Thunder Coat in Action

I'm sorting laundry and Josie won't leave my side as thunder quakes the house. The Thunder Coat seems to keep her from panting and shaking, which is a huge improvement.

Another trick that seems to keep Josie calm before we bought the Thunder Coat is to wedge her into a tight space. We learned this from the movie "Temple Grandin".

zzzzz...

When the weather is cold the dogs get chill.

Puppies Everywhere!

This must be puppy saving month! I know it's Year of the Ox but are they sure it's not Year of the Dog??

Last week, at the end of my walk with the dogs I saw a stray in our neighborhood. The dog looked familiar. I hurriedly walked my dogs home and handed them off to K. He wanted to go back with me but I told him I needed to leave at that moment if I had any hope of finding that dog near the spot I first saw him/her.

I rushed out of the house with Toby's leash and started a jog down my street. I got to the end of my street and saw the dog with some of my neighbors. The guy was on the phone and the boy had the stray on their own leash.

I went over to them and asked if the guy was on the phone with the dog's owners? He said that he has some answering service on the phone. I told the guy if he didn't mind I would take the dog, since I was pretty sure I knew where it lived. He readily agreed and was probably happy to give me the responsibility of the stray.

I walked the stray across some lawns to get to the street that runs parallel to our's and it immediately stopped and lifted up a paw. I guess the lawn was covered in sticker burrs and the stray didn't want to walk further after I picked out the stickers. So, I lifted the small dog and cradled her like a baby and she was so sweet. She looked at me as if she was slightly unsure but was willing to trust me.

I arrived at a house and knocked on the door. The lady who answered immediately smiled and said, "I've been looking for her!" Everyone was happy. The End.

Today, K was on North Street stopped at a four way intersection. He spied a dog sitting at the intersection looking unsure and K's heart stopped and he knew immediately what he was going to do. He got out of the car and went over to the dog and held out his hand and the stray licked him in greeting. K took the dog to this one girl's house where there are usually a bunch of bulldogs in her backyard. The girl said the dog wasn't her's and she told him to go down the street and it could possibly be one of the houses there who might own the dog.

K looked down the ways and was like "hrm...Scott and Chay live down there." K knocked on their door and asked Chay, "Do you know who might own this dog?" *or something like that...i wasn't there.*

Apparently, K had a hold of Jingo. Jingo is Scott and Chay's new pup.

Yay! Another happy ending.

I think somehow K and I were given the chance to reunite loved pets with their owners because on our way home from Houston we were not able to save a pup. We saw a boxer pup on the side of a busy highway and it wasn't an area where you could just stop your car. When we think about it even now our hearts ache for that dog. So, I'd like to think that some how these furry loves were dropped into our laps to help heal that ache.

Farewell December, Hello New Year

December has been a pretty hectic month. It was full of new adventures, scary moments, and holiday fun. I don't know how January is going to follow up this month, since December is definitely a tough act to follow.

Moments from December:

- K and I went to Cozumel, Progreso/Yucatan, Mexico on an awesome Carnival cruise that was gifted to us from K's mom.

- Several days of being home from the cruise Toby got really sick, which ended up with him staying at the vet overnight so they could xray his insides to make sure he didn't have an intestinal blockage. Thankfully, he was okay and had a really bad bought of some kind of gut bug. It was a very expensive experience.

- I got horrible food poisoning two weeks after being back home from the cruise.

- Our dogs got into a bad dog fight that required Josie (the older dog) to get stitches. The wounds were very minor injuries according to the vet but getting her emergency care really helped K and I settle our nerves. Our pocket books are very light now after the two incidents with visiting the vet. *sigh* Seriously considering getting pet insurance.

- K's granny fell down while home alone and is now in a rehab facility to make sure she is strong enough to get around on her walker.

- K, me, and the pups went to Houston for the Xmas holiday. We had a great time with his parents and seeing the family on Xmas day and getting to visit with K's granny while she was out of rehab for the day.

So, now I'm interested in what January has in mind for us. Hopefully, it only deals with much happiness, good fortune, and good health all around.

Happy Holidays, Y'all.

*I feel like I left something out.

**Oh yeah. K got a new tattoo this month!

Sick Bully

It's been a pretty busy week so far and I feel like I am swimming through it all in slow motion. It's probably because I have a head cold.

On Sunday Toby acted a bit listless and slept a lot. Monday he still seemed to be a bit under the weather and even puked up breakfast but he kept dinner down. Tuesday morning I had to almost push him towards his food bowl and I knew he really was sick by then. There's no obstacle between Toby and food. Both of my dogs are garbage disposals so we know things are not well if either of them lose their appetite. Toby did not keep his breakfast down and quietly vomited next to K's chair while he was eating breakfast. K didn't even hear Toby vomit. K just looked down and saw Toby staring at the curtains and noticed a big puddle of puke. Toby didn't keep Tuesday's dinner down either.

Wednesday, we dropped Toby off at vet. We told them that Toby was not keeping his food down, had pooped very little, and had no appetite. We also told them we were concerned of a possible intestinal blockage because in his puke K saw a small piece of plastic that came off of a plastic chew toy that he had destroyed.

The vet was concerned too especially because Toby is a bully breed and they are well known for eating wacky things. They told us they'd do four xrays, barium, and possible meds and a guesstimate of it costing around $300. *gulp* When we went to pick Toby up at the end of the business day the vet wanted to keep Toby overnight for observation and also morning xrays. They wanted to see if the barium would flow all the way through his intestinal tract by morning time.

When we get to work on Thursday I called in to get a status on Toby and was told the barium flowed through the intestinal tract and he looked good on the inside with no blockage. Yay! They wanted to keep him a bit longer to make sure that he'd keep his breakfast down after giving him some meds. K and I picked up the little guy when we ended the work day and he was spunky and acted like himself. :)

The vet assistant who handed him over said he was so sweet and well behaved and she was sorry to see him go. K and I preened like proud parents. We also secretly chuckled and thought she only saw this bully when he was under the weather and hadn't seen him at his prime when he's at bully level 15.

We got some wet food given to us that was a bland food perfect for recovering pups, meds, our bully, and a $500 bill that made me drop dead on the spot.

Toby had a bug that made him vomity and gaseous. That ended up costing us a small fortune. If we had never seen that piece of plastic in his vomit I doubt we would have gone to the vet.

Oh well. I guess we decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

Now, I'm going back to dropping dead. *sigh*

toby still waiting

a piglet tripod

Patience

Toby trying ever so hard to get permission to get in K's lap. He waited patiently like this until he started to fall asleep in this position. Toby's feet kill me with cuteness.

puppy aerobics

K was ready with the camera to capture some of the antics of the pups last night. 8 or 9 seconds into it Toby is already doing some crazy acrobatic stunts.

Sleepy Sunday

Sunday's Esses (S): Skating, Sunbathing, Spooning, Snoozing

Dressing up...

Having fun with the puppies.
The pups wish everyone a Happy Halloweeny.