Puppy Perils

This is "Dezi", who is harder to "dress" than a Barbie doll. The red sweater is held on with the pink harness. The jingle bell helps me find her. The Cone of Shame keeps her from chewing on her cast. She can still move at the speed of light. Thanks to Allie, of "Hyperbole and a Half" for giving me the courage to post one of my pencil sketches, tweaked in Photoshop Elements 6.

Question: What goes "Tick, tick, jingle, tick.....jingle...click, yip, yip, yip."?

Answwer: A Miniature Pinscher with a cast on her front leg.

I do not normally foster puppies. I admit this. I prefer adult dogs. I don't have a puppy-proof house or yard, although my yard is escape-proof.

So when I came home with this 5.2 pound black-and-tan puppy with a broken leg, I assumed that I'd be able to keep up with her. I mean, how fast can a tiny dog with a huge plaster splint around her front leg move?

The puppy, cast and all, fell in my pool, right off the bat. I had to take her back to the Vet to have a new cast put on because she got completely soaked. I paid for it of course.

I swear, I was watching her, but she darted around or behind me (or transported herself through space) in a couple seconds while we were walking around the pool back to the house.

When I figured out that she wasn't next to me, I saw my own oversize MinPin, Chopper, staring intently at the pool, ears cocked, and the puppy was paddling--quite well, actually--to keep her head above water.

Which makes me wonder how on Earth puppies ever make it to adulthood at all.

Dezi, as she is named, is almost impossible to keep up with. Her cast doesn't slow her down at all--without it I'm sure she would move at warp speed.

Things I have removed from her tiny puppy mouth: computer cords, lamp cords, a bit of celery that dropped on the floor, twist ties, sparkly purple stuff from something that must belong to my daughter.

She can climb up stairs, but not down--the Cone of Shame that she must wear to keep her from chewing on her bandages limits her vision.

She can get on the couch (she couldn't do this last week when I brought her home but she has grown, as puppies tend to do). She annoys Cross, my fluffy dog. She gets run over by Chopper because he zooms around snorking up things from the floors like a Dustbuster with legs.

She thinks my husband is the most wonderful man in the world and when he walks in the door, she hops up and down like she's just pounded three Red Bulls. Then, she falls asleep in my arms and snuggles her head into my shirtsleeve and sighs a happy, happy puppy sigh. She is absolutely adorable.