Have you ever had a really crappy day?

Well my daddy had a really crappy day yesterday.

First he had to work 2 hours of overtime. Ok, he has done that lots and I am getting used to him coming home late. As usual he phones mom before he leaves work to let her know he is on the way. I know when I hear the phone ring, that dad will be home in about an hour, so I go and start watching out the den window.

As I am patiently looking out the den window, mom gets another call informing her he has a flat tire. I continue looking out the window and mom is getting a little agigated.

I guess daddy got the spare tire (you know those "donuts that come with the car) in place and sees that it needs to be inflated to 60 psi. He tests the spare and it only has 15 psi. So he drives very slowly to a service station to put air in the spare. He pulls out the tire gauge again and sees it only goes up to 50 psi, so can't test to see if there is enough air in the tire. He goes into the service station to borrow their gauge, and they tell him it was stolen and they don't have one. So then he slowly drives to another station, borrows their gauge and discovers he has enough air in the donut.

Now the problem with those donuts is you can't drive highway speed with them. According to instructions you should only go 80 mph. So daddy had to drive very slowly home. Nearly 3 hours after he was supposed to be home, he arrived.

I greeted him very enthusiastically outside and then brought him his slippers. I also stayed very close to him all night. Hopefully daddy has a better day today!

Winter is Definitely Coming

For the last two weekends we have gotten snow. It warmed up nicely after the snow last weekend, but the snow we got yesterday makes me think this will stay. Even though it is cold enough to get snow here, it is not cold enough for the river to start freezing over yet.

Mom and I took a walk down to the river today to check things out. No ice at all on the river, so we decided to walk towards the old beaver dam. We haven't walked that far since our neighbor told us about the two bears he saw down there this summer. Apparently one of the bears was a very good size! The bear should be hibernating now shouldn't they?

Anywho, we walked that far and discovered the beaver dam was destroyed, most likely from the flooding this spring. Where the beaver dam should be we saw hundreds of Canada Geese lounging in the water. I ran and jumped in the water barking at them and it was fun to watch some of them fly away. Mom is gonna try to get a picture of all these geese in the next few days.

Of course no walk down to the river is complete without rolling in something disgusting and eating the smorgasbord of deer and rabbit droppings that is always down there. I really had a great walk. Thanks mom!

I am a very good supervisor

Just ask me pups, I am a very good supervisor and believe me the momma needs a lot of supervision!

Today I was supervising her digging out some trees that for one reason or another didn't grow. You know how she rewards me for my exemplary supervising skills? She whacks me in the head with the shovel she was using to dig out the trees. Oh, sure, she apologized, but then she did it again.

After she had loaded the trees into the wheelbarrow, I was escorting her to where I thought she should dump them. I stopped short to check out if it was safe to proceed and she stops short and dumps the trees on top of me.

Good help is so hard to find isn't it pups?

Cosequin DS

Ever since my surgery last October mom has been giving me Cosequin DS daily for my joints. It really does seem to work well for me. Mom has just opened the last bottle she has on hand of the Cosequin DS today. She has been looking and looking for it in the various pet stores in our city but it appears we can no longer get it here.

Are any other pups out there having difficulty finding Cosequin DS? If you don't use Cosequin DS, what do you use for your joints if they are achey? Mom is thinking of just giving me the same glucosamine and chondroitin pills that she takes, but when she was giving those to me early, I really didn't like them no matter how well she mixed them into my food. I like the Cosequin because it is beef flavored. I also don't like anything with green lipped mussel powder in it. Yes, I might be a little fussy, but I know what I like!

Looking after mom

Well pups this morning I am nurse to the momma. She has some sort of stomach virus. On the bright side, the bathroom scale says she has almost lost 5 pounds since yesterday. I have gotten her to drink some tea and 7-UP this morning and she had two slices of toast. I think she should try the apple sauce next, but she is kinda waffling on that.

Right now I am supervising the people that are cleaning the furnace and ductwork. I am carefully watching them do their jobs and barking at them when it is appropriate.

I hope momma feels better so that we can go for a walk this afternoon. Now I am off to supervise the furnace cleaners once again.

POTP for Sadie

Pals my little friend Sadie could use some Power of the Paw. She was attacked by coyotes in her backyard earlier this week. She suffered several punctures and needed stitches to close some of them. She is making a wonderful recovery!

Her big sister Riley is a hero for chasing after the coyote that had Sadie in its mouth.

Well done, Riley, you are awesome!

Speedy recovery, dear Sadie!

Well done, Coco Rose!

My pal Coco Rose is Dogster Dog of the Week right now!

Please stop by her page and wish her a happy week. She is one pawsome pup and just recently she led the "Free Gizmo" petition. Gizmo had been dog of the week since the upgrade and Coco Rose, finally got her freed to run and play like she should.

Well done, Coco Rose, and enjoy your week in the Dogster spotlight!!

What, Me Fussy?

Well pups, I went to the vet yesterday and was told I need to gain some weight. I am currently 31.2 kg (68 lbs) and the vet wants me to be at least 33.5 kg (73 lbs), so I guess I need to eat more.

In the last few months mom has tried several brands of food on me that she thought I should devour, but apparently I am quite fussy and don't eat with the gusto I should.

My favorite thing is something called Rollover and I think it is pawsome. The first four ingredients are beef liver, lung, heart and kidney. Yummy! For some reason, mom doesn't like giving this to me daily, and I get dry kibble. Right now I am picking at Royal Canin German Shepherd 24. It's OK but not great. Mom just picked up a bag of Pro Plan Shredded Lamb and Rice and that seems to be alright, but for how long I will eat it I don't know.

I am curious what foods you pups eat and how often are you fed. Do you get fed morning and evening or do you have free choice all day. What about treats? Should mom be giving me more treats maybe?

I did catch and devour a rabbit a few weeks ago, but mom is discouraging me from these endeavours! As winter is coming, I guess I will have to, sadly, put my hunting skills away for another year.

Mom has also tried, parmesan cheese, oregano and yogurt on my kibble to some success. Any suggestions you might have is appreciated.

I don't want to buy your puppy

Mom came across this today and it made her sad because, unfortunately, it is so true.

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No , I don't want to buy that puppy.

I am a rescuer.

I'll see him later.

After the fool you sold him to realizes how much work a puppy is.

After he digs out of the boring backyard he was banished to, for the heinous crime of being untrained.

After he roams blistering hot streets, hungry and lonely and confused.

After he picks up parasites and loses weight from throwing up garbage that he eats.

After he gets bitten for wandering into the wrong dog's territory (and it gets infected).

After a car clips him and breaks his leg, adding pain to the thirst, hunger and loneliness.

Then I'll find him.

I'll pay five times what you were asking for him to get him cleaned up and vetted.

I'll spend fifty times the hours you spent with him, teaching him what he needs to know.

I'll take a hundred times as long as you did to find him a forever home that loves him.

So no, I don't want to buy your puppy.

I don't have to.

He'll be mine soon enough anyway.

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Th ank you to all the people involved in rescuing and rehabilitating these animals. Your work is much appreciated.

Things have changes

Today is a year since I ruptured my CCL while running across a field. Mom says she knew I was hurt as soon as I went down, because I fell so hard. I got up as quickly as I could and hobbled back to mom that afternoon. She waited a couple of days before taking me to the vet, and the vet said this was the right thing to do, as sometimes fresh CCL injuries are hard to diagnose.

After examining me and recommending I get a second opinion from the Veterinary College, the vet said to mom, "this is a hard injury for both the pet and owner to come back from". And it has been.

There are two surgical options in our province for dogs with CCL injuries and mom went with the less invasive one. Even though this one has a much longer recovery period, she didn't like the complications associated with the second option. The second option involved breaking my leg and repositioning the knee. As I already have moderate to severe arthritis in that leg, this didn't make sense to mom.

In the last few weeks, I have finally been able to greet daddy the way I used to when he comes home. I run down the stairs and greet him now, just like I used, but I can no longer jump up on him. I can't do anything that might involve jumping, like playing fetch or frisbee.

My gait has changed and this is most evident when I am running. Sometimes, when I am tired, I have trouble getting up the stairs.

I hope none of you pups ever rupture your CCL, but if you do, join Orthodogs on Yahoo! Groups. They were and still are invaluable for advise. Get a second opinion on the surgical options and discuss what the rehab will be.

I am starting be let off leash more which is fine by me. There was a good reason for keeping me on leash this long. Mom was told by the vet that I had a 50-70% chance of rupturing my other CCL in the first 12-18 months after this injury. The Veterinary College told her it was a 60-80% chance I would rupture the other one in this time frame. This makes a lot of sense because I was putting so much more weight on my other leg while I was recovering. But, so far so good and we taking it one day at a time.