Inauguration Day 2013

On Inauguration day 2013 was the 4 year anniversary of our Cuailgne Girl's passing to the Rainbow Bridge. As I watched President Obama being sworn in for the second term, I couldn't help but think of my little girl and how much I loved her. She was the love and the light of my life for so many wonderful years. I'll never forget her and how much she taught me. We have adopted more dogs since her passing, who sadly have also passed to the Bridge, and we will no doubt adopt more, but she will always be the measure by which all other dogs will be judged! We love you Cuailgne and we will always you in our hearts. xoxoxo

Good bye My Friends

Cuailgne Meadbh passed away January 20th, 2009. She was 14 years and 5 months old. Cuailgne lived a very full life right up to her last day. She was never in any pain or knew that she was ill. Her kidneys were failing and although death was near she was still very active. Our last gift to her was a calm, quiet and very peaceful end. She passed away in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by her family, in her favorite bed, in her favorite spot of the house. She was given smoked salmon, turkey, coffee and chocolate (the only time she was ever permitted this very forbidden food). She is now at Rainbow Bridge where she runs and plays with her sister Lindsay Meryl. She was the eternal light and the love of her family Monika Jayne, Tim and her fur siblings Conchobar Mac Nessa and MacKenzie Girl. She was our "Best Girl."

My Birthday

It was my 13th birthday on August 31! We've been celebrating every weekend now for a little while. We went to the lake and had a pic-nic, I went for a walk at the rose garden. I got some special chewies, and my mom is getting me a new collar to wear when I go out to special places like the dog park. This weekend we were supposed to go to the annual Paws in the Pool shin dig but it was so cold this year that we decided not to go. But my mom went and took photos of the dogs that did decide to go this year. Mostly labs and other hard core water dogs. My mom is working on a special memory project for all us dogs. She's having our paws made in this werid sculptie stuff, and arranging a lot of photos with our paws too. That's all for now!

Tooth Tale

Oh man! I've had a terrible last few days. Trials and tribulations abound. It all started last friday night. I was minding my own business, like I always do. My sister Lindsay and I were just chewing our bones. Well, she starts up with the trying to distract me from my bone by "fake" dropping hers, so I will drop mine, and then she steals mine. I don't know why she's constantly playing this game with me. I NEVER fall for it! Anyway, she kept dancing closer and closer to my bone. I even took it under the futon to get away from her, and lo and behold her "Highness Princess Lindsay" stuck her nose under there and tried to grab it. Well, that was IT! She crossed the line, and I just let her have it! Not the bone, oh no! I let her HAVE it! The fur was flying now, and it wasn't me getting the worst of it I can tell you. Of course the humans came in, all upset, and seperated us before I could rip Lindsay's throat out, and after the ruckus settled down, the woman was checking me out, making sure I wasn't hurt. She always checks my teeth first because she says I was born with "bad teeth". I'm not really sure what that means. They work pretty well for me, I think. But then I heard her say, "Oh my God! Tim, there's a huge splinter of pressed bone in her gum, and *&^%!! her tooth is fractured!" Suddenly, everyone in the house is sticking their hands into my mouth and trying to wiggle that tooth. The man is looking very worried, the woman is looking positivly panic stricken. I know that when I see her looking that way, I'm in for a trip to the vet. Normally a trip to the vet isn't a big deal for me. But this time I had a feeling things were going to be different. And they were. I had to have surgery to remove the tooth, which was apparently not fractured but shattered in no less than 5 places with numerous teeny tiny slivers left below the gum line. I had to have a shot to put me "under". I was very scared, and I'm not ashamed to say that I shook and cried while the woman and the vet put me on the table. The woman stayed with me while the shot was given, and I went "under". Later I heard the man talking with her and she said she had cried the whole way home after she left the vet's office. She said that watching me go "under" was very "traumatizing". I hardly EVER see the woman crying. It must have been a very big deal for her. Anway, the tooth came out, I'm on anti-biotics, and even though it took me nearly 3 days to recover from going "under", I'm fine now. But I have a total of 3 less teeth than other dogs now. What a drag! And all because that bitch Lindsay is never satisfied with what she has!

It's my birthday everyone!

It's my birthday! I'm ten years old now! I remember when I first saw my mom guardian. I was on my back, fooling around in the "grass", or some stuff that was imitating grass in Tucson, Arizona. My dog mom was there too. She was very tired. My brother was sick, and our humans back then weren't taking very good care of any of us. They put an add in the paper for free puppies. So my mom guardian came.

She was upside down when I first saw her. I pretended not to see her though. She pretended not to see me too. But I couldn't help watching her. She seemed to be looking for something, but I couldn't tell what. She went over to my dog mom. They made friends right away. I could tell my dog mom liked her, and she even layed her head in my guardian's lap. She went over and spoke to my humans for a minute. Then she walked toward me. I pretended not to notice. I just watched her with my head tilted back. She looked funny upside down like that. Then I turned over and took a few steps toward her. She took a few toward me. Next thing I knew, she had taken me closer to my mom dog to say good bye. She explained very quietly that she was taking me to my new home. My dog mom sniffed me, and I saw her put her paw on my new guardian's knee. Then we were in the car on the way home. I've loved my bi-ped guardian since then. Were' best freinds.

Anyway today will be a special day! I'll get a specially made cake with my photo on it ( of course!) some steak, some salmon, a trip to Bark Park, lots of belly rubs, and I'll get a good long brush (m-m-m I love being brushed) and my mom will take lots of photos of me. Of course I'll get tons of kisses too! Later my mom guardian says my other birthday presents will arrive. She bought a life vest and a pair of doggles for me too! I'm the luckiest dog on the planet!

Sea Dog

Oh man! My Dad got a kyak for his birthday and he's gonna take it out this weekend. He said I could go with him if want to! I'm so excited! My mom says, "Since you've both done so well, you Cuailgne for losing some weight, and Tim with cutting down on giving extra secret snacks, I guess Cuailgne can go too. But only for a little while at a time, and you must stay close to the shore. Cuailgne doesn't have a life vest yet."

Far out! Check out my new photos in my dogster plus photo book. I had so much fun! Lindsay and mom went too. While Dad and I kyaked around, Mom took Lindsay inot the water for some more swimming lessons, so she can be ready for the big Dog Swim at Blaisedel pool labor day weekend.

First I watched Dad paddle out for awhile. I swam out to him a couple of times. Then Dad taught me how to get into the kyak. It was pretty slippery, until Dad put a towel down for me. Kinda freaked me out. But I wanted to go with him so bad, I decided to try some more. He says he'll get a rubber mat for our next trip. Then I had to learn what it feels like to rock around a little bit in it. That really freaked me out, but I stuck with it. Then Dad got in, mom came up close with the camera (she always has that thing!) held the kyak while I got in with Dad. He held me by my harness while mom pushed us off. That was sooo FREAKY! But I didn't care! I was with my Dad, and we were paddling around together. Im' a Sea Dog now! Just like the ones I saw in Mystic! Ahoy!

Doom and Dread

You know... this new 'nutritional modification plan' isn't too bad. I've been having some oatmeal mixed with peas and carrots, my normal fare. Then that's been rotated with mandarin oranges, lentils, tuna, peaches, and a little bit of banana here and there. I've also been getting my usual vitamin C's at night as a 'meat ball mickie'. I have to beg the MAN while he's reading for about 30 minutes to get it, but it's worth it. I've heard the WOMAN say, "The scale at the vet's office says she's lost about 5 lbs. Good job!" She looks pretty happy. I don't know why the loss of my fat makes her so happy. It makes me feel kinda lonely for those lost 5 lbs. I want them back.

Were' going to the lake tomarrow which means I get to swim and show off my dog paddle skills. My sister Lindsay is a little afraid of the water. She doesn't like to get her pretty fur all messy. But she's getting better. I saw the WOMAN has some new water shoes and I hear her saying something about getting Lindsay into the water where her feet won't touch bottom. Oh boy! I can't wait to see that! Should be good. Happy 4th everyone!

Don't Say The "D" Word!

O.kay, so my mom guardian took me to the vet for a "regular check up" and for the hundreth time he said "Well... you know she should weigh about 62 lbs., 82 lbs. is a little too heavy for her frame. Is she getting ANY exercise at all? What are you feeding her?"

I saw the look on her face as she cast about for a place to put her eyes. I could tell what she was thinking too. Yeah, she was thinking, 'I know he thinks it's me that's responsible for making her heavy. I'm overweight too, and he's thinking I feed her just as badly as I feed myself. But it isn't true!"

Whine, whine ,whine! You know what I'm thinking? Hey, frat boy! Shouldn't you have more hair on that head of yours? It's lookin' a little sparse there. Mom starts in on a long litaney of misdemeanors my dad guardian has committed in the way of dispensing "secret snacks". But she adds, "He is the only one who takes her out for her walks, and he does that every day." The vet tells her to "ncrease the excersise, carefully, and decrease the amount of food."

Oh my God! Did I hear him say DECREASE the food? My math isn't too good
but doesn't that mean, LESS food?! How am I going live on LESS food!!? As it is, I only get rice, carrots, and tuna as my daily meal, and a "secret snack" at lunch time when Timmy comes home for lunch, and a light "something-something" when my mom comes home, and then while Timmy is cooking and my mom's not looking, I usually get another "illegal" snack, and then I can usually pick up a few items he drops on the floor "accidentally", and THEN, at night I can count on begging another two snacks from Timmy as he reads before bed time. Sometimes if he can't sleep, and gets up during the night, HE has to have a snack, and so he can't live with himself unless he gives me half of it. I like to think I'm doing him a favor. Of course, every once in a while my daily meal is rotated with salmon, raw beef, trout, catfish, green beans (m-m-m-m-m-!), punctuated with small surprises of apple slices, peaches, mandarin oranges, peanuts, lentils and chicken soup. I mean this isn't exactly a king's table were' talkin' about here. What exactly does that hair folically challanged vet mean when he says DECREASE the food?!

And of course there are the lovely, wonderous Sunday breakfasts that Timmy makes for me. He makes me his specialty, the three-egg-extravaganza-omlette-cat! He puts little cherry tomatoes for the eyes and nose, toast points for ears and thinly sliced bread for the whiskers! Scrumptious! Sometimes it comes with a side of capers and salmon.

As me and my mom load up into the car for the ride home, she looks at me, with the same love she has always looked at me with to be sure, but her words are now so strange. She says, "Sorry punkin head. This time I mean it. I HAVE to help you lose weight. That means I'll have to have a very serious conversation with Timmy too. You'll both have to give some things up."

That EVIL and acursed vet can't possibly mean that... that... I can't even say it! Can he mean for me to GIVE UP my mere pittance of life-giving, health-retaining sustenance? *sniff* How? Oh how will I make it through the day with out my "secret snacks", my few and far between "illegal snacks" or even my little "something-somethings" ? Woe is me! Where a happy and full stomach once lived, now only DOOM and DREAD do dwell.