Filed under: animals, dogs, life, love, pets | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, friends, love, mutts, pets
we’re in the new house!
spree loves the house. that surprised me. i thought the 16 year old cat would be peeved.
but no.
pickles is fin. she loves the place. and after almost a year of horrible illness, she’s romping around like a nut!
but cody bear? he doesn’t like it? he misses his yard. his stuff. the things he barked at.
he hates the dogs that bark on the other side of the new fence and the lack of stuff to watch out the window.
but we’re going to work him through it…..
so here’s to 12. home improvement. healthy dogs. more successful business and lots of loving friends!
Filed under: animals, border collies, dog, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, love, pets
hey, i don’t WANT to eat those damn girl scout cookies!
but the little kids are standing out there practicing their guerilla cookie sales techniques. i’ve just come from a vet appointment so i’m feeling depressed and vulnerable. i’m looking for a pick-me-up.
the box is 4 bux. i hand her a fiver. the neighboring brownie says “would you like to donate the remaining dollar to…?” i say sure, but i have no idea what for. could have been brain melting girl scout research. could have been homeless pigs in south america. i don’t know.
just keep the change. i have my cookies. i’m going home with them.
why the need for thin mints? after years of obsessing over cody bear’s ailments and flippantly mentioning my cheap dog, my healthy dog, pickles, she’s been costing me about 300 bucks a week. the dogs….are killing me. and i’m letting them.
i’ve talked about wine and beer pairings in the past. tonight’s pairing?
well, nothing goes better with 100 dollars worth of dog pills like a 4 dollar box of thin mints.
ahhhh. self medicating.
now, back to pickles…
she is overly enjoying her patient role. she is capitalizing on the fact that i don’t want to lose her and hopping in the car whenever she can. “rub my head”, “let me linger”.
“and isn’t it time for medicine? and doesn’t my pill need to be slathered in peanut butter? yes? that’s what i thought.”
meanwhile, the bear is fit as ever. you should see him.
my one wish for all of you is that you can some day cuddle him and feel how thick and plush and luxurious his fur is. but…be warned: if you get to close he’ll suck you in with his gaze and next thing you know…..
you’ll be giving him money for vet bills.
that’s how he got me!
jk. i love them. just venting.
good night everyone.
no really….that’s how he got me….
Filed under: animals, border collies, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, life, love, pets, valley fever
pickles has been my healthy girl. my cheapie, so to speak. from border collie rescue, for the most part she has cost no more than routine exams with clean bills of health, holistic pet food and an occasional supplement for a healthy coat. while cody bear has averaged $2000-4000 annually in medical expenses it’s been relatively smooth sailing for the last couple years with miss pickles.
until 3 weeks ago when she became visibly lazy, slower and just looked….depressed. on 12/31 she was fine: perky at her annual exam. 100% healthy. weeks later she turned into a different dog. blood test which immediately showed a thyroid condition and something else. valley fever. the doctor said we found it early; it would probably be another month before she started showing physical symptoms of the illness.
my last border collie mix, loki, died of complications from valley fever in 2004. it was the worst thing that i have ever gone through. it was a hard battle we thought we would win and it was a terrible ending. and while every keeps telling me they know so many dogs that have survived VF…that’s fine. my dog died. all the stories of survival aren’t able to shake the trauma i went through when i lost loki.
we started pickles on her thyroid meds monday night. maybe i’m imagining it, but she seemed perkier yesterday morning. after confirming the VF with a second bloodtest, with fear and sadness i started pickles on fluconozole last night. the doctor is positive and i am a mess.
for years my hyper dogs have taken the sound of the morning alarm clock not as a signal to get up and run and play, but as a signal snuggle in tight for cuddling before starting the daily romping. this morning the clock buzzed, i shut it off and the dogs opened their eyes and then buried their muzzles into the covers and wagged, ready to receive their cuddles and kisses.
one dog on either side of me, they both rested their heads on me as i kissed their muzzles and scratched their bellies. pickles followed me around while i got ready for work, always getting a kiss on the head or a squeeze.
i can’t lose you pickles. i’ll die, i swear.
Filed under: animals, border collies, dogs, love, pets, photography | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, love, paws, pets, photography
oh the drama!!!
“what is it NOW, goodbear?!” you ask, exasperated.
well, turns out the running lifestyle has taken its toll on our dainty border collie friend, pickles. after intervals for almost 3 miles, she was spent and looks like she has worn her toenails too short. (picky may have to jog in booties or get nail protection) her quicks are exposed and way too tender.
she is really milking it, too. i sure hope that’s all that is wrong. i mean, she has learned her acting skills from the “poor me” master, cody bear.
oh, the pleading stare!
cody bear and i have been overly-babying her. he’s actually quite concerned. (and the anthropomorphic side of me assumes he may even be a little relieved it wasn’t him having to go to the vet this time.)
here’s to her up and running on 4 paws again!
hop….hop….
isn’t she just freakin’ cute!!!
i can’t handle it!
Filed under: dogs, friends, life, love, pets, photography | Tags: animals, dogs, friends, life, love, pets, photography
it’s hot and the dogs are moping. but….
what they don’t know is….
buzzy and her man are rolling in to town today and staying with us for a week.
there’s going to be so much wagging in a few hours!!!
Filed under: dog, dogs, friends, life, love | Tags: blogging, dogs, friends, life, love
cody bear and pickles here…
we’d like to apologize on behalf of our foolish mother. you see, she has neglected this blog because her head has been in the clouds. but she’s back. she has relearned that nothing else matters in the world but: nature, insects, friends, photos, and of course….us, the dogs.
her head is back in the game and she will NOT be side-tracked by work or stupid guys ever again.
again, please forgive her and her blog slacker phase.
sincerely,
us
Filed under: animals, canine, dog, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, dogs, life, love, pets
so you may have noticed i haven’t been here in a while. turns out something came up. one of those wacky ailments that keep you out of work for a week or more. sure did sleep alot. sure was glad to have had two amazing dogs and one cuddly cat to keep me company.
and now….i’m all better and the dogs know it and they want me off…my…ass!
oh! cody bear high fives me after tonight’s invigorating walk!
but then he’s all serious….
“you gonna ride one of these bikes?”
yes, cody bear. thanks for pointing it out!
what’s pickles doing…?
….chewing…
that’s how she rolls.
to her credit, she didn’t leave my side for an entire week. they both were so protective and cuddly.
i’m pretty certain i will never find any one who loves me as much as my dogs do….
Filed under: animals, canine, cats, dog, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, canine, cats, cute, dogs, love, pets
and so the week rolls on. i’ve been SO BUSY i can barely blog!
but i guess busy is good. last night i finally had some time to kill snapping cookie pictures of my munchkins. didn’t have enough time to get into any of my big projects until after the night’s activity, so…snippity snap!
here we see the bear, giving me his best “i’m hungry” look…
don’t you just want to hand him a cookie? fyi, he takes treats so gently.
here is spree giving me her classic disdain…
and here we see pickles with an obnoxiously large van gogh print, a photo of a building spire from trinity college in dublin, an ikea dresser and a pile of clean laundry…towels and socks, mostly…
so yeah, that was wednesday, post work, pre agility, pre working on projects that kept me up till 1 am.
love bugs….
Filed under: animals, canine, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, dogs, family, life, love, pets, pictures, silly, st. patrick's day
have i ever mentioned “seasonal bandana syndrome” to you? sbs: when my mother fabricates then sends seasonal/festive/holiday bandanas to the dogs.
now cody bear LOVES bandanas….but…i think he knew these were ….PINK!
me: “ohhh. baby loves!”
cody bear: “this is emasculating.”
me: “but you’re so cute and gramma loves you so.”
pickles: “um….i’m going to kill you. …..tonight.”
the package had two festive bandanas and one dozen heart shaped snicker doodles. (snacking on them now.)
nothing for the cat. she’s quite relieved.
“we are NOT amused.”
try them again on st. patty’s day. pickles likes her beer and cody bear looks great in green!
Filed under: animals, dogs, life, love, pets, photography | Tags: animals, dirt, dog blog, dogs, happy, life, love, pets, photography
happiness is dirt?
let’s admit it….the amount of dirt and grime on a dog is directly proportional to how great its day was.
dusty?
muddy?
stinky?
crusty?
grass in the fur?
case . . . in . . . point:
and you know, speed is involved:
“it’s our world. get dirty and try to keep up!”
cody bear's friends 