Sick Of Turkey?

Every year we hear peeps say they're sick of turkey and leftovers. What's wrong with these silly folks? Who could ever get tired of turkey? And there's no reason to ever eat leftovers, that's what we dogs are for. But just in case your peeps think you're sick of turkey today, we have something yummy for you to try.

The Chewy folks sent us a bag of these new Science Diet treats. They're called Soft Savories and the flavor they sent is banana/peanut butter. Oh boy, now we understand why some peeps love banana peanut butter sandwiches. These flavors were meant to be together.

The girls were outside playing this morning and Morgan was taking her mid-morning nap, so we boys and Mackey volunteered to taste test these for Mom. I went first.

 Mackey says four paws up.

Noah thinks they're wonderful.

Sebastian suggested another round.

And I, Fudge, thought they were so delicious that I asked really sweetly for a second and it worked. Mom gave me another one.

These are made by Hills who make the Science Diet dog food that most of us eat. In the past we tried some of their treats that we didn't really like very well. They were really hard and didn't have much flavor, but the Hills people got the message and these are excellent. They're soft and tasty and Mom says the size is nice, too. Good job Hills.
Your pal, Fudge

Thank You

Hi Everybody,
Today is a special day when we want to tell what we're thankful for. Well, this year we're celebrating Thanks Blogville Day because all of you in Blogville are very very important to us.

We think of all of you as our big extended family. You've been there for us at happy times and sad times and all the times in between. You've sent your support on the very worst days when we lost some of our pack members and we know you were crying with us.

You laughed with us when we did silly things and you kept us laughing with the silly things you did. You gave us ideas, both good and not so much and you were always there when we needed someone to talk to. Thank you for being our friends.


Around here today we have some really exciting things going on. Mom is cooking. We cooked our turkey last week, so today Mom and Dad are having chicken parm. She also made an apple pie. Some of us helped with the pie. You know it's important to make sure the apples taste just right.

For our dinner Mom is making us turkey, spinach enchiladas. She cooked up some rice with turkey pieces in it. Then she cooked a sweet potato and mashed it up. She added the potato and spinach to the rice and turkey and rolled it up in a tortilla. After melting a little cheese over it, it was ready to eat. Noah and I got to eat some of the filling without the tortilla. It was sooooo good.

We hope you're all having a very wonderful day with some great treats.
Your pal, Fudge

For Better and For Worse

Just last week Rob and I asked each other what we wanted for Christmas. We both had to have some time to think about it, but neither of us had a hot water heater on our list. Too bad, that's what we're getting. Over the weekend our hot water heater died and though we tried to resuscitate it, we had to let it go. This ranks right along with the year I received a new disposal for Christmas and the year I got a new roof for my birthday. Oh well, it's all part of the joy of owning a home, another of those things the adults glossed over when we were growing up.

The new addition to the household arrived this morning and now I'm so looking forward to a shower and a mountain of dishes. Merry Christmas!

On the better side, we took Morgan and Fudge to visit Dr B yesterday. Last week Morgan had a little spot on her back leg. We treated it with a medicated lotion and it healed up. But, there's always a but, isn't there? But, Sunday she started chewing on her front leg. Dr B shaved all her legs and says it looks like she has some infected hair follicles that are itching and causing her to chew. She's doing even more damage to the skin by chewing, so she's on an antibiotic.

Fudge went for his six month checkup. His eyes, ears, heart and lungs were all good. His teeth were gleaming. He had dropped about five pounds but he's still at a good weight as long as he doesn't lose any more. He has a problem with his right elbow. I noticed that his gait had changed and when the Doc moved it, Fudge pulled away. We'll increase his fish oil and keep an eye on it.

I was concerned about his coat thinning on his lower back. Dr B noticed it, too and said the texture has also changed. He took blood for a senior panel and called this morning. The lab report looked great, even the thyroid so we're going to try some melatonin for the hair loss. I hadn't heard of that, but after doing some research, it looks like about 50% of the cases see good results. We'll give it a try.

Samba and I both tried melatonin for sleep disorders a few years ago and it didn't work for wither of us. It actually kept me awake and I didn't see any change in Samba. Maybe it'll work better for this condition.

All in all it was a good visit. Morgan should respond well to the antibiotic and Fudge is in great shape for a dog his age. Now about that Christmas present.....

Unbelievable

Can you believe it? These two are two years old today.

It's been a rocky time getting here. Raising all eight Porties at the same time was easier than raising these two obstinate little hound girls. At times we didn't think we'd ever see this day.

 Mac has turned into a pretty good little house dog. She's very devoted to Rob and follows him everywhere. She's a good watch dog and lets us know if the mailman is coming or if a cat walked across the porch.She knows exactly when it's dinner time and yogurt time at night. She gets along well with all the other dogs, though she's a little scared of Noah. Sebastian is still her best friend.

Sydney has been tough. At one point about a year ago we listed her for adoption. We had two interested parties but I wasn't comfortable with either as possible homes. One was a young person who had no dog experience and Syd needs an experienced owner. The other was a couple who had raised dogs before, but they had young children and Syd is too unreliable for a home with youngsters. So she's here with us.

Syd does well as long as she can stay outside for several hours a day, digging and chasing squirrels and playing by herself or with her best friend Tess. She doesn't get along with most of the other dogs because she's high strung and gets snappy when she's unsure of a situation. We try to keep her on a strict routine to keep her calm. If she gets plenty of play time outside, she's a sweet little dog, if not... watch out. The recent super cold days have been rough because Syd hasn't had a good outlet for her energy. I'm hoping for a warm winter.

Mackey is a pretty good little retriever  and loves to chase either the ball or the frisbee. Syd will also chase them, but won't bring them back. They both love to eat and Syd likes to ride. She jumps in the car every time she gets the chance. Mac gets carsick, so that takes away all the fun of riding.

So today we'll all have cupcakes, play outside and prepare for whatever the terrible twos has in store for us.

Just Right

This is the story of a little dog named Mac who slept every night in a crate in the bedroom with her peeps and several other dogs. Mac hated sleeping in the crate and complained every night but she was told to be quiet and go to sleep.

Then one night her peeps left the crate open and Mac slept on the big bed with them. She was very quiet and very good and her peeps let her stay there. She slept there every night for a week, then she thought maybe she'd find something more comfortable that was all hers.

She might like to sleep in the chair but that's where Syd slept and Syd didn't want to share.

She looked around and found that in the corner there was a big soft hassock, a huge dog bed and a dog basket. She tried the hassock and it was nice and soft. She slept there for a week and it was pretty good, but she couldn't stretch out without worrying about falling off. Next she tried the huge dog bed and she could stretch out nicely on it, but it was very big and she felt kind of lost. Besides Noah liked to sleep there sometimes and he'd growl at her to make her move.

Finally, she tried the basket. She could curl up in it or stretch out and she couldn't fall out. It fit perfectly and it had a big soft pillow in it. Then Dad found her a blanket to nest in and it was just right.

We think Mac has finally found her own bed. She's been sleeping there for a week and seems very happy.

My Turn To Celebrate

My dogs had a great weekend. It was three days of celebrating, first Morgan's birthday, then snow. Even the ones on special diets got to enjoy a cupcake for the big birthday. Then to wake up to snow was all a dog could ask for.

Monday it was my turn. I had an early morning meeting with Dr B at his office to go over Morgan's lab results. Dr B hadn't seen them yet either so we were both surprised. Except for one liver enzyme, everything was normal. All the other liver values that had been high have come back to normal range. The one high one has come way down from over 3000 to just 700. That's still high, but it's moving in the right direction.

To make me even happier, her thyroid level is high and we're adjusting her medication to bring it down a little. That should help with the weight problem. She's been losing too much weight lately and this should help her gain a little.

Today I had to stop by and pick up some supplies from the vet clinic, so we took Sebastian for a weigh-in. He's been dieting forever and the last time we checked he'd lost about four pounds. Today it showed that he's lost another pound. It's been a long, slow process for him, but it's paying off.

So having a 15 year old with an almost perfect lab report is cause for celebration in my book. No cupcakes, just a really good feeling.

Wishes Do Come True

Hi Everybody,
It happened! It snowed and it's still snowing.

Look at this, the ground is all white.

It's great for snow zoomies.

The trampoline is covered.

Even the pool is full of snow.

We're all having lots of fun.

And best of all, Mom sees lots of snow faces that make her smile.

Your pal, 

Fudge

We Got Cheated

Hi Everybody,
We all woke up happy this morning because the weather dude said we were getting snow today. Well.... I guess he was right....sort of. We got snow. Here it is.

Yup, that's it. That's all the snow we got. How can a bunch of big excited dogs play in that? What's up, weather dude?

So we all went back inside and Mom decided to take a nap on the couch. First she had to convince Mackey and me to take our naps somewhere else. Then she pulled the blanket up over herself and started to nap. So far, so good.

But then Morgan started talking to Mom and saying she needed to go outside. Mom tried to ignore her, so Dad put on his jacket and said he'd take her out. When the little yappy girls heard that, they decided they needed to go out, too. They started jumping around and yapping.

Morgan doesn't like to go out with them because they make too much noise, so she ran over to Mom. When Dad tried to grab her and head her toward the door, that old, limpy dog jumped on top of Mom and wouldn't budge.

Morgan wouldn't get down and Mom couldn't sleep with her right on top, so they both got up and Mom took Morgan outside. The moral of the story is, don't pretend to be asleep when an old dog says she want's you to do something important.

And where's the snow???
Your pal, Fudge