I have two jobs as an RN — one in a pediatrics clinic, one in a hospital NICU.  Often I am the triage nurse at the clinic so I’m on the “front lines” taking phone calls, answering parents’ questions, etc.  We all get interesting phone calls and of course with HIPPA laws I can’t be too specific but I could write a book about some of the calls I and the other nurses get. 

For ex — This summer one of my co-workers answered a call from a parent who was on a family camping trip out west.  They called for a refill of their child’s antibiotics because a bear broke into their supplies and ate the child’s antibiotics!  That was a call we talked about for quite some time wondering how the bear liked the strawberry flavored medication, if it upset their stomach, etc.!  Yesterday I got a call from a parent asking if we could write an excuse so their child didn’t have to wear part of a school uniform.  Just when I thought I’d heard it all……I’m sure there are many more interesting calls to come. 

Tonight I was invited by a friend to attend a demo by a horse trainer who instructs using the
Parelli method, which is also known as “Natural Horsemanship”. The instructor, Farrah Green of Sioux Falls, SD, was able to control her horse on the ground via subtle body language cues and get him to do amazing things such as trot in sync with her, lay down on his side, sit up (which requires a huge amount of muscle control from the horse) all while playing with him. It was like watching them do a dance together they were so in sync with each other. She also rode him with only a hackamore (no bit in the mouth) and he was wonderfully responsive. A very cold night but worthwhile to see someone who can train a horse to this level with no force of any kind.

It isn’t Thanksgiving yet but I have something important to be thankful for today.  Sixteen years ago today I had major back surgery.  It took me 9 months to recover and I still have pins and rods in my back BUT I can walk fine, I am not in pain and I can ride horses again!  Although the memories of the pain before surgery and the long recovery are tempered by 16 years I am very thankful to Dr. Zdeblick at the UW Hospital for his skill that day when he did my surgery.

It’s not the first time they’ve played Houdini…….Saturday evening the mini donkeys decided the grass really was greener on the other side of the fence and found the perfect weak spot in the fence to go through.  Unfortunately the grass is indeed greener there as it is alfalfa hay, not good for donkeys on a diet. 

 When I went to call the girls in for the night instead of being met by the usual braying there was silence.  Not good……It was pitch black out and I didn’t have a flashlight with me.  I listened intently and finally heard the sounds of twigs snapping but no donkey hooves coming closer.  I walked out into the pasture and as I got close to the back fence I could make out Glo (Morning Glory) as she is mainly white.  I then realized all four donkeys were looking at me from the other side of the wire fence.   Of course they weren’t able to get back through it as that isn’t where the escape route was located.  I remembered earlier in the year noting that a portion of the wire fencing was looking pretty saggy so felt my way down the fence line until my hands only touched air instead of a line of fence.  Voila!  The escape hatch was found!  Fortunately when I called the girls they came along the fence line and I held down what was left of the wire for them to step over.  They were moving pretty slowly at that point.  Got them into their stall and Glo immediately laid down — not a good sign.  Got her up walking and her stomach was really bloated looking and she kicked at it a couple of times. 

You may have heard of “colic” — it can be life-threatening in horses and other livestock and she had the symptoms.  Of course it was 11 p.m. by then on a Saturday night.  Fortunately the clinic we use for the equines has a vet on call even on nights and weekends.  I called the clinic number and was patched into him.  The one on call happens to own a couple of donkeys himself which was helpful.  He told me the girls would be fine but it is like a kid who ate too much Halloween candy so they were going to have stomach aches for a while. 

 It was one of those nights where you don’t sleep well and I did check on them a couple of times.   A close call but fortunately but in the a.m. all four were on their feet and seemed okay.  Of course the hole in the fenceline is now patched and they’ve had to stay off pasture for a couple of days which they think is torture.

Just another day in the country at the Blue Barn Farm……..

……..of writing in the blog……..I haven’t had time to write anything as the last week has been pretty hectic.  I was on the committee for the annual Wisconsin Dog Fair, an event that has gotten larger and larger each year.  This year we moved to a larger venue and as vendor chair I had 100 vendor booth spaces taken and their occupants to take care of.   The Dog Fair was 11/4 and I think it was a huge success since I have not gotten a single complaint from my vendors!  

 Friday (11/2) I was interviewed on the noon news program on Channel 3.  They said bring a dog and with all my reliable Lab girls in season it fell to a Pug to participate.  Sprite was as good as could be, sitting nicely on my lap for the entire interview.  Then the Sunday a.m. at the Dog Fair Channel 15 was doing a “live remote” with interviews from the Dog Fair as it was being set up.  I had brought Summer, my 1 year old Lab with to be a representative for our breed so she got her 3 minutes of fame as I was interviewed during that broadcast.  I saw the show on their web site and fortunately the cameras focused mainly on Summer while I was being interviewed.  Now if I was not at a dog event on a Sunday a.m. the last thing I would be doing was watching TV at 8 a.m. but apparently half of the population of this area was doing just that as everywhere I’ve gone the last few days someone is telling me they saw me on TV.    I wasn’t nervous because partially I thought no one would be watching!

A week ago we got a call from a company looking for a yellow Labrador who was obedience trained and would hold a pose lying down with her head flat between her paws while holding an ice bag on her head.  I decided Ali was the most likely one for this activity so started training her a few minutes a day to put her head down on the floor on command.  I did this using a clicker and treats.  Fortunately she is quite food motivated and by rewarding at first for any movement of her head towards the floor I was able to shape the behavior I wanted.

 Today was the photo shoot and she did great!  In fact she did so well they took some extra poses including outdoors and said they would be calling us again when they needed more shots.  It was a fun afternoon.