Valentine's Day Border Collie

On Valentine’s Day I packed up for three days at the Dance Flurry music festival in Saratoga, NY. I had arranged for Olive to stay at Candlewick. It turned out that Candlewick was holding a Valentine’s Day party for dogs that day. I paid a bit extra for Olive to take part. As party favors, she and the other dogs were given a bag with some treats and a plush pink heart toy.

As usual, Olive was in a bit of a snit after I picked her up on Monday morning. Upon giving her the toy and a treat, all seemed to be forgiven. Olive loved the pink heart toy, but within a week chewed a hole in it so that stuffing was everywhere. Afraid that she might get sick on the stuffing, I reluctantly threw the toy away, reluctant because Olive did seem to really like the toy.

Olive at the Valentine's Party

Until recently we had some neighbors with two small girls who adored Olive. Olive adored the girls as well as their parents. The girls often blew soap bubbles which fascinated Olive. I am guessing that she was missing her friends, who moved to a new home in a nearby town earlier this year.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

 Olive often likes to hide from me when we play "saucer" out back. Her colors blend in with a white birch tree in the back of my house. Someone sent me a photo of a border collie similarly hiding on a rug. Look carefully or you won't see the border collie napping on the rug.

Look carefully to see the border collie on the rug.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Last Friday I went to see my dentist about a mild toothache. It seemed that an old root canal was failing (it seems that root canals work fine for a number of years but fail eventually). I was referred to a root canal specialist. I dropped Olive off at Candlewick for daycare and drove to the specialist’s office on Monday morning expecting to have the root canal re-drilled and refilled. Instead the specialist told me that the tooth was fractured and could not be saved. I was referred to an oral surgeon who happened to be the one my dad had gone to when he had a dental implant put in. I drove directly to the surgeon’s office (glad that I had put Olive in daycare), was given Novocain, and the tooth pulled. The tooth came out in several pieces, but otherwise the surgery went smoothly. Since I was restricted on what I could eat after the surgery, I was glad that I had a full breakfast (minus coffee) before heading out in the morning.

On the way home I stopped at the grocery store pharmacy to pick up the pain medication the surgeon had prescribed. I also picked up a six-pack of nutritional shakes, similar to Ensure, figuring that I was not going to be able to eat anything for lunch. I drank one of the shakes and took a nap while the Novocain had not worn off, did a few light chores, and tried to relax with a crossword puzzle before deciding to pick up Olive around 4:30. After we got home I walked then fed Olive, and boiled up some spaghetti putting nothing on it except a thin tomato sauce and some herbal infused olive oil. Not a particularly complete or balanced supper, but I did not have to chew it and it was relatively satisfying.

Olive was very attentive and seemed to understand that I was not feeling well. She did not pester me to throw her a ball or otherwise play with her (although she did check up on me from time to time to see that I was ok), and went to her own bed when I collapsed into mine after her last walk of the night. The pain medication seemed to work well, and I got my best night’s sleep in a week.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

I have gotten word that Olive’s sister-in-law, Selkie, had another litter making Olive an auntie again. The puppies are, needless to say, adorable!

Olive's new nephews and nieces.