Life is good...and boring.

Jaida here (that's me...).

This fab-three-legger is hoping she's not boring you to tears. I think I read on Xena's blog that being a dog with only ONE GOOD LEG stops being very exciting after a while because life just becomes very normal-ish...

And it has. I am still bunny-hopping and fabulous. My sister Gracie is still my hero (we're really the bestest of buds these days). My moms still take us for nice walks in the woods and play frisbee with us in the yard and chase me out of the veggie garden (although they dug up all the nummy tomato plants this weekend, how rude!)

I think the only exciting thing that happened to me recently was that I got to meet a very small person named Jacob, who is my cousin. Jacob is about the smallest person I've ever met. He doesn't talk and he smells really, really, interesting. He has soft skin and very small hands that like to touch my fur. I liked him a lot (so did Gracie, she cried because she couldn't see him very well when moms told her to DOWNSTAY). I hope we get to spend more time with him.

Other than that: boring. But, moms still take pictures of me, on account of my cuteness, so I can share those with you.

You can see that my boo-boo is all better (mom Crystal keeps telling me I need to grow more fur, but I'M WORKING ON IT, ALREADY!!!)

My ONE GOOD LEG is strong like Popeye...

And moms still can't beat me at tug-of-war...

O ye of little faith.

Crystal here.

Ok, that title was for my benefit.

Jaida did fine. No puke, poo, pee or chewed-up things in sight after Gracie and I got home from the vet. There were, however, songs, sighs and stories about her day alone that lasted a good TWO HOURS, then Kim got to hear about them all over again when SHE got home. Sheesh. Rotten loudmouth german shepherds.

Gracie did wonderfully, although she was supremely stoned and glassy-eyed for the evening. Back to her usual self, and carrying her heaviest, hardest, bumpiest toy around in her mouth in the morning, making me cringe.

Home ALONE!!!

Crystal here.

We've done the unthinkable (well, in Jaida's mind anyways)...Jaida's home alone today.

The oh-so-fabulous Miss Gracie, Jaida's buddy and constant companion, is visiting the vet for the day. Why? She has somehow managed to CRACK IN HALF one of her teeth, so it needs to be surgically removed. How does one crack a tooth in half, for pete's sake? I mean, I understand that the little ones in the front can get chipped easily enough, but CRIPES! There, I circled the one she broke...it's HUGE (called a carnassial)! Ouch. It's the main one used for chewing/cutting...no more bones for Gracie after this I guess, she's gonna be all gummy. She may actually lose them on both sides...we noticed that what used to be a tartar lump on the other, non-cracked upper carnassial, is now a tartar-free tooth with a red spot that looks suspiciously like a hole. Siiiiggghhhh.

So, we dog-proofed the house as much as possible, closed all the doors to all the rooms, but I suspect that we will come home to a very distressed and talkative (read: whingy, panty, groany) Jaida, a.k.a. Miss Separation Anxiety, and ample quantities of poo, pee, puke or chewed-up stuff. I planted treats and toys all over the house to keep her busy before I snuck out with Gracie, but I'll be very surprised if she made it through the day without a melt down.

Gracie, a.k.a. Miss Sensitivity is likely to be all sad and sucky when we pick her up tonight. Just look at that face:

Yup, she's going to be a big suck-head tonight.

The little squirt made us proud.

Crystal here.

Kim and I decided to bring Jaida with us to a housewarming party last weekend. Personally, I've always been a tad concerned about how Jaida would react to a situation like this. Because of all her illnesses and surgeries as a pup, we weren't able to get her out into the world for as much socialization as we would have liked.

So we got to the girls' house on Saturday afternoon, and there were loads of people, dogs, children, food, music, commotion, noise...it seemed like a lot and I expected Jaida to be clingy and whingy. I couldn't have been more wrong.

After a quick tour with her around the property, a brief scuffle with our friends' dog, and showing her where her water bucket was, Jaida (a.k.a. Little Miss Independence) was off doing her own thing.

She was fascinated with the children. I think she liked having pople at her own eye level. She let them pet her and lean on her and play with her tail, then spent HOURS running back and forth between them as they tossed around frisbees and badminton birdies. She never took their toys. She watched them closely when they were playing in the kiddie pool. She nudged them on their tummies with her soft nose, making the littlest ones squeal and giggle. It was truly awesome to watch.

She didn't ignore the adults either, and introduced herself to most of them, often plopping down in the middle of a group of lawn chairs to score a few quick pats and scritches as she rested between bouts of play.

She didn't beg, steal food, cry, whinge or cling to her mums. She played nicely with the other dogs who wanted to play, and respectfully gave space to those who didn't. We couldn't have asked for a better-behaved puppy.

Jaida's three-leggedness was definitely a conversation starter. Most of the time the conversations started with "why is she limping?" ... people had no idea she was missing a leg until we pointed it out to them. Although I did catch one person staring at Jaida from across the lawn counting aloud with a puzzled look on her face:

("one...two...threee...one...two...threeeee.....?")

That one made me giggle a bit. Once they saw how well she was getting around and how much she was enjoying herself, her disability stopped being an oddity, and people simply commented on what a great dog she was.

The little squirt has turned out o.k.

I forgot to tell you...

I also did a nifty trick for a three-legged dog with only ONE GOOD LEG in the front.

I dug a hole. Yes I did. In the yard. I was thinking about putting my frisbee in the hole, but I changed my mind because I was pretty sure I'd forget where I put it. It took all my strongness and fastness and sometime (ok lots of times) I landed on my face, but I did it all by myself.

Here is my hole that I did dig, all by myself: TA-DAAA!!!

Swiiiiming, swiiiiming, in my swimming poooool...

Jaida here.

Speaking of presents, moms came home with a present for me on the weekend. It was big and purple and round and wet...can you guess? A POOL!!! Just for me, on account of my cuteness. I love playing silly splashes in my bucket, and I'm still trying to figure out how to catch the water that comes from that snake-thing that squirts me when I'm in the vegetable garden, but this POOL is just TOO FUN!

Because of my strongness and athleticness I am great at this POOL stuff. I can ALMOST catch the water from the snake-thing and I can make waves for my crafty teeth to practice with.

Gracie will not come in my POOL with me. I tried to show her how fun it is, but grumpster Gracie does not like to get her feet wet. Silly Gooser.

Mmmm...leftovers.

Jaida here.

My kitty-brother Solomon is a wild ferocious jungle beast who likes to catch little furry creatures when he's not snoozing-sprawling in the sun or cuddling with moms or having me bounce on him. Sometimes he brings presents home for moms. I don't think they like his presents, they say "EEEWWWWW, GROSS!"

Solomon brought fabulous ME a present yesterday! Mom Crystal was outside with me in the morning and I found it on the lawn, so I picked it up with my crafty teeth. It was very nice and tasty and squishy and I wanted to hold it in my mouth for a bit before I ate it. But mom saw the present's tail hanging out of my mouth and she went "EEEEEEWWWW, GROSS!" and came to take it away from me, how rude!!

So I ran away from her...I didn't want Solly to think I didn't like his present. Mom chased me all over the yard (ha-ha I'm faster than her and she has NO boo-boo legs at all) and said words I didn't understand but I think they were NOT NICE WORDS until she finally caught me.

But I held on to my present very hard and I tried to keep in in my mouth. Mom tried to get me to DROP IT but IT WAS MY PRESENT so I didn't. Mom then had the nerve to put her hand in my mouth and take my present away!!! Then she went "EEEEEWWW, GROSS!" again and threw my present over the fence. Then she marched me inside and told mom Kim that I was NOT-TEE.

I don't get those moms of mine sometimes. I'll have to tell Solly to leave my presents somewhere where moms can't see....