The Loss of a Pet

It's a strange limbo land to be in...mourning the death of pet.  A great sadness descends over you that will not lift until it's run it's course.  You know there are more important things going on in the world; perhaps, more important deaths to mourn.  Right now this is my personal journey. I'm finding my husband and I are more sad at different times.  I'm super sad in the morning.  I woke up every day with this little ball of sunshine.  I started my day with a fuzzy nose demanding attention.  She and I knew what this love and attention was about, but she gave it to me.  It was the wake up and prepare me breakfast dance.  It started with a quick snuggle in the bed.  Then moved to a charge down the hallway.  Now the peek back around the corner to make sure I was actually coming down the hallway.  As I turned the corner saying, "I'm coming, I'm coming," she would do a jump and full length body twirl right in front of the kitchen door.  As if she were saying, "The kitchen is right here and I'm so cute how can you resist me."  Well, I couldn't.  She got what we called the full treatment for breakfast.  It consisted of 1/3 cup of dry dog food, a sprinkle of canned green beans, a pinch of chicken or tuna and a squirt of fish oil.  She loved this meal.  Why so intricate?  Well, she nearly died 5 years ago when her liver almost quit working.  After 6 months of life saving Veterinarian measures this was the meal she liked and kept her alive.  Why change it.

Now my mornings are very quiet and not cute.  On a plus side I'm suddenly arriving at all morning appointments on time and even a little early.  Often my poodle would say as I was trying to get out the door... "I know I've been out twice, but I need one more before you leave."  How does one say no to an emergency potty break?  I never could.

Often during my morning meetings I'd keep track of the time.  I needed to be home by lunch or close to it.  Yes, I fed my pup lunch.  Again, when she got sick 5 years ago she needed food in her stomach to take her life saving medications.  We began giving her lunch and when she got better she decided she liked having lunch.  When someone you love nearly dies and they are alive and well and they want lunch well you give it to them. My schedule could accommodate it.  She was spoiled.

I did have my detours being a woman of a certain age. I now needed to go to the bathroom first.  The "good morning" pee as I named it when I was potty training my 2nd child, who didn't want to use the bathroom first thing.  Give it a fun happy name and then they want to do it.  I had trained my poodle to "take me to the potty."  We'd get out of bed and then if I'd forget and start to head down the hall she'd funnel me to the bathroom.  I'd thank her immensely and that was her reward.  She always loved a "potty pet."  That's when she'd slowly walk past my seated legs and I'd pet her coming in and she'd slowly turn and get another good back scratch going out.  Now that I had my "good morning pee" I could feed my poodle with out the danger of wetting myself.

I wrote the above shortly after my pet passed.  I couldn't spell check it or even reread it without crying.  Now I can get through it.  It's been 6 months.  6 long months.  We had decided not to get a new dog till after the holidays and after our fence was repaired.  It's January 2nd and we have fence estimates.  With the anticipation of new fuzzy love in my house our hearts are healing.  Never forgetting.  Its time to move on and enjoy life the way we like it... with a dog in the house.

Stick Up For Yourself As A Consumer

I'll let my email speak for itself...

"My parents had your "Tagnabbit" quick release on their dog's collar. I thought how ingenious as my dogs tends to wear the same collar all their lives, because I don't want to bend those wires to take off the tags.

I ran straight out and bought one in April 2011. Less than a week later my teen said "Mom here's Little Stars tags."  She was holding them in her hand. Shocked I looked at the gadget and surmised that my husband had put the leash through it. I had warned every one it was for tags only not the leash. Hubby and I got in a mini argument. He claiming he had NOT put the leash through it. I just figured he accidently did. No more arguing. I pushed the metal lever back to it's original place and went on with life.  About every week or so the tags would be found laying some where in the house.

One at left possible leash damage operator error.  One on right snapped right off sending tags all over floor.

Finally, in July I bought another figuring operator error on the first one. We know better. This is still a very cool dog tag holder.

Not one week later I find my dog's tags laying on the floor. This time not the Tagnabbit, but each individual tag. The Tagnabbit's bottom metal bit had broken off some how. Not the spring loaded piece, but the whole bottom piece sheared off at top puppy paw piece. I have a picture if wanted.
Now I'm wondering "hmmm maybe this isn't operator error, but a defective product." I have a middle aged, liver damaged, gimpy legged 23 pound dog hardly a candidate for rough treatment of the product.

What are your thoughts?"

I received a quick reply back from the company...

"Thank you for the product feedback regarding the Tagnabbitt. There was a "run" of this product where our supplier did not meet particular specifications. Unfortunately, there is no lot number to track the item that were affected, which leaves us to address the end-user as we receive the complaints. We are looking to receive the revised product by month end. If you will provide your mailing information, customer service will send one to your attention, when they are received.
Best regards,
On-Line consumer Services
PETMATE"

I thanked them for their quick reply and sent my address.  Honestly, I thought it would be a long time or not at all that I'd receive a replacement.  I wasn't really looking for a replacement as much as I wanted to let them know how their product was holding up in the real world.

On August 24th I received 2 Tagnabbits and a dog treat in the mail to my great surprise.  Less than 2 weeks from my product review to the company I had 2 new dog tag holders.  So, if you're looking for items for your pet I'd recommend Petmate products.  Their customer service is awesome.  Now to test this one out.

UPDATE 10/23/11:  I started using one of the new Tagnabbits.  It wasn't too long after that I found my dog's ID tag on the floor.  This happen several more times where I'd find just the ID, but the dog license and rabies tag stayed on the Tagnabbit attached to my dog's collar.  I had what my friend's and I call "evil ESP" about the situation.  I had a feeling I should take the Tagnabbit off and secure the tags to my dog's collar the old fashioned way, but I didn't.  Well, it bit me in the butt.  All my dog's tags with the Tagnabbit are now gone.  We can't find it any where.  Is it in the house?  Is it in the backyard?  We've looked and can't find the tags any where.  They are here some where and will show up one day.  I'm starting to replace the tags as I don't have time to wait for that day to come.  So, bottom line don't buy a Tagnabbit.

Gallbladder Removal

It's been a long time coming.  2 weeks after my first born came along I had what I call a Gallbladder attack.  I had never been to an emergency room in my life and within 2 weeks I had been there twice.  My son was 5 weeks early due to my water breaking this is how my first trip went down.

2 weeks after the birth I was back in with this dang gall bladder.  Everyone remembered me and were happy to see my son.  "Hello! Woman in great pain here!" I think is what I said in my cranky painful gallbladder stupor.  This stopped the group from oogling my baby and back to me and my pain.

The attack went away as quickly as it came on.  I got no pain meds as I was nursing.  After an ultrasound showed I had no gallstones they said, "Lucky you only one stone."  I was sent home.

I was so worried for years.  I wondered when was I going to have another big attack.  From then on my gall bladder ached from time to time.  When I was pregnant with my daughter my only real physical concern I had was that dang gallbladder.  It ached 24/7.  I asked my Dr. about it and she said we'll cross that bridge when it comes.  Nothing came of it thank goodness.  After my daughter was born the aching let up.

Over the last 20 years I've had about 4 gallbladder attacks.  Each ultrasound revealed no gallstones.  Each time I got the "Lucky you" response.  About 4 years ago my gall bladder started back to aching every day pretty much all day.  No change in diet would change it.  I just learned to live with it.  Waiting for "The BIG One" to come along and force the doctors to take it out.

I've felt like doing this a time or 2 myself!

I got to thinking this year I really need to get to the bottom of this as I plan on doing some traveling and I don't want to be in another country when my gall bladder finally fails.

I talked to my doctor about it.  Again I got an ultrasound and no action.  In June I finally put my foot down and asked my doctor, "Why do I have to live like this in pain and waiting for a full on gallbladder attack?"  She said, "I'll send you to nuclear medicine and they can do a test on you to measure the functioning of your gallbladder.  Hallelujah it's about time!

A nuclear medicine scan of the gallbladder is used to produce a set of images that look like x rays. The procedure uses a small amount of radioactive dye which is injected into the body. The dye accumulates in the organ, in this case, the gallbladder. A special camera called a scintillation or gamma camera produces images based on how the dye travels through the system and how the radiation is absorbed by the tissues.  This whole thing took about 2 hours of laying quite still.

What they found in me is no gallstones, no blockages, but a gallbladder functioning at 10%.  The Dr. called the next day and said, "Yeah that thing needs to come out."  What a great relief that the Dr. believed me and to finally hear those word.  All these years I've felt I had a ticking time bomb in me.

I was really surprised at how quickly they could get me in and how well it worked into my schedule.  My family and I didn't need to rearrange anything to fit this in.  DH took a few days off from work.  My teens are home for the summer.  One of my teens drives, which is REALLY handy.

The family is working really hard to make me comfortable including my poodle.  I went in at 6am and was home before noon.  My poodle though just knew something was up.  When I got into bed upon returning home my poodle uncharacteristically sniff my torso all over and then curled up with me.  If one could understand this she had this strange look of concern in her eyes.  DH kept trying to remove her she didn't want to budge.  He didn't want her to jump on me, so I understood his concern.  I assured him I'd make sure she didn't.  So, curled up next to me with her head on my belly she stayed.  She's played a major part in my recovery.

PS. no cake please.

PSS.  Do I need this shirt now?

PSSS.  Not sure I want to snuggle with it.  I'm kind of mad at it.

Incredible Poodle Throw Rug

What I especially like about this particular rug is it follows me around the house and repositions itself.

Camera Shy and Hopeful

Happiness is a fresh clean poodle.  Yes, I'm kissing my poodle.

Little Star Miles or Piddle Star Miles as we like to call her these days is being camera shy. Thought I'd let you see how well she doing. Considering she's had a rough few months. She's been poked, prodded, medicated, fed unusual foods, and sprayed by a skunk.

Today was the ultimate insult though... she got another bath.  She's been drinking so much water lately (side effect of one of her meds) she sleep pees occasionally; hence, early morning bath.  We've been picking her water up around 10 pm, but she seems to already be full of water by then.  New plan is the Vet told me back in January (when she wouldn't drink water and I had to force/trick/bribe her) that a poodle her size should drink 25 ounces of water a day.  The plan is we measured out 25 ounces of water into her bowl and that is all she gets today.  We'll see how that goes.  I wonder how long it will take her to drink that much.  My first instinct is I would hate it if someone told me I couldn't have a drink if I was thirsty.  On the other hand if I were peeing the bed I guess I would rather have my water cut back than be kicked out of the bed.

Update:  Spoke to Vet office today about a towel donation and thought I'd ask about my water plan.  They said an hour after dinner just pick up the water dish.  That no she doesn't need more than the normal amount of water.  The 25 ounces that I gave her lasted just until after dinner.  So, that worked out well.

Despite having been bathed she's in very good spirits.  She's eating well.  She's put on some weight slowly inching up to the 23 pounds that she should be.  We are hopeful she has many more years with us.  We go for a car ride every day.  We go for a walk every day.  We're enjoying our poodle every day.

What's Next? We've Been Skunked!

I'm telling you the last few months have been the most challenging in the world of pet ownership and it hasn't stopped yet.

The Prednisone is making my dog drink a lot.  So, she needs to go out a lot.  I noticed Wednesday morning she had had an accident in the night.  Fortunately, it was on the easily cleanable vinyl flooring.  So, Thursday night when she wanted out at 2am I thought "thank goodness she woke me up."  I got up and let her out.  She shot out like a rocket.  I thought she went after a cat.  I was hoping the cat had gotten away, but there was still some scuffling.  Then there was a poodle sneeze.  The poodle trotted away and out from the fence into the porch light as proud as a peacock came strutting a skunk with it's white and black tail standing tall.

My poodle was heading for my door.  I slammed it shut.  I wasn't sure if she got sprayed, but I was pretty sure she had, because of the sneeze.  It's 2 am and I really don't want to wake up dear hubby, but I don't think I can handle this myself.  OK I don't WANT to handle this myself.  So, I wake up dear hubby and tell him "I think the poodle has been sprayed by a skunk."  He groggily says, "Are you sure?"  I walked back to the French back doors and I can see the poodle patticaking at the door for me to let her in.  What she was doing was forcing skunk smell in through the crack in the doors.  I walk back to the bedroom and say, "Yep, I'm sure!"

Dear Hubby doesn't get near enough sleep mostly by his choice, so when he's a sleep I don't like to wake him willy nilly.  When there is a mini crisis though he gets right up and can be counted on to help calmly and surprisingly uncrankily.  Is that a word?

First thing I did was turn on my computer before I woke him up.  I remember seeing a formula for getting rid of skunk smell on a PBS Skunk show about 5 years ago that was guaranteed to work well.  I remembering saying, "I should write that down" back then.  I thought when will I ever come in contact with a skunk?  Talk about famous last words.  Want to hear some more famous last words?  Because my poodle had surgery a few weeks ago I asked my husband THAT night "Would it be safe for her incision to give her a bath tomorrow?  She's kind of stinky."  I didn't know the half of what I was saying.

Krebaum’s Formula to De-Skunk Pets
Items Needed:
1 quart of fresh (not old or out-dated) 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) – to act as a buffer
1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid soap – to alkalize the peroxide (don’t use shampoo)
If it’s for a larger pet, 1 quart of lukewarm water can be added.
Directions:
Be careful to keep this formula out of your pet’s ears, eyes and mouth. Lather thoroughly and deeply into pet fur. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse well with water.

Do this cleaning procedure outside, and if you have plastic goggles–wear them. Dogs especially are notorious for shaking their fur out when wet, you don’t want this stuff spraying in your eyes.

This recipe can be used on people, pets, clothing, or outdoors where needed. Be careful when applying and don’t let it get into eyes, ears or mouths.

Skunks can carry rabies, take to vet immediately if you find any bleeding or open wounds while washing your pet.

Amazingly, I had ALL the ingredients.  I got a plastic tub from the garage.  I wasn't sure how much would be needed to wash her.  I wanted to catch the formula in the tub and reuse if needed.  Armed with the formula and tub we headed to the backyard hubby in shorts me in my pajamas.

The hose I needed was coiled up right where the skunk was last sighted.  I decided to use the hose by the other back door only the teenagers had disconnected it.  I wondered why as I screwed it back on the hose bib and turned it on.  Next thing I knew a 6 foot tall rooster tail stream of ice cold water is spraying my backside through a giant hole in the hose.  OK now I know why it was disconnected!  I scream.  Dear hubby thinks the skunk is attacking me.  I quiet down and quickly tell him I was hosed down with cold water.  He sees me me fighting the hose like a water wiggle.  He's now fighting to hold the dog in the tub who wants to come to my rescue.  Now we're laughing, but trying to be quiet at 2 am in the morning not wanting to wake the neighbors or the kids.

We wetted her down with the ice cold water from the hose and she's looking at us with eyes that are saying, "Why are you being so mean to me?"  Dear hubby is scrubbing her face and neck I'm scrubbing the rest of her.  I am getting worried that she's going to get too cold since she's got some health issue and recovering from surgery.  Dear hubby says I'll rinse her in a warm shower.  That made me feel better to get her in a warm shower.  As he rinsed her in the shower I got towels from the rag cabinet.  I pull back the shower curtain and there she is in his arms like he use to bathe our babies when they were itty bitty.  Poodle is looking itty bitty and sad.  I took her from his arms and I could tell she was relieved it was all over.

Remarkably this all took less than half an hour.  We were back in bed at 2:30 am with a dog who smelled nice enough to be welcomed back in the bed.  Considering 30 minutes earlier she stunk so bad we didn't even want her in our backyard.  The formula worked GREAT!

Next day I got many recommendations of tomato juice, but I've been told it really doesn't work that well.  Plus I never have tomato juice in my house.  The formula worked great.  Yeah if you stick your nose in the hair on her neck there is a faint smell of skunk, but how often does one do that.  We used about half of the formula and she was soaked through and through and suds up.  So, for a 23 pound dog it was more than enough.

Living With a Roomba?

Since my poodle's increase hunger began with the taking of Prednisone I've started to get the feeling people must have that own a Roomba. "The Roomba is an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and its obstacles while vacuuming the floor."

The last few nights I sat down in the living room to enjoy a few programs on my DVR and in walked my shadow (the poodle). She begins systematically sniffing every inch of the living room floor. She walks around in no particular pattern.  Bumping into things and going in new directions.  Hoping I'm sure that a tortilla chip or the like has fallen to the floor. After sniffing every square inch of the living room floor she jumps up and lays down beside me.

She does this for every room. If I'm cooking she comes into the kitchen and again runs her nose over every inch of the kitchen floor. My original thought was she was looking more like a blood hound, but last night I realized that she is vacuuming. She's my Roomba!

So, now I'm getting a little feeling of "I hope she doesn't find any food on the floor I'll feel like such a slob." Like I'm not doing my job or my family isn't doing their job of picking up after themselves. I know my poodle isn't judging me. In fact if she found food on the floor it would be a good thing in her eyes. I can't help, but feel like I'm being given the white glove treatment about ten times a day.

YOUR DOG IS GOING TO EAT MORE THAN NORMAL

In the continuing saga of "How the Poodle Turns" last week my poodle had a liver biopsy.  I thought they'd just stick a needle in her and take a plug out.  The Vet explained oh no we'll need to cut her open and take a sterile sliver of her liver.  We've tried everything since January when this all began to figure out why her liver isn't functioning properly.  I consented to this final test.

When the results came back it was about the same as every test.  No real reason why it's not functioning properly.  They said there are signs of a "toxic event" (Vet words.)  The Vet goes on to tell me her liver seems to be struggling to recover from this.  To help the healing along we'll need to put her on Prednisone.  On Prednisone she may notice her become more hungry and thirsty.  I asked the Vet, "Do I need to feed her more?"  He said, "No, you may just have to watch out for her nipping things off the counter and getting into the trash."  I said, "Oh she already does that.  We have a whole plan to keep her out of the trash and off of the counters."  He laughed and we concluded our conversation.

Flash forward about a week that my poodle has been on Prednisone suddenly she's drinking 2 bowls of water a day and she's asking me for food all day long.  When I don't give her food she goes outside and grazes.  We now have to go out with her, because she's eating things that we have no idea what it is and she's eating her own poop.  No more leisurely going out and picking it up.  We have to pick it up immediately.  I'll be walking along with her and suddenly she's crunching on something.  I've watched her like a hawk and don't know what she's eating.  She knows to swallow quickly or I'll drag it out of her.  I'm hoping they are acorns or some other nonlethal plant substance.

She asks to go out about every hour.  I don't know if it's to eat or to pee the 2 bowls of water.  This afternoon she asked to go out and I told her no.  Next thing we find out she's peed on the carpet.  I felt SO badly.  I told the family every time she asks we just need to walk her out.  The Prednisone is supposed to be a 3 month treatment.  In fact after about a month we start backing down the dose and I'm hoping her hunger will back down to a normal poodle level.

Today I was cleaning off my dresser and came across this cartoon one of my favorites and it just seem so apropos for our life right now.

Winston the Bionic Dog is Doing Great

He has just one problem... he doesn't look when you call him.  He also doesn't come when you call him either.  I've never met a dog I couldn't get to look at the camera with a number of different word tricks.  He didn't fall for a single one.  Never does.  After he's healed my SIL plans in putting him in obedience lessons to find out how to get his attention from a professional.

Anyhow his pacemaker is working great.  His appetite is better than before the surgery.  His energy is better also.  Although we would have never known his energy was down.  He was always a perky pup.  This type of surgery is done once a week at UCD and is very successful.  My SIL said the scariest part of the whole ordeal was the 3 days they had to wait before the surgery could be done.  They just prayed he didn't die before they surgery.

Here is Winston and his full body Mohawk.  The stitches on his side are where the pacemaker is.  You can feel the wire just under the skin going from it up to the front of the neck where it attaches to his heart.

The Bionic Man Series Came To Mind

When talking about Winston yesterday my son said it reminded him of the intro to the "Bionic Man" TV show and he said, "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic dog. Winston will be that dog. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster."

Winston is home.  My brother says the pacemaker is about the size of a ipod nano.  Though it sounds small on his 8 pound dog it is huge.  Winston is eating and wants to be a dog.  Although from the descriptions of his after surgery condition he sounded like he might resemble Frankenweenie.  Very cute movie by the way.

He says the pacemaker is so computerized it is really quite amazing.  One can get a printed report whenever they want to check on the viability of the pacemaker and the recipient.  His dog is starting to sound like a new toy rather than a pet.

Can't wait to see Winston and give him a chuck under the chin.

Winston

An email from my brother today... "Well it looks like we're going to have a bionic dog. Winston passed the tests for a pacemaker." 

Another Chapter in the Dog Saga of my Family

I told my brother when we went out to eat for my dad's birthday a week or so ago not to mention that my poodle has been sick.  My dad and mom lost their poodle 1 year ago to liver cancer.  It's a very tender subject.  My poodle seems to be mending well.  We'll go in next week for a follow up check up to be sure.  Why sadden them unnecessarily.

Well, my brother calls today to say that his new pup has a serious health issue.  There is something wrong with his heart.  The beating of it is slowing down day by day.  What should be beating around 100 times a minute is beating at 30.  Like a typical dog you'd never know anything was wrong with him.  This was found out accidentally with a check up regarding the dog's teeth.  The Vet said the teeth are fine, but there is something else we need to talk about.

My brother and his wife have set up an appointment for a 2nd opinion.  The only treatment for something like this that has been discussed is a pacemaker.  I can't believe it!  My husband's cousin is a Vet he's in his 60's, so has been doing this for a long time.  He told me a few years ago that if you have the money we can do just about anything to fix your dog.

My brother and his wife are DINKs (double income no children).  Not that they have all the money in the world, but their dog is their child.  They are prepared to pay some money out to help their dog live a longer life.  My brother and I had a pretty lengthy talk about what's reasonable and what's not.  We also talked about the quality of life of a pet.  If they were to put a pacemaker in they'd need to let him live a full life.  Not a sheltered life.  Well, sheltered within reason.

Winston (Poodle/Pomeranian... Pomapoo?)

We also talked about why us... why are our dogs having serious health issues this past year?  We realized that up until now we have been very fortunate to have dogs that have lived full healthy lives.  We go the extra mile to make sure our dogs are fed well and healthy.  That's 40 years of dog ownership.  We figured sadly that it's just our turn.

Hanging In There

Quick webcam picture of my beautiful girl.  As you can see we're hanging in there.  She's actually doing great as far as the eye can tell.  Doing all the healthy things a dog should do.  She'll go in for a recheck here soon.  Hoping all the problems she was having in her blood samples have resolved themselves.

She's back on regular dog food except that it has 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese, a sprinkle of chopped chicken and some chicken broth.  Why the big hoopla with the food now?  Well, she's spoiled that's why!  Turns out she also loves my home cooking.  I feel pretty lucky to have gotten it down to that little bit of hoopla.  I was cooking a whole chicken for the family once a week.  I then would take the chicken carcuss and make chicken broth with it.  Then I'd also cook up a batch of rice.  I would take all the leftover chicken from the family dinner and pick it from the bones and chop up finely.  I would put the chicken broth sans any salt and put in the fridge to skim off all fat.  The Vet had said low fat low salt diet.  For her dinner I would take chicken, lowfat cottage cheese, rice and chicken broth.  My dog was in hog heaven.  For a sick girl she was eating like champ.

My brother and mom and dad doctor up their dogs food everyday.  I've always been one to give my dogs straight dry dog food.  The Vet said that was the healthiest way to feed them.  It's such an easy way too.  When we travel my folks have all these containers and cans of things for the dog.  I have a bag of dry food and a measuring cup.  I may have joined their ranks.  As it turns out it's not such a bother.  I always thought that dry dog food looked and sounded a bit boring myself.

Sick Little Poodle

Christmas 2010

Little Star is front row center.  She is my dog... errrr.... I guess I should say our dog.  She thinks she's my baby.  Much the same way my kids know they are my babies.  I have this thing I do when I get a new dog I find out how long a dog of that size is supposed to live and I expect it to live that long with my good care and love.   My 100 pound dog was said to live 10-12 years.  He lived for 13 1/2.  I was told my 10 pound dog might make it 10 years, because she had a heart murmur.  She lived to 16 1/2.  My Little Star is a miniature poodle and I was told she'd live 12-14 years.  Her sister Twinkle died last January of liver cancer at the age of 8.  I wrapped my mind around that tragedy by the fact that Twinkle survived a rattlesnake bite and that her liver was probably damaged.  In the back of my mind though I've had a nagging worry that my dog might get sick.

13 days ago it was a regular day and I fed my poodle breakfast.  She's always eager for a meal.  She even had a little running twirl and flip she does to let me know "yes, please I'd like breakfast."  Very cute.  I set the bowl down and instead of diving straight in she stared at me.  How odd I thought.  Again I gave her the command to dive right in.  Again she looked at me.  In the 8 years we've had her she's never turned down a meal.  I left the bowl out and she ate a few piece through the day, but it was still there at dinner.  The next day was did the same thing.  Eager to eat and yet wouldn't eat.  I picked the bowl up this time and gave it back to her at dinner.  Friday morning she flatly refused to eat.  Didn't even eat a morsel or 2. 

I had a coffee date and expressed my worry that my dog wasn't eating.  My friend suggested maybe she was bored with eating the same food for 8 years.  I've often wondered myself how she does it.  My friend gave me a baggie of her dogs food.  I brought it home and she scarfed it down.  She scarfed down a dinner meal too.  Saturday we bought a big bag of the same food and she refused to eat it.  Sunday she refused to eat.  I was so puzzled.  Again, I palpated her stomach.  I wiggled each tooth.  I checked her over for ticks or fleas.  Her energy level was the same.  She was still running and playing.  She wasn't sleeping any more than usual.  She seemed healthy in every way, but she wouldn't eat.  I made an appointment with the Vet. 

First thing Monday the Vet Tech took her history of what was wrong and then took her temperature.  She says, "Poor puppy you have a temperature."  Now I'm suddenly alarmed!  What she really is sick!  My heart thought she was being finicky, but my brain I knew that wasn't the case.  They took blood, urine and fecal samples.  Tests came back that she indeed has an infection of some kind.  They're not sure if her liver if functioning properly.  Her urine is dark and cloudy, but no urinary tract infection.  So, they think she wasn't drinking either.  An x-ray showed that all her organs were the right size and in the right place and looking healthy.  Ultrasound also showed nothing out of the normal.  The Vet was puzzled.

They gave me antibiotics to give her and told me to put her on a low fat diet.  By Wednesday I noticed that she wasn't drinking.  Now I'm really worried that my poodle is going to die.  When I started her on my home cooked lowfat diet she began eating again with gusto.  So, I decided to see if I could trick her into drinking.  I used my homemade chicken broth.  At first I gave her 4 ounces of chicken broth.  Over the couple days before her next check up I reduced it to 1 to 4 ratio with water.   She drank it gladly.

I took her in for a recheck and the Vet checked her temp and said it's almost normal.  I feel better, but uncomfortable with the "almost normal."  She still is only drinking my broth water and hasn't touched her water bowl for 1 week.  I wonder if it's because I'm keeping her hydrated and she feels no need to drink or what.  I asked the Vet how long can a dog go without water.  He said 24 to 36 hours.  So, Wednesday I'm to slowly introduce her to dog food and I think I'll slowly stop spiking her water.

For now she's still hippy skipping around and being her fluffy cute self.  We enjoy having her around so much.

I've been a little teary over the week.  The thought of losing my Little Star long before I thought I would is difficult to comprehend.  I know it does happen.  I know it could happen.  We're just doing the best we can.  I've comforted myself knowing she is well loved and well taken care of and whatever will be is out of my control.

The Pepper Report

Pepper is the new puppy my parents got back in June.  He's doing well and as cute as ever.  My mom was a bit worried that he was so unruly.  Next to my grand dame Little Star, who is 8 years old he was quite the heathen.  I reminded my mom he's still a baby.  Don't worry about him.  He's right on track.  He still needs training, which she's doing.  Just keep it up and when we're here we'll help with the "don't nip my nose," "don't lick my eyeball," "stop scratching by neck," and my brother's favorite "stop punching me in the crotch."  He's learning more with every trip up there.

Pepper is learning to get along with my Little Star.  As you can see from this photo he's getting a healthy respect for her as he leans away from her.

He had to be held in the photo and with the quick jump out as with all babies.

They aren't the best of buds, but they do pal around in the yard.  Every now and then Pepper can't stand it and tries to jump on Little Star.  She gives him a gentle, but firm growl down.  He goes right into a submissive pose, which meets with Little Star's approval.  Then they continue their tour of the  2 1/2 acres.

Which way did she go?  Caught Pepper's ears in mid flight as she looked around for which way Little Star had gone through the garden.

She likes me. She really really likes me!

One of my daily blessings is my adorable poodle Little Star.  As you can tell she's my bud.  Last night I was working on Clue #3 in the Bernat Crochet Along and there she was keeping me company.  I kept thinking the yarn would tickle her nose and she would get up.  She actually stayed there quite a while.  Probably because I thought she was absolutely adorable and she loves it when I notice that fact.

Truth be told her 5 O'Clock shadow was poking threw my pajama bottoms and was a bit prickly for me.  I wasn't about to shoo her away though.  I could endure it to enjoy such cuteness.



Calling Dr. Pepper?

This is Pepper, Pepper Baby, Dr. Pepper, Pucker, Pick a Pepper... just a few names he was called this weekend as we got to know him.  My mom has a great sense of humor about it all.  Pepper is his rightful name.  He's 8 weeks old and a miniature poodle.

He was quite shy at first.  To be expected.  He'd only been in my parent's home about 4 days when a horde of family descended upon him.  My dad said last week when I called about "Father's Day" plans, "You all aren't coming up to see me are you?"  Of course we were and oh by the way to see your new pup too.

My brother and my daughter really put on a full court press to getting Pepper to come out of his shell.  My brother buttered a piece of bread got on the floor and shared it with him.  Found out Pepper loves butter.  He also went and patted on some of my dad's cologne thinking if he smelled like my dad Pepper would feel more comfortable.  Amazingly he did.  My daughter went and dotted on a little bit of Grandpa's cologne too.  Pepper had not been eating his kibble since he got there.  My daughter took a tiniest bit of butter and put on his kibble and he ate a meal's worth.

Here is Winston and Pepper together.  Our 2 new additions to the family.  Winston is slightly bigger than Pepper, but the 2 were great buds.  They loved to play with each other.  As with most children play would start out fun then they would try to one up each other.  When things would get rough and they'd have to be separated.  Pepper had 3 brothers, so he's use to rough play.  Winston is 20 weeks old and with maturity he had a few tricks up his sleeve.  It was so hilarious to watch them play we felt like we should have been charged admission.

Everyone looks so stoic in this picture.  If it were black and white it would look very similar to one of those late 1800's photos.  The mission of this photo was to get Pepper and Little Star in a photo together.  The humans just needed to hold still until we could get both dogs looking in the same direction.  I find it amazing that little bit of fluff will be as big as Little Star by years end.

We kept Little Star and Pepper a part most of the weekend as Mom thought Pepper was too small to be rolled by a bigger bossy dog.  I totally understood.  It could happen.  Little Star really gets a long with other dogs unless they dart, snap or try to assert their dominance on her.  Then she has no problem telling them what for.  We're going to wait until Pepper is big enough to get a "what for."

Meet Winston

This is Winston.  He's a Poodle/Pomeranian mix.  He's my brother and SIL new puppy.  He's just adorable.  They lost their dog Albert last October to old age.  We knew a new pup was coming along as soon as their trip to Hong Kong was over, which was in February.

The one thing we all can't quite get over is Winston's resemblance to Albert.  Normally, that wouldn't be something to be concerned about except that Albert was... errr... what's the right word... hmmm.... psycho.  I guess that's the right word.  He bit me 3 times over the years and even I wouldn't say he was mean or vicious.  As long and you didn't touch him he would not bite you.  Crabby... is that the right word?  He was pretty much crabby from a very early age.  When my brother would tell us stories like how Albert had severed his left nostril we would just laugh.  Then we made jokes about it.  Like "don't smile until it's completely heeled."  Inferring his nostril would snap up like a window shade.  As the years wore on it just wasn't funny anymore.  He bit my brother and his wife so many times they lost count.  Of course Albert lived to be nearly 19.

(We love to mess with his hair, don't think he particularly likes it though.)

So, we were all trained to avoid a small whitish brown dog and in walks Winston.  We all need retraining.  Only problem is Winston has some mental issues too.  He's 4 months old and my brother knew he wasn't treated well at the home he was at.  Not that he was physically hurt in any way, but that he was chased around and shoved into a kennel a lot.  That's the theory.  Winston has bonded to my brother and wife.  He really wants nothing to do with anyone else.  He's also very territorial for such a young thing.  He doesn't know how to greet another dog nor does he want to.

My dog's first encounter was going to be on a leash as she is quite bossy, BUT with the excitement and lateness of us arriving at the cabin that didn't happen.  In walked my dog thinking the cabin was dogless when a white furry things lunges at her.  I'm only guessing, but I think my dog thought a cat or squirrel was in the house.  Winston got something he wasn't ready for and that was a full on chase by something 3 times his size.   I caught Little Star on the stairs as Winston headed up and then decided he didn't want to go up to no man's land.  Little Star just wanted to sniff him and find out what he was.  Little Star literally scared the poop out of him.  My brother scooped Winston up and 2 little pellets shot out of him.

My dad was convince Little Star was trying to eat Winston, but my brother and I knew different.  We knew with both dogs on a leash they would get use to each other and they did.  Quite quickly too.  Once my Little Star knew there was a dog in the house she settled right down.  Once she learned Winston wanted nothing to do with her she remembered to stay away.  See she was trained to stay away from Albert too.  No new training there.

We have high hopes for Winston though.  He's cute, once you can get hold of him he's cuddly and he doesn't bite!  My brother and his wife are committed to making him a good citizen.  They have already had their first puppy class.  They are working hard at socializing him.  He's so adorable we're glad he's found a safe haven with us.

PS. My parents are getting a new poodle puppy this Wednesday.  After their heart break in January when they lost their beloved Twinkle to liver cancer they decided it was lonely without the companionship of a dog.

A Snuggle With My Poodle

She doesn't get all the way on my lap.  I'm not sure if she feels she's too big or if it's some dominate dog thing or what.  My Miss Marie would sit on the top of my head if I let her.  Little Star likes to lay very close.  She especially likes to lean on me.  Or she'll lay next to my legs and throw her head over a leg.  Right now she's leaning and laying her head on my stomach.  She letting me look at her beautiful brown almond shaped eyes.  She wants to make sure I get a glimps of he adorable gum drop nose.  She knows I have a weakness for fuzzy poodle snout.  She's usually not this cuddly unless I have a plate she wants to lick.  She's and expert smoozer.

She can be so nonchalant too.  "Plate what plate?  I didn't see a plate I was just here to snuggle.  What? You want me to lick the plate?  OK if I have to."

It's very difficult to get a good photo of a black poodle.  Flash or no flash they are still very cute and snuggly.

Full on snuggle sneaky smoozin' mode.  I say, "Are you my baby?"  And she lays her head down and gives the eyes.  You know the eyes that say, "Yes I am."

I can never resist such fuzzy warm cuteness.  Charles Schultz said it best, "Happiness is a warm puppy."

Little Star

My little poodle baby.  We are at my parents house for Christmas in this picture.  This is exactly what I was talking about when I said a dog can be your baby when your children no longer are.  My kids are too big and too embarrassed to let me hold them like this now.  Little Star doesn't mind it a bit.  In fact she climbed up on me and laid down without any coaxing.  Our first conversation was do I look like a couch to you?  She just gave me a look that said, "No, you look like mom."  She is a cuddly poodle, but not quite this cuddly.  I think when we are away from home she gets a bit more clingy.  I often wonder if she feels like she needs to lay on me, so I won't forget to take her home with me.  Like I leave her places all the time.  No I don't.  She's more important than my purse.  I've never left her any where.  I asked DH to take a picture, because she was just being so precious.  Smoozing me for food is probably more like it.  When we go to Grandma's and Grandpa's there are a lot more snacks given out than at our house.  Little Star's sister Twinkle asked for snacks several times a day and got them.  When we are visiting Little Star gets them too.

For Christmas Little Star got a toy Pheasant.  Petco started carrying a realistic animal line of toys a few years ago and Little Star loves them.  She now has a chipmunk, squirl, duck and pheasant.  I thought it was so cute that with Twinkle's toy scattered about Little Star knew this was hers.

She slept on it quite a while until she realized she was being watched.  Sorry cute poodle alert! Had to take a picture!  Like with people, pets need to be appreciated every single day, because one doesn't know how long we have together.