BarkingProse

I almost died. I had to go to the hospital. Ash and mom took me there and then they had to leave me. They cried when they left. I was too sick to cry.

It started with another of those horrible vertigo attacks. Geriatric canine vestibular disorder is what Dr. Brad calls it. I call it awful. I’m so dizzy I can’t stand up. I flop around like I’m having a seizure. I’m sick at my stomach and couldn’t eat even if I wanted to. I don’t have the coordination to drink from a bowl.

Mom knows what to do when it happens. She quick carries me to the studio so I won’t crash into anything sharp and get hurt. She gives me a pill to stop the sea sick feeling and another pill to help the pain and make me sleep.

Usually I wake up later in the day and start to feel better. This time I just got more sick.

After one whole day of me being a mess, mom and Ash took me to the emergency hospital. Mom says this always happens to me on a weekend when Dr. Brad isn’t working. Ash came in the room and kept me company while we were waiting for the vet.

Pretty soon they put me in a hospital bed and hooked me up to an IV. I went to sleep wondering if I would ever get back to Asherpark.

The next day mom and Ash came and got me. I was still pretty sick but I had enough fluids to keep me going for a while. Here’s a picture of me and Ash on our way back to Asherpark. You can see he’s worried about me.

I was so tired I could hardly lift my head. I had to be carried everywhere. I still couldn’t drink or eat. Mom made me chicken broth popsicles. They were so good. The other mutts got some too, but I got most of them. Mom made me frozen cupcakes. She took our slop and froze it in muffin tins. When it was almost solid she would shove one in my mouth. That was yummie!

I still couldn’t get enough fluids in me, so we went to Dr. Brad. He gave me a bag of sub Q fluids. It looked scary but it didn’t hurt. When I left his office I had a big lump on my shoulders like a camel. I sure peed a lot that day.

Bit by bit I got stronger. The first time I took a drink out of a bowl the whole pack cheered. Soon I was eating my wet slop. I stagger like I’m drunk and fall over if I’m not careful, but I’ve hardly had any accidents in the house. I let mom know when I have to go and she gets me out just in time.

I know I gave everybody a scare. Mom asked me to try to get better. She said it wasn’t my time yet, that I need to enjoy my life at Asherpark a little longer before I start my next journey. Then she confessed and said she wasn’t ready to let me go.

Ash got all teary eyed. He said it’s the worst thing in the world to lose a Blue Dog. “You gotta try to get better, Nellie,” he said. “You’ll know when it’s your time. Codie will come and get you.” I fell asleep thinking about what Ash said. I’m not ready to cross the bridge yet. I’ve got some good days ahead of me still at Asherpark.

 

 

 

I don’t remember my name from the Dark Days. I’m sure I had one, don’t you think? I mean, everybody has a name.

Names are given to you by somebody who is supposed to care about you. That’s why they call it a given name.

But if the people who used to have me didn’t care about me, maybe they never bothered to give me a name. I’ve decided to think of myself as nameless before I came to Asherpark.

Mom gave me a name as soon as she saw me. She told me she had always wanted a beautiful girl Aussie named Nellie, and so she gave me the name Nellie.

At first I thought she was joking. I mean I am an Aussie and a girl, but certainly not beautiful. I was such a pathetic stinking little rag when mom first saw me I can’t imagine why she gave me such an elegant name.

At the shelter they called me Pisspot and Stinky. Those names hurt my feelings, but since I was supposed to die at the shelter, it was the least of my worries.

When a miracle happened and I got to go to Asherpark, I was more worried about what was for dinner than what my new name would be.

All the dogs at Asherpark have nice names. Asher and Tess and Jack, those are strong beautiful names. And to think that my name, Nellie, is just as beautiful as the other names almost brings tears to my eyes.

Over time something even more wonderful happened at Asherpark. I got nicknames! I know I never had a nickname before. Now I have bunches of them. People call me Nell, Nell Nell, Nellie Bell, Baby, Sweetheart and Squirt. I love all my nicknames because you only get a nickname if somebody really really likes you.

Ash has lots of nicknames too. He answers to Asher, Ash, Ashman, Flyboy, Muttski and Blue Eyes. Me and Ash have the most nicknames. Jack and Tess really don’t have any nicknames. Jack gets called Jackson sometimes. Tess just has Tessie for a different sounding name. Behind her back the people call her the wicked witch because of all the trouble she causes, but that’s not really a nickname.

You may wonder how I can hear my nickname since I’m deaf. That’s easy. Us deaf dogs hear the sounds from the heart. You get a nickname from somebody who loves you and you can hear it clear as a bell, or in my case a Nellie Bell.