Wordless Wednesday - Is that it?

Where did the rest of it go?

My Princess is Back:)

A BIG BIG thank you to everyone for your concern and sympathy for the plight of Beryl's tail.  It is greatly appreciated by both of us:)   I know it was only a bloody tail (literally for most of last week!) and it seems a bit weird me fighting to keep it when there are so many people who fight for the right to chop the tails off their breeds of dogs, but it was part of Beryl and her personality.

She spent most of yesterday languishing on her (my) death bed, so she would have me thinking:)  I'd check on her every so often and give her some love which she was grateful for but no, she didn't want to go outside to the toilet.  However, when I went to the bedroom about 5ish to put on my cruddy dog walking jacket she's instantly up on her feet, "oh, we're going for a walk now are we?  Wait for me, I'm ready":)  Miraculous recovery, lol.  She's only had her tail chopped off, not major surgery, so I said she could come with us as long as she took it easy.  I know she can pace herself and that's what she did, hardly broke into a trot but very happy to be with us.

I've kept a coat on her since picking her up from the vets yesterday morning as the weather has turned very wet and cooled down a lot.  So I haven't really had a chance to check out how she looks with her cute little nubbin (I like that description Katy) of a tail yet ... but it's short!!  And it's well bandaged.  I'm looking forward to seeing it though:)  She can still wag it as she demonstrated this morning when she was giving me the squirmy nuzzles:)  Not that I could see much of what's left of her tail as the coat covered most of it!

OK, here's a photo I took this morning of the Princess, promise you won't laugh?  We'll have a proper unveiling when the stitches come out in a couple of weeks and no doubt some video showing how she can still wag it and is looking as beautiful as ever:)

Beryl, my stumpy tailed Greyhound Princess:)

Frankie has behaved wonderfully through all this.  He's been leaving Beryl alone and giving her the peace she needs.  He probably knows he'd be well told off by Beryl if he didn't, lol!  And he hasn't been pestering me for walks or attention.  He's a good boy:)

Now seems like a good time to get back on the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop

This is hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of The Plume.  Check any of those sites for the instructions and have fun blog hopping and making new friends:)

The Tail Saga Does Continue:(

Well, the decision about persevering with trying to get Beryl's tail healed was taken out of my hands today!  As I write she is convalescing at the vets having had 2/3 of it removed:(  She was fine this morning when I let her out of her crate.  She still didn't want to try going to the toilet with it strapped to her leg though:)  So she did her usual, went onto my bed for her next nap.  I heard her licking and after a while thought I'd better go check and she was lying in a pool of blood.  Well, slight exaggeration, but her tail sure was in a pool of blood!!  She'd licked the bandage off, which was soaked with blood and it had been fine and still strapped to her leg earlier.  Thankfully she stayed put while I rang the vets and said I was bringing her back.  So off we toddle again with a couple of towels under her tail.  The vet I saw this morning said she didn't like the chances of it healing and not happening again but fitted a plastic protector thingy around the tail tip and bandaged it up again and the vet nurse wrapped a plastic bag over it as it was seeping slowly through the protection and bandage.  Jo, the lovely vet nurse, also cleaned the blood from Beryl's snout and legs which we both appreciated:)

We called in to the GAP kennels on the way home and I took Beryl in for some cuddles and sympathy.  After a while it became obvious the wound wasn't going to stop bleeding as there was quite a bit of blood accumulating in the bag.  So back to the vets we went and I signed the form giving permission to dock the tail and get her teeth cleaned at the same time.  Beryl was stressed and I was stressed and at least I know I tried everything possible but there's no point banging your head against a wall forever.  I know it's only cosmetic but her tail seemed to have a personality of it's own and she'd kind of perfected the art of flicking the white third in time with the beat of her trot and it looked so darn cute:) But she's still my lovely Beryl, it wouldn't matter if she'd had to have a leg chopped off, nothing will make me love her less!  And knowing Beryl, she'll develop another quirk to compensate for the lack of 2/3 of her tail:)  The vets even rang me to tell me they'd taken that much off so I wouldn't be too shocked when I pick her up at 9am when they open tomorrow:)  She's going to look cute .... isn't she??  Of course she will:)

Here are a few last photos of Beryl's tail in action:)

As a brake

For balance

Trotting tip flick - looks best in video!

The exclamation mark:)

The smile:)

Next photos of Beryl she is going to look something like this -

*Sigh*, it's a bit scary, huh?

I just couldn't take any photos of all the blood and bandaged tail over the past couple of days.  It's all too vivid in my memory as it is!  Anyway, I can't wait to see my girl tomorrow. Frankie and I are both missing her like crazy tonight .... and all she'd be doing is sleeping somewhere:)  But she'd come and nudge me or just stand by me while I'm at the computer wanting a bit of a cuddle.

Hopefully the saga of Beryl's happy tail is now over:)

Tale of a Tail!

Apologies to Houndstooth for the plagiarism of your blog title but the saga of Beryl's 'Happy Tail' continues:(  She's whacked it and broken it open a few times in the last 3 weeks or so but it hasn't been badly damaged and she's licked it clean and it hasn't really bled.  On Monday she gave it a decent whack, enough for me to bandage it up this time for protection.  On Tuesday she wagged the bandage off while at the park and whacked it again so I bandaged it up more this time.  This afternoon (Thursday) we went to the beach and the trip ended up with me racing her off to the vet!! Yes, there will be bloodless beach photos:)  The bandage came off after being in the sea and of course her tail got hit on something and this time blood was seeping out in a steady trickle instead of slow drips.  Fatima did a good job wrapping the tail up with a tissue and poop bags:)

Luckily the vet could see us virtually straight away, he even came out to the car and he didn't get much blood splattered on him!  He bandaged her tail up and then bandaged the tail to Beryl's left hind leg.  She managed to jump into the car OK but when we got home she couldn't work out how to stand up with her tail attached to her leg, lol!  I had to help her stand up and then lift her out of the car:)  She's worked out how to jump on the bed pretty quickly but not how to have a wee, lol!  I'm afraid I can't help her with that ....!

It's frustrating because Beryl isn't a rampant tail wagger.  She just has a knack of whacking it in the wrong place sometimes.  So I'm going to keep it attached to her leg for quite a while to give it the best chance to heal properly and see how it goes this time.  But she has gone for about 4 months between damaging it and I would have thought it should be well healed by then!  Docking is an option of course, but I'll try everything else before resorting to that.  I'm quite vain about Beryl's tail, lol!

On to happier things, some photos from the beach today:)

Fatima's foster dog, Hugo, following Beryl into the sea after the tennis ball

Beryl (before she lost her bandage!) and Louie

Still with the bandage on

Look at Hugo and Lucy go:)

Hugo and Frankie

Louie, Lucy and Hugo

Beryl's getting very brave!  Followed by Hugo:)

Beryl got it!

Beryl loves fetching a tennis ball:)

Beryl, no neck!!

Ah, that's more like it:)

Hugo had a wonderful time:)

As did we all ... until the blood started dripping at a steady rate out of Beryl's tail tip!  I'm not taking bets on the tail saga being over but I'll be doing my best to make sure it heals properly!

AND ....

I'm going to be wiping blood off the walls in the house.  Beryl has got 'happy tail' again:-(  I'm sure not happy!!!

We had fun in the sun today:-)

(all pics can be clicked on for a larger view)

Today was lovely and sunny and quite warm for winter, a welcome change from yesterday's rain.  And we made the most of it after lunch with a walk down to the park and river.  It was just me and the kids, our usual greyhound friends couldn't join us.  This meant Beryl had Frankie all to herself!!  Usually she has to share him with Lucy, who is his soul mate:-)

Frankie, Beryl and Lucy

And doesn't he love it;-)  But Frankie and Beryl had lots of fun fetching sticks and playing chasie .....

Getting the stick

Frankie's got it ....

Beryl wants it!

This one is a mouthful!

They're off!!

Beryl running on her own

Beryl running for fun:-)

Hmmm, Beryl's on a mission

Frankie about to shake!

I love you Frankie:-)

So much ....

I love you too Sis:-)

Time for a break!

Yep, we sure had a great run around, happy dogs afterward ....

Happy Beryl

Happy Frankie

And Beryl's 'happy tail' bandage is definitely coming off tonight before she goes to bed:-)

Happy Tail - sigh

Beryl's happy tail:-)

Beryl was extra pleased to see me when I got home from work tonight and this is the result!  
This is the second time Beryl has damaged her tail in the 3 1/2 months I've had her.  Thankfully this time it's just a little cut and I've only bandaged it up roughly (as you can see from the photo!) and I'm hoping that will suffice.  The first time she did it the house looked like a war zone, blood everywhere!!!  And I didn't know where it was coming from, lol.  Took me hours to wash the walls etc.  It's amazing where blood splatters can get.  And it took me a few attempts to design a protective covering that wasn't too painful for Frankie when she wacked his face with her tail, lol.  The joys of having a dog that has a boney tail and is happy. 

She was a right little madam to Frankie last night.  He was all set to hop on the couch with her and she gave a very low growl and he slunk off back to lie in front of the heater, giving ME the stink eye and pouting!  His way of telling me "This used to ALL mine, Beryl won't even share.  I've never growled at her"

Then at 5-30 this morning she snuggles up to him on their couch in the sunroom (that's Frankie's nose peaking out under the green jacket) like he's the greatest hot water bottle there ever was.  She so uses and abuses him, lol.  But he does love her and she loves him.

Kids on their couch

Well, seeing as they didn't get a walk today I better go and do something to amuse them.  I don't think it will be 'stay' training, that's not active enough for them.  Maybe lots of 'touch' working on finishes?  I'll think of something.