i was trying to tease the toy out of his mouth so we could go for a walk, even though i know better.

a couple of weeks ago, the vet called to check on atlas. when i told her that he was still limping, she wanted to put him back in the splint for a week. i said no, but i did agree to a few days of inactivity.

during his inactivity – which, i should mention, he opposed – i asked someone else to watch atlas walk so i could get a second opinion on the limp, just in case i was imagining things.

he figured it out!

while atlas was in the splint, he developed a habit of stomping the splinted foot extra-hard against the ground.

(he has a habit of marching in place so whenever he stood in front of the counter at the pet store, he looked like he was stomping his foot impatiently. it was pretty cute.)

it turned out that the habit stuck. when atlas walked, he was still stomping that foot extra-hard against the ground. as a result, that front leg/shoulder wasn’t moving the same as the other leg/shoulder and it resembled a limp.

boy was i relieved.

we’re still increasing our distance; in another few weeks, life should be back to normal again.

dogs make such good adventure buddies. they don’t mind tromping through snow-covered bushes and brambles so you can take pictures of some weeds you spotted in a field. in fact, they are probably leading the way. plus, they look awfully cute with snow on their nose.

{an extremely irregular series inspired by kelly, in which atlas dispenses pearls of wisdom}

“when there is a patch of sunlight in the living room in winter, go and lie in it. it feels so good.”

in case you’re wondering, atlas is splintless. the bone is still knitting itself together but his limp is slowly fading and our walks are getting a little bit longer.

if i had a dollar for every time i’ve tried and failed to get atlas to hold a pose or strike a pose, i would have a lot of dollars. he has the uncanny knack of moving every single time i grab my camera to capture him as he is. sometimes i wonder if he does it on purpose. this picture is no exception. he was sitting on the bed at the time and i noticed that he looked exactly like he did in what is probably one of my best and favorite photos of him from a long time ago. i wanted to capture it again and admire how young he looks (or, i suppose, how old he looked in the original photo). of course, as soon as i pulled out the camera, he laid down. apparently i need to work on the command, “lift your head up!”

atlas must’ve been very noticeable with his splint on. whenever we’re out and about, we get stopped by people i don’t recognize who want to say, “he got his cast off! yay! how is he doing?”

there is no question who is taking who for a walk these days. if i do say so myself, i walk very nicely on leash.

or a second couch.

don’t you agree?

i suppose the other option would be a smaller dog, but that’s just silly. i like my giant one immensely.

p.s. there are still a few 2013 atlas calendars left, in case you were interested.

last week, atlas and i were napping on the couch. when he was tired of lying next to me, he got up and moved to the end of the couch. i rolled over onto my side, only to feel the hard splint in my back. sleepily, i thought, “why is the splint here when atlas is there?”

needless to say, that sleepy thought woke me right up.

i still don’t know how he did it.

when i sat up to investigate, the splint was right where it is in the picture. it wasn’t stuck in the couch cushion. i definitely didn’t feel him wiggling around like he was trying to get it off. and as you can see, it is perfectly intact.

i spent the whole morning telling him that he was a genius.

alas for atlas, that wasn’t the end of the splint. it was going to be until he limped over to me with the expression that says “i am really really hurting”, an expression that i rarely see. i brought him to the vet immediately to have them put it back on him.

p.s. there are still some calendars left, if you want to spend 2013 with atlas!

just for fun, i made an atlas calendar. i liked it so much that i ordered eight of them. two calendars are already spoken for, so i have six available.

they’re desk calendars, 5×11 in size, with a built-in easel for display on your desk.

i’ll also request your birthday month and atlas will send you a birthday card next year. (if you don’t like birthdays, or like your birthday month to remain a secret, he’ll send you an un-birthday card sometime during the year.)

the cost is $27, which includes shipping.

want to spend 2013 with atlas?

this offering is no longer available. come back next year!

on saturday, we took our guests to the ocean. you would not believe how happy atlas was to be out and about on an adventure. (never mind that we had gone on an adventure right before we left for the ocean – to the recycle bin. hahaha.) he had the biggest smile on his face as he dragged me all around.

unfortunately for atlas, i didn’t let him run. we also did a fair amount of sitting and waiting while amy and katherine went on without us. but he was still happy. and we were so happy for him.

the good news is that his splint earned him lots of extra attention and sympathy and scratches and a giant dog treat.

i must say, atlas really hasn’t slowed down at all. we went to the vet today to get his splint rewrapped and one of the girls there commented that she had never seen a dog move quite so fast with a splint on. he is as speedy as ever. i guess it is a lovely testament to adaptability, even if i wish he would move more slowly.

it looks like the splint might stay on for two more weeks and then he can do the rest of his healing without it. here’s hoping.

just when i think atlas can’t get any more adorable, he goes and does. just look at him.

i think the splint is supposed to slow him down. atlas’s opinion: “i am just as speedy with the splint on as i am with it off!”

there is a fine line between feisty and ornery. the line depends on the current mood of the observer.

atlas’s new nickname is thumper. can you guess how he acquired it?

unfortunately for atlas, he is starting to develop rubbing sores so i am having to curb his enthusiasm for speed and limit his walking and movement. (i was good about enforcing no running, jumping, or playing. i was not so good about enforcing no movement. that seemed like a lot of no’s for an energetic pup.)

the amount of attention atlas receives seems to have increased exponentially.

when this is all over, i am going to have to post pictures of all his splints together. they are so colorful. the last one had bright yellow tape with green dog bones. the current one has aqua tape with navy stars.

i am happy to report that the atlas and elizabeth house is more peaceful. atlas is adjusting to his splint and we are adjusting to our new slower mode of life.

after the first day, which was horrible, and the second day, during which he tried to remove his splint every time i went upstairs for more than a second (i finally asked a neighbor to come and sit with him so i could take a shower), he seems much more tolerant of it.

astonishingly, a week of inactivity has also been tolerable for him. he seems neither terribly depressed nor terribly saucy. i have been giving him lots of massages and playing brain/mental games with him and i think he is enjoying all the attention.

he is not, however, a very good invalid. he keeps stomping around with his splint and running around the living room and whenever i decide we’ve walked enough and try to turn around, he tries to tug me in the opposite direction. we went to the park for his potty walk the other day (it’s practically right next door) and he kept trying to run off into the field.

the hardest parts of this involve the stairs and the bed.

after two attempts to sleep downstairs on the couch, both of which worked well for atlas (besides the fact that he doesn’t like to sleep on the couch at night – nights are for beds) but not so well for me (the second night, he slowly took over more and more of the couch until my entire lower half was dangling off of it and i decided i might as well sleep on the floor), he is allowed upstairs once a day at bedtime. if he has to go outside in the middle of the night, we sleep on the couch for the remainder of the night and do not go upstairs again.

after much trial and error, i finally figured out a way to make getting on and off the bed safer and easier by creating stairs out of pillows. what does atlas do? he ignores my stairs and leaps over them as usual. this is not so bad when getting on the bed, but it is terrible when getting off. twice, he got around me and leaped and landed and his face instantly contorted in pain. now, i have to be very stern and make him wait and lead him off. (i tried lifting him off the first couple of nights. let’s just say that didn’t go well.)

going up the stairs seems fine. it’s going down that’s the problem. he does not know how to go down slowly. i tried carrying him down a couple of times. (again, let’s just say that didn’t go well at all.) the best way i can describe my current method is to say that he tries to race down normally while i stand in front of him and block him and hold him back by pushing on his chest. this does slow him down, but it takes him forever to start because he does not understand what i am doing and why i am in his way. i actually think it would work the best if he sat on my lap and i slid down the stairs, but he refuses to try this.

of course, there are blessings in everything. i am learning to ask for help and support and to receive it. i have a rich and warm community. and i am appreciating the opportunity to slow down and take care of atlas in a new way.

last night at bedtime, atlas was lying next to me on the bed – quietly snoring, his tummy rumbling, his head on my pillow, his cast resting on my heart and whacking me every once in a while – and i was overcome with gratitude and love.