Since we needed to be out of the RV until 4:30, which is when all RV's are put back out in the camping area, we had to figure out what to do to fill the day. Bend is a beautiful city. They have excellent city planners here as they really have a lot of beautiful park areas all throughout town. We started out by going to one of our favorite parks. There are trails in the forest right along the river.
The weather was cool today for Bend in August at only 70 and overcast. Very unusual - but nice for the dogs! There weren't very many people this morning which made it nice since we had all four dogs with us. Boogie really liked the beach because he could be off leash. He's not so sure he likes the forest as he has to be on leash the whole time. And to top it all off, there is an old slow person (yup, that would be me) tethered to the other end. Poor Boogie - he would try to run ahead to keep up with the girls and suddenly the poor guy was yanked backward so hard as he reached the end of the long line. I guess he has more to learn!
While most forests we go to have a lot of squirrels this forest has a lot of chipmunks. Wazzu is really good at finding them. She uses all her senses to find them - and she's always right. Can you find it?
While the dogs were all busy doing their various activities I had a very rare moment to take a picture! I'm finding it very hard to take pictures while attached to a puppy! But I did manage to snap a shot of this interesting fungus/mushroom.
After a nice hike we did a few errands and then went to our favorite restaurant in Bend. It's a drive-in which of course the dogs really like! But I don't think we'll go there again. The food is great but the portions are just insane. My meal could easily feed five people! I mean who can eat a 16 oz hot dog! And the bun was so enormous too. As you might guess, I couldn't begin to eat it all. It was even too much to feed to the dogs.
After lunch, Mike took Slugger and me to the waiting room. He set up Slugger's crate and got me situated next to Slugger and left us there while the rest of them headed out for a much longer hike. Mike was worried that Boogie may not be able make it on a long hike after doing a hike already this morning.
But when they got back after a three hour hike, Boogie was ready for the next fun adventure. Mike said Boogie was running back on forth (on leash) the entire trip. I just don't think it's possible to wear out this puppy!!
When we were able to get back into our RV, the guy that has done all our custom work on the inside of the RV came over (we're having him do some more work for us). He is a huge dog lover and always brings our dogs marrow bones. And today was no exception. He wanted to see the dogs get their bones so we gave each dog a bone. Every time I order marrow bones for our dogs I ask that they are cut about four inches long. These particular bones were only one inch thick. I didn't think too much about this - but if you have a dog and read no more of this blog - read this!!
The dogs were all on the floor chewing their bones when suddenly Sparkie started screaming - and I mean screaming. We looked over and she had gotten all the marrow out and the bone was over her bottom jaw behind the canines. The bone was truly stuck! She was scared, screaming and starting to go into shock. This scared Slugger and he started running around the RV screaming and jumping at Sparkie. I was trying to keep Slugger away from Sparkie and Mike was trying to get the bone dislodged.
I finally managed to lock Slugger in the bedroom. Then I got on the internet to try and find an emergency vet. It was hard as I was so worried but I knew I had to keep calm for everyone involved. I think from now on I'll try to get that information the second we get anyplace new so I'll have it if needed.
In all the hubbub, Mike had taken Sparkie outside so he could try to calm her down. He knew he couldn't help her if he couldn't get her to calm down and be still. Fortunately, Mike stayed calm and was able to get Sparkie to settle down a bit. Before I could find the emergency vet, Mike got the bone off Sparkie's jaw. She was a bit bloody but fortunately none of her teeth were broken.
The biggest lesson we learned from this was: Don't give your dogs bones so short that they can get their teeth out the other side. Please learn from our very close call.
They got a lot done on our RV today. A total night and day difference in our repair experience! Speaking of night and day. When day meets night here there are most often some beautiful sunsets. And tonight was no exception.
Debbie
8/20/07
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