Did I do that?

As he gets older, Dieter is getting less klutzy. Note that I say "less," which implies there are still flashes of clumsy, goofy puppy there. He's getting better about steering his bulk around objects, such as his human parents. Which is good, since I do not want a repeat of last August's unfortunate meeting. I was bent over, weeding and Dieter came racing around the corner and tried to apply his brakes."Tried" is the operative word here. Still, SPLAT. I ended up on the ground and looked up to see Dieter hovering and sniffing: "Mom? Did I do that?"

Fast forward to late May of 2014, a Friday morning. Dieter and Lloyd were sitting on the couch, watching the investment news, and Lloyd was sipping a cup of coffee. Dieter has developed a habit of patting Lloyd (aka "Dad") on the shoulder. I'm pretty sure it means something like: "Um, Dad, I'm over here. Pay attention to me!"

Evidently that was Dieter's thinking that Friday. Lloyd had set his coffee cup down and was turning back to his son the dog--just in time for a very large paw to plant itself in his eye. Luckily I was still upstairs sleeping and was spared what I'm sure was some choice language. But at 5:45 AM Lloyd stumbles over to me, clutching his face, and saying "I think I need to go to urgent care. Dieter got me in the eye. I can't see."

Feet made for clog dancing!

Well, he could see, but it was blurry. I told him it was probably a corneal abrasion (I've had several and boy do they hurt) and started applying cold, wet compresses. I called Wheaton Eye Clinic, and the doctor on call returned our call and said to go to the clinic at 8 AM.

Then I went to check in on Dieter, he was sitting in his kennel, looking pretty sad and contrite. "I did it again, didn't I?"

My diagnosis was confirmed--a corneal abrasion with four perfect little vertical cuts. Probably from his rough foot pads and not his giant claws. He does have giant feet, that dog! When my cousin first met Dieter when he was about 8 of 9 weeks old, she commented on the size of his paws. "He'll be growing into those feet, you know" she laughed.

Lloyd summed it up well: "It's a good thing Dieter's feet are so big and my eyes are so small...otherwise we'd be picking my eyeball up off of the floor!"