Tuesday All Things Ellie

Ellie and her mask

Ellie was born in 2020, so she is officially a "Pandemic Puppy."  I guess that might partially explain a quirk of Ellie's nature.  One of her favorite things to play with is a surgical mask.  Specifically, the blue ones, which were so ubiquitous during the pandemic isolation days.

The schoolyard where we walk Ellie in the afternoons often has at least one of these discarded on the ground.  Ellie will pick it up and carry it around in her mouth as if it were some small animal she had just flushed out of a bush.  If she drops it, she hurriedly picks it back up as if I might rush to grab it.  She will carry that mask the whole time we are at the school or until she starts tearing and chewing at it.  Then I have to take it away from her.  While we find fewer and fewer of the masks these days, she found one Saturday.

At one point, I noticed she had stopped just carrying it and was tearing at it with her teeth and claws.  I told her to stop, and she did, and then I called her to me.  She trotted over like the good girl she is.  I was surprised to see she had left her mask behind, but often she tires of playing with them.

The next morning, I noticed she seemed just a little "off."  She ate her breakfast well, we took a walk outside and she did all the things a dog needs to do.  We went to church, and when we returned, she still seemed off.  As the afternoon progressed, she just appeared uncomfortable to me.  After being a nurse for 46 years, I can pretty much tell when someone isn't comfortable, even if it is a canine. I prayed often and fervently for my little puppy. (I know she is an adult dog now, but she will always be my "puppy".)

We have a small group meeting in our house on Sunday afternoons and weekends I noticed Ellie was not there.  Ellie is a very sociable dog. She likes to be in the middle of the action, usually sitting on someone's lap if she can get away with it.

I found Ellie sitting in her bed in front of the window in the back bedroom.  I did a quick nurse's assessment of her.  Her color was good, and her heart rate was fine. Respirations were normal, tummy was not distended or tight.  Then it caught my eye.

Lying on the floor near her bed was a wad of blue...something.  As I looked closer, I realized it was a blue surgical mask.  I picked it up to spread it out, and from the odor, it was obvious it had been in contact with gastric fluid.  I watched Ellie carefully for the rest of the night, but she was "right as rain."

Yesterday and today, she shows no signs of distress from trying to digest a surgical mask.  Of course, it is obvious she will not be allowed to play with one again.