Name: I got my name from Mommy's love of Jeeps. We love going out and going off-roading in the Jeep with our friends!
Out and About: I am a very social dog, both around humans and other animals. I love going anywhere and everywhere with Mommy. I love nature and the outdoors - going off-roading in the Jeep, going hiking, camping, everything! I even have fun just taking a ride in the car, going for a walk around the neighborhood, or playing in the local park. One of my favorite things is going to the fire station with Mommy for the weekly fire department meeting.
Family: I have a big family that loves me very much! I live with Mommy and Daddy (her boyfriend) in a nice house with a big backyard in a small rural town in central Arkansas. Mommy only works part-time, so she has plenty of time to take care of me and the rest of us pet-kids around here. My Zedi and Bubbi (grandparents on Mommy's side) live about 45 minutes away. And then of course Mommy has a lot of close friends who are just like family - some of them I even call my Aunts and Uncles too.
Training: I started my obedience training when I was just a pup - in November 2006 I graduated from Beginner Puppy Class. I never did start my Intermediate Class because of some family issues. Maybe one day I'll go back through the classes, but for now Mommy just works with me at home. I'd really like to learn how to do agility or flyball one day.
Food: I'm on a grain-free/raw diet - that means that I mostly eat real biologically appropriate raw meat, bones, and organs according to a prey-model plus grain-free kibble (I rotate between Instinct, Evo, Core, and Taste of the Wild mostly, but occasionally Mommy gets us some other grain-free brands too). I officially went raw on September 21st, 2006 and I love it!
Dogster Honors: I was featured as Diary of the Day on February 27th, 2007! I was featured as one of the Dogster Daily Diary Picks on January 16th, 2008! And I was featured as the Dog of the Day on April 14, 2008!
Yesterday morning, Mommy went to let me out of my kennel to go outside to potty. I'd spent the night with Kody, and I must have slept on my paw funny cause when I got up, it hurt. So I hobbled out of the kennel, and Mommy freaked out.
She made some phone calls and talked to Daddy, and next thing I know, I get to go for a ride in the car! Mommy put on my car harness and carried me out to the car, where in the backseat she had the big cushy bed waiting for me. I was a perfect angel of course, and when we got to the vet I was really excited to say hello to everyone! Mommy kept telling me to stop wiggling around cause I would hurt myself.
The vet gave me some medicine that made me really sleepy. I'm told that they took some pictures of my insides to make sure my leg wasn't broken, and it wasn't. Then they took a blood sample and ran some tests.
It turns out that my platelets are really really low. The vet told Mommy that they're at 75 which is much lower than they should be and that at 50 I could start bleeding spontaneously. My heartworm test came back negative, and so did some tests they ran for Lymes Disease and Ehrlichiosis.
My vet thinks I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He doesn't have a test for that, but since the other tests came back negative, he thinks that's what it must be and has started me on treatment. I haven't had ANY symptoms besides the limp (and the low platelet count). After I woke up and the drowsiness wore off, even the limp is gone! I have to take antibiotics and steriods for a while so that I can get better. Hopefully we caught this early enough that I will be ok.
Daddy picked me up from the vet because Mommy had to work all day, but then he took me to the store to say hello. Mommy gave me lots of hugs, and I just laid in her lap, cause I was still pretty doped up. Mommy's boss and co-workers all gave me lots of lovins too, which usually makes me really excited. Then Daddy took me home, where I went back to bed and napped until Mommy came home. I was awake and full of energy by then - back to my normal self.
Mommy is beating herself up over this. She's been doing a lot of reading on tick-borne diseases. She cries a lot and says she's worried sick about me. I feel fine though! Even the vet told Mommy not to blame herself, because Mommy goes above and beyond when it comes to taking care of us pets. We get Interceptor every month year round, Advantix during the spring/summer/fall months and Frontline Plus during the winter (to avoid resistance), and Daddy treats the yard against ticks once a year as well. Mommy is worried about my siblings too, because if I could have been bitten by an infected tick, so could they. Apparently I'm gonna have to go see another vet and get more blood drawn, because Mommy wants to know for sure that I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, so she's gonna shop around for a vet that can do the test on me and all my siblings.
Please keep us in your thoughts. We could use some Power Of The Paw.
Wow, it's been awhile since I've had Mommy update my diary. So much has gone on since my last entries.
Well, first off, that stray Rottie mix I mentioned, Kody - he's officially part of our family now! He's come a long way and we're all really proud of him.
Daddy and Mommy got rid of their medical billing business. It's a long story, and money has been pretty tight lately, but we're all doing ok. Daddy is focusing on the karaoke/dj business and Mommy is still helping him with that, but she's also gone back to working at Pet Country. It sucks that she's gone during the day a lot now (she works on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10am-6 or 7pm), but it's good that she's making us more money and is happy with her job. Plus she brings us home goodies sometimes!
Mommy has also finally won Daddy over and convinced him that all of us dogs can be mostly inside dogs all year round and that we'll be good and not destroy the house. Now we just go outside to play during the day if we want to when the weather is nice (and to potty of course). We spend all night in the house playing, and only have to go in our kennels for bedtime (but they're left open all the time so we can go in and out as we please). It's great!
This has been the best Thanksgiving for us ever too! We actually had two Thanksgiving dinners! We had a Pre-Thanksgiving last week, and all of us dogs got LOTS and LOTS of leftovers. Then tonight, Mommy and Daddy went to Daddy's mom's house and got to bring home even more leftovers! All of us dogs had a huge dinner with lots of turkey and other yummies. It was PAWSOME. Usually Mommy would go to her parents' house for Thanksgiving, so she wouldn't get as many leftovers to bring home to us. I hope we always have lots of leftovers from now on.
I hope all of our friends out there had a great Thanksgiving too!
And of course, as a little tradition, here's what I'm thankful for, today and every day:
1. To have a wonderful loving family! My parents are the best - we get lots and lots of love. I'm very thankful to have been adopted by my Mommy. It's great having so many siblings to play with too!
2. I'm thankful for a roof over my head and a full bowl. I wish every animal out there could be as lucky as my siblings and I.
3. I'm thankful for yummy food! Mommy only feeds us the best, and Daddy always makes sure we get lots of delicious home-cooked food too!
4. I'm thankful for a big yard to play in, and that I get to go on fun outings too.
5. I'm thankful for all my toys.
6. And of course I'm thankful for all of my friends!
Today Bubbi came to visit, and she and Mommy took me, Riley, and Lola to the vet for our check-up and shots. It really wasn't all that bad. The vet said we're a picture of perfect health, and I was pretty well behaved for my blood work and the vaccines. I got a microchip too and then they scanned me to make sure it worked. When the scanner went BEEPBEEPBEEP I perked my ears and tilted my head, and the vet assistant just thought I was the cutest thing. Everyone who works there gave me lots of lovins, and I gave them lots of kisses. I got a new shiny red tag to go on my collar and I got all excited (it's just a rabies tag, but I still think it's pretty).
Then, for a perfect end to the day, Mommy gave us leftover steak with our dinner. YUM! That was definitely worth going to the vet.
Dogster Obsessions: The Starter Kit for Dogs by Wildebeest
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