Jill's is still strong!

Jilly is now almost deaf. She turned 14 on June 3rd, 2009.

She still runs the house. If breakfast (for her) is not at 730am, she barks, barks and barks. That is for the girlfriend. She doesn't do anything if I am only at the house and get up at 10am to feed her. Well, I think she farts in protest. And to be honest... Those farts can peel the paint off a late model Buick. And can remind a person of a bad childhood (Remember of "pull my finger"?, Jilly took out the "Pull"). Yet, she is well. Older, slower, but still there. I love her so.

But I think Jilly is pulling my finger with her hearing. If I say "treat" in low tones. Then she hears. Plastic wrappers? She hears. I think she mastered the selective hearing stage. She needs to run for offfice. :)

My new Boo

My Boo is not new. She is my life

My boo is me. I love her.


She loves between being handicapped.

Hard to explain. She is loved by all.

She Walks!

She walks now. Not much. But she does it when she thinks not a soul is looking. Her walk is not steady because one leg is weaker then the other. But I catch her walking around. She tends to walk when she is "doing her business". To be honest, I do not blame her. But boy, am I excited! Jilly is 12 1/2 now. Started walking again after her two ruptured discs two years ago. That's like forcing an elderly person to start walking in the 70's! She did it herself. Jilly has more balls then I could ever have. This furry Corgi continues to teach me. I am in debt to her.

I got a Radio Flyer wagon for her to use on weekends. It's to just let her smell her surroundings and not have to worry about walking. My thinking was that she would enjoy herself more and her surroundings without having to "work" to get there. I took some images and I will upload them as soon as I can.

Jilly (I hope) doesn't know I know she walks. I catch her at times. I think she
knows that I know. Yet, I always catch her walking AWAY from me of where
she was. She is of the sneaky sort. Is this part of a Corgi plan? I am happy as
hell.

She is older. I didn't want my Jills to go out unless it was on her terms. I know
it might be hard to explain. I just do not accept her being helpless. Little did I
know she has more guts then I do. And this comes from an a former Marine
with an honorable discharge.

Jilly should have enlisted in the Corps. :)

We are Alright

Granted, I know it has been some time. I just wanted to let folks know of Jilly's recovery and our situation. We had a hard past two months. We almost became homeless. This was due because we had no savings left to lean on after Jilly's operations last year. So there came a time last week that I called our local Corgi group to give them a warning that we might become homeless and that we did NOT want Jilly to be in that situation. I had to do it to "get the ball rolling" type of situation. I just didn't want to wait until the last minute to find shelter for Jilly. I wanted to make it as smooth as possible given the fact that she is a special needs Corgi. I did not know how we did it. But the issue is behind us and we are all still together. We are with our Jills. And most important, she is with us. In the last two years I think we have spent $8k in operations for Jills. So we didn't really have any savings to fall back on. And to be honest. I came to grips with our situation. I would not have changed a thing. Jilly is worth it. She is the love of my life.

Jilly walks, just not balanced. Her legs have muscle. She uses them daily. She just can't stand balanced yet. Jilly turned 12 in June.

Jilly on the Prowl

It's been hard for me to find the time to give an update about Jilly's recovery. It's been a year since her spinal injury. Jilly uses her back legs. But she can't stand normally. Granted, she can get herself up on her own power. But the legs don't act normally. Folks might know what I am talking about if they have with a dog with prior spinal injuries. She will stand, but one back leg tends to "knuckle under". So she is not back to 100%. Jilly is almost 12. I wish her to heal 100%. But I think she will be at this stage of her recovery for the rest of her life. I love her to death. I have no kids. She is mine, or I should say that I am hers. When I take her out to do her "business". I hold up her back end. She can move. Here I am hunched over and holding up her back end and she will go around the area fast as hell. There have been times when I lost balance and fell because of her speed. I always tell her, "Damn Jills!, hold on a minute!". Her will power is still there. Do I know it! I have my wish to ask that she regain full power. But when I look at it. I don't think she will. In life, maybe it will go right for once. Not for me, but for the dog that I love more then I do myself.

Jilly's Spinal Recovery

It's been a long time since I submitted an update in Jilly's
diary.

Jilly is recoverying from two ruptured disks in her back.
I can not say when it happened. But she showed signs
this past Thursday. When it was time for her evening
meal, she didn't run from her crate to the kitchen. I
walked to her crate and she was whimpering in her
crate.

To make a long story (and emotional) story short. She
could not use her backs legs. I took her to the vet and
I was told she had a ruptured disk. She was kept at her
normal vets and the next day I took her to the specialist.

I am happy to report that she is recovering. She is
regaining feeling in her legs and her nerves are healing.
But there is a recovery time. We will pick her up tomorrow
and help her with her recovery. Her doctor expects a great
recovery. But only time will tell.

The key was taking her right away to the vet. The more early
the better.

I will update her diary with more updates and images in
time.

I blame myself. I blame myself because I feel that I should have
seen the clues before her legs went numb. She is recovering from
a sore on her from foot and she was on three legs at the time. So
that MIGHT have been one of the issues that caused the problems
in her back.

It's just something to reflect when you walk around your empty
house and see how much of Jilly is here. Toys, treats, books and
all that stuff. Her presense has been everywhere and I am glad
I got her back and that I have been blessed with such a creature.
I will be here for her recovery (I am unemployed right now) and
that was a blessing in itself. I have to add that I am not a religious
person.

Just a thought

It's not strange to notice just how much a creature can
be in your life. Recently, Jilly got me up because I had
over-slept the time I usually get up in the mornings to
go to work (415AM). She did this because she she expects
to be let out to do her early morning business. But I like
to think she is also concerned for me.

Maybe because I am getting older. But I want to think that
in my last days on earth I will see her and know I will be
alright. She has been the best thing to happen to me. Words
can't explain how that works. But I know other folks share
those same deep thoughts. Jilly has been the turning point
in my life when I ceased to look at myself first and instead
looked towards the well being of others.

27 Pounds of Corgi Fun!

We got a great surprise the last time we took
Jilly to the Vet to get her nails clipped. She
weighs 27 pounds now! This is after YEARS of
Jilly always weighing around the 30-32 pound
area. I did make a appointment for a check up
just in case. Mainly because sicne Jilly has always
hovered around 30 pounds, that her being 27 pounds
is just not "normal". I want to make sure that the weight
loss is from exercise and better eating habits then from
something wrong medically.
Otherwise, she is doing great! Jilly will be 10 at the beginning
of April and Jilly's friend Elaine will come to visit tomorrow.

Life Is Grand

It's been some time since I have entered some words into
Jilly's diary, so here it goes. Jilly loves the new house. She
has more room to run around since the house is one story
compared to the old condo which was two stories. Jilly also
has a full time job of watching what goes on outside through
the sliding glass door. She does watch ALL that passes.

She also has a few new toys. Two toys from the AKC toy line
(the lamb and the squirrel). We have yet to donate all her
others toys that she doesn't have interest in. The amount
of toys is absurd. It's TWO black plastic garbage bags full!
It's either EBay time or we will donate them for auction to
Corgi Aid in the next auction.

The Holiday Spirit until.....

Jilly is always a playful Corgi. More often then not she
is in the mood to play on the living room floor with me.
It doesn't take much for me to get her to start running
her "Corgi 500" laps around the living room coffee
table (those are called FRAPS) or for her to become the
"lick monster" and she will pummel me with licks around
the face and ears.

Yet, all that cheer and happiness usually comes to an end
when Jilly notices another dog garmet that I want her to
wear for a few minutes. Once I get it on, pose her in the
backyard with treats, and then take the picture. She then
is not a happy camper. After the pictures are taken she
will then run to her crate and jam herself all the way in
the back.

That lasts only a few minutes until she hears food wrappers
or my mouth munching on something. Then she is back to
her happy, drooling self (she is thinking of the food when she
drools of course) with her paws in the air.