SURGERY WENT GRRRREAT!!!

Hogan's Mom Here,
11:35 Dr. called, everything went just fine. She did great under anesthesia and he said that he believes she will do realy well. She's heading to ICU now and I can check in with the ICU Tech later today then call in the morning at 9:00 and then fly out the door to bring my big baby HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surgery Day :-(

Wel, I'm in surgery as you read this. (9:30 am) . Mom dropped me off at 8:00 this morning and then....silly girl...cried all the way to her office! As if this isn't a good thing! We know I'll be GRRRRREAT after this is all over, she's just a nervous ninny!!!!
Today they are doing the TPLO on my right hind leg and then in about eight weeks we'll go back for my left leg. Mom is very comfortable with my surgeon, he's done thousands of these.
Mom will be back later today after she hears from the surgeon to report on what a success today was.
Til then, licks and nuzzlesxoxoxox
Hogananni

Not quite love at FIRST sight......

Hogan's Momma here,
Just wanted to share some thoughts about my girls today. It's commin' up on one year (12/29) since we lost our Bailey to cancer. It is also almost Hogan Hilarious' FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!! (12/17) What a year this has been.....
The reason I have decided to write today is because it hit me like an avalanche last night....I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH HOGAN!!!!!!! Now don't get me wrong I've loved her since I saw her first pic.........but she's not Bailey!
I guess I could say in hind sight we might have gotten Hogan too soon after losing our girl......but if we would've waited....WE WOULDN'T HAVE HOGAN!!!!!!
There probably couldn't be any more different personalities from two dogs of the same breed. Bailey was my affectionate one, always, and I mean ALWAYS wanting to be touched, petted, scratched or some how handled. She was my Kisser too. Sometimes her kissing would leave me breathless with laughter or merely from trying to keep my mouth closed while laughing my fool head off as she kised, and kissed, and kissed, and kissed (you get the picture) my face. I say to Hogan that she's not kissin' her Momma, she's tasting me! (the only time I get a kiss from her that I haven't begged for is after I've eaten something she was intrigued by lol) Hogan will cuddle, on her terms, in fact she's gettin' more affectionate all the time. Truth be known.....Miss Hogan Hilarious wants to PLAY!!!!!!
We're in Kansas City so are Chiefs fans and my Husband says that Hogan has the same attitude as Herm Edwards....."You play to win the game". In fact I'm going to put that as her motto on her bio page. lol. She LOVES to play, particularly tug o' war and she plays with PASSION!!!!!!! She plays hard (some might say dirty lol) sometimes quite rough (she has NO idea of her strength)with all the might she can muster. This is just with my husband and myself, with anyone else she seems to be quite polite (for a bull in a china shop).
So here I have this totally independent, tom-boyish baby girl who has turned my begging for kisses into some kind of cruel game where she has all the power. (I do literally BEG for kisses) My husband and I compare "battle scars" or bruises after a round of tug o' war and one will eventually beg the other to take a turn so as not to get a dislocated shoulder lol.
So Saturday, Hogan and I pick up Aunt Jan and Hershey to go visit Santa and standing in the line outside our Vet's office is my big bad bullie with her tail sooooo tight between her legs no nose dare try for a whiff, submitting and bowing to ALL other canine pals no matter their size or lack there of (Not such a tuffie after all lol)
Last night I got home from a dinner date with my Yoga Girlfriends and as usual she was thrilled to see me........(her Daddy says she's definately my dog and is like a fussy child when they're home without me)....but something was different.... I can't put my finger on what exactly...but different. Then as I was changing out of my work clothes into my comfies I looked over at her big beautiful face watching me with those great big adoring eyes waiting patiently for a peck on the nose (oh yeah I am aloud to kiss her ALL THE TIME) or a game of tug and it hit me......I'VE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MEAN HEAD OVER HEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE MY HOGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So there it is, it took me a lot of rambling to get here but the bottom line is Hogan is not and will not ever be Bailey, she is HOGAN in all caps and there will never be another like her! AND I LOOOOVE MY HOGANANNI!
I've been missing my Bailey quite a bit lately and there's no doubt in my mind I always will but I believe as she is looking down at us from the bridge, waiting patiently for our reunion she approves of how her family has grown since her passing.
This must be what "they" mean when "they" say "life goes on".
So count your blessings, love your family whatever shape it takes and have a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY!!!!!!!
xoxoxoxoxox
Bailey and Hogan's rambling Mama
xoxox

Sweet (Noisy) Dreams

Hogan's Mom here.
Hogan couldn't write about this event in her life because she wasn't "there" but I wanted to record it here for posterity...

My friend that teaches the yoga class I take gave me a sleep cd for my husband and I to listen to. Somehow it works with your brain waves or something to help give you a restful night's sleep.

So, Tuesday night we're getting ready for bed, I bring the cd player back to the bedroom, get Hogan settled in the playpen (yep, she's still in there although I think that will change this weekend....we'll see), turn on the cd and climb into bed. Hubby was in a ornery mood and kept whispering "I'm still awake", "Are you asleep yet?", "I'm not sleeping yet."

Finally we settled down and were listening to this beautiful melodic music...............and Hogan shaking the rafters with her own "beautiful music" lol. !! She was snoring louder than any human I have ever heard!!

I couldn't wait to call Jan the next morning to tell her that I'm not sure about my husband and I because we were giggling too much at first but Hogan, Sweet Hogan, she is completely sold on the cd. She slept like a baby! LOL!!!

Dr. Stacy did WHAT?!?!?!?

I had to go to the Vet. last night. Mom said it was to get weighed so she would know how much interceptor and frontline to give me. Ok, no biggie...I can sit on the scale and I did, I now officially weigh 52 lbs. Then we went into the exam room so they could have a look at me, I'm sooo cute after all!

First of all we were expecting Dr.John and Mommy kept sayin' "I hear him, he'll be here soon" then low and behold, Dr. Stacy walked in. Ok, again, no biggie, we've met and she's very nice. She talks to me and lets me kiss her, all is well.

Then Dr. Stacy said "I want to get her up on the table" This surprised Mommy 'cause I'm gettin' so big but she lifted me up to the table and they were laughing about this probably bein' the last time for the table. Well about this time, Mom's sandal came off and she bent down to put it back on........yep, you probably guessed....off the table I came! I didn't get hurt 'cause I mainly landed on Mommy and she scooped me right up but how humiliating!!!!

That wasn't the worst. Dr. Stacy clipped my nails while Mom watched so she would know how short she could cut them since Bailey wouldn't let her touch her nails with the clippers, she's new to this.

I need to back up a bit here 'cause this is where it get's baaad! When we came in, Mom mentioned to the lady at the front desk that I had started the anal gland scoot. Well I didn't know what that meant so I didn't give it a second thought though I will tell you my butt has been a little itchy lately and it feels soooo good to scoot across the carpet, then I like to turn around and sniff where I just scooted....yup, that smells like me. To much information? Sorry!
Now is when my world went kind of topsy turvy....Dr.Stacy said "Let's see about those glands"........and........put on a rubber glove........oh.......my.......DOG!!!!!!!!!! I'll leave the rest to your imagination, it's just too humiliating to go into. I do have to grudgingly admit though, after the humiliation subsided, my bottom did feel much better and I got sprayed with a lovely perfume.

I hope this doesn't happen too often.!

My weekend was all wet!!!

I had a wet weekend! To start with, it rained Saturday night and with the thunder and lightning, it was kinda hard to sleep. Mom was there to drop her hand over the side of the bed so I knew I was safe and sound but it still wasn't real fun!

I was up bright and early Sunday and ready to go! I actually woke Mom up which is highly unusual as I like to sleep in on the weekends.

Dad and I went out in the backyard to survey the project he was working on Saturday and then he brought out this long green snake and hooked some funny lookin' thing to the end of it. Well, I'll tell ya, was I surprised when after he went over to the side of the house water started shooting out of this funny looking snake!!!!! I mean there was water going every which way! Once I figured out it wasn't going to hurt me the fun began. I would get a running start across the yard and dive at the snake! I would try to get a drink from it but it would just shoot me in the face. The I would race around the yard like I was on fire and dive at it once again. After I got good and wet I had to find some soft grass that I hadn't pooped on so I could do the back boogie across the yard. I love to back boogie. You can dry off, scratch your back and make Mom and Dad laugh all at the same time. Whoohoo what a day!

After the sprinkler fun I was exhausted and ready for my mid-morning siesta though these are hard to get on the weekends because Mom and Dad are up and down and all around and it is hard to keep track of them. I tell you, it's a dog's life.!

After I woke up from my nap. Mom told me it was time for my first bath....What!? Well, we went back to the bathroom and Mom turned on the shower. This didn't seem off. I love to sit by the shower door when Mom and Dad shower so I can lick at the door track as the water runs down the door.
The difference this time was I WAS GOING INTO THE SHOWER!!!!! Now this is something I wasn't prepared for at all and there was another snake in the shower squirting water every which way! This snake Mom laid on my back and I must say the water was warm and felt pretty good. Then she squirted this stuff she called baby dog shampoo on me and rubbed it all over me. This wasn't quite as fun but Mom kept talking to me, telling me what a good girl I was being so what's a girl to do...After the shampoo got all rubbed in back came the white snake and the warm water...aaahhh!

Now it was time to get out and boy did I want to shake! Mom let me shake a little once then she threw this big green towel over me and lifted me into her arms. All the way down the hall she kept saying this wasn't going to happen much longer...I was such a big girl but she just loves holding me so she said she was going to keep doing it until she literally can't any more. We spent the next half hour wrestling on the floor with the big green towel and then I was all dry a fluffy and smelling loverly! The next thing to do was be brushed...not my favorite thing but when we were done Mom had little piles of my fur in the backyard and she said she thought I was redder!
I slept good last night, there was rain and wind but with Mom's hand close by to drop if needed all was well.

Today the plan is SLEEP. A girl needs her beauty sleep after all especially after this wet weekend!!!BOL!!!

Happy, Happy Easter!

Whew! I'm pooped! My Granddad talked my Nana into inviting me over to their house yesterday for Easter. I could come as long as I stayed outside (Nana and Granddad aren't really "dog people" but me and Mom are working on them) which was fine with me because it was a beautiful day and everyone was outside anyway.BOL! I met my six human cousins, they range in age from 7 to 18 and really kept me busy chasing them all around the yard! Then Dad told everyone that I loved crushed ice and he had even been giving me whole cubes so I wasn't without ice all day. Every time I turned around, someone was giving me ice. One of my cousins even woke me up to give me ice!

While the little ones were hunting for Easter Eggs I walked around the yard with one of the bigger girls and Mom said I did a beautiful job on my leash! When we got home, I did a quick turn around our yard and then crashed for the rest of the evening.

Being the center of attention is exhausting! BOL! :-)

Spring brings Screens

Well, I have to tell you, there has been some new things going on at my house lately. It all seemed to start when the weather got warmer. This weekend Mom and Dad opened these little doors in our house they call windows. They're really strange 'cause you can see out of them but you can't get out through them. And another thing, they bring new noises into the house that really confuse me. I've been kinda fussy and restless at bed time this week because of the new noises. Mom just drops her hand off the side of her bed into my playpen and after I lick it and confirm things really are fine I'm usually o.k..

Now Mom and Dad inform me that this weekend I'm going to start sleeping in my kennel at night, the same place I spend my days when they're at that work place. I'm not sure I'm going to like that at all. The kennel is still in the bedroom with Mom and Dad but it's not right next to the bed like my play pen
so Mom won't be able to do the hand drop anymore. Mom says it's sad but I'm getting too heavy to lift into the play pen and it's probably past time anyway. We'll see...

We have some thing they call french doors that go out into my back yard and they're great! I love to lie on the rug when they're open and I can survey my whole backyard from there while still keeping an eye on the goings on in the house, it's a busy life I tell ya!

Well yesterday when Mom got home, Dad was already home and he and I were in our usual afternoon spot by the back doors. I was in and out trying to keep the premises secure. Dad told Mom that it was time to hang the screens because there were flies commin' in. Hanging Screens?!?!? Well let me tell you , this was a very interesting turn of events. So, she brings them out and unfolds them. First thing I notice is this jingling on them, Mom says they are marbles in the hem to weight them, well they've got me very curious I must say. Next she starts to attach them to this sticky stuff on the top of the doors. It takes her several attempts to get them up and each time she has to try again they make this WONDERFUL ripping sound. Now I must say, the sound of destruction for me is the best sound! It sounded just like when Dad shreads paper for the fireplace or when I tear apart a cardboard roll or box, music to my ears!! Unfortunately, after they're up and in place, every time I attempt to pull on them to make the beautiful music I get told LEAVE IT. Bummer! This has also presented me with a new challenge....how to get around them?! I spent alot of time last nigh sitting on the back step waiting to be let in while Mom and Dad laughed at me. Finally I think I've got it figured out... it's all in the nose placement! Put your nose in the right spot and the screens part like the red sea. Amazing!!!

I can't imagine what new thing will be presented next. This Spring thing is very interesting.....

MONDAY -MONDAY!

Mom and Dad hate Mondays but truth be told, I could use the rest. Of course if they were off the rest of the week that would be pefectly fine with me. Maybe they could work one day have two off etc. That way I could recuperate once in a while but still have them most of the time. Now that I think about it.....I really like that fantasy schedule!!!

This weekend was kind of sad and frustrating for me. I've gone from 13lbs. when they brought me home02-11-06 to 28.5 lbs on 3-31-06 surely topping 30 lbs. now. The thing is, my cuddling spots seem to be shrinkin'! My very favorite spot is on Mom's throw cuddled between her legs , what Dad refers to as the nest. My next favorite spot is on Dad's throw on his feet in front of his chair. I noticed recently that it takes longer and more circling before I can find the right spot and even then somethings not quite right.

Mom says I'm gettin' ready to go through my lanky stage whatever that is. All I know is that me legs get in the way when I try to get in my favorite spots! Is this what they mean when they say growing pains?! BUMMER!

Other than shrinking cuddle spots my weekend was grand. We were outside most of the time!!! Mom even tried to do yoga on the patio but I put a little kink in that plan 'cause I wanted to lie on her mat and then when she practices her breathing I think there is something wrong so I have to kiss all over her face until she opens her eyes and stops that loud breathing so she can laugh. Mom says I'm a wonderful challenge!!!!!

RE-CAP

Today I am 16 weeks and 2 days old! Mom's still counting in weeks and days so she can hold onto puppyhood as long as possible!

I came to be at this place I affectionately call home on February 11, 2006, the 8-week anniversary of my birth. It was a cold day and white stuff was blowing all around the big van I was riding in with my Breeder Family. They even told Mom and Dad that they almost turned around 'cause of the crummy weather. Mom was soooo glad they didn't turn around! Mom and Dad knew I was theirs since January 14th a this was a looooong 4-week wait! You see, they lost their beloved Bailey to cancer right after Christmas and were missin' puppy love baaaad!

Mom just cooed and cuddled me in her lap all the way home. I already had my own blanket and stuffed baby waiting on Mom's lap for me. Dad just kept lookin' over at me with awe in his eyes. He kept saying to Mom that I wasn't even a puppy, I was a Pre-Puppy I was so small. People laugh at Mom and Dad when they talk about me bein' small since I'm already bigger than some adult dogs but they got Miss Bailey when she was 12-13 wks old and we grow alot in those four weeks so they were surprised at my size.

I was really timid and shivering that first day and didn't venture too far away from Mom but by the next day I was doing a little exploring and by the middle of the week.....look out! Needless to say, I soon found out that there was no reason not to feel completely at home at this new place.

I hated my kennel at first and would howl at the Moon or Sun (depending on time of day) just to make sure Mom and Dad knew where I stood in regards to the kennel. Mom would put me in the kennel and then go sit out in the hall to listen to me until after a while she couldn't handle it any more and would come rescue me. Sometimes I would get tired and start to doze off on my soft and cozy bed then I would remember, "I'm not supposed to like it here" and I would stand up on my hind legs and cry and whine and carry on not knowing that Mom was right outside the door. That's why Mom calls me "The Drama Queen" even though she would come and rescue me anyway. BOL! Yep, I've got her number!!!

That first week I was home, Mom took a week vacation and neither one of us could rationalize me being in the kennel and her in the next room so I didn't spend as much time there as I should have which was perfectly fine with me!
Dad is working in and out of the house right now and would pop in from time to time to check on us. I heard Mom tell someone that she loves seeing Dad with me 'cause all the stress melts off his face and he'd so cute with me.

We had two field trips that first week, one to meet Dr. John and to meet Mom's friends at work. The visit to the Vet. went fine. I got weighed (13lbs.) and got a little prick on the back of my neck that wasn't too bad and Dr, John is really nice and all the girls that work there were lovin' all over me. By the time we got to the office I was beat and spent most of my time there in my Mom's friend's arms sleeping. Everyone wanted to smell my puppy breath!
The next week Mom had to go back to work but I wasn't completely on my own. Dad arranged it so he did paper work at home in the mornings and then would swing by later in the day to play with me and let me potty. Then MOM WOULD BE HOME!!!!

By the third week at home all Dad had to do was say kennel and in I would go.
Mom's still not sure she believes this. I am easier on Dad than Mom when it comes to this I must admit. Mom's much easier to manipulate.

One place where I've got Dad's number is my food bowl. I have matching stainless bowls that go in an elevated feeder and would drink out of the water bowl just fine but would bark and whine at the food bowl so Mom decided to switch my food to a soup bowl for a couple of days. Guess what?! All this time and I'm still eating out of a glass bowl while my stainless one sits empty. It drives Mom crazy cause I'm tall enough now that I could eat from my elevated feeder but not with the big serving bowl I'm eating out of. She decided to put my food in the stainless bowl and if I got hungry enough I would eat. Right! She hand fed me a couple of times to show me it was fine then left me to my own.....not DAAAD! First he called to say "Hogan's not eating", then Mom would come home and he would say I fed her by hand a little only for Mom to look into the empty bowl and my Dad's sheepish grin. The the grin would fade and he would say "what's the big deal, she has to eat!" So here I am home for over a month and still not eating out of my stainless bowl. They aren't hand feeding me anymore but I have the big serving bowl. BOL!!!