the amputation of rose's toe has proven to be a complication on an exponential scale. i have no stamina to write in detail (those of you that know rox can ask her for the four-letter word infused details, the rest will have to wait for me to narrate it sufficiently). but to give a synopsis:

1. pick up at the vet: "do not let her get the dressing wet"
2. home, out of the car: rose bolts to the pond and swims, about the last thing rose ever does upon exiting the car.
3. i have to change the dressing without the benefit of general anesthesia. rose rises to the occasion after protesting and finally allows me to wrap it. horses are decidedly easier.
4. next day, early am: walk the dog. put a baggie on her foot, put carter on the bike, get ava in shoes, we all go down the road in our jammies and bed-heads for a torture session for rose who apparently needs her privacy to poop. no poop.
5. sort of early am: try again. no poop. dog remains agitated when inside though.
6. carter falls asleep: dog REALLY has to poop, she swears, this time. out we go, with monitor turned up really loud. poop success.
7. rest of morning: dog hates being inside, pees everywhere because she is incontinent, whines desperately to have her freedom.
8. capitulate and let her outside on leash, tied to deck. get dirty look.
9. walk her periodically throughout day.
10. early evening: leave to do errands for 1 hour, go to nana's house. kids fall asleep in car on the way back, transfer them to bed, go to get rose, see if she needs to poop. take her for a walk around the property, and watch as entire dressing falls off her foot. rose is in the woods without a bandage. upon further examination, notice that she chewed it off. make mental note to call vet and ask for lampshade collar.
11. evening, in woods, with bandage-less dog: lean over rose, pick up her left front foot and hold her steady and gallumph with her, three-legged, back to the house. rose's agility surprises me, my balance comes in handy.
12. back in house: re-bandage her foot. call dad, the surgeon and hypothetically ask if it is better to change a dressing a lot or a little. "as little as possible," he says. oh. never mind.
13. medicate her. worry about tomorrow am. not liking poop potential.
14. give her a bone and scratch her ears, because after all, it is not her fault.