Dear Zak,

This morning Themba ate my hearing aids. I’d forgotten to put them in and after breakfast when I’d said to Marianne “What did you say?” once too many times I went to look for them. I’d placed them under the bedside light on the erroneous assumption that I’d remember to put them in first thing and forgot to do so. They weren’t there and a frantic search under the bed to no avail indicated the culprit.

We found the remains of the right one on the spare bed with no battery to be found. The left was minus the earpiece but otherwise OK. Themba was not flavour of the day. A phone call was made to his vet who reassured us that he’d come across dogs who’d swallowed small batteries several times before and it had never been a problem. I guess we’ll be examining dog poop this afternoon for confirmation though it could have easily fallen into the grass outside and we would never been able to find it.

We went into the office today so that Marianne could get a handle on changing prices on the computer whilst I’m in hospital for a back operation. Themba came along for a bit of stair climb training which he failed dismally on the last attempt. Getting up was a bit problematic at first involving a number of treats though I think by the time we left he was getting the idea. I remember that Kharma showed you the way when you were a puppy and you were so pleased with yourself that you went up and down several times before we left.

We went out on Saturday to cousin Wayne’s birthday party. It was the first time we’d left all the dogs completely alone. All potential chew toys were removed and power supplies switched off. All appeared well when we got home some four hours later though the kitchen dustbin had been knocked over. It was only later that evening that Marianne noticed that Themba had a small puncture wound on his left cheek. Roxy was of course blamed and threatened with dire consequences even though it really was a minor wound with no blood evident and no punctures above it indicating that she’d actually bitten down on his head. We had not heard anything coming in so presume that Themba had got over-excited when the gate opened and a scuffle had ensued.

On Thursday I am having a lower back operation. I think it qualifies as “routine” but for the first time in 43 years and 11 operations I have to admit I’m feeling a bit anxious. Not about the actual operation – I have total trust in the surgeon – but in the aftercare and potential of an infection. Still, it has to be done as the issue has been a long time developing and now something needs to be done. Marianne is going to have to handle the dog exercising by herself. There is a dog park some 15 minutes away where we go once a week. It’s not big but has enough space for everyone to get a good run around and there are three dams to splash around in. There are other dogs to meet too. Tia of course gets on with everybody, Roxy is a bit nervous and Themba has an annoying habit of barking incessantly at larger dogs. He’ll have to adapt because Marianne won’t go to ART farm by herself. I did love watching you run there even if your habit of running at the truck was disconcerting.

Love you.