Too long for writing, too long for creative writing, too long for working on my book. But it’s been a good long-time and we haven’t been idle. Oh no.

Our year-long weekend began December 26th when we got our new rescue German shorthaired pointer (GSP), GB an adorable 10-year old. That was on a Thursday afternoon. He ate that night then threw everything up Friday morning. In this surprise gift was a 6 inch length of a nylon collar and a 5 inch square of fabric. No wonder he refused to eat all day Friday and Saturday morning. Not liking his behavior we took him to the emergency room Saturday afternoon — an hour’s drive away.

X-rays found a complete obstruction in his stomach and intestine. Terrific! We’ve know this little guy for two days and were faced with making a life or death decision. Do we put him in for an expensive major surgery or put him down?

I had just put one dog down but her condition was unreleasable; Maggie had Stage Four cancer and her organs were shutting down. There was no way I was going to put another dog down especially since his condition was fixable. Surgery began later that evening. He remained in the hospital for post-operative care until Tuesday evening, New Year‘s Eve.

But were all home for New Year’s night. What a whirlwind year we had that week. Emotions and stresses clashed with each other. That expense was an emergency we hadn’t planned on but couldn’t have done anything else.

GB is now named Kauen, which is German for chew. We selected this name because he reportedly chews almost everything (evidenced by his stomach and intestine contents). But since he’s been home, he’s had three meals a day. He’s almost threw with his post-operative medications and the best of all, he’s pooping and peeing beautifully. I’ve never seen such beautiful poop. Classic! Beautiful color, outstanding texture, and perfect shape. Being a male, he’s peeing on every bush in the front yard and down the drive way.

He still has his surgery staples so we’re keeping him in his crate as long and as often as possible. For now he’s letting us get away with it but he is more energetic and he’s finally barking. (Good news to my ears.)

Emancipation day is Thursday when his staples will be removed. Meanwhile I’ll gradually get him out of his crate and introduce him to the stairs from the deck down to the dog yard. Going down ought to be easy but climbing up might be a bit of a challenge.

He can’t yet jump up on the sofa without some pain so we’re moving very slowly on that but I’m so looking forward to napping with him.

Yes, it’s been too long for writing and too long for creative-writing. But it’s been time well spent on caring for a loved one who couldn’t speak for himself. We made the choice to save a little guy we hardly knew; a little guy who had for unknown reasons had been abandoned by his first family. But he’s in his forever home now complete with three other dogs as playmates and two doting adults offering unconditional love.