I recently relayed the news about Ella gutting her beloved Raffy. The loss was so sudden and shocking that I made the decision to keep Raffy’s remains around for as long as I could.
Sick, maybe…but with his stuffing fully gone, I figured he couldn’t pose much of a threat to Ella’s digestive system, and frankly I really like Raffy and am perfectly happy tossing his limp shell around the shoebox for Ella to chase.

Earlier this evening, I noticed Ella was hiding under my desk, shooting me a guilty look out of the corner of her eye. I knew immediately that meant she had something in her mouth that she knew damn well she ought not to. I pried open her jaws of steel, and a round, brown, mushy ball-shaped thing dropped into my hand. I screamed bloody murder at first, thinking it was part of a bodily organ of another animal she’d killed, or a piece of some kind of nasty that she’d snuck in from the mean city streets…in a few seconds though, my squeals turned to hysterical laughter as I realized what it was.

Ladies and gentlemen, exhibit A:

And Exhibit B:

And Exhibit C:

Ella’s wrath directed toward Raffy is relentless! The poor thing is now eviscerated and sans eye. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say Ella will take the other eye next and then move on to his ear.

I will say, though…I’ve never seen ANYTHING keep Ella’s attention quite so much as Raffy’s eye. Perhaps I’ll hold onto the eyes and use them as training treats. That might be a good, maximum incentive treat to use while we’re practicing “Come”…even filet mignon couldn’t top a furry eyeball apparently.

Though there are sticks covering every square inch of ground in Central Park, lately Ella has developed a particular attraction to only the “hard-to-get” sticks. This sort of stick is bad news – you know the kind. It sits there looking all big and strong, knowing full well it’s already attached (to the ground). It’s the kind of stick that flaunts its barkiness while laying right next to its fence who is determined to protect it against all the other dogs ready to pounce.

I guess every girl goes through this phase at one point in her life. I’m just hoping that Ella will quickly learn that the stick is not always tastier on the other side of the fence. Until then, I have to keep watching painful and desperate scenes such as these…

“Sticky don’t run from me!…We’re meant to be…come back…”

“OK, this hard-to-get shtick was cute at first, but it’s beginning to get old now.”

We were out for our evening walk in Central Park, and just as we entered The Ramble, out of nowhere appeared this HUGE giraffe! We couldn’t believe it…I mean, squirrels – definitely…little birdies of all varieties – of course. But a giraffe?? See for yourselves…

Before I knew it, Ella turned into a fierce predator and became more of a threat to the poor giraffe than habitat destruction…and in the blink of an eye, she tore it apart like it was a stuffed animal!

Oh wait a second.

I think…

Oh my mistake…

It WAS a stuffed animal. Sorry about that.

R.I.P. “Raffy”.

You were the first and only toy Ella ever humped. I’m sorry she used you for her amusement and then discarded you.

If it makes you feel any better, she gutted her stuffed puppy first. I think that just shows how much she truly cared about you.

You will be missed.

The bad news is…Ella’s diarrhea was back this morning. The good news is…she barely even thought about her fiery bum because she was distracted by the sprinklers that were out again in Central Park!

I am totally willing to risk boring you all with repeated posts and excessive pictures of Ella and the sprinklers – in my opinion, it’s just too hilarious not to share each time. And I have to admit, playing in the sprinklers is a lot of fun even for me (not to mention incredibly refreshing on blazing hot days like today). We do get a few strange looks though – sometimes during the festivities (people just can’t fathom a dog who loves to get wet as much as Ella does – clearly they’ve never known a retriever), but mostly afterward as we walk through the park dripping wet. Most people are confused as to how we got to be so wet. They assume I let Ella jump in The Lake or Bethesda Fountain (which always upsets me because they are so filthy i would NEVER let her jump in there)…I can only assume they think i jumped in with her or something. (Can you imagine those pictures?)

Anyway, get ready for some action…

It is HOT in NYC today…you could fry an egg on the sidewalk (though i wouldn’t advise eating it)…and I can’t say the timing is the greatest what with Ella battling her tummy troubles and all. Heat like this could give anybody the runs.

The good news is that Ella seems to have perked up a bit and her energy levels have returned to normal. We’re still working on getting that tum back to normal though – better, but not where I’d like to see it…so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that she keeps progressing over the next several days. And in the meantime I am working hard to try to keep her from eating any other random things that could aggravate her stomach…like, say, for example, paint chips from her chewing on the wall last night? Uggh. Lead poisoning…yeah, that’s just what we need right now.

Anyway, we have managed to make it to Central Park in spite of the heat. The athletic pup she is, Ella understands the importance of staying hydrated in such extreme conditions, so she’s taken it upon herself to make sure she’s got water with her every step of the way. In addition to making me stop at EVERY water fountain in the park to fill her drinking cup, she also picks up every discarded water bottle she finds along the way. It’s not just for her though – it’s an important job…She’s really doing her part to keep the park clean…now if I can only teach her to drop the bottles in the recycling bin when she’s done, I’ll have a very trendy “green pup” on my hands…