Champion of My HeartA real-time memoir about life with a fearful border collie, by Roxanne Hawn

Rather than suffer trauma-by-TV, Lilly and I went for a hike Sunday, September 11, 2011. It’s our version of praying, I suppose you could say.

It has been a HUGE snake year with many sightings nearby, so I’m ever-vigilant … constantly sweeping the trail ahead with my eyes.

Look what I found:

Read the rest of this entry »

We began our latest tale of veterinary drama Friday, with Lilly calmly at my feet in the exam room. I asked her to join me on the bench because I wanted to be sure I could find a pea-sized lump in her neck / shoulder when our veterinarian joined us. What I found instead was much scarier.

Lilly hopped up onto the bench without hesitation. She sat there smiling, like the heavily medicated, silly girl she was. So, I began groping around her left side for the lump I wanted to point out. And, instead of the tiny hard bump I’ve been tracking for a month or two, I found a huge, squishy, swollen mass that took up the better part of Lilly’s neck and lower cheek.

Serious wave of fear pounded my already-battered emotional strength.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here, at last, the story of Lilly’s recent snakebite. While unraveling what must have transpired before that Thursday morning when Lilly woke up with a swollen cheek, our best guess is that a snake got her sometime Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. The fact that she suffered a bite a couple years ago may explain the delayed, less-severe response this time — almost like the first bite “vaccinated” her to the venom (at least a little).

Read the rest of this entry »