Introducing Vincent

It has come to my attention that Vincent has not been properly introduced. That does not seem appropriate since this blog is half named for him. So, we (the numerous staff here at the Path Hill Blog) voted and decided to take this opportunity to introduce Vincent.

He is a spaz. Vincent jumps and bounces and runs and chases squirrels and pokes Picasso with his paw and generally causes chaos. He puts the Party in the Party blog. He may be part of the reason why Picasso is so grumpy. He definitely IS the reason why we have teeth marks in our cabinets.

Vincent is a good doggy, with the best of intentions, but with a definite lack of brain cells. He is the Pinky to Picasso's Brain. You will remember that Picasso ate pins. Vincent has never done that, and it made us think, but still we are certain that Vincent inherited less of the stuff that makes dogs smart.

When we got him, he was a very nervous puppy, really scared and hand shy. In puppy class he was always the example of the scared dog. He has gotten 'better'. There are still times, when he is scared, but now; now he smiles. And when he smiles, his tongue hangs out of his mouth - Odie like. And the farther his tongue hangs out of his mouth, the more brain cells he looses. We suspect it drips out with the drool.

Vincent is either the re-incarnation of a political figure who was assassinated, or a cat. He eats yarn and tries to sit on the back of couch cushions. He is 34 lbs. He hides under blankets and is suspicious of food with pills in it. He will go through great lengths to not eat pills, pulling them carefully out of his food and setting them to the side or hiding them down the hall. He eats anything that is not a pill, and is a horrible counter surfer. We tried white vinegar soaked bread - he went back for seconds. We tried hot sauce, he licked it all up, we tried straight chili powder, he walked the counter licking it up the piles. We tried lemon, he tried taking it from us. We think he has no taste buds. We have no idea why he hates pills, which is why we came to the conclusion that he could be the re-incarnation of an assassinated political figure. If anyone can name an assassinated political figure that also liked to eat yarn, then we will know we have found the answer.

Vincent once gave himself 'Fetch elbow' by showing off to guests while playing fetch in the house.

Vincent is allergic to chicken protein and maybe beef protein. He loves to chew on ropes. He loves to sniff whatever Picasso is sniffing. He hates delivery men (both of the dogs agree on that). He likes to chew on Picasso's ear. Clearly he was named Vincent for a reason.

Seeing "A picture with a smile and perhaps a tear"

On Sunday we saw Charlie Chaplin's The Kid at the Wilton Town Hall Theater WITH a live piano player (Jeff Rapsis). It was awesome. The show was put on as a part of the Mirthquake Festival, a truly unique event that should not be missed.

First of all, the Wilton Town Hall Theater is amazing. It was built in 1886 for travelling shows and vaudeville performances. In 1912 it was converted into a silent movie house. There are two theaters, a smaller theater and a larger theater. The Kid was playing in the larger of the two theaters, which features: old wooden floors, large comfy seats, a stage and curtains that open to reveal the movie screen - red curtains - sweet! It's absolutely perfect. In this setting, they played 2 shorts from the 1920s followed by The Kid (1921). The music was perfect, Jeff Rapsis did an amazing job. It blended with the movie so perfectly that I forgot there was someone playing live! I was completely engrossed in the story.

I went to this movie thinking it would be fun in an historical, novel kind of way - but instead it was surprising and amazing and funny. The Kid is the first film to combine drama and comedy. Apparently comedians were not expected to make full length films, so at first, comedy was limited to shorts. Charlie Chaplin changed that; by creating and directing the Kid, he became the first comedian to release a full length feature film. The complexity of the story he told, with no sound and no color, is simply amazing. It speaks to his intelligence and ability. The interactions between Chaplin and The Kid (who later goes on to play Uncle Fester in the Addams Family) are both funny and touching. This movie is so good, that I would go see it again.

I actually tried looking it up on You Tube, but the image is small and blurry and sometimes there is no music, and when there is music it's just awful and sometimes they add sound effects. Horrible. I do not recommend it. But, keep your eyes open for any old movie houses offering similar screenings - because THEN it is too good to pass up!

Picasso Update

Sorry for missing the comment - it was so unexpected! Beth, you have the honor of being the first Vincent and Picasso's Patch Hill Party Blog Comment and so we (the numerous staff here at the Party Blog) present you with the following award:

We would also like to recognize our first official blog follower Shannon:

We hope it makes up for the delay in both replying to comments and adding additional blog posts!

Now for the official update:

Beth (our official party blog first commenter) has asked how they get pins out of a dog's stomach. Fascinating question. Nature provides two access points to the stomach. The first method is to fill the dog with fiber and let nature take its course. The vet said they might have attempted this if Picasso was a full sized lab. Unfortunately he is a 1/2 size lab (clearly he didn't get any additional "don't eat that" brains from the other half) so he was not of a large enough size to attempt this without the risk of Serious Injury. The second method involves lowering a scope down the throat, grabbing the pins and dragging them back up the way they went down. Since pins are pointy and sharp, this method could also cause Serious Injury. And so, we come to the final approach: Make a new hole.

The vet performed surgery from 11:00pm - 12:00am from Saturday to Sunday. We were so glad that Picasso picked Saturday night to eat pins because, as you can guess, emergency midnight dog surgery is so cheap. He had to stay until Sunday evening so they could watch him and make sure he could eat and drink. He could, and so they sent him home. For 10 days he was on bed rest and medicines - oh and mini-meals before his medicines. In other words, no partying. At first he was okay with that, but part way through the recovery he started becoming a pain in the butt, refusing to lay down and opening the baby gates to try to get out and play with Vincent. (Yes, he figured out how to open baby gates with that stupid Dog from Mars cone on his head.) After 10 days, he was fully recovered.

Official Picasso Status Today: Apparently finding and ingesting 5 straight pins and having stomach surgery does not damper your spirits when you're a dog! As of right now, you wouldn't even know anything had happened to him at all - except he still has a funny haircut. He eats, he runs, he sniffs. He still hates baths and delivery men. Official Picasso Rating: 100% Normally Neurotic.

Presenting Picasso the Pin Eating Pooch

Picasso watching TV pre-pin ingestion

Picasso is a lab, hound, who-knows-what mix from Alabama. He is about three years old and acts like he's about 100. He likes birds, sniffing, hiking and sleeping. Oh, and watching TV. Picasso may seem like a normal rescue lab mix, but he is much more than that; he is an artist. Born with a grumpy temperament and proclivity for trouble, he knows how to open baby gates and get into places where he doesn't belong. He once ate a hornet.

On Sunday, September 20, 2009 Picasso made his foray into performance art. He decided to eat a pin cushion, or more accurately, part of one. Apparently ingesting 1 pin was not enough to make him reconsider this endeavor. He continued until he had eaten 5 pins. 5. Anything in the name of art. Clearly he was not thinking of the consequences...

Picasso eating a mini-meal post-pin ingestion


...and taking a nap

FAQ:
Where did he find a pin cushion and why did he eat it? We have no idea and he's part lab.
Is he ok? Yes, he is doing fine - thank goodness!