Oy! Last Thursday, Ginko finished taking his post-op antibiotics. And, based on the outcome of his surgical cultures, we hoped that would be enough. But … nope! By mid-day Saturday, his surgery knee produced a swollen/squishy spot about the size of a marble. The infection is back.

The scheduled appointment Monday morning to remove his staples went otherwise. The veterinarians didn’t want to pull staples, until we beat back the infection more. So, he’s on another 10 days of antibiotics (a different one, three times a day). They’ll attempt staple removal again on Thursday.

Unfortunately, this work week is already compromised and complicated for other reasons, so we’ll be sending the boys down the mountain alone. It should be interesting.

My Naked Boy

We’ve let Ginko go naked since his surgery. Naked … as in … no collar.

That’s a rarity around here. Because of my prior work in the sheltering world, I’m a bit of a collar and tag fanatic.

Yep. I’m the girl who sees a dog or a cat in a TV or magazine ad and has a fit if the pet isn’t wearing a collar and tag.

It’s all about setting a good example, setting norms, setting expectations.

Now, I have friends … particularly in the performance dog world … whose dogs do NOT wear collars. And, to me, theyve always look naked.

Microchips

In addition to wearing collars and tags, both of my dogs are microchipped. And, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s a GOOD idea to double-check your microchip registry at least once a year … because I’ve found errors in ours over the years.

Personally, I’m big on microchips as insurance against collars and tags getting lost or damaged if the pet gets loose. Permanent, embedded ID sounds good to me.

There are problems with chips, though. Like that your average person (me!) doesn’t have a microchip scanner on hand, which makes a good collar and tag so helpful.

Some folks worry about microchips and cancer, too. That’s not one of the things that concerns me (too much), but there you go.

Liking the Look

So, because Ginko has had to wear his Bite-Not Collar during his recovery, we took off his regular collar to prevent bunching and bulk around his neck.

And, I’ve got to say … I like the naked look on him.

Thanks to the greyhound mixed in there, Ginko has a BIG neck and a smallish head, which means he has to wear his collar practically right behind his ears. It looks a bit weird.

So, this o’ naturale look grew on me, but the collar is back on now … because I truly believe it’s best … which brings us to this —->

Dog Tag Giveaway

The nice people at Rover in Clover Designer Dog Tags recently offered to make and give Lilly a new tag, but the truth is that Lilly doesn’t need one.

SO, I asked if they would instead GIVE ONE AWAY. Yippee!!!

Alphabet Dog ID Tag: One side features a big BOLD initial, and on the other side, they’ll engrave your pet’s name and your phone number.

How to Enter:

So, this little blog giveaway will once again use a random drawing of those who comment on this post before midnight (MDT), Sunday, August 15, 2010.

Yep. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post, even if it’s just to say, “Boy, I hope I win!”

For shipping simplicity, I’m sorry to say that we have to limit this contest to pet parents who live in the continental United States.

I will alert the winner via email on Monday, August 16, 2010, so be sure you carefully type your email in the comment form.  I’ll have the winner send me the info to be engraved and mailing address privately so that I can pass it along to the Rover in Clover Designer Dog Tags folks.