Week 37, Day 7, What about Hazie?

Hannah and Carla had a great session today, no problems with the bottle and only a normal and brief de-sat. She's now getting a half liter per minute of 100% oxygen, as opposed to 2 liters per minute of 35% oxygen a week ago. This is to get her used to the type of oxygen supply she'll go home with, which doesn't have adjustable mix, just adjustable volume.


Those of you who have been to our house or known us for years might be wondering what's going to happen to Hazie when Hannah comes home. Hazie is our 13-year-old border collie, who doesn't like cats or squirrels or children. She also hates hands and feet, and she bites. I am not exaggerating when I say that she has some mental problems which, if she were human, would have landed her in jail long ago. If she sees a hand or foot in her peripheral vision while she is distracted by something else, she will bite it, regardless of who it is attached to. It's not an aggression problem, but a fear-biting problem. She obeys quite well and never tries to assert herself. If we hadn't gotten her from farmer Cross when she was six weeks old, I would assume she had been abused. But it is more likely that this is just a genetic quirk, leftover from the days when her breed were specifically selected to herd sheep and cattle and nip at their heels when necessary. When we pet Hazie, she loves it as long as she can't see our hands. When we have visitors, we have to explain to them that, as friendly as Hazie is, she can't really be touched.


Obviously, Hazie can never be allowed anywhere near Hannah or any other child. So, back in 2004 when we embarked upon the Hannah project, we added a room onto the house for Hazie. Actually, we converted the existing garage into a den/library and added a new garage where the driveway used to be. You can see the doggie door in the computer models I created for the builder. Before Hannah starts walking, we'll split the back yard in half with a double fence (so little arms can't get within big teeth range) and put keypad locks on the doors to the back yard. There will still be plenty of room for Hazie's favorite games; we'll just have to go to her part of the house to play with her. In all likelihood, we will lose Hazie to old age before Hannah really becomes aware of her, but until then we have to keep them away from each other at all costs.