Filed under: animals, canine, cats, dog, dogs, friends, garlic, life, mutts, pets, vegan, vegetables | Tags: animals, cats, cooking, dogs, life, magnets, pets, vegan
ahhh, sundays. peaceful, pretty much, until february when i start teaching again. but we lived it up today…
after a day of lounging, cuddling pets, playing a rousing game of fetch in the back yard, reading, i took cody bear for a nice long walk along the river bank. his olfactory lobe is WIPED out. sooo many smells. as you can see, he is very pleased.
made myself a tasty meal: summer squash and spinach in a garlic/white wine saucy situation. cody bear had his kibble in the molecuball and a bit of honest kitchen beefy yumyum. the cat…,well, she slept through dinner. we had a rigorous game with her new xmas toy so she is physically taxed, apparently.
then….another walk in the cold night air. (with new itunes just downloaded!)
naturally we had a snack as soon as we returned…
these are the trader joe’s vegan oatmeal chocolate cookies, and, whether you are a vegan or an omnivore…they are a “must eat”. after the cheese free pizza debacle, trader joe’s … back in my good graces. the biscuits are “wellness” peanut butter and they come highly recommended by my lovely canine pal.
yes, that’s the cat….lounging. does that look comfortable at alllll? NO. when cody bear and i returned from “gramma’s house” i dumped the box of gifts on top of some laundry and there it sat. it is close enough to the heater that she is willing to sacrifice softness. poor kitty.
and….that’s just a refrigerator magnet. it says, “we’re daft but we love ewe” and see the sheep. hence the “ewe”. this was a trinket from my dear friend c on her last trip to scotland. i love it. love sheep. love scots. love magnets. so there you have it.
all in all a peaceful day. no drama. good food. pet family goodness. got some stuff done. slept late. talked to some friends and family on the phone. for a wee moment, while i was looking at someone else’s more EXCITING and travel packed blog, i thought, “wow, i’m really boring”.
but, i’ll worry about spicing things up next year. (which is in a couple days!)
Filed under: animals, canine, cats, food, mutts, pets, vegan | Tags: animals, cats, dog toys, dogs, food, life, pets, vegan, vegetarian
i am merely a being with thumbs, meant to satisfy the needs of the two cutesies in this house:
1. the cat has to have fresh water in a scotch glass by the bed each night:
she becomes very passive aggressive, and at times homicidal, if she does not have her scotch & water (sans the scotch) before bed.
2. the dog’s stomach….MUST be happy:
i am the chosen one. i must keep the kongs clean and full of chicken or peanut butter for the dog.
the furlords DID let me out for a couple hours tonight, though…
ladies’ night out with r. not girls’ night out, mind you. it was ladies’ night because r. was wearing her pashmina and i actually wore my hair down instead of in ponies. and, it was ladies night out because the establishment was VERY posh. zero neon, mind you.
ummm….i did, however, take my cody bear for a super long walk in the cold as soon as i got home. and i admit, taking care of him and his crazy cat is fun.
regarding the new vegan existance…
i had the hummus plate, which was yummy, but needed more olives. my beer of choice was fat tire. r. had the diablo fries, chopped salad and her beer was stella artois. r.’s slick move of the night: when asked what dressing she wanted….balsamic viniagrette on the side, AND ranch on the side. she then chris-crossed them BOTH on top of the salad. a BOLD condiment move, which i wholeheartedly respect!
cheers!
Filed under: animals, canine, dogs, gastroparesis, pets | Tags: animals, dog toys, dogs, gastroparesis, pets
one of the best things about cody bear is that he loves to cuddle and snooze late into the morning, so he never rushes me out of bed because he is starving. this morning we were all snuggled in with the kitty and slept till 8:30ish! i have to give him his gastroparesis medicine and wait to feed him 15 minutes. he has a great time at breakfast…
this is him playing with his “molecuball.” you fill it with kibble and they kick it with their paws or nudge it with their nose and kibble comes out one or two at a time.
not only does he prefer this, because it is kind of a foraging game for him, i think it helps him with his gastroparesis because it makes him eat slowly and chew every bite individually…instead of scarfing it down.
plus, its just so cute to watch him with it. one morning he was so excited, he gave the molecuball a play bow and then starting wagging at it while he began playing/kicking/nudging.
since his condition is a motility problem, eating the food slowly helps him chew it more and makes it a bit easier to digest.
…and…again….very cute stuff people. also, it occupies his brain and is exercise, too. it is helpful to give one to dogs that get bored while you’re gone. they’re less likely to eat your underwear or get into the garbage….(i’m just sayin’s all)
…for more tid bits on gastroparesis in dogs…click on the “gastroparesis” word in the “tag cloud” at the left of this blog.
Filed under: cooking, food, vegan, vegetarian | Tags: cooking, food, vegan, vegetarian
as i mentioned earlier, i needed comfort food today (which is typically pizza) on my 21st day of veganism. (boo.) and my last post was written as the following pizza was toasting in the oven.
typically i love trader joe’s. i do. but….well….
here’s the box:
heres the actual pizza:
now, it wouldn’t be such a big deal: it being uglier than what the box promised and all. but, well, it was blah. very blah! i had a couple tiny slices because i was starved, and dipping them in a bit of olive oil and balsamic made it slightly palatable.
i miss eating things i enjoy. gooey things. so, cody bear and i are off to the bookstore to peruse vegan cookbooks. it might help if i new cows were rejoicing in field somewhere saying, “thanks! thanks for not eating us, or contributing to our suffering in anyway.” but they’re not….
…and i am starving for pizza.
today….
i got out of work 2.5 hours early! it was great because i had been wanting to take a nap since i woke up! i know that sounds lazy, but the cold weather is tiring me out.
so i get home and cody bear is really excited to nap with me. he couldn’t mash himself into me any more than he was, i’m convinced. he was almost on top of me.
so, tonight we’re going to take it easy. maybe go for a long walk, though it is already so cold it kind of hurts. it doesn’t bother cody bear though. he just bounces along on his walk like it is the perfect temperature.
in other news….
i want to move. i’m not sure i belong in this town. i’ve been here 6 years and am no closer to figuring out what i’m doing with my life. i have no idea where we would go though. we need a dog friendly town, obviously. and one with a high paying job doing who the hell knows what!
food….
vegan for 21 days now. today was the first real “oh, vegan schmeegan” day i’ve had. it may be because it is so cold and i want to fall back on my comfort foods, pizza mainly. i just picked up a dairy free veggie pizza from trader joes. no soy cheese even. its in the oven now and it BETTER be good.
….
…..i think i’m sort of bored with my life right now. i should be glad things aren’t terrible, though.
Filed under: animals, chow chow, dog, dogs, mutts, pets | Tags: animals, canine, dogs, pets
well,….as you all know….it’s flippin’ cold outside. nothing says “it’s flippin’ cold outside” like the image of a dog in a scarf.
now, i’m not one to dress my dog up in clothing. cody bear doesn’t typically dig the fashion scene. but, even he admits its cold outside and it would be best just to hunker down in a warm quilt with a loved one.
on a serious note:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/21/marine.dog/index.html
i hope everyone searching for dog entries on the blog will check out that article on cnn. the key points for me were:
1. the dog’s devotion to its fallen partner
2. the marine’s family’s devotion to the surviving dog
3. the father’s hope that taking the dog, lex, in will help the younger children develop a bond with animals.
while i am a fan of peace and quite scared of war, i will say that hearing the tales of bravery of these dogs in iraq do not surprise me. it is my hope that people who don’t already love dogs will see that they are thoughtful, devoted, intelligent and amazing members of our community.
please share any articles/links you may have that illustrate dogs’ beneficial roles in society with me, from pet therapy, to police dogs. from mold sniffers to tricksters to athletes.
have a good life with your new family lex!
Filed under: animals, canine, dog, dogs, mutts, pets | Tags: animals, dog toys, dogs, pet
i meant to take a picture of the dog toys cody bear received at christmas, but… the cat wanted to investigate.
naturally, the dog was concerned.
not shown: (that’s right… i said NOT SHOWN)
1 lb. homemade venison jerky
1 bag wellness holistic chewy bites
1 leash with polar fleece lined handle (ok….that one is REALLY for mommy)
1 $20 gift card to petsmart
and…the santa rattle i caved and bought him last week
i’ll say it: the dog deserved the gifts, mostly because he loved everything. no fake smiles/wags. no chance he will “regift” anything.
the funny thing about christmas with this dog is, just like a two year old human child, he thinks every package being opened is for him!
here’s hoping your dogs had as much opening christmas gifts as cody bear did!
Filed under: canine, dogs, gastroparesis, health | Tags: dogs, gastroparesis, health
an update on cody bear’s gastroparesis: …..he’s doing great!
we upped the meds for a couple days and will do some stress reduction exercises to keep him from adding to the condition with a nervous stomach.
now, for a few more tidbits regarding gastroparesis:
as i mentioned, i have a dog AND a very close friend (who happens to be an m.d.) with gastroparesis. i know that the condition is very horrible for my friend, but i will say, i am fortunate that she and i can talk about it, as it gives me some insight into cody’s illness, particularly the queazy feeling he has that he can’t talk about…cuz he’s a dog…
cody has been very uncomfortable, fearful and at times aggressive around certain other dogs. mostly dogs he hasn’t met under the right terms. (see below regarding “right terms”) various dog trainers have stated that this might be because one or more of the following:
1. his body language is altered due to his stomach condition (chronic queaziness)
2. possible chemical smell due to stomach ailment
3. fear associated with dogs because of the stomach pain becoming acute when other dogs are around
4. his chronic stomach problem making him irritable and overly defensive
etc.
so,….i talked to my human friend with the same condition. i wondered about his meds, and she confirmed:
the reglan treats one of the two major problems associated with the illness. it treats the motility problem, but not the nausea. this means that without the meds he couldn’t digest food, but even with the meds he is still queazy all the time. she states that if he feels the way she does, which she suspects….he feels like barfing almost allll of the time.
it makes me wonder, as i watch him run around the yard:
when he is moving at top speed he is sublimely happy. does flying over the ground, moving so fast, alleviate his nausea?
the chronic queasiness explains why he is less than enthusiastic about riding in the car.
regarding the “right terms”
i sometimes post pics of cody playing with various dog friends. it took a while to figure out, and some training as well:
i don’t know if it has a connection to his illness, but cody bear is soooo much more scared of dogs when his stomach hurts, so i believe it is related….
he has many dog friends, but when he first meets them he likes to come into an area where the dog is and be left alone to search, sniff and such, then he will initiate play. if he enters and is addressed by a dog right away, he becomes very nervous and defensive.
please note that cody has gone through extensive training and …as a result, so have i, so if you are a trainer, please don’t feel you need to offer advice. i believe cody bear’s primary trainer has been AMAZING and totally gentle and positive. initially, he was so terrified of dogs i couldn’t walk him any where within 100 feet of a dog without him seeing red. now he has dog friends, and can walk by dogs without a bark….unless:
1. they are aggressive towards him
or,
2. he is having a gastroparesis flare up.
so, kind of a long and disjointed post tonight. sorry! this post is meant for the searchers of “canine gastroparesis” so i totally understand if you wanted a light and fluffy post….you were quite disappointed.
again…thanks to all the people that stuck around to read about gastroparesis in my dog. hope you leave a comment if you share the same situation. night!
for more on gastroparesis in dogs, click here.
…for more tid bits on gastroparesis in dogs…click on the “gastroparesis” word in the “tag cloud” at the left of this blog.
Filed under: animals, canine, cats, dogs, life, mutts, pets | Tags: animals, cats, dogs, pet
cody bear's friends 
