Saturday, August 31, 2013

Good Ideas

~Terrier bookends, Todd and Charlie~
I can't believe that Labor Day weekend is here!  It's the holiday that marks the official end to summer and gives thanks to those who work hard all year by giving everyone an extra day off. I went one step farther and took Friday off work to go to a barn-sale and to meet Connie at Hartwood Roses and make a new friend, Deborah from "Confessions of a Craigslist Junkie".  Connie generously gifted us with 4 dogs beds, which the dogs love.  (Thank-you again Connie, for thinking of us!)
~The Princess and the Pea, or CarrieAnne~
I enjoyed the barn-sale.  But I have to admit that it was a little pricey for me, so I didn't buy anything.
~This broken old clock with no insides was nearly $100~
But I really enjoyed looking at everything, visiting with Connie and Deborah and getting some ideas.
The guineas on the lawn gave me a few ideas too...
I came home afterwards, and all the dogs and I went for a walk.  Cissy continues to do well and has a steady and pretty consistent appetite.  Her coat has become really thick, long, fluffy and soft, making her look bigger than she really is.  
I think it gives her a bit of a bear appearance, don't you?  
Afterwards Todd had a good idea to take a late afternoon nap, and that was just what we did.  It was a pretty good day!!
I hope you're enjoying your weekend!
~Annie~

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

It Takes Two!

This picture pretty much sums up how our week has been going--Especially for Sonny!  If you look closely at "the cone of shame" he has on, you'll see Sonny is actually wearing TWO of them.

It's a little drawn out story, so suffice it to say that Sonny who is really shedding, and suffering from extremely dry skin among other things was not to be outdone by Taylor's hot spot from a couple of weeks ago--He began chewing on his back leg while we weren't watching him and he ended up a pretty impressive hot-spot on his back leg.  So, we put on one e-collar.  But being a tall and lanky and very determined boy, he was able to find a way around the e-collar and made it worse, and he even added a second hot spot to other leg. We trumped his hot-spots with a second e-collar that added the perfect amount of rigidity to the first one, and it has made him unable to reach his back legs--And believe me, he's tried!!  Sonny did of course need a trip to the vet and he was given some medications and so he's on the mend and feeling a lot better!  And that makes me feel better too!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Living for the Weekend

~Todd who needs a haircut, Charlie and Taylor~
These days I live for the weekends.  Working without a day off during the week is proving to be a little hectic and so I really look forward to the weekends and spending some quality time at home. Cleaning is of course high on the list of things to get done, but I have to be honest and say that it doesn’t always happen. Sporadic cleaning throughout the week is my new tactic--This way cleaning doesn't end up taking over a whole day and I get to do more of what I'd like. This plan seems to be working (at least for now) because this weekend did not involve too many chores indoors.
With the beautiful weather we had, the dogs and I got to spend a lot of time outdoors goofing off!
~Enjoying the shade with Annie (far left) Sheba & CarrieAnne~
We really enjoyed it and I already can't wait for next weekend which will give me an extra day off!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend too!!
~Josh (left) and Sheba~

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Annie -- Clearing the Hurdle

Thank-you everyone for the good thoughts for our girl Annie.  They have truly made a difference because today is the first day that she's had an appetite, and is drinking what I consider, a normal amount of water.  The periods of shivering have also (thankfully) stopped, and even though Annie's foot is still pretty swollen and continues to drain, she's starting to put a little weight onto it.

While that is all of course good news, there was a bit of bad news on Annie's blood work that was returned. Some of you may recall that Annie has damage to her liver and kidney's from medication that she was given prior to her coming to live with us.  Her liver values have remained pretty stable over the past 9 months, but there continue to be slight changes in her kidney's.  I discussed what all this meant for Annie and the bottom line is that she only has about 25% kidney function.  Serious health problems occur when the kidney function drops below 25 percent. As I said, not the best of news for Annie, but I'm hoping we can maintain those numbers with the medication she's being given.  However right now, I'm just really thankful and relieved that we are almost over this hurdle with her foot.  

Monday, August 19, 2013

Paws Crossed for Annie

Our week starts with Taylor's neck looking better, but Annie isn't feeling well. Annie's back foot is swollen and she's refusing to put weight onto it.  Because we live about 50 minutes away from our vet, and I only work 20 minutes from their office, I took Annie with me to work today so I could take her in when they had an appointment.  We're now doing a foot soak for Annie, giving her pain medication and an antibiotic to help get rid of the infection.  Added to this is my concern about her lack of appetite since Sunday morning and her not wanting to drink much water or munch on ice which she enjoys as much as her meals.  Also worrying me is that Annie is having waves where she can't seem to stop shivering.  I'm keeping her covered up and just really hoping that it's all related to the infection and pain she may be having in her foot, and that she'll feel better sooner rather than later.  Paws crossed.  

Saturday, August 17, 2013

An Unlikely Trio

We were off and running before 8 o'clock this morning with an unlikely trio of Josh, Wendy and Taylor.
Josh who has been looking a little hippy-ish lately was off to the groomer.
~Josh post-grooming~
Taylor and Wendy had vet appointments.  Wendy's appointment was for a quarterly check up.  At the tender age of 16 years old, there have been a few changes in the last few weeks so I just want to make sure that those changes are age related and nothing else too serious. Wendy will have to return to the vet early next week for another test, but I think and hope that she'll be just fine.

Taylor on the other hand has yet another hot spot.  This one much more impressive than the last.  Her entire neck has been shaved and she's been put on an antibiotic and given a topical medication.  Even to look at it, it looks pretty painful.
We arrived back home by early afternoon, and just in time to catch a glimpse of the turkey-mom and her poults crossing our driveway.
Taylor and Wendy were both pretty worn out, so the rest of the dogs and I all took a walk and enjoyed a really nice afternoon at home.  I hope you've enjoyed your day too!
~Cissy~

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Good-Night Todd

We are having a pretty good week!  Our weather today resembles typical Portland, Maine weather at this time of year, and we're all okay with that!  Within the pack, the dogs continue to be on the mend and are in good spirits!  Cissy has a great appetite, and Sunny is behaving himself with the dog-walker.

Someone who is especially happy this week is Todd. 
Even though he is more than 2 years old (can you believe that??) he still sleeps in a crate at night by the bed and stays in one in the office during the day while we're away.  It's more out of habit than anything and the crates are 'golden size' so he has plenty of room. Todd will often just go into the crate when we're home and late at night, he'll just put himself to bed in the crate in the bedroom--When I come in, I just close the door. The other night, Todd decided he wanted to sleep on our bed.  He didn't even wake up and looked so comfortable that I didn't have the heart to move him. And he was actually really good and stayed on the bed all night.
The next night, it was exactly the same thing.  He again was really good, and never moved off the bed.
I wonder where he'll want to sleep tonight?  Something tells me Todd already knows the answer to that.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Another Quiet Weekend

I wish I could bring something wildly exciting and entertaining to the blogosphere related to our weekend, but, honestly, it was a quiet one.  Which is fine with me, last week as you know did us in.

I did do a home visit for the rescue on Saturday morning.  I packed up Annie, who is feeling better and who is always more than happy to go on a little road trip and meet someone new. The couple have no children (except for a 9 year old Golden) and live behind 2 security gates on a 116 acre estate with 5 fenced in acres just for their dogs.  The house, about 8000 square feet, had a kitchen that made my heart skip a beat--State of the art appliances with custom glass front cabinets all came together so beautifully and perfectly. The rest of the home was comfortable and decorated with layers of natural color with earthy shades of green. Going up a sweeping stair case were gorgeous landscapes in muted tones.  I can admit now that I was a little nervous at first because you never know who will be living behind the gates in such a grand home.  However the couple were very, very nice (as was their Golden) and I felt more like I was visiting with friends. I hope that a rescued Golden finds their way to them!
~Annie~
Once home I did things around the house.  With everything that I have put on Charlie's leg this week, I decided to give him a bath to wash it all off.  As you can see in the photo below, he was really happy about getting a bath.
This summer Todd has been spending a lot of his time outside. He seems so content and will stay out for as long as I'll allow him too. 
At the end of the weekend we are all feeling pretty relaxed and rested and the dogs all seem to be doing well, and Josh is hardly limping. (YAY!)  Those inner-batteries are recharged and I'm ready to face the world again. I hope you had a relaxing weekend too!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Here's Hoping

This my friends, has been a hard week.  And given that, as a blogger, it is my duty to turn it all into a post about the week that was and is a testimony to just how rotten it's been...  So IN BRIEF...

Charlie is still wearing the cone of shame.  He has a place on his front leg that he won't leave alone which resulted in a hot spot.  It was almost healed and I took the collar off, and he picked up where he left off.  I put it back on.
The lovely Miss Annie hasn't eaten much for more than a day.  At more than 14 years old, it of course has me worried.
Josh, who really needs to be groomed, is really favoring his front right leg after he jumped off the bed. He has rods in his leg that was broken when he was a puppy and I was told a couple of years ago that there may come a time when they need to be removed.  I'm hoping that time hasn't come.  
Cissy's appetite has stayed consistent.  But her activity level is down a bit this week.
CarrieAnne got stung by something this week too.  I don't know what it was, but it really packed a punch.
And I seemed to have lost misplaced one of my diamond earrings...
Aside from all of this, there have been a few lighter moments this past week...Here's one that came from a photo I took that Todd was part of. Carl has started physical therapy and he goes to his appointment straight from work. However, he forgot to take his tennis shoes with him and afterwards came home wearing his street shoe with a white sock and his now trademark boot--Todd face in the photo mirrored my reaction to his white legs and "foot-attire!"
I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend there will be a few more lighter moments to add.  I just hope that Saturday is sunny because I could really do with some sunshine.  Or a good strong wind to blow away the blues.
 Here’s hoping... 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Happier Than...

For several reasons it has been a bit of a crummy week.  But it's now Wednesday and the week is half over and I'm not working on Thursday.  Can I tell you how happy that makes me?

Happier than Charlie with an e-collar on...
At least as happy as Todd after a early morning bath today... 
Happier than Cissy enjoying a bowl of ice...
For sure happier than Sunny at the thought of having his picture taken...
Happier than Cissy exploring the bushes...
And happier than Sheba rolling in the wet grass...
And a butterfly on my butterfly bush...
I'm at least as happy as this camel in this Geico commercial...   
Yep, I am pretty happy it's Wednesday
Enjoy your Wednesday too!!
~Taylor~

Saturday, August 3, 2013

A Not So Sunny Moment

Sunny, despite being a counter-surfer extraordinaire is a pretty easy dog to have around. Our dogs like him well enough and he gets along with everyone.  And I know I can say this about every new-comer we've had, but there really is something unique about Sunny--And it isn't that he doesn't like his picture taken--It's that I think he's very, very smart.  He always does as he's asked and listens really well too.  I've seen him do things like open a gate that in all the time we've lived here, no other dog has been able to figure out.
Unfortunately, on the flip-side Sunny doesn't like to be handled.  I knew before he came to us that there were problems at the vets office with this.  Sunny had to be muzzled when they cleaned out his ears, and he nipped one of the technicians when she grabbed his collar to get him out of the crate.  Knowing about this, Carl and I have been very careful with Sunny and for the most part we have had no problems.

The routine has been that when we have another addition I write a note letting our dog-walker Christy, know any quirks the new dog may have.  When Sunny arrived, that was what I did.  However, Christy and her children had not been feeling well, so a substitute dog-walker has been coming to our house since Sunny arrived.  On Wednesday Christy returned to work, and unfortunately she had not seen the note I'd written about Sunny and that she shouldn't grab his collar. So, when she got ready to leave our house, and put Todd back into his crate (with a stuffed Kong) Sunny went into the crate with him--And Christy did what anyone may have done in an instant, she grabbed his collar to get him out--Sunny whipped his head around and bit her.
Very, very thankfully the bite was not a serious one and didn't scratch or break the skin but it did leave a bruise.  Christy was (thankfully) not upset at all about it, but of course the rescue takes these things very, very seriously.  I'll spare you the rest of the details and just admit to still being a little bit unnerved by Sunny and I'm really, really worried about safely placing him into a new home when the time comes--This is the part of fostering that is the most difficult; finding and trusting someone to adopt a dog like Sunny that has a few wrinkles that aren't easy to iron out.