D'oh!

Ahh, the antics of a 4 month old Ridgeback puppy. I must say, Deka is the most rambunctious Ridgeback puppy my family has had to date. She hasn't chewed any furniture, hasn't peed on the carpet, hasn't broken any lamps, but she's got a LOT of energy.

Deka's newest thing is that she likes to jump up and put her front paws on Sashi's back so that she can see over tables and counters. My father was chopping vegetables with the back of the knife overhanging the edge of the kitchen counter and the pup cut her forehead on the knife. Quick trip to the emergency vet resulted in 3 stitches and one of those space-dog cone collars. I don't have a picture of that cuteness because...

When they got back home, Deka went running into the house, tried to round a corner and caught the edge of the cone collar on the wall. This sent the pup flying and, ofcourse, broke the cone collar in two!!! Apparently she just stood up, shook it off, sniffed the collar (now on the floor) and ran away again!

The collar lasted a grand total of 30 seconds. I'm STILL laughing just thinking about it.

All Parents are Crazy

My parents are crazy. Always with the best intentions, but still... nuts. Usually in a lovable, easy-to-shrug-off way, but still... crazy. Despite this, I make the argument that ALL parents are crazy. It's the prerogative of being of parent.

I spent the weekend visiting my parents in Florida with my boyfriend, Rob. First thing, our flight was a half an hour early. Rob sensibly suggested, "Shouldn't you call you dad and tell him we ran early?" "Nope. He already knows" was my completely confident reply. And he did. My father has flight-tracker send updates to his iPhone. He knew we were landing early before we did and was already at the airport. Kindof eccentric, but in a lovable way.

Rob works in the wine industry. Therefore, part of the weekend was spent running Rob around to my parents favorite wine shops. The two of us were sent on an "errand" to Total Wine (actually, that worked out well -- Rob bought my parents a case of different wines to taste), tasted wines at Crown Wine and Spirits and finally, the local gourmet shop. I think Rob talked more wine this weekend than he usually does during the week! My dad took notes... literally.

Then there were the various assorted activities with the dogs. The trip to the beach worked out well-ish. My mother tried to panic every time a dog came over to say "hi" to the puppy. The weekend was rounded out with an insane and exhausting trip to an art fair... The puppy kept on whimpering while walking around. Werealized that the pavement was too hot for her baby paws... oops. We had to carry her. Then the big girl, Sashi, decided to protect our lunch table from every passing dog... of which there were millions. Then the fair turned out to be crafts not art... I'm unclear as to the distinction, but my parents complained. Oh yes, and apparently my parents weren't expecting a huge crowd... on a fabulous sunday... in april...??

Despite the crazyness, there was the entirety of Saturday, which Rob and I spent lounging by the pool, swimming, reading in the hot tub and generally getting very sunburnt. Fabulous. The food and wine were universally excellent all weekend.

Rob and I walked into the airport after the disastrous art fair experience on Sunday and sighed a huge, exhausted sigh of relief. He turned to me and said, "Baby, your parents are kindof crazy." I smiled back and said, "So's your mother, but I love her anyway." And that is exactly my point. So they're nuts and sometimes things (like the art fair) turn out to be a disaster. They're parents! Parents are all crazy -- mine included.

Mom with Deka, 14 weeks old.

Rhodesian Ridgebacks

My family is in love with a breed of dog called the Rhodesian Ridgeback. My parents currently have their second, Sashi, and third, Deka. Longtime dog owners, my parents constantly rave about how Ridgebacks are the smartest and best dogs they have ever owned. As for me, we had a poodle when I was a kid and got our first Ridgeback when I was 7. Prior to the infamous poodle (kindof a blip in the "Hamburg dog history"), my parents owned all cold-weather dogs... Samoyeds, Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes. Ridgebacks are quite a different direction from the breeds my parents used to favor.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback takes it's name from both it's country of origin and most distinctive feature. The breed was originally developed in the south african county of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the late 1800's by mixing a local african dog with european immigrants. The african breed contributed a ridge of hair that runs the wrong way up the Ridgeback's spine. The hairs point towards the dog's head, not tail. During the original breeding of the dog, it was noticed that the dogs with ridges were better hunters and protectors, their main purpose in Africa. They were first accepted to the AKC under the "hound" group in 1955.

The rumours you have heard about this dog are not completely true. This dog was bred to hunt lions in africa and to protect the homsteads and children from predators. They don't kill lions. The Ridgebacks were used in packs of about 20 dogs each to corner and harass a lion until the hunters could then approach and kill the lion. Due to the ferocity of lions, this was an effective but not very efficient way of hunting -- quite a number of dogs from the pack would be killed on every hunt. They were also often put out with the children to protect them from cheetahs while playing.

Ridgebacks are extremely devoted to their "pack" of people and extremely intelligent. However, they tend to be a little aloof towards strangers. This is not one of those super waggy dogs that jumps all over everyone on the streets of NYC. More often than not, the little children complain "Why doesn't the doggy look at me?" Sashi has learnt to tolerate the audacity of New Yorkers to pet anything that walks by without asking permission. Deka is yet to experience New York City... we'll see how she does.

This breed also known for adjusting itself well to the lifestyle of the family. If every member of your family runs marathons, you will have ridgebacks that run marathons. The dogs can do it, come home and look at you as if to say, "When do we go again?" Alternatively, if you have a "lazy" family such as mine, you get lazy Ridgebacks who sleep on the bed all day. I took my lazy Sashi for a run once... I don't think her nose even broke a sweat after 4 miles.

Overall, I am as in love with this breed as my parents. I chase down Ridgebacks when I see them in New York City -- within a block. Similarly, I have had people chase me for much more than a single block just to meet mine! Huge stamp of approval.

Sashi, Deka (April 2009)

Me, Sashi, Kala (Sept, 2002)

Intro

I thought that I would start out by introducing myself and explaining a little about why I suddenly decided to start a blog.

I don't have a theme for this -- it really is simply that I recently have discovered a number of my friends have blogs and reading theirs has made me think, "Hey, I could write a post about this... or that..." at increasingly frequent intervals.

Now, the title. First, "pets." Pets because I really can't live without those furballs. I don't have any of my own right now, but my parents have 4 -- 2 dogs and 2 cats -- including one 12-week-old puppy. Most of my funny stories from my childhood involve my pet-siblings (only child). My parents tend to guilt-trip me into visiting them by pleading "but your cats miss you sooooo much...." or "the dogs really need someone to take them to the park..." You get the picture.

Second, "posts." Eh, this is there for the purposes of alliteration and the fact that this is a blog of random things.

Finally, "medical mysteries." I am soon to embark upon my residency in Emergency Medicine at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell/Columbia. There are plenty of medical mysteries in Emergency Med... and tons of crazy stories (really, why does anyone go into EM if not for the stories?). It worked in the title, pulled in that whole "soon to be doctor" thing. I'm not so good at the catchy/creative thing, so hats off to Rob for coming up with the title after only about 30 seconds of thought!

On to the second aspect of this post... about me. I am a born 'n bred New Yorker -- I love this city. I "techically" grew up on Long Island. Minor technicality. I was actually born in the same hospital that I will be doing my residency. By the time I was 18, I was sick of high school students getting plastic surgery and driving BMWs, so I escaped to Chicago for four years. That taught me two things. 1) Midwesterners are the nicest people in the world. I had culture shock because they were so much nicer than New Yorkers. 2) Chicago is COLD. Not just "brrrr," but "holy-shit-my-hair-has-become-icicles-and-I-have-tears-streaming-down-my-face-'cause-my-eyes-are-involuntarily-tearing" cold... Chicago and I didn't agree. I came running back to NYC and medical school at Cornell. Also jokingly referred to as "citibank medical college" because the chief donor to the college is Sanford Weill of Citibank fame.

The arduous process of choosing to go into Emergency Medicine involved numerous side trips into music, relationships, sailboat racing and a summer in Tanzania. Primarily. Plus a pure hatred of insurance companies, outpatient medicine and being woken up at all hours of the night. I want to treat whoever comes through my doors. I want to take my salary and at the end of the day go home without worrying. When I eventually have kids I want to know their names. Yeah, that would be a good start. Names at least. During my first year of medical school we had a lecturer who was a surgeon. His wife had just delivered their sixth child. The surgeon was ecstatically happy becuase this was the first delivery he had actually made it to. I know that I don't have a choice but to be at the birth of my children, but that comment put a lot into perspective about medicine for me. Not only that, but I vowed never to marry a surgeon.

I think that's all for now. As promised by the title, I will leave you with a picture of the newest baby, Deka. She is a 12-week old Rhodesian Ridgeback (post on ridgebacks to come) but in this photo, she is 8 weeks old. Also, she has fallen into that pool... twice.