CODY AT 6 MONTHS
Bad puppy = bad health for puppy’s owner. I have become an expert.
Cody is now over 7 months old, and thankfully is calming down a bit. So I guess we’ll keep her (not that there really was ever any doubt in that regard).
After all, the broken foot really wasn’t her fault. I had her outside on leash and the stupid next-door neighbor gave her 10-year-old son a power saw to chop down an 8’ rose bush running up the side of the neighbor’s house. As if the noise from the saw wasn’t enough, said rose bush then started toppling toward my house and looked like it was going to knock down my 6′ privacy fence. Fortunately, said neighbor’s 8’ high trampoline prevented the fall onto the fence. Unfortunately, the whole event startled Cody, who yanked me off the sidewalk, making me twist my foot and break the fifth metatarsal bone.
Of course, being me, I refused to believe it was, in fact, broken. We were taking my mother-in-law out for dinner that evening, and I insisted on going anyway. After hobbling into and out of the restaurant, and barely picking at my food, my husband insisted we take my mother-in-law home and then head to the ER.
The ER was not staffed with the A team that evening. Even the x-ray tech questioned why an ankle x-ray had been ordered when I clearly was complaining of foot pain. Sure ‘nuff, an hour later I was returned to radiology for the foot x-ray. Yep – broken.
On the bright side, I did get a week off work and was given a really cool “designer” boot (see photo) and a brand new pair of really shiny crutches.
However, the velcro on the boot gives me a discernibly crunchy/squeaky gait, which I’ve been told is annoying to some of my co-workers. Oh well. Would they rather have continued to cover for me while I rested up at home? I think not.
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As I said, thankfully Cody is growing up. The beginning was rough. I had forgotten just how much work a new puppy could be, and how little sleep the owner gets. I had forgotten that puppies chew on EVERYTHING, including shoes, books, rugs, and couches.
Thankfully, pretty much everything in my house is old and needs to be replaced anyway. We learned quickly to remove all breakables from puppy’s reach – although we did at times fail to realize just how high puppy could jump or climb. And, we had totally forgotten about FRAP (frenetic random activity periods), when puppy goes berserk, runs from one end of the house to the other, jumping on and off furniture and flying up and down steps. It’s a wonder she didn’t break all four of her legs.
Fortunately, the FRAP times have become sporatic. But in a way, I sort of miss them.
CODY AT 7 MONTHS
And thankfully, Cody has pretty much learned that she is NOT sleeping with me, and the battles over who occupies the bed/couch have become rare. Good thing – now that’s she’s over 40 lbs., she could probably win that battle (but we won’t tell her that, will we?)
Yes, Cody is growing up. She has become loving and cuddly most of the time. And once my broken foot heals, we will begin to enjoy each other again.
Unless stupid neighbor decides her son needs a rocket launcher.
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Images by: Cordelia’s Mom
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
Oh, this is AWESOME! Not the part about your foot. That part sucks, obviously, but the good stuff about Cody learning that she doesn’t win the bed or couch. Your neighbor sounds like a wonderful parent. I mean, that she would send her 10 year old out with a power tool shows that she is OBVIOUSLY raising the kid to be responsible…Have you any idea how hard it was to type that sentence with a straight face? And do you ever wonder if, while they’re bouncing, if they are actively looking over the fence? A trampoline next door would be a nightmare for us. Anyway, I enjoyed this immensely this morning. 🙂
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Yes, they do hang over the trampoline and look over our fence – that’s why we have shade trees the whole length of the property line (not many sublots in our suburban division even have trees). This is the same neighbor who gave the kid an axe a couple of weeks ago, and he proceeded to chop nicks into the Town tree on the berm in front of her house. Can’t wait for him to chop up his little screaming friends. Gonna be a long summer.
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Oh, man…I went back and re-read the post about your neighbors…I feel for you…I truly do. We are lucky in that all the kids on our block grew up when my kids did, so there are very few around anymore.
The horrible, blog-worthy ones that rented the house next door moved out some months back, and we have been fortunate to have quiet renters move in. A second rental was moved into at the end of the cul de sac, and they have a beautiful Trans Am convertible. I hate that damned car. It is so loud that it makes small children cry when he starts it up. (I know this because I was babysitting for a friend last week. True story.) Two houses down, the nice renters just moved out, too, and the people that lived there prior were drug dealers. 3 out of 13 of the homes on our little cul de sac are rentals. Two of those are to the left of my house.
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Ahh, the FRAP! They often provide a much-needed belly-laugh at the perfect moment, don’t they?
I’m getting adjusted to 3-cat-FRAP (also known as the “kitty 500”) – most often in the middle of the night; thankfully, not usually upstairs!
I hope your foot is steady getting better! Did they give you a time frame?
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4-6 weeks for the bone to heal, and I’m in the 3rd week. Once in awhile I “forget” and step on it wrong, but otherwise it’s not too bad right now.
I never had cats and didn’t know they have their own version of FRAP. Gotta be even funnier with felines!
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Oh kitty FRAP’s can be quite amusing especially when they include your bed while you’re in it. Yikes! You learn to keep the door shut and roll over when the crashing starts.
I’m glad your foot’s healing well CM. I’m sure that Cody’s looking forward to you return to health as well. Hopefully the neighbor’s kid will tone it down.
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Thanks, Paul. I expect I’ll have more than a few really good neighbor stories by the end of summer.
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