A Sad Good-Bye to Baloo

I am single-dog-parenting while Carl is out of town this week. With work and caring for the dogs, it has left time for little else. 

One thing that kept me busy and had me worried was Baloo. He was barely able to get to his feet, and somehow I'd managed to keep him going, but by Thursday I knew he needed to go to the vet. The vet decided to try cold-laser therapy as a tune-up to the same treatment he received back in June in hopes he would get a bounce from it.  But by yesterday (Friday) I knew that it hadn't.

~A tired Baloo on Thursday~

This morning Baloo's strength and willingness to try to stand or even put his head up was totally gone. This only told me what I'd known and was feeling all week. It was time for us to say good-bye.

In the peaceful setting of an apple orchard Baloo and I spent our last tender moments together.

~Baloo's harness and collar afterwards in the orchard~

In the cool grass I stroked his beautiful white muzzle, and I couldn't help but reflect how quickly our 4 months together had passed. I told Baloo how he'd totally stolen my heart that first day we met -- How even though I knew he had happy times with us, I wished I had been able to mend what I knew was his broken heart ...

~Baloo, the first day we met, such sadness!! ~

I told him how I wished I'd known him in his younger days -- How I loved having him as part of our lives and I told him what I would remember about him -- I told him how I wished he could have stayed longer -- And I kissed him one more time and told him how I look forward to seeing him again one day.

God-Speed to blue-Baloo. This quiet and gentle, old soul easily took with him a piece of my heart, and I will always have a piece of his in mine.

~The last photo I took of Baloo - A much happier face!!~

Baloo's Rainbow color is blue. I've given him that color for several reasons. One is because the cataracts in his eyes sometimes made his eyes look blue. I especially noticed that today. And the color blue can also be one of sadness, which was something that I felt from Baloo. I hope that as he arrives at the Rainbow Bridge, that sadness is replaced with joy and he's able to do something his tired old body wouldn't allow, and that's to run.... 

                                                                            Run free Baloo..... 


This video of Baloo from about 3 weeks ago, always makes me smile - He loved mealtime and would always grab any nearby bowls!  One time, he even grabbed Charlie's while he was still eating!  

The Treat

I've known for weeks that Todd needs to be groomed...

And this was really evident when the other day I tossed a treat to him...

And it landed on his back...

Todd had no idea where it had gone, so he kept looking for it...

But the treat didn't move...

It just stayed there....

Poor Todd....

BAD DOG .....owner

For the 3 days a week that I work, I do my best to stick to a morning schedule that starts around 5:30. I have until about 7:15 to get all the dogs out at least twice, medicated, fed, watered, settled, house tidied up, and get myself ready for work.

~Waiting for breakfast~

With the dogs it's easy to get behind, which sometimes happens - When I leave, usually in a rush, I always give all the dogs treats, grab a snack for work, make sure outdoor kitty Gino has a bowl of food and water for his day outside. When I pull out of the garage, I glance at the yard, and make sure everyone is inside.

Okay that's how it's supposed to work on a perfect morning. Because after the dogs have all eaten, I get them out again, and Todd stays outside until I get ready to leave for work. And when I leave, I always get Todd inside and give him a "Kong" when he goes into his crate.

I'm not sure what exactly happened on Tuesday. But I know I was running my usual late. And the note below was left by our dog-walker.

Thank-goodness that she's reliable. It was a cloudy day, and there was only a little bit of rain, but of course I felt bad that he'd been left alone outside. Some friends had this to say about it when I posted about it on Facebook: .

• Bonnie  - I’m sure Tod had a Great time!❤️🐾❤️
• Jane - Scottie Todd is a hearty Scot.
• Lynn -  In true highlander spirit, Todd probably had a blast in the rain!!
• Vicki M - ...I’ll bet Todd had tons of fun in the rain! 😘🐾🐾❤️
• Wendy - Are kidding!!! All that free time to run and play all alone. Even dogs need ‘me’ time! 😊
• Vicki S in a text said - He ate his extra cookies, had a nice long drink to wash them down and slept the sleep of a guardian of the castle until You came home.

They're right of course. Todd was safe and totally fine. He just needs to be groomed. Which will probably upset him more than being left outside for a few hours.

The Vet and Nostalgia

A pretty non eventful week has passed with the dogs all being in good spirits.

On Thursday I was off to the office of mobile vet with Charlie, Sunny and Chip. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made the appointment for the 3 of them together.  It took me nearly 10 minutes just to get Chip into my van. He was nervous, but he relaxed once we got there. By the time we left, Chip was feeling confident enough to take treats from Mobile Vet, and he just hopped up into my van when we were leaving.

~A nervous and unsure Chip~

Sunny however, being our problem child was a bit of a handful. He snapped at Mobile Vet a couple of times. But he has a really ugly ear infection. Of course Mobile Vet was very gentle and understanding about his grouchiness and was patient with him. We did put a muzzle on Sunny just to keep everyone safe.

Then of course, there's Charlie, who is good no matter where you take him. Back at home he enjoyed another bowl of ice. Judging by how he acted, I'd say it felt good on his face.

One thing that I did at the end of the week was to go through some old pictures of Charlie. I remembered that I got him from the shelter in late July. But I had a question in my mind about the year. Was it 2005 or was it 2006? Not that it really matters.

I found the pictures I was looking for, which are the first ones I took of him. They confirmed what I thought. Charlie came to us in 2006. Thirteen years ago. Wasn't he a cutie?

I loved seeing the other pictures of those familiar faces that were on the disc too. They all made me smile and made me feel a sense of nostalgia.

Aside from Charlie, all of them are gone. So yes, the photos also made me grieve, grieve a little over their losses all over again.  It's like looking through a window into those past memories.

~Charlie, Kasey and Josh with Abby (center) and a glimpse of Tucker~

But I felt a little warmer around and inside my heart for having the chance to have them as part of our lives.

~Who I called my "big girls," Kasey (left) and Wendy~

Have a good week, my friends!

Hello August!

Well, Friends, it's August. Quite frankly, I can't believe it. How did July pass by so quickly? I know, I know, I say this all the time, but I literally blinked and the month was gone.

A patient at my office said, and I totally agree, that July was an unusually "hades-type-temperature-month" in Northern Virginia.  Charlie, in the video below, totally agrees as he enjoyed a bowl of ice on the last day of the month.

In the 13 years we've had Charlie, he's always enjoyed bowls of ice. And it's the one thing he won't share.

~Charlie enjoying a bowl of ice in Tennessee~

But I wonder what August will bring? Will it bring a forever home for Ginger? (below)  I've no way of knowing that, but what I do know is that I'm not ready for summer to be over.

We all know that we don't have a say in any of it. So all we'll do is try to make the best of our time that keeps passing me by all too quickly.

~Todd (in Tenn) always has something to say!~