Friday, November 6, 2009

Dempsey's theme

As we've mentioned, our theme song for Dempsey is "Mama Tried."

Dempsey says his theme song for us is Paul McCartney's "Distractions":


The postman's at the door,
While the telephone rings on the kitchen wall.
Pretend we're not at home and they'll disappear.
I want to be with you, tell me what I can do,
Nothing is too small.
Away from all this jazz, we could do anything at all.

Distractions, like butterflies, are buzzing 'round my head.
When I'm alone, I think of you,
And the things we'd do if we could only be through
With these distractions.


Dempsey asked that I share these lyrics before posting this video of him practicing "rest your head."




Of course, we still think "Mama Tried" is Dempsey's most appropriate theme song. Here's the little evildoer stealing crutches, unlike his good sister Boston:

Monday, November 2, 2009

Boo!



After spending most of October getting Dempsey ready for Halloween, the big day has come and gone.

We spent a lot of time on field trips going through the Halloween aisles at drug stores, putting on masks, playing the sample CDs of screams, and showing him inflatable pupmkins and dancing mummies. We like to think we did a great job of socializing him, but the fact is, he never seemed spooked by any of it. He probably thought that we were just being silly. Smart dog, he's usually right.

The biggest scare on Halloween was not for Dempsey, but for us. We only had about twenty kids come by, and since it was cold, practically all of them were wearing jackets, hats, and mittens over their costumes, which you could barely see. Dempsey didn't seem to notice. He did a fantastic job of staying in bed instead of running to the door every time the doorbell rang. (Eventually, we'll teach him to go to bed when the doorbell rings, but for now, we just put him in bed and treated him for staying there.)

No, the scariest thing was the vomit. Dempsey threw up twice the last couple of days, and he smelled awful, really bile. Which, it turns out, is what he had thrown up. Bailey the cat coughs up hairballs all the time, and though we had seen Dempsey regurgitate food a few times, we had never seen him heave and really vomit.

I took him to the vet, and while we were waiting, I worried about everything that could possibly be wrong with him: Giardia from goose poop? Bad mulch? Gall bladder obstruction?? Did he eat a poisoned dead rat??? And get liver failure???? Or maybe Dempsey has end-stage terminal stomach cancer?????? I had no idea I could worry this much.

Of course, Dempsey is fine. The vet gave him an antacid and told me to put him on a bland diet for a few days and see if he's better. Aside from the vomiting, he never seemed sick, and indeed he's on patrol again in kitchen, looking for drawers to shut.

What a bad dog, scaring his parents like that! I suppose at least he got the Halloween spirit.