Penny and Tape from Ben Lowe on Vimeo.

Our poor Penny ripped her left pinky toe nail right off the quick two weeks ago by stepping just on the edge of where our tile is raised an inch from the wood laminate flooring. Sweet thing made an awful yelp, and we took her to Dr. Campbell at The Parmer Lane Pet Hospital to take care of her.

They were very kind and love Penny, (how can you not?) ; ) and after cutting her dead nail off and bandaging her paw, we were sent home again with pain pills and antibiotics. She was very depressed, but we thought she was healing well, until today… This afternoon she ripped the nail remains up, tripping during a car ride, and we’ll be bringing her back in for another painful nail trim tomorrow. : (

She pouts in her crate for hours at a time now, and checks her toe every three steps she takes outside. I sure hope she will be more comfortable after her vet visit tomorrow. It’s hard to watch her hurting. Makes me so thankful that she is otherwise very heathy.

Penny and Hannah were cracking me up tonight as they “fought” over the top of my belly! Penny decided she had found a good pillow, and Hannah kept kicking her! These girls are going to have to learn to SHARE…

The other night we met our parents at Zilker Park to watch The Music Man! After staking out our spot and enjoying a picnic dinner, we headed down to the water with Penny to get her wiggles out. Ben and Bobby threw her ball and we all cooled down from just standing calf-deep in that cold cold Barton Springs water!

The Music Man was great! It’s been awhile since I saw the movie and a live performance is always more fun! My almost 7 months pregnant tailbone punished me the next day, but I’d say it was worth it : )

The girls had so much fun playing with each others’ toys and romping at the dog park… Aryn and I got to catch up a little too : )

When we came to pick her up, her necklace looked like this:

Apparently, Buddy convinced her that it would be a fun game for him to chew her necklace off and then roll it in mud! Brothers….

Doesn’t he just LOOK mischievous? : )

So, we went shopping today to find her a new one.

Here she is, sporting her new look : )

I need some re-education, and Penny (just as she’s entering pre-adolescence) needs some behavior refinement! Don’t get me wrong, she’s a very good girl, but sometimes she’s just too excited to obey immediately…

Penny has visited MP’s Big Fish After School Program a few Fridays in a row now. She rides “shot gun” in the 15 passenger van, and loves to run around with the kids in the parking-lot playground while they play “Hide-and-Go-Seek.” (Although a Golden Retriever tail has been known to give away even some of the best hiding places).

We’d love to include her 3 days a week for the kids’ sake. They are often afraid of dogs (even ones as fuzzy as Penny) because of negative past experiences with dogs. They adore having her around and throwing a ball for her. Having this dog training will mean that Penny will be more in tune with me, even in fun (distracting) environments  – enough to stay inside the fenced area or to “Leave it” when she finds a random chicken bone.

This training will also prepare her for certification through The Delta Society to participate in Dell Children’s Hospital’s Woody Pet Therapy Program in the future. We look forward to being able to share Penny’s sweet company with recovering children there.

Taurus has asked us to be some of the first participants in their developing scholarship opportunities. We’ll journal how we’re doing in-between training sessions, and gladly submit some pictures of her with the children! We are so blessed to have this opportunity, and praise God for His soverign hand in all of life’s circumstances.

Then I went to work out, cleaned out the car, did some house cleaning, finished some projects and made dinner! What a fun and restful Saturday : )