Shane Life

This morning we had to take Dreyfuss to the vet. It was a scheduled appointment, but a little scary nonetheless. For the past few months, he’s had a couple of lumps on his back and belly that have caused us a bit of concern, especially after his cousin Hawkeye had a malignant tumor removed from his back a couple months ago.

Taking Drefuss to the vet is never fun. When he was a puppy, his color dilutional alopecia was mistaken as mange and every time he went to the vet, he got scrape-tested and poked and prodded. So it’s understandable why he would hate going each time. He shakes uncontrollably and has to be muzzled anytime a vet comes in the room because he’ll snap at them out of nervousness. It sucks.

But fortunately, the vet is optimistic. We’re still going to send his slides off to a cytologist to be analyzed, just to be sure.

Dreyfuss is a part of our family. And while we know that he won’t be around as long as a normal family member, we have to make sure he’s healthy and comfortable and around as long as possible. Because, frankly, he’s a freaking awesome dog.

We’ve seen a couple of sad dog movies lately. First it was Marley & Me. I was prepared for that movie to be sad, but I still bawled. Today, we saw Hotel for Dogs, a kids movie that made me want to go out and rescue every dog that I could. While Hotel for Dogs isn’t quite sad in nature (it is, after all, a Nickelodeon movie), it still had parts that got me choked up.

I’m a sucker for dogs. We’ve almost always had them as I was growing up and Alli and I have decided that instead of being “kid people”, we’re gonna be “dog people.” Now that may mean that our house will smell a little or that our clothes and furniture will be covered in tiny fur, but I can’t put a kid in a kennel and leave it for the night. You can do that with a dog. Sure, that’s selfish and all, but I’m OK with that. I think I’m at a point in my life where I’m OK with being a little selfish.

We got Dreyfuss less than 6 months after we got married. He’s now 8 years old, which means that at 80 pounds, he’s a little slower than he once was, and he sleeps all the time. I’ve started to think about what it will be like when he isn’t with us anymore and even typing it makes me sick to my stomach. He’s a loving, protective dog who is a part of our family. Not only that, but he is utterly and completely ours. Everything about him reflects us. He loves to sleep (guilty), has a distinctive smell (guilty again), is completely happy just sitting on the couch watching TV. He’s also utterly brilliant. I have an example, but I am going to use a scene from Marley & Me to explain and if you haven’t seen it, SPOILER ALERT! (Resume reading after the second set of stars.)

*****

There is a scene in Marley & Me where Jennifer Aniston returns from the hospital after losing a baby. Now, up to this point, Marley has been exactly what the book title says, “The World’s Worst Dog.” Instead of jumping on her unknowingly, this brilliant animal shows what true empathy is by sitting quietly, resting his head on her lap, and comforting her.

My dog has done and continues to do this on many occasions. A few years back, Alli had an ovarian cyst that ruptured and she had to have an emergency surgery to remove it, as well as her appendix which had become inflamed. During the long recovery process, she recounted the hours and days that she spent with Dreyfuss laying his head on her stomach calmly. He was her protector when I was off at work and he continues to protect our house always. (Believe me…he might be cute, but you do not want to be a burglar in our home. He’s a pretty imposing dog with a big bark.)

*****

Dreyfuss is an awesome dog. We are so lucky to have him as a part of our family. I hope that we have him for many many more years.

I love my dog. I put my favorite scarf on him. This is the result.

Our amazing dog had his 8th birthday yesterday. If you haven’t met our dog, you are missing out. He is hilarious. He smells like corn chips, has no hair, loves to snuggle, and is the third member of our family.

He had a pretty low-key birthday, mostly sleeping the day away while I worked from home and Alli did tons of laundry.

Happy Birthday, Dreyfuss.

Appetizer
Name something you would categorize as weird.

My dog. More funny than anything, but he can be very weird. He ate a couch once and has color dilutional alopecia. He’s still way awesomer than your dog.

Soup
What color was the last piece of food you ate?

Red – A red LifeSaver. Is that food?

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?

4. I enjoy my alone time, but I thrive around people, particularly my wife.

Main Course
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.

Never…Hillary Clinton…this or any other life time.

Dessert
Describe your sleeping habits.

I can’t sleep on my stomach…maybe it’s too big or whatever…I just can’t do it. We share our bed with a 90-lb. mutt who likes to stretch out, so sometimes sleeping means contorting your body around something that smells like corn chips.

See also: Logtar

My last day at Perceptive Software was November 10. I start my new job on November 27. I think my new employer would have liked for me to start on November 13, but I really needed this time off to decompress and prepare myself for my upcoming new position.

I’m thrilled to be starting this new job. I can’t wait to get in there, but for the last 2 weeks, I’ve been really enjoying not working.

Since Alli works for herself, she has been able to schedule herself available as well. We’ve had such a blast just hanging out the two of us in the house, getting Starbucks and muffins from our Price Chopper and so many other memories that I have to list some of them here:

• Starbucks and muffins from Price Chopper every day
• Chipotle almost every day
• Our annual Shopping Day
• Our Chiefs Excursion
• Alli punching Clay Aiken at Sam’s
• Seeing Casino Royale and Stranger than Fiction in a span of less than 24 hours
• Our Netflix trial and seeing Roman Holiday for the first time
• Watching Today, Regis & Kelly, The View, and The Megan Mullaly show. Seriously.
• Talking ourselves out of spending $3,000 at Nebraska Furniture Mart
• Seeing Tim Gunn and Angela Keslar from Season 3 of Project Runway at the Leawood, KS Macy’s
• Meeting little Stella Anne less than 24 hours after she was born…you guys make good-looking kids, K&S
• Naps
• Interviewing a new member of my new team
• Snuggling with the dog
• Spending Thanksgiving (and Ashley and Tom’s birthdays) with Alli’s family
• Late night text-messaging with Jake
• SUGAR COOKIES
• The onset of Christmas music, including our newest Christmas CD, Wintersong
• Finishing 2 books (Review of Fletch Reflected coming soon)
• The Chiefs beating Denver on Thanksgiving
• Staying up late by myself to watch the KU-Florida game go into overtime and have KU win
• Returning home
• Relaxing
• Spending 2 weeks with my best friend

Some of that might mean nothing to you readers, but it has meant the world to me. I’ll try to be a more prolific poster, but with the new job starting, we’ll see.

We love you, even if you stink to high heaven.

I love that dang dog.

Today, I’m thankful for my dog, Dreyfuss.

Dreyfuss is our almost-5-year-old mutt. He’s a mix of labrador (or dane…we’re not sure) and Husky (we think). His mom was a stray and there’s a strong possibility that she “got around” while she was in heat because the puppies in that litter did not look very similar.

SIDENOTE: Did you know that a momma dog can have multiple fathers for her puppies in the same litter? I didn’t know that until we got Dreyfuss.

We spoil this dog like a child, except we probably wouldn’t continue to let a child sleep in our bed every night at 5 years old. But he smells just like a dog should smell…like corn chips.

When we first got him, he had problems, and a lot of them. First, they thought he had mange. Not so much. They tested him for every type of mange possible and they couldn’t figure out why he was losing his hair. We even took him to a doggie dermatologist. Turns out, all he had was color dilution alopecia, something that we could do absolutely NOTHING about. That would have been nice to know before the hundreds of dollars in veterinary tests…

The Journal of Veterinary Science defines Color Dilution Alopecia as:

a relatively uncommon hereditary skin disease seen in “Blue” and other color-diluted dogs. This syndrome is associated with a color-dilution gene. The initial clinical signs are the gradual onset of a dry, dull and poor hair coat quality. Hair shafts and hair regrowth are poor, and follicular papules may develop and progress to frank comedones. Hair loss and comedo formation are usually most severe on the trunk, especially color-diluted area on the skin. Six cases of color-dilution alopecia are reported in 3 months to 10 years old dogs. The breeds of dogs are blue Doberman Pinscher, Miniature Pinscher, Dachshund, and Schnauzer. Grossly, extensive partial hair loss was seen on the skin. Histopathologically, the epidermis is relatively normal but may be hyperplastic. Hair follicles are characterized by atrophy and distortion. Heavily clumped melanin is present in the epidermis, dermis and hair follicles.

Dreyfuss also has allergies, which make this skin condition all the more uncomfortable for him. However, he never really complains and we treat him by giving him a rawhide bone EVERY NIGHT. Thank goodness we found that Sam’s carries them in big bags for pretty cheap because our dog eats one per night. You might find that excessive, but you have to understand. This dog can be extremely destructive if he wants to be. Keeping him in rawhide makes sure that our things stay nice (there’s a side story there about Dreyfuss and how he ate my digital camera, but that’s for another time).

Anyway, he’s a really funny dog. Any time that Alli and I are discussing something in a serious tone, he gets all worried and tries to stand between us. He’s pretty smart, even if he eats his own poop.

Dreyfuss, even though you aren’t reading my blog, I say this:

Good dog, buddy. Good. Dog.

We miss Alli.

Me and Dreyfuss have a hard time sleeping without Alli. Dreyfuss is anxious and clingy and I stay up too late (see time of post). Despite getting up at 4:00am for the airport run, I am wide awake when I should be sound asleep.

There’s an absence that just makes me feel “off” and I can’t really explain it (maybe those out there who are married can help me explain it better. I’m going to try and go to bed now.