It was Friday night (10-29-10) after one of the loooonngggeeessst weeks I'd had in a while and it was around 11:00 at night. I was going through the standard nighttime routine of taking the girls outside to pee just before we go to bed but it was crazy windy and the girls were distracted to do their business. So I figured if we kicked the ball around a few times they would quit paying attention to the blowing trees, run around the yard a bit and then pee so we could go to bed.
Five minutes into playing Baylie had gone but I was waiting for Ginger (who was finally in the process of sniffing out the perfect spot)...I kicked the ball one final time--and tragedy! The ball took off strait towards my patio pillar and Baylie was running at full speed to get it. Typically the girls are really good at judging the ricochet and they'll scoop up the ball off the rebound. This time Baylie did not wait...I don't know if she thought she
could out run it or if her depth perception was skewed by the dim lighting but she dipped her head to get the ball and her eye collided with the stucco covered pillar. At first I figured it was just her shoulder but she came off yelping and I hurried her into the house into the kitchen where I had enough light to check her out and I was horrified! Her whole eye socket was filled with blood and she was bleeding from multiple other spots around the eye. I instantly feared the worst--I worried that she'd
hit the corner of the pillar and blinded herself! I started blotting off all the blood, grabbed leashes and got both girls into the car on my way to the Emergency vet...which is across town! Mom was able to meet me there after dispatching for the football games and helped with Ginger while I quickly filled out the paperwork for Baylie to see the Doctor. The vet said he'd need to clean up the wound before determining the need for stitches and said he'd do a special eye wash to
check and see if she scratched her cornea. Luckily, when he brought her back in the room he said her eye seemed to be fine, she had reactive pupils, directional movement, and he saw no scratches! The vet said that he really couldn't put stitches in her gash without it pulling down her bottom eyelid so it would just have to heal in itself. He prescribed some antibiotics to help fight infection and told me to keep it clean. He said it'd probably take a couple weeks to fully heal and
she will most likely have a scar where the hair won't grow back but I was just relieved to hear that she was going to be alright (especially her sight)! I took the pictures after we got home around 1:30 in the morning and both girls were exhausted so it was strait to bed after that! The next morning Baylie's eye was gooey but once I took a moist rag to it I was happy to see it looking less swollen. Baylie was lethargic all day Saturday
so we laid low and she and Ginger slept away the majority of the day. Now it's beginning to scab over and the swelling is allowing her to open her eye better so I think she'll be back to good sooner than later!
For years now, I have had cool mats for Baylie (especially in summertime) because she has so much hair and tends to run hot anyway! I've always bought the Canine Cooler brand and had never had problems with them before. Once I had Ginger too I decided to buy one for each of them and I found that the Cool Bed III was cheaper (NOW I KNOW WHY!!!). Ginger's barely lasted a summer before it began leaking because she tends to be rough with things, but Baylie's was nearly 2 years old before I caught it oozing water! During 
Christmas break I got online to try and order new ones in hopes that the off-season price would be low enough to purchase the Canine Cooler brand again. I was able to get them for better than half off but this is NOT where the story ends! When I went to get her old one outta the bed room I lifted it up to realize the WHOLE underside of it had green and black mold spots all over it!!! The smell was overwhelming the minute I lifted up the vinyl bed--I almost gagged! I spent the next week carpet cleaning with special cleansers made to remove mold smells and when that didn't work I resorted 
to bleach in hopes it would kill the smell. Sadly all the bleach did is make my bedroom smell toxic and the moldy smell was mixed in! It was unlivable and the girls and I were displaced into the spare bedroom for most of my vacation! Knowing it was hopeless after pulling back the carpet (after the 4 attempts to shampoo it) and seeing the HUGE stain I decided it was time to come up with a plan B! I went to a few different stores getting quotes and suggestions for flooring and decided to go with the faux wood laminate. I began by taking home sample after sample trying to decide upon a color. Once I did, I 
set up an appointment for the earliest possible--for two reasons; I was still off work and could be home and because I really wanted my bedroom back! Stay tuned for the upcoming photos of my new floor!
