim, or a white and reddish-brown coloring. King Charles II was said to be so  completely obsessed with these dogs that he ignored his kingly duties... he even declared an edict that all toy spaniels were allowed to enter every public building including the Parliament. Hope they had someone around cleaning up all that dooky! 

There are four different colorings of the cavalier king charles spaniel:

The ruby (solid red)

The Blenheim (red with white markings- most popular coloring)

The black and tan (black with tan eyebrows, muzzle and belly)

The tricolor (a black and tan coloring with white markings)

Lulu is a black and tan. I originally really wanted a female tricolor, but found little Lu (originally named Princess- haha) on the internet for a cheaper price than what I had been seeing! Apparently the black and tan is the least popular coloring of all the cavaliers so no wonder she was priced a little less... I happen to think black and tan is a beautiful coloring so people don't know what they are missing (yes, I also happen to be biased.) 

Stay tuned for Lulu's blog expose!