We don’t call her Chatty Cathy for nothing!  I suppose the alternate title for this could be “Our Poor Neighbors.”  Fortunately and luckily for us, our neighbors absolutely adore Tot (and Kiki too!)!  And yes, she really does bark that much.

I’m pretty sure that my little Kiki girl wants to spend the rest of her summer days chilling in the grass and enjoying the hot sun.  Every afternoon we head outside in our yard together to check how our vegetable garden is doing, she loves to sniff the baby watermelons, rosemary and the tomatoes more than the other veggies.  I once caught her opening her mouth – preparing to devour a ripe strawberry that was still on the vine, but I called out her name and she totally played it off like she was just checking it out and gave it a little lick – she’s smart like that!

We found a hornworm eating our tomato plants last week and she sat there wide eyed at my feet, I think she wanted a go at the worm!  She’d probably just lick him and walk away, she’s pretty mellow like that.  After checking the veggies, we sit in the grass and she crawls up in my lap with the biggest smile on her face and is so completely content and happy in those moments we share together.  Sometimes we lay there together and watch the clouds pass by.  When it’s time to head back indoors, she never wants to leave.  I always wish that we could spend our entire day out there together.

I make a conscious effort every single day to spend special time with each of my doggies doing something with them that they love, and the time that we spend together in our yard is one of Kiki’s most favorite things.  It’s just as special for me and I try to soak up each and every of these moments with her as they pass.  I love her so very much.

Tot made it through a massive cyst removal surgery earlier this week and it’s been really tough on her but she’s doing extremely well.  The cyst was larger than they had thought and had eaten through so much bone in her mouth that her jaw was nearly broken, it will be as fragile as a “wine glass” for the next 6 months or so.  When the vet first told us how fragile her jaw was/is, these horrific images flashed in my mind of Tot getting too excited and accidentally slamming into the wall last week – or launching her body to stop airborne toys about 300 times a day and crashing into things – you get the picture…  She’s our rough and tumble little girl but she’s going to have to learn to take things down a notch until the bone graft starts to heal.  Something tells me this won’t be easy!

She’s been a real trooper throughout!  However, she was pissed when she was finally cognitive enough to notice that all of her toys were suddenly M.I.A.  I wonder if she thinks she woke up in some alternate universe where toys don’t exist!  Rest assured, her toys will find their way back to her in a week and a half.  Until then, they remain in a super top secret hiding location (luckily Tot hasn’t sniffed them out yet!)

I took the rest of the week and this weekend off to care for her and help her recover (I’ll still be answering e-mails though).

Dental Specialist extraordinaire, Dr. Chamberlain and his staff Michele and Jenn went so far above and beyond – we are eternally grateful for their expertise, compassion and kindness.  They genuinely care about each pet and that is a very rare thing.  For someone who loves their pets as much as I do, it means the world to me.